Working Paper: NBER ID: w18486
Authors: John F. Helliwell
Abstract: The paper first attempts to demonstrate the fundamental importance of the social context. The related evidence is drawn from recent theoretical and empirical advances in the study of subjective well-being. Treating people's self-assessments of the quality of their lives as valid measures of well-being exposes the importance of the social context and suggests new ways to design better policies.\n\nThe paper starts with demonstrations of the unexpectedly great well-being consequences of social and pro-social behavior. In addition, evidence is advanced to show an evolutionary fitness for social and pro-social behaviors above and beyond those flowing through their direct consequences for subjective well-being. This is followed by discussion of specific measures of the social context, of the fundamental importance of trust as social glue, and of several experiments designed to improve subjective well-being.
Keywords: social context; wellbeing; subjective wellbeing; prosocial behavior; trust
JEL Codes: D6; I28; N30
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| supportive social networks (Z13) | life satisfaction (I31) |
| perceived work supervisors as partners (M54) | happiness (I31) |
| prosocial acts (D64) | happiness (I31) |
| altruistic behaviors (D64) | wellbeing of givers (D64) |
| trust (G21) | social capital (Z13) |
| higher trust levels (Z13) | wellbeing (I31) |
| social and prosocial behaviors (Z13) | subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| synchronized social activities (Z13) | subjective wellbeing (I31) |