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The Good Life, Affluence, and Self-reported Happiness: Introducing the Good Life Index and Debunking Two Popular Myths

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  • Delhey, Jan
  • Steckermeier, Leonie C.

Abstract

This paper examines two highly controversial questions about human well-being in the richer part of the world. First, is people’s quality of life (still) enhanced by national prosperity? Many scholars doubt this, in particular advocates of de-growth. The second question concerns the relationship between the good life and self-reported happiness: Do people chiefly report being happy and satisfied for reasons embodied in achieving a good life? For addressing these issues we draw on a novel quality of life approach, the ‘elements of the good life’ as sketched out by Skidelsky and Skidelsky in 2013. This approach focuses on life results in seven domains: health, security, friendship, respect, leisure, personality, and harmony with nature. Our article refines the original concept and suggests a way to measure the well-being of individuals with the help of the Good Life Index. By analyzing data for 30 European countries from the most recent European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) within a multilevel framework, we can show that Europeans’ life-quality is better in wealthier societies, and that Europeans are authentically happy.

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  • Delhey, Jan & Steckermeier, Leonie C., 2016. "The Good Life, Affluence, and Self-reported Happiness: Introducing the Good Life Index and Debunking Two Popular Myths," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 50-66.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:88:y:2016:i:c:p:50-66
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.07.007
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    2. Jan Delhey & Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2020. "Social Ills in Rich Countries: New Evidence on Levels, Causes, and Mediators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 87-125, May.
    3. He, Congxian & Zhou, Can & Wen, Huwei, 2024. "Improving the consumer welfare of rural residents through public support policies: A study on old revolutionary areas in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Leonie C. Steckermeier & Jan Delhey, 2019. "Better for Everyone? Egalitarian Culture and Social Wellbeing in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1075-1108, June.
    5. Micael Dahlen & Helge Thorbjørnsen, 2022. "Individuals’ Assessments of Their Own Wellbeing, Subjective Welfare, and Good Life: Four Exploratory Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-10, September.
    6. Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2019. "Better Safe than Sorry. Does Agency Moderate the Relevance of Safety Perceptions for the Subjective Well-Being of Young Children?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(1), pages 29-48, February.
    7. Jan Delhey & Stephanie Hess & Klaus Boehnke & Franziska Deutsch & Jan Eichhorn & Ulrich Kühnen & Christian Welzel, 2023. "Life Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Human, Economic, Social, and Psychological Capital," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 2201-2222, October.
    8. Satoshi Araki & Francisco Olivos, 2024. "Low Income, Ill-being, and Gender Inequality: Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Gendered Risk of Suffering Among the Poor," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 157-220, August.
    9. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

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