Study

Findings on happiness in Becchetti et al. (2016): study ZZ Europe 2006

Publication
Author(s)	Becchetti, L.; Corrado, L.; Sama, P.
Title	Inside the Life Satisfaction Blackbox.
Source	World Happiness Report, 2016, Vol.2, 1 - 36
URL	http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2198303
Investigation
Public	50+ aged, general public, Europe, 2006,2007
Last assesment	2007
Survey name	SHARE
	second wave, 2006, 2007
Sample	Probability area sample
Respondents N =	30325000
Non Response	Not available
Assesment	Interview: computer assisted (CAPI)
Happiness measure(s) used

Full text	Selfreport on single question: Now here are some questions concerning how satisfied - or dissatisfied - you are with various things about your life, such as your standard of living, your education etc. To indicate this, would you use this card. If you are extremely SATISFIED with something you would call of the highest number, ten. If you are extremely DISSATISFIED you would mention the lowest number, zero. If you are neither extremely satisfied nor extremely dissatisfied you would mention some number in between zero and ten - the higher the number, the more satisfied, the lower the number the less satisfied. How satisfied - or dissatisfied - are you with the following? Just read off the number that comes closest to how you feel. We have talked about various parts of your life. Now taking everything into account, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your life as a whole? 0 dissatisfied 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 satisfied
Classification	O-SLW-u-sq-n-11-e
Author's label	Life satisfaction
Page in publication	4, 17
Finding used in nation ranks	Yes

	On original range 0 - 10	On range 0 - 10
Mean	7.54	7.54
Standard deviation	1.78	1.78

Correlational findings

Author's label	Subject Code Finding	Subject description
Age class	A04ab03	Age difference among elderly
Age no prevent	A04af01d	Attitude to ageing (getting older)
Age no prevent	H14ac01	Degree of restriction, also classified as above ↑
Attended education	S01ac01a	Involved in schooling or not
Countries	N10ab	Current nation of residence
Education years	E01ab02	Level of school-education
Freedom of choice	F05ab03	Current absence of restrictions (social freedom)
Future good	L04ac01h	Hopeful (vs hopeless)
Help to family	S11ab	Current support behavior
Household size	H20ab	Current household-composition
Hrooms	H22ab03e	Surface of house
Leaving inheritance	P12ab05	Savings
Life meaningful	M05ab01	Perceived usefullness of one's life
Limited activities	H14ac01	Degree of restriction
Log income	I01ab03	Household income
Long term illness	H14ab02d	Chronic illness
Male	G01aa	Sex (male vs female)
Marital status	M02aa01	Married vs never married
Marital status	M02ab01f	Vs co-habiting, also classified as above ↑
Marital status	M02ab01b	Vs divorced, also classified as above ↑
Marital status	M02ab01c	Vs separated, also classified as above ↑
Marital status	M02ab01a	Vs widowed, also classified as above ↑
No family responsibility	F02ag	Attitudes to family of procreation
No family responsibility	F05ab03b	Specific restrictions (perceived and actual), also classified as above ↑
No feel left out	S06ac04	Satisfaction with personal contacts
No lack money	I01af	Attitudes to own income
No lack money	F05ab03b	Specific restrictions (perceived and actual), also classified as above ↑
No out control	P05bp	Inner locus of control
Number of children	C03ab01	Number of children
Number of grandchildren	C01ab	Grand-children
Number of illnesses	H14ab02c	Number of health complaints
Opportunities	L04ac01	Single aspect evaluations (on criteria of good life)
Participation in church	R12ad02	Participation in church
Past good	H04aa01	Retrospective level of happiness (period unspecified)
Political participation	N12ab05	Political participation in nation
Sport social	S07ab	Current organizational participation
Urban area	L13ab02	Community size
Vitality	M15ac06	Feeling energetic (vs lethargic, tired)
Vitality	L04ac01	Single aspect evaluations (on criteria of good life), also classified as above ↑
Voluntary work	S07ab03	Voluntary work