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Religion and subjective well-being among the elderly in China

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  • Brown, Philip H.
  • Tierney, Brian

Abstract

Evidence from developed and developing countries alike demonstrates a strongly positive relationship between religiosity and happiness, particularly for women and particularly among the elderly. Using survey data from the oldest old in China, we find a strong negative relationship between religious participation and subjective well-being in a rich multivariate logistic framework that controls for demographics, health and disabilities, living arrangements, wealth and income, lifestyle and social networks, and location. In contrast to other studies, we also find that religion has a larger effect on subjective well-being on men than women.

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  • Brown, Philip H. & Tierney, Brian, 2009. "Religion and subjective well-being among the elderly in China," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 310-319, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:38:y:2009:i:2:p:310-319
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlsson, Fredrik & Lampi, Elina & Li, Wanxin & Martinsson, Peter, 2014. "Subjective well-being among preadolescents and their parents – Evidence of intergenerational transmission of well-being from urban China," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 11-18.
    2. Jie Dong & Yanjun Ren & Thomas Glauben, 2024. "Gospel or curse: the impact of religious beliefs on energy poverty in rural China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Tuyen Quang Tran & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Huong Vu, 2018. "Does Economic Inequality Affect the Quality of Life of Older People in Rural Vietnam?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 781-799, March.
    4. Jun Lu & Qin Gao, 2017. "Faith and Happiness in China: Roles of Religious Identity, Beliefs, and Practice," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 273-290, May.
    5. Maia-Silva, Keyla Medeiros & Zamel, Noe & Selby, Peter & Fontes, Cor Jesus Fernandes & Santos, Ubiratan Paula, 2021. "Tobacco smoking associated with adverse childhood experiences in a Brazilian community university sample: A case-control study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    6. Tuyen Quang Tran & Thanh Quy Nguyen & Huong Vu & Tinh Thanh Doan, 2017. "Religiosity and Subjective Well-Being Among Old People: Evidence from a Transitional Country," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 947-962, December.
    7. Haiyang Lu & Ivan T. Kandilov, 2021. "Does Mobile Internet Use Affect the Subjective Well-being of Older Chinese Adults? An Instrumental Variable Quantile Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 3137-3156, October.
    8. Nicolas Loewe & Mehdi Bagherzadeh & Luis Araya-Castillo & Claudio Thieme & Joan Batista-Foguet, 2014. "Life Domain Satisfactions as Predictors of Overall Life Satisfaction Among Workers: Evidence from Chile," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 71-86, August.
    9. Xuan Sun & Weikai Wang & Tao Sun & Ya Ping Wang, 2018. "Understanding the Living Conditions of Chinese Urban Neighborhoods through Social Infrastructure Configurations: The Case Study of Tianjin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Quang Tran, Tuyen & Quy Nguyen, Thanh & Vu Van, Huong & Thanh Doan, Tinh, 2015. "Religiosity and life satisfaction among old people: Evidence from a transitional country," MPRA Paper 81360, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jun 2015.
    11. Niu, Geng & Zhao, Guochang, 2018. "Religion and trust in strangers among China's rural-urban migrants," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 265-272.
    12. Mubashir Qasim & Arthur Grimes, 2018. "Sustainable economic policy and well-being: The relationship between adjusted net savings and subjective well-being," Working Papers 18_06, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    13. Zhen Zhang & Jianxin Zhang, 2015. "Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being Among Retirees in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 143-160, August.
    14. Tuyen Quang Tran & Huong Vu, 2018. "A microeconometric analysis of housing and life satisfaction among the Vietnamese elderly," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 849-867, March.
    15. Sor Tho Ng & Nai Peng Tey & M Niaz Asadullah, 2017. "What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    16. Zhu, Chen & Shen, Jim Huangnan & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Liu, Shouying, 2022. "Does religion belief matter to self-employment of rural elderly? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Zhenzhen Qin & Yao Song, 2020. "The Sacred Power of Beauty: Examining the Perceptual Effect of Buddhist Symbols on Happiness and Life Satisfaction in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-19, April.
    18. Carlsson, Fredrik & Lampi, Elina & Li, Wanxin & Martinsson, Peter, 2011. "Subjective well-being among preadolescents - Evidence from urban China," Working Papers in Economics 500, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    19. J. M. Tomás & P. Sancho & L. Galiana & A. Oliver, 2016. "A Double Test on the Importance of Spirituality, the “Forgotten Factor”, in Successful Aging," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1377-1389, July.
    20. Fabio Zagonari, 2016. "Which Attitudes Will Make us Individually and Socially Happier and Healthier? A Cross-Culture and Cross-Development Analytical Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2527-2554, December.
    21. Quang Tran, Tuyen & Viet Nguyen, Cuong & Van Vu, Huong, 2015. "Economic Inequality and Happiness: A quantitative study among the elderly in Rural Vietnam," MPRA Paper 81235, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Oct 2016.

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