The educational, racial and gender crossovers in life satisfaction: Findings from the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study

Zhang, Wei; Braun, Kathryn L.; Wu, Yan Yan

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2017.07.014

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(62 reference statements)

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“…Lower life satisfaction was reported among low-income, less-educated, unemployed, widowed and divorced individuals, and individuals not living in large cities. Our results are in line with the findings of previous studies that examined associations between life satisfaction and income (Kahneman & Deaton, 2010), education (Zhang, Braun, & Wu, 2017), unemployment (Winkelmann, 2014), and marital status (Verbakel, 2012). Lower life satisfaction among individuals living in rural areas compared to urban areas is not surprising, given that rural areas in Serbia have much lower levels of quality of life (Beker et al, 2017), which is typical for poorer European countries (Shucksmith, Cameron, Merridew, & Pichler, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia: Findings from the Gallup World Poll

Jovanović¹,

Joshanloo²

2019

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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Research on life satisfaction in non-Western countries has grown somewhat in recent years, but still lags far behind that of developed countries. The present study was aimed at investigating determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia, a developing country that has experienced a number of difficulties over the past three decades. A large, representative Serbian sample (a total of 11,618 participants; 54.6% females, Mage = 47.02) from the Gallup World Poll was used. The results showed substantial gender differences in life satisfaction only among the oldest old (aged 81-99), with elderly women reporting substantially lower life satisfaction than elderly men (Cohen's d = 0.38). Life satisfaction showed a steady, progressive decline among women, whereas men's life satisfaction declined until approximately 50 years of age, and then remained relatively stable. The relationship between income and life satisfaction was positive, but much stronger at lower income levels. Robust predictors of life satisfaction in both men and women and across age groups were satisfaction with standard of living and household income, negative affect, and social support.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia: Findings from the Gallup World Poll

Jovanović¹,

Joshanloo²

2019

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

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“…Past research discovered that women tended to be slightly more satisfied with life than men (Joshanloo & Jovanović, 2020). Similarly, Hispanics and those with higher education typically have higher life satisfaction compared to those with less education and non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks (Zhang et al, 2017). Controlling for these factors, which potentially contribute to life satisfaction, minimized the chance of omitted variables bias in the multivariate analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Optimism on the Relationship Between Activity Limitations and Life Satisfaction Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States: A Growth Curve Model of Changes Over Time

2021

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Activity limitations can diminish life satisfaction. This study explored the role of optimism on the relationship between changes in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL/IADL) limitations and life satisfaction over time among middle-aged and older adults. Growth curve modeling accounting for intra- and inter-individual changes in life satisfaction was applied to the 2008–2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study Leave Behind Survey subsample ( n = 39,122 person-years). After controlling for sociodemographic factors, physical functioning decline adversely affected life satisfaction ( βADL = −0.12, βIADL = −0.13, p < 0.001), but the negative consequences reduced slightly through optimism ( βADL = −0.11, βIADL = −0.12, βoptimism = 0.47, p < 0.001). Increasing optimism could reduce the negative consequences of ADL/IADL limitations on life satisfaction among middle-aged to older adults.

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“…Gana et al (2012), Jivraj et al (2014), Kunzmann et al (2000), and Shankar et al (2015) used methods closest to ours, but these papers relied on smaller samples from different European countries, and they did not directly analyze the effect of mortality and differential non-response on life satisfaction. Zhang et al (2017) used HRS data and mixed effects methodology to study predictors of life satisfaction at old age. They found a positive association between age and life satisfaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The age profile of life satisfaction after age 65 in the U.S.

Hudomiet

Hurd

Rohwedder

2021

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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Although income and wealth are frequently used as indicators of well-being, they are increasingly augmented with subjective measures such as life satisfaction to capture broader dimensions of individuals' well-being. Based on data from large surveys of individuals, life satisfaction in crosssection increases with age beyond retirement into advanced old age. It may seem puzzling that average life satisfaction would be higher at older ages because older individuals are more likely to experience chronic or acute health conditions, or the loss of a spouse. Accordingly, this empirical pattern has been called the "paradox of well-being." We examine the age profile of life satisfaction of the U.S. population age 65 and older in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and also find increasing life satisfaction at older ages in cross-section. But based on the longitudinal dimension of the HRS life satisfaction significantly declines with age and the rate of decline accelerates with age. Widowing and health shocks play important roles in this decline. We reconcile the cross-section and longitudinal measurements by showing that both differential mortality and differential non-response bias the cross-sectional age profile upward: individuals with higher life satisfaction and in better health tend to live longer and to remain in the survey, causing average values to increase. We conclude that the optimistic view about increasing life satisfaction at older ages based on cross-sectional data is not warranted.

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The educational, racial and gender crossovers in life satisfaction: Findings from the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study

Cited by 21 publications

References 50 publications

The determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia: Findings from the Gallup World Poll

The determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia: Findings from the Gallup World Poll

The Role of Optimism on the Relationship Between Activity Limitations and Life Satisfaction Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States: A Growth Curve Model of Changes Over Time

The age profile of life satisfaction after age 65 in the U.S.

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