Determinants of Happiness and Life Satisfaction: The Life Satisfaction Survey of the Turkish Statistical Institute

The main focus area of economic science is the welfare and well-being of individuals in society. This requires measuring factors and monitoring their progress over time. Previous researchers used only economic indicators for this purpose; however, with the understanding that both objective and subjective elements must be included in measuring welfare, measurements that considered improvements in people’s living conditions were needed. Following the adage that it is not possible to manage what cannot be measured, researchers who defined social welfare through happiness and life satisfaction undertook considerable efforts to measure these variables. The Turkish Statistical Institute’s Life Satisfaction Survey is one such initiative. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of demographic characteristics on happiness and life satisfaction. To achieve this purpose, data from the 2019 Life Satisfaction Survey, monthly household income satisfaction, perceived welfare level, social life and housing satisfaction, and time and personal health satisfaction were tested using binary logistic regression. Logistic regression findings from the model that tested life satisfaction established that women showed higher life satisfaction than did men and that life satisfaction increased with increasing age, education, and perceived well being. Overall, life satisfaction increased with higher levels of welfare. Furthermore, satisfaction with the monthly household income, social life, individual physical health, and the time that individuals can spare for themselves also has a positive impact on the life satisfaction rate. Unlike in the life satisfaction model, education level had no significant effect on happiness in the model for testing happiness. In that model, women were happier than men, married respondents were happier than single respondents, and happiness generally decreased with age, but happiness increased with higher perceived well-being. Happiness also increased as satisfaction increased with monthly household income, residence, social life, individual physical health, and time to spare for oneself. In addition, the effects of these variables on happiness were greater than their effects on life satisfaction.