IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/emx/esteco/v31y2016i1p217-234.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do cultural activities influence happiness? Investigating the relationship between self-reported well-being and leisure

Author

Listed:
  • Victoria Ateca-Amestoy

    (Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea)

  • Mariana Gerstenblüth

    (Universidad de la República de Uruguay)

  • Irene Mussio

    (Universidad de la República de Uruguay)

  • Máximo Rossi

    (Universidad de la República de Uruguay)

Abstract

Leisure is a human condition related to the discretionary use of time in a rewarding way that contributes to individual well-being. Individuals decide to engage on cultural activities to enjoy pleasant experiences. Cultural participation can be explained in different dimension, considering how the individual access those cultural experiences: by live attendance, by home consumption, by community practice. We find that the magnitude of the positive effect of cultural activities on the top happiness goes in this descending order: cinema going, participat- ing in cultural events,listening to music,reading books and watching TV.

Suggested Citation

  • Victoria Ateca-Amestoy & Mariana Gerstenblüth & Irene Mussio & Máximo Rossi, 2016. "How do cultural activities influence happiness? Investigating the relationship between self-reported well-being and leisure," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 31(2), pages 217-234.
  • Handle: RePEc:emx:esteco:v:31:y:2016:i:1:p:217-234
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://estudioseconomicos.colmex.mx/index.php/economicos/article/view/16/16
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samuel Cameron (ed.), 2011. "Handbook on the Economics of Leisure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13469.
    2. Alex Michalos, 2005. "Arts and the quality of life: an Exploratory study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 71(1), pages 11-59, March.
    3. Christian Bjørnskov & Axel Dreher & Justina Fischer, 2008. "Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: exploring different determinants across groups in society," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 30(1), pages 119-173, January.
    4. Binder, Martin & Coad, Alex, 2013. "“I'm afraid I have bad news for you…” Estimating the impact of different health impairments on subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 155-167.
    5. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy, 2011. "Leisure and Subjective Well-being," Chapters, in: Samuel Cameron (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Joachim Merz & Bettina Scherg, 2013. "Polarization of Time and Income: A Multidimensional Approach with Well-Being Gap and Minimum 2DGAP ; German Evidence," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 574, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. Ariel Rodríguez & Pavlína Látková & Ya-Yen Sun, 2008. "The relationship between leisure and life satisfaction: application of activity and need theory," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(1), pages 163-175, March.
    8. repec:pri:cepsud:125krueger is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Stefan Boes & Rainer Winkelmann, 2006. "The Effect of Income on Positive and Negative Subjective Well-Being," SOI - Working Papers 0605, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    10. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    11. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2012. "The Relationship Between Social Leisure and Life Satisfaction: Causality and Policy Implications," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 453-490, September.
    12. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2006. "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion," Working Papers 77, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    13. Frey, Bruno S. & Benesch, Christine & Stutzer, Alois, 2007. "Does watching TV make us happy?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 283-313, June.
    14. Noah Uhrig, S.C., 2005. "Cinema is good for you: the effects of cinema attendance on self reported anxiety or depression and ‘happiness’," ISER Working Paper Series 2005-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    15. Alan B. Krueger & Andreas I. Mueller, 2012. "Time Use, Emotional Well-Being, and Unemployment: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 594-599, May.
    16. Miao Wang & Man Chiu Sunny Wong, 2011. "Leisure and happiness in the United States: evidence from survey data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(18), pages 1813-1816, December.
    17. Hampshire, Katherine Rebecca & Matthijsse, Mathilde, 2010. "Can arts projects improve young people's wellbeing? A social capital approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 708-716, August.
    18. Rainer Winkelmann, 2009. "Unemployment, Social Capital, and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 421-430, August.
    19. Bruni, Luigino & Stanca, Luca, 2008. "Watching alone: Relational goods, television and happiness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(3-4), pages 506-528, March.
    20. Adam Shapiro & Corey Keyes, 2008. "Marital Status and Social Well-Being: Are the Married Always Better Off?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 329-346, September.
    21. Benedetto Gui & Luca Stanca, 2010. "Happiness and relational goods: well-being and interpersonal relations in the economic sphere," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 57(2), pages 105-118, June.
    22. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    23. Francesca Borgonovi, 2004. "Performing arts attendance: an economic approach," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(17), pages 1871-1885.
    24. Dreher, Axel & Öhler, Hannes, 2011. "Does government ideology affect personal happiness? A test," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 161-165, May.
    25. Alex Michalos & P. Kahlke, 2010. "Arts and the Perceived Quality of Life in British Columbia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 1-39, March.
    26. Yoshitaka Iwasaki, 2007. "Leisure and quality of life in an international and multicultural context: what are major pathways linking leisure to quality of life?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 82(2), pages 233-264, June.
    27. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2006. "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion," Working Papers 77, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    28. Nick Carroll, 2007. "Unemployment and Psychological Well‐being," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(262), pages 287-302, September.
    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. Bertacchini, Enrico & Bolognesi, Valentina & Venturini, Alessandra & Zotti, Roberto, 2021. "The Happy Cultural Omnivore? Exploring the Relationship between Cultural Consumption Patterns and Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 14749, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Andrea Baldin & Trine Bille, 2023. "The lost value for users of cultural institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a life satisfaction approach," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 70(2), pages 257-281, June.

