Happy for how long? How social capital and economic growth relate to happiness over time

The Dark Side of Chinese Growth: Declining Social Capital and Well-Being in Times of Economic Boom

“…This suggests that the erosion of social capital (Putnam, 2000) may be an important component of the explanation of the American version of the Easterlin paradox, a result further confirmed for Germany (Bartolini, Bilancini, & Sarracino, 2013). Moreover, Bartolini and Sarracino (2014) show that, in a large sample of countries, economic growth is not correlated with the trends of well-being in the long run, whereas such trends are strongly and significantly correlated with the trends of social capital. These findings are mainly drawn from developed countries, while the extent to which social capital is associated over time with SWB in developing countries remains an open issue.…”

Building sustainability through greater happiness

“…Bartolini and Sarracino (2011) show, in a large sample of countries, that in the long run, average well-being is more likely to grow in countries where social capital grows than in countries where the economy grows. In China, India and the USA, the decline in average reported well-being is largely predicted by the decline in a range of measures of social capital.…”

Redefining Well-Being in Nations and Organizations

“…Firstly, in collective societies, there may be a very strong network of trusted reciprocal relationships which are completely unrepresented by formal membership of voluntary bodies, and secondly, membership of voluntary bodies may have an impact on SWB due to a feeling of taking part in worthy, meaningful activity (rather than the social capital effect itself). Nevertheless, a correlation is often noted (Bartolini & Sarracino 2014). A more recent study by Sarracino & Bartolini (2015), in a study of China's rapid growth between 1990 and 2007, used a more nuanced assessment, taking into account answers in the World Values Survey on how much people can be trusted, citizenship (represented by answers to questions such as whether 'cheating on taxes' is acceptable) as well as the more traditional, but we would argue, flawed, membership of associations.…”