IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v154y2021i2d10.1007_s11205-020-02565-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Leonie C. Steckermeier

    (Otto-Von-Guericke-University Magdeburg)

Abstract

This paper examines the association of opportunity and choice enhancing societal conditions and perceived autonomy with life satisfaction in Europe. Building on the capability approach, I investigate whether the positive effects of six basic functionings—safety, friendship, health, financial security, leisure, and respect—on people’s life satisfaction are weaker when people have more opportunity and choice. This paper addresses two main questions: (1) Are people more satisfied with their life when they have more opportunity and choice? (2) Do basic functionings play a smaller role for life satisfaction in societies that enable more opportunity and choice and for individuals with more perceived autonomy? The analyses are based on the European Quality of Life Survey (2016), covering 36,460 individuals in 33 European countries and using multilevel linear regressions. My study finds that both choice and opportunity enhancing societal conditions and individual’s perceived autonomy are positively associated with on life satisfaction. Further, all six basic functionings are conducive to individual life satisfaction. The positive effects of health, financial security, respect, and friendship are reduced when people experience a great deal of autonomy over their lives. Societal conditions that provide people with more opportunity and choice further lower the positive effects of financial security, leisure, respect, and safety on individual life satisfaction. This corroborates the importance the capability approach attributes to individual opportunities and freedom of choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2021. "The Value of Autonomy for the Good Life. An Empirical Investigation of Autonomy and Life Satisfaction in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 693-723, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:154:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02565-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02565-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-020-02565-8
    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/s11205-020-02565-8?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. Hamid Hasan & Hayat Khan, 2015. "Do Sen's capabilities determine happiness? Evidence from a unique survey data," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(2), pages 160-181.
    2. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    3. Sen, Amartya, 2001. "Development as Freedom," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192893307.
    4. Paul Anand & Graham Hunter & Ron Smith, 2005. "Capabilities and Well-Being: Evidence Based on the Sen–Nussbaum Approach to Welfare," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 9-55, October.
    5. Anand, Paul & Krishnakumar, Jaya & Tran, Ngoc Bich, 2011. "Measuring welfare: Latent variable models for happiness and capabilities in the presence of unobservable heterogeneity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3-4), pages 205-215, April.
    6. Weiting Ng, 2015. "Processes Underlying Links to Subjective Well-being: Material Concerns, Autonomy, and Personality," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1575-1591, December.
    7. Ingrid Robeyns, 2005. "The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-117.
    8. Veenhoven, Ruut, 2010. "Capability and happiness: Conceptual difference and reality links," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 344-350, June.
    9. Santi Budría & Ada Ferrer‐I‐Carbonell, 2019. "Life Satisfaction, Income Comparisons and Individual Traits," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 337-357, June.
    10. Martin Binder, 2014. "Subjective Well-Being Capabilities: Bridging the Gap Between the Capability Approach and Subjective Well-Being Research," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1197-1217, October.
    11. Verme, Paolo, 2009. "Happiness, freedom and control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 146-161, August.
    12. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    13. Sen, Amartya K, 1979. "Personal Utilities and Public Judgements: Or What's Wrong with Welfare Economics?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 89(355), pages 537-558, September.
    14. Dulce Manzano, 2013. "Partisanship, Inequality and the Composition of Public Spending on Education," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 61(2), pages 422-441, June.
    15. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Lisa Farrell & Samuelson Appau (ed.), 2020. "Measuring, Understanding and Improving Wellbeing Among Older People," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-981-15-2353-3, June.
    16. Paul Anand & Graham Hunter & Ian Carter & Keith Dowding & Francesco Guala & Martin Van Hees, 2009. "The Development of Capability Indicators," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 125-152.
    17. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    18. Jahanvash Karim & Robert Weisz & Zainab Bibi & Shafiq Ur Rehman, 2015. "Validation of the Eight-Item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Among Older Adults," Post-Print hal-01796436, HAL.
    19. Tania Burchardt & Holly Holder, 2012. "Developing Survey Measures of Inequality of Autonomy in the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 1-25, March.
    20. Hojman, Daniel A. & Miranda, Álvaro, 2018. "Agency, Human Dignity, and Subjective Well-being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-15.
    21. E. Bárcena-Martín & B. Lacomba & A. I. Moro-Egido & S. Pérez-Moreno, 2014. "Country Differences in Material Deprivation in Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 802-820, December.
    22. Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, 2015. "Freedom and life satisfaction in transition," Society and Economy, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 37(2), pages 143-164, June.
    23. Erik Schokkaert, 2007. "Capabilities and Satisfaction with Life," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 415-430.
