IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v13y2018i3d10.1007_s11482-017-9556-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Country-Level Bonding, Bridging, and Linking Social Capital and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction

Author

Listed:
  • Yoosun Chu

    (Boston College School of Social Work)

  • Ce Shen

    (Boston College School of Social Work)

  • Jie Yang

    (Boston College School of Social Work)

Abstract

This cross-national study examines the contextual effects of country-level social capital on immigrants’ life-satisfaction in host societies. Country-level social capital was constructed by bonding, bridging, and linking according to descriptions by Szreter and Woolcock (2004). We conducted a two-level regression analysis using 3208 immigrants nested within 52 countries included in the World Values Survey Wave 6. Immigrants had a lower level of life satisfaction in host countries with a higher bonding social capital (inward-looking and homogeneous). The effect of age on life satisfaction also varied according to country-level bonding social capital and age-groups. In addition to the effects of country-level social capital, our study found that immigrants had a higher level of life satisfaction in countries with a higher gross national income (GNI) per capita and a lower percentage of immigrants. Consistently with the previous studies, our study also found that immigrants’ key socio-demographics (subjective health, age, gender, marital status, and income level) were significantly associated with immigrants’ life satisfaction. Findings suggest that not only immigrants’ individual characteristics but also the social capital of host countries - in particular, the bonding social capital - play a significant role in immigrants’ life satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoosun Chu & Ce Shen & Jie Yang, 2018. "Country-Level Bonding, Bridging, and Linking Social Capital and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 745-759, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:13:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-017-9556-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-017-9556-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-017-9556-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-017-9556-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karin Amit & Howard Litwin, 2010. "The Subjective Well-Being of Immigrants Aged 50 and Older in Israel," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 89-104, August.
    2. John F. Helliwell, 2006. "Well-Being, Social Capital and Public Policy: What's New?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(510), pages 34-45, March.
    3. Viola Angelini & Laura Casi & Luca Corazzini, 2015. "Life satisfaction of immigrants: does cultural assimilation matter?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 817-844, July.
    4. Christian Bjørnskov, 2007. "Determinants of generalized trust: A cross-country comparison," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Helliwell, John F., 2003. "How's life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 331-360, March.
    6. Cora J. M. Maas & Joop J. Hox, 2004. "Robustness issues in multilevel regression analysis," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 58(2), pages 127-137, May.
    7. Emily A. Greenfield & Nadine F. Marks, 2004. "Formal Volunteering as a Protective Factor for Older Adults' Psychological Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(5), pages 258-264.
    8. Thomas Vroome & Marc Hooghe, 2014. "Life Satisfaction among Ethnic Minorities in the Netherlands: Immigration Experience or Adverse Living Conditions?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 1389-1406, December.
    9. D. Shin & D. Johnson, 1978. "Avowed happiness as an overall assessment of the quality of life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 475-492, March.
    10. Marta Portela & Isabel Neira & Maria del Salinas-Jiménez, 2013. "Social Capital and Subjective Wellbeing in Europe: A New Approach on Social Capital," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 493-511, November.
    11. Koczan, Zs, 2013. "Does integration increase life satisfaction," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1314, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    12. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    13. Ruut Veenhoven, 1994. "Is happiness a trait?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 101-160, June.
    14. Fantom,Neil James & Serajuddin,Umar, 2016. "The World Bank's classification of countries by income," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7528, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aamir Ali Chughtai, 2021. "A Closer Look at the Relationship between Life Satisfaction and Job Performance," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 805-825, April.
    2. Laura Monteiro & Michael Haan, 2022. "The Life Satisfaction of Immigrants in Canada: Does Time Since Arrival Matter more than Income?," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1397-1420, September.
