IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v15y2014i1p85-118.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Happiness and Leisure Across Countries: Evidence from International Survey Data

Author

Listed:
  • Miao Wang
  • M. Wong

Abstract

We study the statistical link between leisure and happiness. Using survey data from 33 countries in 2007, we find that (1) certain leisure activities, leisure’s role in self-fulfillment and social interaction, and leisure’s relation to work and other spheres of life are significantly linked to individual happiness; (2) the effect of leisure quantity is not as important as other aspects of leisure; and (3) some leisure activities can be negatively associated with happiness. Consistent with findings in previous studies, family income and individual demographic variables such as age and health condition are significantly associated with happiness. National unemployment and political stability also have robustly significant effects on happiness. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Miao Wang & M. Wong, 2014. "Happiness and Leisure Across Countries: Evidence from International Survey Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 85-118, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:85-118
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-013-9417-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10902-013-9417-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-013-9417-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    2. AndrewE. Clark & Claudia Senik, 2010. "Who Compares to Whom? The Anatomy of Income Comparisons in Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(544), pages 573-594, May.
    3. Bruce Headey & Mark Wooden, 2004. "The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well‐Being and Ill‐Being," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(s1), pages 24-33, September.
    4. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    5. Ruut Veenhoven, 1996. "Developments in satisfaction-research," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 1-46, January.
    6. repec:pri:cepsud:125krueger is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2005. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 963-1002.
    8. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    9. Christopher Peterson & Nansook Park & Martin Seligman, 2005. "Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: the full life versus the empty life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 25-41, March.
    10. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September.
    11. Bruno Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2005. "Happiness Research: State and Prospects," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 207-228.
    12. Jones, K. & Johnston, R. J. & Pattie, C. J., 1992. "People, Places and Regions: Exploring the Use of Multi-Level Modelling in the Analysis of Electoral Data," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 343-380, July.
    13. Sonja Lyubomirsky & Heidi Lepper, 1999. "A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 137-155, February.
    14. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-484, July.
    15. Yoshitaka Iwasaki, 2007. "Leisure and quality of life in an international and multicultural context: what are major pathways linking leisure to quality of life?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 82(2), pages 233-264, June.
    16. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2011. "International Happiness," NBER Working Papers 16668, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00754447 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    19. Peggy Schyns, 2002. "Wealth Of Nations, Individual Income andLife Satisfaction in 42 Countries:A Multilevel Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 5-40, December.
    20. Harvey S. James, Jr., 2011. "Is the Just Man a Happy Man? An Empirical Study of the Relationship between Ethics and Subjective Well‐Being," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 193-212, May.
    21. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2006. "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion," Working Papers 77, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    22. Arthur A. Stone & Joseph E. Schwartz & Joan E. Broderick & Angus Deaton, 2010. "A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States," Working Papers 1230, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    23. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade & Norbert Schwarz & Arthur A. Stone, 2006. "Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion," Working Papers 77, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    24. Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Happiness: A Revolution in Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262062771, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Junyi Zhang & Yubing Xiong, 2015. "Effects of multifaceted consumption on happiness in life: a case study in Japan based on an integrated approach," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(2), pages 143-162, June.
    2. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Rintaro Yamaguchi & Kazuki Kagohashi & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Are Cognitive, Affective, and Eudaimonic Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Differently Related to Consumption? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2499-2522, August.
    3. Donghwy An & Bo‐ram Jeong & Nara Youn, 2022. "Effects of art consumption on consumer well‐being," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 685-702, June.
    4. Bruno S. Frey & Anthony Gullo, 2021. "Does Sports Make People Happier, or Do Happy People More Sports?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(4), pages 432-458, May.
    5. Richard A. Burns, 2019. "The Utility of Between-Nation Subjective Wellbeing Comparisons Amongst Nations Within the European Social Survey," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 683-705, March.
    6. Daniel Wheatley & Craig Bickerton, 2017. "Subjective well-being and engagement in arts, culture and sport," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(1), pages 23-45, February.
    7. Michelle A. Pievsky & Robert E. McGrath, 2022. "National Valuing of Character Strengths and Indicators of National Development: A Pilot Study," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 703-721, April.
    8. Dong Zhou & Langchuan Peng, 2018. "The Relationship Between the Gender Gap in Subjective Well-Being and Leisure Activities in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 2139-2166, October.
