IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v177y2025i2d10.1007_s11205-025-03537-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Negativity, Existential Security, and Subjective Well-Being: A Multilevel Examination of 28 Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Harris Hyun-soo Kim

    (Ewha Womans University)

Abstract

The objective of this research is to explore the factors associated with subjective well-being in a multi-country context. Specifically, it seeks to advance the literature in the following two ways. First, the analysis focuses on harmful (not beneficial) implications of network ties, or social negativity. Second, and more importantly, this study investigates whether the link between negative ties and well-being varies in magnitude across the level of economic development, i.e., existential security. This paper’s main thesis is that social negativity would be more harmful in the context of greater existential security, where postmaterialist happiness depends on self-expression values such as freedom, autonomy, and agency. To empirically examine this idea, mixed-effects (multilevel) models are estimated using comparative data on 28 high- and low-income countries from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP 2017). This data source provides a wealth of information, especially on social negativity measured with a multi-item scale. Existential security is operationalized using gross domestic product (GDP) and, as a robustness check, human development index (HDI). Controlling for a host of individual and contextual confounders, findings indicate that negative social ties are positively associated with emotional distress but negatively related to life satisfaction. Moreover, the focal relationships become stronger in countries characterized by greater existential security. An important implication is that material progress has an unintended consequence of undermining (postmaterialist) well-being by exacerbating harmful implications of social negativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Harris Hyun-soo Kim, 2025. "Social Negativity, Existential Security, and Subjective Well-Being: A Multilevel Examination of 28 Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 733-762, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:177:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03537-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-025-03537-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-025-03537-6
    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/s11205-025-03537-6?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. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    2. 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.
    3. Jan Delhey, 2010. "From Materialist to Post-Materialist Happiness? National Affluence and Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Cross-National Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 65-84, May.
    4. Tüzin Baycan & Özge Öner, 2023. "The dark side of social capital: a contextual perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(3), pages 779-798, June.
    5. Christian Welzel & Ronald Inglehart, 2010. "Agency, Values, and Well-Being: A Human Development Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 43-63, May.
    6. John Lynch & George Smith & Marianne Hillemeier & Trivellore Raghunathan & George Kaplan & Mary Shaw, 2001. "Income Inequality, the Psycho-social Environment and Health Comparisons of Wealthy Nations," LIS Working papers 269, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    7. Harris Kim, 2014. "The association between social capital measures and self-reported health among Muslim majority nations," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(5), pages 749-757, October.
    8. Elff, Martin & Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin & Shikano, Susumu, 2021. "Multilevel Analysis with Few Clusters: Improving Likelihood-based Methods to Provide Unbiased Estimates and Accurate Inference," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 412-426.
    9. Rati Ram, 2010. "Social Capital and Happiness: Additional Cross-Country Evidence," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 409-418, August.
    10. Richard M. Ryan & Veronika Huta & Edward Deci, 2008. "Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 139-170, January.
    11. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2019. "Why You Should Always Include a Random Slope for the Lower-Level Variable Involved in a Cross-Level Interaction," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 258-279.
    12. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    13. Elff, Martin & Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin & Shikano, Susumu, 2021. "Multilevel Analysis with Few Clusters: Improving Likelihood-Based Methods to Provide Unbiased Estimates and Accurate Inference," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 412-426, January.
    14. Hojman, Daniel A. & Miranda, Álvaro, 2018. "Agency, Human Dignity, and Subjective Well-being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-15.
    15. Richard Easterlin, 2005. "Diminishing Marginal Utility of Income? Caveat Emptor," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 243-255, February.
    16. James Foster & Luis Lopez-Calva & Miguel Szekely, 2005. "Measuring the Distribution of Human Development: methodology and an application to Mexico," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 5-25.
    17. Villalonga-Olives, E. & Kawachi, I., 2017. "The dark side of social capital: A systematic review of the negative health effects of social capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 105-127.
