Predictors of Regional Well-Being: A County Level Analysis
Tóm tắt
The current study takes a novel approach to studying the correlates of subjective well-being. Unlike previous studies, which typically examine group-level well-being at the state or national level, we analyzed correlates of well-being at the county level within the United States. Using nationally representative data, we found that reliable variance in well-being exists across counties. Furthermore, this variance was associated with a number of objective factors, including income, population density, health and education. Continued study of these factors at the regional level may have important implications for developing community programs and public policy.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Economist Intelligence Unit. (2004). The Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index. The Economist’s The World in 2005.
Arthaud-Day, M. L., & Near, J. P. (2005). The wealth of nations and the happiness of nations: Why “accounting” matters. Social Indicators Research, 74, 511–548.
Bennett, K. M. (2005). Psychological wellbeing in later life: The longitudinal effects of marriage, widowhood and marital status change. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 280–284.
Ben-Zur, H., & Michael, K. (2009). Social comparisons and well-being following widowhood and divorce. Death Studies, 33, 220–238.
Centers for Disease Control, Prevention (CDC). (1998). State differences in reported healthy days among adults—United States, 1993–1996. MMWR Weekly, 47, 239–243.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008a). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008b). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Questionnaire. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaton, A. (2008). Income, health and wellbeing around the world: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22, 53–72.
Diener, E., Diener, M., & Diener, C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 851–864.
Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., Schimmack, U., & Helliwell, J. F. (2009). Well-being for public policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In E. Diener & E. M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 185–218). Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.
Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1997). Measuring quality of life: economic, social and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 40, 189–216.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302.
Dollinger, S. J., & Malmquist, D. (2009). Reliability and validity of single-item self-reports: With special relevance to college students’ alcohol use, religiosity, study and social life. The Journal of General Psychology, 139, 231–241.
Easterlin, R. A. (1994). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27, 35–47.
Eid, M., & Larsen, R. J. (Eds.). (2008). The science of subjective well-being. New York: Guilford Press.
Florida, R. L. (2002). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure. New York: Basic Books.
Fox, K. R. (1999). The influence of physical activity on mental well-being. Public Health Nutrition, 2, 411–418.
Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (2008) Survey.
Gove, W. R., Style, C. B., & Huges, M. (1990). The effect of marriage on well-being in adults. Journal of Family Issues, 11, 4–35.
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776–1780.
Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and thinking about it: Two perspectives on life. In F. A. Huppert, N. Baylis, & B. Keverne (Eds.), The science of well-being (pp. 285–304). New York: Oxford University Press.
Lucas, R. E. (2008). Personality and subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 171–194). New York: Guilford Press.
Lucas, R. E., & Clark, A. E. (2006). Do people really adapt to marriage? Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 405–426.
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). How stable is happiness? Using the STARTS model to estimate stability of life satisfaction. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1091–1098.
Lucas, R. E., & Dyrenforth, P. S. (2006). Does the existence of social relationships matter for subjective well-being? In K. D. Vohs & E. J. Finkel (Eds.), Self, relationships: Connecting intrapersonal, interpersonal processes (pp. 254–273). New York: Guilford Press.
Lucas, R. E., & Schimmack, U. (2009). Income and well-being: How big is the gap between the rich and the poor? Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 75–78.
Luttmer, E. F. P. (2005). Neighbors as negatives: Relative earnings and well-being. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 963–1002.
Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin Press.
Martinez-Martin, P. (2010). Composite rating scales. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 289, 7–11.
Minkov, M. (2009). Nations with more dialectical selves exhibit lower polarization in life quality judgments and social opinions. Behavior Science Research, 43, 230–250.
Moriarty, D. G., Zack, M. M., Holt, J. B., Chapman, D. P., & Safran, M. A. (2009). Geographic pattern of frequent mental distress: US adults, 1993–2001 and 2003–2006. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 36, 497–505.
Moriarty, D. G., Zack, M. M. & Kobau, R. (2003). The centers for disease control and prevention’s healthy days measures—Population tracking of perceived physical and mental health over time. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 1, 37.
Oishi, S., Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Suh, E. M. (2009). Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfaction: Perspectives from needs and values. In E. Diener (Ed.), Culture and well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (pp. 109–127). New York: Springer.
Oswald, A. J., & Wu, S. (2010). Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: Evidence from the U.S.A. Science, 327, 576–579.
Plaut, V. C., Markus, H. R., & Lachman, M. E. (2002). Place matters: Consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 160–184.
Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 339–369.
Rentfrow, P. J., Mellander, C., & Florida, R. (2009). Happy States of America: A state level analysis of psychological, economic and social well-being. Journal of Research in Psychology, 43, 1073–1082.
Schkade, D. A., & Kahneman, D. (1998). Does living in Califorina make people happy? A focusing illusion in judgments of life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 9, 340–346.
Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In D. Kahneman, E. Deiner, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Schyns, P. (1998). Crossnational differences in happiness: Economic and cultural factors explored. Social Indicators Research, 43, 3–26.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467–487.
Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2008). Economic growth and subjective well-being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1–87.
Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., & Lucas, R. E. (2010). Secondary Data Analysis: An Introduction for Psychologists. Washington, DC: APA.
Van de Vijver, F. J. R., van Hemert, D. A., & Poortinga, Y. H. (Eds.). (2008). Multilevel analysis of individuals and cultures. New York: Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Veenhoven, R. (1995). The cross-national pattern of happiness: Test of predictions implied in three theories of happiness. Social Indicators Research, 34, 33–68.
Wilson, W. (1967). Correlates of avowed happiness. Psychological Bulletin, 67, 294–306.