    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. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy & Mariana Gerstenblüth & Irene Mussio & Máximo Rossi, 2014. "How do Cultural Activities Influence Happiness? The Relation Between Self-Reported Well-Being and Leisure," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 0614, Department of Economics - dECON.
    2. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy, 2011. "Leisure and Subjective Well-being," Chapters, in: Samuel Cameron (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Daniel Wheatley & Craig Bickerton, 2017. "Subjective well-being and engagement in arts, culture and sport," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(1), pages 23-45, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Chris Hand, 2018. "Do the arts make you happy? A quantile regression approach," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 271-286, May.
    6. Christopher Mackie & Conal Smith, 2015. "Conceptualizing Subjective Well-Being And Its Many Dimensions – Implications For Data Collection In Official Statistics And For Policy Relevance," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 16(3), pages 335-372, September.
    7. 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.
    8. Andreas Knabe & Steffen Rätzel & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2010. "Dissatisfied with Life but Having a Good Day: Time-use and Well-being of the Unemployed," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 867-889, September.
    9. Mackie Christopher & Smith Conal, 2015. "Conceptualizing Subjective Well-Being and its Many Dimensions – Implications for Data Collection in Official Statistics and for Policy Relevance," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 16(3), pages 335-372, September.
    10. Conal Smith & Christopher Mackie, 2015. "Conceptualizing Subjective Well-Being and its Many Dimensions – Implications for Data Collection in Official Statistics and for Policy Relevance," Statistics in Transition new series, Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Polska), vol. 16(3), pages 335-372, September.
    11. Mentzakis, Emmanouil & Moro, Mirko, 2009. "The poor, the rich and the happy: Exploring the link between income and subjective well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 147-158, January.
    12. Thi Truong An Hoang & Andreas Knabe, 2021. "Time Use, Unemployment, and Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Using British Time-Use Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2525-2548, August.
    13. Lars Kunze & Nicolai Suppa, 2014. "Bowling Alone or Bowling at All? The Effect of Unemployment on Social Participation," Ruhr Economic Papers 0510, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Deckers Thomas & Falk Armin & Schildberg-Hörisch Hannah, 2016. "Nominal or Real? The Impact of Regional Price Levels on Satisfaction with Life," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1337-1358, September.
    15. Kunze, Lars & Suppa, Nicolai, 2017. "Bowling alone or bowling at all? The effect of unemployment on social participation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 213-235.
    16. Koen Decancq & Marc Fleurbaey & Erik Schokkaert, 2015. "Happiness, Equivalent Incomes and Respect for Individual Preferences," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82, pages 1082-1106, December.
    17. Martijn Hendriks & Kai Ludwigs & Ruut Veenhoven, 2016. "Why are Locals Happier than Internal Migrants? The Role of Daily Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 481-508, January.
    18. Di Tella, Rafael & Haisken-De New, John & MacCulloch, Robert, 2010. "Happiness adaptation to income and to status in an individual panel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 834-852, December.
    19. Michela Ponzo, 2011. "Occupational Status and Individual Subjective Well-Being in Italy," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 3, September.
    20. Hilke Brockmann & Anne-Maren Koch & Adele Diederich & Christofer Edling, 2018. "Why Managerial Women are Less Happy Than Managerial Men," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 755-779, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    happiness; leisure; culture; well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:emx:esteco:v:31:y:2016:i:1:p:217-234. 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: Ximena Varela (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cecolmx.html .

    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.