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Subjective Well-Being and Political Participation: A Comparison of Unemployed and Employed Youth

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  • Jasmine Lorenzini

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the role of subjective well-being in unemployed and employed youth political participation. Research shows that life satisfaction increases participation in voting, but has no effect on protest activities when looking at the overall population. However, in the case of youth, life dissatisfaction fosters the potential for protest activities. Since unemployment is detrimental for the subjective well-being of individuals, especially when long-lasting, I ask whether the reduced subjective well-being of long-term unemployed youth, their life dissatisfaction, fosters their participation in two forms of voice-based participation—contacting and protest activities—that can be used to express their dissatisfaction. I find that life dissatisfaction fosters the participation of employed youth in contacting activities, but not that of unemployed youth. Quite on the contrary, for protest activities, it is life satisfaction that fosters participation of the unemployed youth. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Jasmine Lorenzini, 2015. "Subjective Well-Being and Political Participation: A Comparison of Unemployed and Employed Youth," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 381-404, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:16:y:2015:i:2:p:381-404
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-014-9514-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wen-wen Zheng & Li Liu & Zhen-wei Huang & Xu-yun Tan, 2017. "Life Satisfaction as a Buffer of the Relationship Between Corruption Perception and Political Participation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 907-923, June.
    2. Gabriele Prati, 2022. "The Relationship Between Political Participation and Life Satisfaction Depends on Preference for Non-Democratic Solutions," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1867-1881, June.
    3. Randolph C. H. Chan & Winnie W. S. Mak & Wing-Yi Chan & Wan-Ying Lin, 2021. "Effects of Social Movement Participation on Political Efficacy and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study of Civically Engaged Youth," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 1981-2001, June.

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