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Experienced Well-Being and Labor Market Status: The Role of Pleasure and Meaning

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  • Tobias Wolf
  • Maria Metzing
  • Richard E. Lucas

Abstract

This paper examines experienced well-being of employed and unemployed workers. We use the survey-adapted day reconstruction method (DRM) of the Innovation Sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP-IS) to analyze the role of the employment status for well-being, incorporating complete time use. Summarizing the average share of pleasurable minutes, we generate the P-index. We show that - in contrast to evaluative life satisfaction - the average unemployed experiences more pleasurable minutes due to the absence of working episodes. Hence, we examine working episodes in depth. While working is among the activities with the highest propensities for an unpleasant experience, it is also among the most meaningful activities. We show that meaning is a central non-monetary determinant for a pleasurable work episode and find that pleasure during work and job satisfaction in general have the same association with meaning.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Wolf & Maria Metzing & Richard E. Lucas, 2019. "Experienced Well-Being and Labor Market Status: The Role of Pleasure and Meaning," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1043, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1043
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    Cited by:

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    2. 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.
    3. Hetschko, Clemens & Knabe, Andreas & Schöb, Ronnie, 2021. "Happiness, Work, and Identity," GLO Discussion Paper Series 783, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Robayet Ferdous Syed & Kazi Tanvir Mahmud & Ridoan Karim, 2024. "Do Labour Welfare Policies Matter for Workers? Evidence from the Garment Supply Chain Industry in Bangladesh," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(1), pages 237-253, March.
    5. Nikolova, Milena & Cnossen, Femke, 2020. "What makes work meaningful and why economists should care about it," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Wolf, Tobias, 2020. "Welfare while working: How does the life satisfaction approach help to explain job search behavior?," Discussion Papers 2020/14, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    7. Carina Keldenich, 2022. "Work, motherhood and women’s affective well-being," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1345-1375, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experienced well-being; time use; Unemployment; Day Reconstruction Method; DRM; SOEP-IS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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