Study Powdthavee (2008): study GB 1997
- Public:
- 16-65 aged Great-Britain, followed 6 years, 1997-2003
- Sample:
- Respondents:
- N = 54424
- Non Response:
- n.a.
- Assessment:
- Interview: face-to-face
Correlate
- Authors's label
- Change in talking to neighbours
- Our Classification
-
-
- Operationalization
- T1-T2 change in selfreport on single question: How often do you talk to your neighbours?
1 never or less often than once a month
2 once or twice a month
3 once or twice a week
4 on most days
Change in talking to neighbours from T1 to T2
a Remain the same
b Increased in frequency
c Reduced in frequency
Observed Relation with Happiness
Average change SD N
in happiness
1 to 1: -.08 1,32 1.376
2 to 2: -.03 1,13 2.024
3 to 3: -.02 1,08 9.287
4 to 4: -.03 1,26 12.098
Average change SD N
in happiness
1 to 2: +.00 1,24 879
1 to 3: -.00 1,41 851
1 to 4: +.17 1,49 432
2 to 3: +.04 1,14 2.180
2 to 4: +.02 1,26 614
3 to 4: -.02 1,22 4.634
Average change SD N
in happiness
2 to 1: -.11 1,27 842
3 to 1: -.13 1,32 773
3 to 2: -.05 1,15 2.272
4 to 1: -.05 1,54 424
4 to 2: -.07 1,39 617
4 to 3: -.08 1,22 4.413
B's are estimated by means of fixed effects estimators instead of OLS.
B's controlled for:
- frequency of talking to neighbours
- gender
- age
- real household income
- marital status
- employment status
- look after home
- health status
- education level
- household size
- home ownership
- days spent in hospital
- number of children
Adittional control variables about quality of accommodation and neighbourhood do not make a difference:
- shortage of space
- noise from neighbours
- street noise
- not enough lights
- lack of adequate heating
- condensation
- leaky roof
- damp wall, floors, etc.
- rot windows, floors, etc
- pollution/environmental problems
- vandalism or crime
- average district income
Fixed effect estimators differ significantly from OLS estimators denoting a positive inborn personality bias on the observed relationship between frequency of social contacts, income and life satisfaction