IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v20y2019i8d10.1007_s10902-018-0064-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Commuting and Life Satisfaction Revisited: Evidence on a Non-linear Relationship

Author

Listed:
  • Julia Ingenfeld

    (University of Toronto)

  • Tobias Wolbring

    (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg)

  • Herbert Bless

    (University of Mannheim)

Abstract

Prior research has documented linear detrimental effects of commuting on individuals’ life satisfaction: the longer individuals’ daily commute, the less satisfied they are with their life. An inspection of the available longitudinal evidence suggests that this conclusion is almost exclusively based on a continuous operationalization of commuting time and distance with a focus on a linear relationship. In contrast, cross-sectional evidence indicates preliminary evidence for non-linear effects and suggests that negative effects of commuting are particularly likely when commuting exceeds a certain threshold of time or distance. Relying on nationally representative data for Germany, the present study applies longitudinal modelling comparing estimates from a continuous and a categorical operationalization. Results clearly indicate a non-linear association and show that negative effects of commuting are almost completely due to individuals who commute more than 80 km (50 miles) daily per way. These findings are in conflict with prior research (partly resting on the same data) proposing a linear relationship. Further analyses suggest that satisfaction with leisure time is a significant mediator of the observed non-linear effect. Results are discussed in light of prior theorizing on the consequences of commuting.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Ingenfeld & Tobias Wolbring & Herbert Bless, 2019. "Commuting and Life Satisfaction Revisited: Evidence on a Non-linear Relationship," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2677-2709, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:20:y:2019:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-018-0064-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-018-0064-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-018-0064-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-018-0064-2?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. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Stress that Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(2), pages 339-366, June.
    2. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2008. "Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1733-1749, April.
    3. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-204.
    4. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Salomon, Ilan, 2001. "How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 695-719, September.
    5. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    6. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    7. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    8. Novaco, Raymond W. & Stokols, Daniel & Milanesi, Louis, 1990. "Objective and Subjective Dimensions Of Travel Impedance as Determinants Of Commuting and Stress," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt10m3x16k, University of California Transportation Center.
    9. Künn-Nelen, Annemarie, 2015. "Does Commuting Affect Health?," IZA Discussion Papers 9031, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Sonja Drobnič & Barbara Beham & Patrick Präg, 2010. "Good Job, Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 205-225, November.
    11. David T. Ory & Patricia L. Mokhtarian & Lothlorien S. Redmond & Ilan Salomon & Gustavo O. Collantes & Sangho Choo, 2004. "When is Commuting Desirable to the Individual?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 334-359, September.
    12. Karlström, Anders & Isacsson, Gunnar, 2009. "Is sick absence related to commuting travel time? - Swedish Evidence Based on the Generalized Propensity Score Estimator," Working Papers 2010:3, Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI).
    13. Lyons, Glenn & Jain, Juliet & Holley, David, 2007. "The use of travel time by rail passengers in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 107-120, January.
    14. Bruno Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2014. "Economic Consequences of Mispredicting Utility," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 937-956, August.
    15. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    16. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    17. Lars Olsson & Tommy Gärling & Dick Ettema & Margareta Friman & Satoshi Fujii, 2013. "Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 255-263, March.
    18. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Salomon, Ilan, 2001. "How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 695-719, September.
    19. Jan Rouwendal, 2004. "Search Theory and Commuting Behavior," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 391-418, September.
    20. Jain, Juliet & Lyons, Glenn, 2008. "The gift of travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 81-89.
    21. Lyons, Glenn & Urry, John, 2005. "Travel time use in the information age," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 257-276.
    22. Novaco, Raymond W. & Stokols, Daniel & Milanesi, Louis, 1990. "Objective and Subjective Dimensions Of Travel Impedance as Determinants Of Commuting Stress," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5jq8164z, University of California Transportation Center.
    23. David Levinson, 1998. "Accessibility and the Journey to Work," Working Papers 199802, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    24. Robert Cummins, 1996. "The domains of life satisfaction: An attempt to order chaos," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 303-328, January.
    25. van Ommeren, Jos & Rietveld, Piet & Nijkamp, Peter, 1997. "Commuting: In Search of Jobs and Residences," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 402-421, November.
