Well-Being over the Life Span: Semiparametric Evidence from British and German Longitudinal Data

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German SocioEconomic Panel Study (SOEP) or using SOEP data as part of an internationally comparable data set (e.g. CNEF, ECHP, LIS, LWS, CHER/PACO). SOEP is a truly multidisciplinary household panel study covering a wide range of social and behavioral sciences: economics, sociology, psychology, survey methodology, econometrics and applied statistics, educational science, political science, public health, behavioral genetics, demography, geography, and sport science. Terms of use: Documents inThe decision to publish a submission in SOEPpapers is made by a board of editors chosen by the DIW Berlin to represent the wide range of disciplines covered by SOEP. There is no external referee process and papers are either accepted or rejected without revision. Papers appear in this series as works in progress and may also appear elsewhere. They often represent preliminary studies and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be requested from the author directly. Abstract This paper applies semiparametric regression models using penalized splines to investigate the profile of well-being over the life span. Splines have the advantage that they do not require a priori assumptions about the form of the curve. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), the analysis shows a common, quite similar, age-specific pattern of life satisfaction for both Britain and Germany that can be characterized by three age stages. In the first stage, life satisfaction declines until approximately the fifth life decade. In the second age stage, well-being clearly increases and has a second turning point (maximum) after which well-being decreases in the third age stage. Several reasons for the three-phase pattern are discussed. We point to the fact that neither polynomial functions of the third nor the fourth degree describe the relationship adequately: polynomials locate the minimum and the maximum imprecisely. In addition, our analysis discusses the indistinguishability of age, period, and cohort effects: we propose estimating age-period models that control for cohort effects including substantive variables, such as the life expectancy of the birth cohort, and further observed socioeconomic characteristics in the regression.Keywords: subjective well-being, li...

The mystery of the U-shaped relationship between happiness and age

“…Wunder et al (2009) hence include a fourth-order polynomial of age in their happiness regressions, where they find that the higher order terms are also significant and hence that the U-shape is not a perfect description of the actual relationships (they find a clear negative slope at the very high age ranges). We will in this paper also look at the full age-profile later on, but initially will follow the literature and focus on a second-order polynomial (age and age-squared).…”

“…The GSOEP currently tracks about 20,000 individuals and 12,000 households. See Wunder et al (2009) for a detailed description of the data and summary statistics.…”

Physical and mental decline and yet rather happy? A study of Danes aged 45 and older

“…Based on a European sample, it was estimated that the minimum happiness occurred between 45 and 50 years of age for both males and females (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2008). However, other investigators have found that the happiness curve illustrated a range of forms including flat development, an inverted U-shape, or an approximation of a U-shape, until the late 60s followed by a decline in happiness (Easterlin, 2006; Frijters & Beatton, 2012; Gerstorf et al, 2010; Wunder, Wiencierz, Schwarze, & Kuchenhoff, 2013). In comparison, age-related differences in domains such as physical and mental functions very consistently take the form of a deteriorating curve which may well deteriorate at different speeds and even accelerate in the oldest old, but not forming a U-shaped curve (Andersen-Ranberg et al, 1999; Crimmins & Beltran-Sanchez, 2011; Frederiksen et al, 2006; McGue & Christensen, 2013; Stathokostas, Jacob-Johnson, Petrella, & Paterson, 2004).…”

Life Satisfaction and its Determinants Among Young Iranian Women

“…For example, an increasing body of studies suggests a U-shaped relationship between age and SwL over the life cycle. Based on the suggested Ushaped or curvilinear pattern, life satisfaction decreases to midlife, and then subsequently increases towards retirement (19)(20)(21). The main reason for this could be positive psychological states at younger and older ages.…”