    3. Chinglen Laishram & Khaikholen Haokip, 2023. "Implications of Social Capital on Life satisfaction in a Stratified Society: Gendering the Bonding, Bridging, and Linking framework using representative samples of India," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 3039-3063, August.
    4. Virginia Paloma & Marta Escobar-Ballesta & Blanca Galván-Vega & Juan Diego Díaz-Bautista & Isabel Benítez, 2021. "Determinants of Life Satisfaction of Economic Migrants Coming from Developing Countries to Countries with Very High Human Development: a Systematic Review," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(1), pages 435-455, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julia S. Granderath & Andreas Martin & Laura Froehlich, 2021. "The Effect of Participation in Adult Education on Life Satisfaction of Immigrants and Natives: A Longitudinal Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 3043-3067, October.
    2. Irena Kogan & Jing Shen & Manuel Siegert, 2018. "What Makes a Satisfied Immigrant? Host-Country Characteristics and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Eighteen European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1783-1809, August.
    3. Sibylle Puntscher & Christoph Hauser & Janette Walde & Gottfried Tappeiner, 2015. "The Impact of Social Capital on Subjective Well-Being: A Regional Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1231-1246, October.
    4. Mikucka, Malgorzata & Sarracino, Francesco & Dubrow, Joshua K., 2017. "When Does Economic Growth Improve Life Satisfaction? Multilevel Analysis of the Roles of Social Trust and Income Inequality in 46 Countries, 1981–2012," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 447-459.
    5. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 849-872, April.
    6. Isilda Mara & Michael Landesmann, 2013. "Do I stay because I am happy or am I happy because I stay? Life satisfaction in migration, and the decision to stay permanently, return and out-migrate," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013008, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    7. Biermann, Philipp & Welsch, Heinz, 2021. "An anatomy of East German unhappiness: The role of circumstances and mentality, 1990–2018," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1-18.
    8. Aguilar, Alexandra Cortés & García Muñoz, Teresa M. & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2013. "Heterogeneous self-employment and satisfaction in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 44-61.
    9. Johan Graafland & Bjorn Lous, 2019. "Income Inequality, Life Satisfaction Inequality and Trust: A Cross Country Panel Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1717-1737, August.
    10. Marta Portela & Isabel Neira & Maria del Salinas-Jiménez, 2013. "Social Capital and Subjective Wellbeing in Europe: A New Approach on Social Capital," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 493-511, November.
    11. Sarracino, Francesco, 2013. "Determinants of subjective well-being in high and low income countries: Do happiness equations differ across countries?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 51-66.
    12. Pénard, Thierry & Poussing, Nicolas & Suire, Raphaël, 2013. "Does the Internet make people happier?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 105-116.
    13. Janina Nemitz, 2022. "Increasing longevity and life satisfaction: is there a catch to living longer?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 557-589, April.
    14. Lewis Davis & Jia Gao, 2020. "Preferences or Patriarchy: Why Do Religious Women Work Less?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 287-310, January.
    15. Marc Hooghe & Bram Vanhoutte, 2011. "Subjective Well-Being and Social Capital in Belgian Communities. The Impact of Community Characteristics on Subjective Well-Being Indicators in Belgium," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(1), pages 17-36, January.
    16. Crowley, Frank & Walsh, Edel, 2018. "How important are Personal Ties, Trust and Tolerance for Life Satisfaction in Europe?," SRERC Working Paper Series SRERCWP2018-1, University College Cork (UCC), Spatial and Regional Economic Research Centre (SRERC).
    17. Johan Graafland, 2023. "On Rule of Law, Civic Virtues, Trust, and Happiness," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1799-1824, August.
    18. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Vinod Mishra, 2017. "Trust, Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 313-339, May.
    19. Peter Howley & Stephen O Neill & Rowland Atkinson, 2015. "Who Needs Good Neighbors?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(4), pages 939-956, April.
    20. Cordero, José Manuel & Salinas-Jiménez, Javier & Salinas-Jiménez, M Mar, 2017. "Exploring factors affecting the level of happiness across countries: A conditional robust nonparametric frontier analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(2), pages 663-672.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:13:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11482-017-9556-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.