    9. Kim, Jeeyoon & Kim, Yukyoum & Kim, Daehwan, 2017. "Improving well-being through hedonic, eudaimonic, and social needs fulfillment in sport media consumption," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 309-321.
    10. Daniel Wheatley & Craig Bickerton, 2019. "Measuring changes in subjective well-being from engagement in the arts, culture and sport," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(3), pages 421-442, September.
    11. M. Joseph Sirgy & Muzaffer Uysal & Stefan Kruger, 2017. "Towards a Benefits Theory of Leisure Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 205-228, March.
    12. Germán Lobos & Klaus G. Grunert & Miguel Bustamante & Berta Schnettler, 2016. "With Health and Good Food, Great Life! Gender Differences and Happiness in Chilean Rural Older Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 865-885, June.
    13. Qiang Li & Lian An, 2020. "Corruption Takes Away Happiness: Evidence from a Cross-National Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 485-504, February.
    14. Richard A. Burns & Dimity A. Crisp, 2022. "Prioritizing Happiness has Important Implications for Mental Health, but Perhaps Only if you Already are Happy," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 375-390, February.
    15. Knut Halvorsen, 2016. "Economic, Financial, and Political Crisis and Well-Being in the PIGS-Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(4), pages 21582440166, December.
    16. Andrej Srakar & Vesna Čopič & Miroslav Verbič, 2018. "European cultural statistics in a comparative perspective: index of economic and social condition of culture for the EU countries," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 163-199, May.
    17. Fernando BRUNA & Isabel NEIRA & Marta PORTELA, 2019. "Horizontal And Vertical Contexts On Europeans’ Well-Being," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 19(2), pages 37-56.
    18. Fernando Lera-López & Andrea Ollo-López & José Manuel Sánchez-Santos, 2017. "How Does Physical Activity Make You Feel Better? The Mediational Role of Perceived Health," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(3), pages 511-531, September.
    19. Ricardo Pagan, 2020. "Sport Participation, Life Satisfaction and Domains of Satisfaction among People with Disabilities," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 893-911, July.
    20. Iuliia Naidenova & Petr Parshakov & Sofiia Paklina, 2020. "Determinants of Football Fans’ Happiness: Evidence from Facial Emotion Recognition," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1103-1116, March.
    21. KangJae Jerry Lee & Seonghee Cho & Eui Kyung Kim & Sunhwan Hwang, 2020. "Do More Leisure Time and Leisure Repertoire Make Us Happier? An Investigation of the Curvilinear Relationships," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1727-1747, June.
    22. Claudia Schmiedeberg & Jette Schröder, 2017. "Leisure Activities and Life Satisfaction: an Analysis with German Panel Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 137-151, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen-Chun Chang, 2013. "Climbing up the Social Ladders: Identity, Relative Income, and Subjective Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 513-535, August.
    2. Fengyu Wu, 2020. "An Examination of the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in Australia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2735-2771, December.
    3. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.
    4. Flèche, Sarah, 2015. "Distaste for centralization: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in Switzerland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Salland, Jan, 2021. "Income Comparison and Happiness within Households," Working Paper 191/2021, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg.
    6. T. Lakshmanasamy, 2010. "Are You Satisfied with Your Income? The Economics of Happiness in India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, The Indian Econometric Society, vol. 8(2), pages 115-141.
    7. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    8. Iddisah Sulemana, 2015. "The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 849-872, April.
    9. Di Tella, Rafael & Haisken-De New, John & MacCulloch, Robert, 2010. "Happiness adaptation to income and to status in an individual panel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 834-852, December.
    10. Molina, José Alberto & Navarro Paniagua, Maria & Walker, Ian, 2007. "Mums and Their Sons, Dads and Their Daughters: Panel Data Evidence of Interdependent Marginal Utilities across 14 EU Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 2734, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2012. "Does Education Affect Happiness? Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 185-196, August.
    12. Zhifang Su & Jr‐Tsung Huang & Arthur Jin Lin, 2021. "House price expectations, mortgages, and subjective well‐being in urban China," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 1540-1562, December.
    13. Molnár, György & Kapitány, Zsuzsa, 2006. "Mobilitás, bizonytalanság és szubjektív jóllét Magyarországon [Mobility, uncertainty and subjective welfare in Hungary]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 845-872.
    14. Mentzakis, Emmanouil & Moro, Mirko, 2009. "The poor, the rich and the happy: Exploring the link between income and subjective well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 147-158, January.
    15. Vendrik, Maarten C.M. & Woltjer, Geert B., 2007. "Happiness and loss aversion: Is utility concave or convex in relative income?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(7-8), pages 1423-1448, August.
    16. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    17. Victoria Ateca-Amestoy & Alexandra Aguilar & Ana Moro-Egido, 2014. "Social Interactions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Latin America," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 527-554, June.
    18. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    19. Thi Truong An Hoang & Andreas Knabe, 2021. "Time Use, Unemployment, and Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Using British Time-Use Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2525-2548, August.
    20. Alejandro Cid & Daniel Ferres & Máximo Rossi, 2008. "Subjective Well-Being in the Southern Cone: Health, Income and Family," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1308, Department of Economics - dECON.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:85-118. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.