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Correlational findings

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
Remarks
Due to a small number of respondents Less often than once a month is considered as Never T1=average 1997-2000, T2=2002
Distribution
Range= a-d:1-4 M=3,02 SD(within)=0,48

Frequencies in %:
          All     Men   Women  Age<=30 Age>30
1:      10     10        9           16              7
2:      15     16        14         17            14
3:      40     42       38          36            41  
4:      36     33       39          31            38
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

Happiness Measure Statistics Elaboration / Remarks O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e DM = - NO CHANGE IN TALKING TO NEIGHBOURS

        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
O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e DM = + INCREASE IN TALKING TO NEIGHBOURS

        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
O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e DM = -- DECREASE IN TALKING TO NEIGHBOURS

        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
O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e b = +.01 ns 2 once or twice a month (vs. 1) O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e b = +.05 p < .05 3 once or twice a week (vs. 1) O-SLW-u-sq-n-7-e b = +.07 p < .01 4 on most days (vs. 1)

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