    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. Honghu Sun & Feng Zhen & Yupei Jiang, 2020. "Study on the Characteristics of Urban Residents’ Commuting Behavior and Influencing Factors from the Perspective of Resilience Theory: Theoretical Construction and Empirical Analysis from Nanjing, Chi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Setareh Ranjbar & Stefan Sperlich, 2020. "A Note on Empirical Studies of Life-Satisfaction: Unhappy with Semiparametrics?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2193-2212, August.
    3. Kroesen, Maarten, 2022. "Working from home during the corona-crisis is associated with higher subjective well-being for women with long (pre-corona) commutes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-23.
    4. Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J., 2023. "Exploring how worthwhile the things that you do in life are during COVID-19 and links to well-being and working from home," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. José M. Casado-Díaz & Raquel Simón-Albert & Hipólito Simón, 2023. "Gender Differences in Commuting: New Evidence from Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 907-941, October.
    6. Tao, Yinhua & van Ham, Maarten & Petrović, Ana & Ta, Na, 2023. "A household perspective on the commuting paradox: Longitudinal relationships between commuting time and subjective wellbeing for couples in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    7. Tao, Yinhua & Petrović, Ana & van Ham, Maarten, 2023. "Working from home and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of pre-COVID-19 commuting distance and mode choices," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    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. Kroesen, Maarten, 2022. "Working from home during the corona-crisis is associated with higher subjective well-being for women with long (pre-corona) commutes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-23.
    2. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    3. Olga Lorenz, 2017. "Does Commuting Matter to Subjective Well-Being?," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201707, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    4. Georg Hirte & Ulrike Illmann, 2019. "Household decision making on commuting and the commuting paradox," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 63-101, February.
    5. Jacob, Nikita & Munford, Luke & Rice, Nigel & Roberts, Jennifer, 2019. "The disutility of commuting? The effect of gender and local labor markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 264-275.
    6. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    7. Lorenz, Olga & Goerke, Laszlo, 2015. "Commuting and Sickness Absence," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113173, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Ben Clark & Kiron Chatterjee & Adam Martin & Adrian Davis, 2020. "How commuting affects subjective wellbeing," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2777-2805, December.
    9. Milakis, Dimitris & van Wee, Bert, 2018. "“For me it is always like half an hour”: Exploring the acceptable travel time concept in the US and European contexts," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 113-122.
    10. Morris, Eric A., 2015. "Should we all just stay home? Travel, out-of-home activities, and life satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 519-536.
    11. Bindong Sun & Jie Lin & Chun Yin, 2021. "How does commute duration affect subjective well-being? A case study of Chinese cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 885-908, April.
    12. Wheatley, Daniel, 2014. "Travel-to-work and subjective well-being: A study of UK dual career households," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 187-196.
    13. Tao, Yinhua & van Ham, Maarten & Petrović, Ana & Ta, Na, 2023. "A household perspective on the commuting paradox: Longitudinal relationships between commuting time and subjective wellbeing for couples in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    14. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2021. "On another track: Differing views of experts and politicians on rail investments in peripheral localities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    15. Vale, David S., 2013. "Does commuting time tolerance impede sustainable urban mobility? Analysing the impacts on commuting behaviour as a result of workplace relocation to a mixed-use centre in Lisbon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 38-48.
    16. Muhamad Rizki & Tri Basuki Joewono & Dimas B. E. Dharmowijoyo & Prawira Fajarindra Belgiawan, 2021. "Does multitasking improve the travel experience of public transport users? Investigating the activities during commuter travels in the Bandung Metropolitan Area, Indonesia," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 429-454, June.
    17. Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2020. "Wenn die Telekommunikation den Verkehr so gut ersetzen kann, warum gibt es dann immer mehr Staus?," Forschungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Reutter, Ulrike & Holz-Rau, Christian & Albrecht, Janna & Hülz, Martina (ed.), Wechselwirkungen von Mobilität und Raumentwicklung im Kontext gesellschaftlichen Wandels, volume 14, pages 167-195, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    18. Roberts, Jennifer & Hodgson, Robert & Dolan, Paul, 2011. "“It's driving her mad”: Gender differences in the effects of commuting on psychological health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1064-1076.
    19. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Eric Morris & Erick Guerra, 2015. "Mood and mode: does how we travel affect how we feel?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 25-43, January.

    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:20:y:2019:i:8:d:10.1007_s10902-018-0064-2. 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.