    24. Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan Gabriel Rodríguez, 2012. "Inequality of Opportunity in Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 58(4), pages 597-621, December.
    25. Nussbaum, Martha C., 2002. "Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice," Discussion Paper 56, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    26. Adam Mayer, 2015. "Recession and life satisfaction in 35 countries," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(2), pages 118-136.
    27. Mark Western & Wojtek Tomaszewski, 2016. "Subjective Wellbeing, Objective Wellbeing and Inequality in Australia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, October.
    28. Amartya Sen, 2004. "Capabilities, Lists, And Public Reason: Continuing The Conversation," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 77-80.
    29. J. Haavard Maridal, 2017. "A Worldwide Measure of Societal Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 1-38, October.
    30. Amartya Sen, 2005. "Human Rights and Capabilities," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 151-166.
    31. Delhey, Jan & Steckermeier, Leonie C., 2016. "The Good Life, Affluence, and Self-reported Happiness: Introducing the Good Life Index and Debunking Two Popular Myths," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 50-66.
    32. Jan Delhey, 2010. "From Materialist to Post-Materialist Happiness? National Affluence and Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Cross-National Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 65-84, May.
    33. Max Haller & Markus Hadler, 2006. "How Social Relations and Structures can Produce Happiness and Unhappiness: An International Comparative Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 75(2), pages 169-216, January.
    34. Christian Welzel & Ronald Inglehart, 2010. "Agency, Values, and Well-Being: A Human Development Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 43-63, May.
    35. Sabina Alkire, 2005. "Subjective Quantitative Studies of Human Agency," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 217-260, October.
    36. Layte, Richard & Whelan, Christopher T., 2014. "Who Feels Inferior? A Test of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Social Inequalities in Health," Papers WP476, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    37. Sabina Alkire, 2008. "Concepts and Measures of Agency," OPHI Working Papers 9, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    38. Katarina Ott, 2006. "Croatian Accession to the European Union: The challenges of participation," Chapters in books, in: Katarina Ott (ed.), Croatian Accession to the European Union: The challenges of participation, volume 4, chapter 1, pages 1-28, Institute of Public Finance.
    39. World Bank, 2011. "World Development Indicators 2011," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2315.
    40. Sudhir Anand and Amartya Sen, 1994. "Human development Index: Methodology and Measurement," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-1994-02, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    41. Luo Lu & Chia-Hsin Hu, 2005. "Personality, Leisure Experiences and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 325-342, September.
    42. Jan Delhey & Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2020. "Social Ills in Rich Countries: New Evidence on Levels, Causes, and Mediators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 87-125, May.
    43. Ruut Veenhoven, 1999. "Quality-of-Life in Individualistic Society," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 159-188, October.
    44. Bruni, Luigino & Comim, Flavio & Pugno, Maurizio (ed.), 2008. "Capabilities and Happiness," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199532148.
    45. Mariano Rojas, 2006. "Life satisfaction and satisfaction in domains of life: is it a simple relationship?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 467-497, November.
    46. Leonie C. Steckermeier, 2019. "Better Safe than Sorry. Does Agency Moderate the Relevance of Safety Perceptions for the Subjective Well-Being of Young Children?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(1), pages 29-48, February.
    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. Takahashi, Takuya & Asano, Satoshi & Uchida, Yukiko & Takemura, Kosuke & Fukushima, Shintaro & Matsushita, Kyohei & Okuda, Noboru, 2022. "Effects of forests and forest-related activities on the subjective well-being of residents in a Japanese watershed: An econometric analysis through the capability approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Graafland, Johan, 2023. "Economic freedom and life satisfaction: A moderated mediation model with individual autonomy and national culture," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Jasper Dhoore & Bram Spruyt & Jessy Siongers, 2024. "Locked Down: The Gendered Impact of Social Support on Children’s Well-Being Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 367-394, February.
    4. Tomasz Kwarciński & Paweł Ulman & Julia Wdowin, 2024. "Measuring Subjective Well-being Capability: A Multi-Country Empirical Analysis in Europe," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 19(5), pages 2555-2593, October.
    5. Hirose, Junichi & Kotani, Koji & Managi, Shunsuke, 2023. "Do autonomy and inquisitiveness contribute to SDGs? Implications from the matrilineal island of Palau," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 303-318.
    6. Kai A. Konrad, 2023. "The Political Economy of Paternalism," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2023-02, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    7. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Krzysztof Dmytrów, 2023. "The Well-Being-Related Living Conditions of Elderly People in the European Union—Selected Aspects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Qi Guo & Aurea Grané & Irene Albarrán, 2023. "A Global Indicator to Track Well-Being in the Silver and Golden Age," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 1057-1086, October.
    9. Yun-Kyeung Choi & Mohsen Joshanloo & Jae-Ho Lee & Hong-Seock Lee & Heung-Pyo Lee & Jonghwan Song, 2023. "Understanding Key Predictors of Life Satisfaction in a Nationally Representative Sample of Koreans," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(18), pages 1-19, September.