    18. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Social capital: An individual or collective resource for health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 292-302, January.
    19. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin & Giesecke, Johannes, 2017. "The Costs of Simplicity: Why Multilevel Models May Benefit from Accounting for Cross-Cluster Differences in the Effects of Controls," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 82(4), pages 796-827.
    20. Egolf, B. & Lasker, J. & Wolf, S. & Potvin, L., 1992. "The Roseto effect: A 50-year comparison of mortality rates," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 82(8), pages 1089-1092.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2021. "The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 693-723, April.
    2. Heisig, Jan Paul & Matthewes, Sönke Hendrik, 2022. "No Evidence that Strict Educational Tracking Improves Student Performance through Classroom Homogeneity: A Critical Reanalysis of Esser and Seuring (2020) [Keine Belege für leistungsfördernde Effek," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 99-111.
    3. Naoki Akaeda, 2020. "Contextual Social Trust and Well-Being Inequality: From the Perspectives of Education and Income," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2957-2979, December.
    4. Fernando Bruna, 2022. "Happy Cultures? A Multilevel Model of Well-Being with Individual and Contextual Human Values," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 55-77, November.
    5. Villalonga-Olives, E. & Kawachi, I., 2017. "The dark side of social capital: A systematic review of the negative health effects of social capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 105-127.
    6. Zawisza, Katarzyna & Sekuła, Paulina & Gajdzica, Michalina & Tobiasz-Adamczyk, Beata, 2024. "Social capital and all-cause mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among middle-aged and older people: Prospective cohort study in Poland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    7. Mamatzakis, Emmanuel C. & Tsionas, Mike G., 2021. "Making inference of British household's happiness efficiency: A Bayesian latent model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(1), pages 312-326.
    8. Alexandra Nonnenmacher & Jürgen Friedrichs, 2013. "The Missing Link: Deficits of Country-Level Studies. A Review of 22 Articles Explaining Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 1221-1244, February.
    9. Neimanns, Erik & Blossey, Nils, 2022. "From media-party linkages to ownership concentration causes of cross-national variation in media outlets' economic positioning," MPIfG Discussion Paper 22/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    10. 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).
    11. Yasuharu Tokuda & Masamine Jimba & Haruo Yanai & Seiji Fujii & Takashi Inoguchi, 2008. "Interpersonal Trust and Quality-of-Life: A Cross-Sectional Study in Japan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(12), pages 1-10, December.
    12. Weilun Wu & Jianhua Duan & W. Robert Reed & Elizabeth Tipton, 2025. "What Can We Learn From 1000 Meta-Analyses Across 10 Different Disciplines?," Working Papers in Economics 25/07, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    13. Oberndorfer, Moritz & Leyland, Alastair H. & Pearce, Jamie & Grabovac, Igor & Hannah, Mary K. & Dorner, Thomas E., 2023. "Unequally Unequal? Contextual-level status inequality and social cohesion moderating the association between individual-level socioeconomic position and systemic chronic inflammation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    14. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2020. "The Educational System and the Ethnic Skills Gap among the Working-Age Population: An Analysis of 16 Western Immigration Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6, pages 1-1.
    15. Weiting Ng, 2015. "Processes Underlying Links to Subjective Well-being: Material Concerns, Autonomy, and Personality," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1575-1591, December.
    16. Sehee Han & Heaseung Kim & Hee-Sun Lee, 2013. "A Multilevel Analysis of the Compositional and Contextual Association of Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being in Seoul, South Korea," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 185-202, March.
    17. Fernando Bruna & Juan Fernández‐Sastre, 2021. "Regional characteristics and the decision to innovate in a developing country: A multilevel analysis of Ecuadorian firms," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(6), pages 1337-1354, December.
    18. Orhan Koçak & Namık Ak & Sezer Seçkin Erdem & Mehmet Sinan & Mustafa Z. Younis & Abdullah Erdoğan, 2021. "The Role of Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Happiness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-19, May.
    19. Quintal, Carlota & Ramos, Luís Moura & Torres, Pedro, 2023. "Disentangling the complexities of modelling when high social capital contributes to indicating good health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    20. Sehee Han & Heaseung Kim & Eung-Sun Lee & Hee-Sun Lee, 2013. "The Contextual and Compositional Associations of Social Capital and Subjective Happiness: A Multilevel Analysis from Seoul, South Korea," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1183-1200, August.

    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:soinre:v:177:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-025-03537-6. 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.