Anke C. Plagnol and Felicia A. Huppert
"Happy to help? Exploring the
factors associated with variations in rates of volunteering across
Europe"
Social Indicators Research,
forthcoming. (
full
article
at
SIR)
Abstract:
The frequency of formal volunteering varies widely
across European countries, and rates of formal volunteering are
especially low among Eastern European countries. Why are there
such large differences in volunteering rates when it is known that
volunteering is beneficial for well-being? Using data from the
latest round of the European Social Survey, we test three hypotheses to
explain these cross-national differences in volunteering. We ask
whether people in countries with low frequencies of volunteering spend
more of their time on informal volunteering activities; whether they
differ on socio-demographic variables which are known to be linked to
volunteering rates; or whether they show less well-being benefit from
formal volunteering. Contrary to the first hypothesis, we find a
positive correlation between formal and informal volunteering. We
further conclude that national differences in rates of volunteering
cannot be fully explained by differences in the social, psychological
or cultural factors associated with volunteering nor the outcome of
volunteering. It is likely that contextual factors, such as a
country’s historical background or institutions, determine levels of
volunteering to a large extent.
Jacqueline Scott, Jane Nolan and Anke C. Plagnol
"Panel data and open-ended questions: Understanding perceptions of
quality of life"
Twenty-First Century Society: Journal
of the Academy of Social Sciences. 4(2), pp. 123-135 (June
2009). (
full
article at journal)
Abstract:
This paper describes the burgeoning interest in
quality of life
studies and suggests that as well as expert definitions, we need to
consider people’s own perceptions of what matters. Using open-ended
questions from the 1997 and 2002 waves of the British Household Panel
Survey we analyse both quantitatively and qualitatively how perceptions
of quality of life differ for men and women across the life course.
Qualitative analysis reveals that key domains such as health, family
and finances often refer, not to self, but to others.
Longitudinal
analysis demonstrates that people’s perceptions of quality of life
change over time, particularly before and after important life
transitions. Thus our findings challenge overly individualistic and
static conceptions of quality of life and reveal quality of life as a
process, not a fixed state.
Anke
C. Plagnol and Richard A. Easterlin
"Aspirations, attainments, and
satisfaction: Life cycle differences between American women and men"
Journal of Happiness Studies.
9(4), pp. 601-619 (December 2008). (
full
artcile at JOHS)
(
pdf)
Abstract:
Aspirations,
along
with
attainments,
play
an
important
role in shaping
well-being. Early in adult life women are more likely than men to
fulfill their material goods and family life aspirations; their
satisfaction in these domains is correspondingly higher; and so too is
their overall happiness. Material goods aspirations refer here to
desires for a number of big-ticket consumer goods, such as a home, car,
travel abroad and vacation home. In later life these gender differences
turn around. Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material
goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their
financial situation and family life, and are the happier of the two
genders. An important factor underlying the turnaround in fulfillment
of aspirations for material goods and family life is probably the shift
over the course of the life cycle in the relative proportion of women
and men in marital and nonmarital unions.
Richard A. Easterlin and Anke C. Plagnol
"Life satisfaction and economic
outcomes in Germany pre- and post-unification"
Journal of Economic Behavior and
Organization. 68(3-4), 433-444 (December 2008). (
full article at
JEBO)
IZA discussion paper No. 2494 (December 2006). (
download from IZA)
Abstract:
Economic
disruption in East Germany at the time of unification resulted in a
noticeable drop in life satisfaction. By the late 1990s East Germany's
life satisfaction had recovered to about its 1990 level, and its
shortfall relative to West Germany was slightly less than that before
unification. In West Germany life satisfaction was fairly constant
before unification, but subsequently trended moderately downward, with
Turkish life satisfaction declining noticeably relative to Germans.
Changes in life satisfaction in East and West Germany both for Germans
and foreigners are most closely associated with relative income
variables, not absolute income.
Anke C. Zimmermann and Richard A. Easterlin
"Happily ever after? Cohabitation,
marriage, divorce, and happiness in Germany".
Population and Development Review.
32(3),
pp.
511-528
(September
2006).
(
full
article
at PDR)(
pdf)
Abstract:
In Germany the life
satisfaction of those in first marriages traces the following average
course. Starting from a baseline of life satisfaction in noncohabiting
years one or more years prior to marriage, those who cohabit prior to
marriage have an increase in life satisfaction significantly above the
baseline. In the year of marriage and that immediately following, the
life satisfaction of those in first marriages, prior cohabitors and
noncohabitors combined, increases to a value even further above the
baseline, significantly higher than for premarital cohabitors.
Thereafter, life satisfaction of those in first marriages drops, but
remains significantly above the baseline, at the same level as for
premarital cohabitors. Compared with the population generally, those in
first marriages are selective with regard to a number of socioeconomic
characteristics, but not in regard to personality traits. Those whose
first marriage ends in separation or divorce have a life satisfaction
trajectory in the years before and during marriage not significantly
different from that described above, but separation or divorce reduces
this group’s life satisfaction to the original baseline value. This
group differs significantly from the first marriage population as a
whole in its selectivity - lower socioeconomic status and personality
traits less conducive to marriage. The roots of prospective dissolution
thus apparently lie in this group’s distinctive socioeconomic and
personality traits, and not in a disparate course of life satisfaction
in the first years of marriage.
Anke C. Plagnol
.
32(1), pp. 45-64
(2011). (
full
article at JOEP)
Abstract:
Money does not buy
happiness, but various studies have shown that financial satisfaction
is, among other domains, an important determinant of overall individual
well-being. Contrary to the common belief that financial satisfaction
mainly depends on an individual's income, evidence for the U.S.
indicates that life cycle financial satisfaction steadily increases
from the thirties onwards, whereas life cycle income shows an inverted
U-pattern with a peak at midlife. To judge from studies in Germany and
Norway, this pattern for financial satisfaction is not unique. The aim
of the present analysis is to explore the determinants of this life
cycle financial satisfaction pattern, taking into account not only
income but also the possible impact of assets and liabilities. The
analysis suggests that while income has the expected positive relation,
increasing financial satisfaction at older age can be partly explained
by decreases in liabilities and increases in financial assets, and that
assets and liabilities considered separately provide a better
explanation than net wealth. In addition, reduction in the dependency
burden at old age leads to increased financial satisfaction while the
deterioration of health has a negative impact.
Anke C. Plagnol and Jacqueline Scott
"What matters for well-being:
Individual perceptions of quality of life before and after important
life events"
Applied Research
in Quality of Life. 6(2), pp.
(2011). (
full article at
ARQOL)
GeNet Working Paper No 33 (
pdf)
Abstract:
In recent decades, what matters for individual
quality of life (QoL) has increasingly been the focus of empirical
social science research. However, individuals are rarely asked directly
what is important for their quality of life as part of large-scale
surveys. The present analysis studies perceptions of what matters for
QoL in a large-scale longitudinal dataset - the British Household Panel
Survey - which includes an open-ended question on QoL in three waves
spanning ten years. We find that concepts of QoL change over the life
course and differ between men and women. We hypothesize that changes in
perceptions of QoL are related to important life events, such as the
birth of a first child and retirement. These life events constitute
'turning points' after which individuals often shift their priorities
of what matters for their QoL. We further explore whether such shifts
in priorities are stable or disappear more than five years after the
life event.