    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. Jürgen Volkert & Friedrich Schneider, 2011. "The Application of the Capability Approach to High-Income OECD Countries: A Preliminary Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 3364, CESifo.
    2. Graham, Carol & Nikolova, Milena, 2015. "Bentham or Aristotle in the Development Process? An Empirical Investigation of Capabilities and Subjective Well-Being," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 163-179.
    3. Maurizio Pugno, 2015. "Capability and Happiness: A Suggested Integration From a Dynamic Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(6), pages 1383-1399, December.
    4. Lessmann, Ortrud, 2012. "Applying the Capability Approach Empirically: An Overview with Special Attention to Labor," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(2), pages 98-118.
    5. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Sharma, Swati & Weber, Clas, 2024. "Pro-environmental behavior and subjective well-being: Culture has a role to play," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    6. Yei-Whei Lin & Chien-Hsiu Lin & Chih-Nan Chen, 2023. "Opportunities for Happiness and Its Determinants Among Children in China: A Study of Three Waves of the China Family Panel Studies Survey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(2), pages 551-579, April.
    7. Martin Binder, 2014. "Subjective Well-Being Capabilities: Bridging the Gap Between the Capability Approach and Subjective Well-Being Research," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1197-1217, October.
    8. Leßmann, Ortrud, 2011. "Empirische Studien zum Capability Ansatz auf der Grundlage von Befragungen: Ein Überblick," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    9. Mamatzakis, Emmanuel C. & Tsionas, Mike G., 2021. "Making inference of British household's happiness efficiency: A Bayesian latent model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(1), pages 312-326.
    10. Hamid Hasan, 2019. "Confidence in Subjective Evaluation of Human Well-Being in Sen’s Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Karen Hofmann & Dominik Schori & Thomas Abel, 2013. "Self-Reported Capabilities Among Young Male Adults in Switzerland: Translation and Psychometric Evaluation of a German, French and Italian Version of a Closed Survey Instrument," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 723-738, November.
    12. Edsel Beja, 2014. "Yet, Two More Revisions to the Human Development Index," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 27-39, April.
    13. Barkema, Harry G. & Bindl, Uta & Tanveer, Lamees, 2024. "How entrepreneurs achieve purpose beyond profit: the case of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119716, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Nicolai Suppa, 2012. "Does Capability Deprivation Hurt? – Evidence from German Panel Data," Ruhr Economic Papers 0359, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Suppa, Nicolai, 2012. "Does Capability Deprivation Hurt? – Evidence from German Panel Data," Ruhr Economic Papers 359, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    16. repec:zbw:rwirep:0359 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Paul Anand & Laurence S. J. Roope & Anthony J. Culyer & Ron Smith, 2020. "Disability and multidimensional quality of life: A capability approach to health status assessment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 748-765, July.
    18. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    19. Graafland, Johan, 2023. "Economic freedom and life satisfaction: A moderated mediation model with individual autonomy and national culture," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Santiago Barreno-Alcalde & Francisco Diez-Martin & Sandra Escamilla-Solano, 2024. "The Multidisciplinary Nature of the Capability Approach: Emerging Trends and Future Research Directions Through a Bibliometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, September.
    21. Ishrat Ali & Griffin W. Cottle, 2021. "Reconceptualizing Entrepreneurial Performance: The Creation and Destruction of Value from a Stakeholder Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 781-796, May.

    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:soinre:v:154:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02565-8. 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.