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The Association Between Life Satisfaction and Affective Well-Being

Author

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  • Berlin, Martin

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

  • Fors, Filip

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

Abstract

We estimate the correlation between life satisfaction and affective (emotional) well-being – two conceptually distinct dimensions of subjective well-being. We propose a simple model that distinguishes between a stable and a transitory component of affective well-being, and which also accounts for measurement error in self-reports of both variables, including current mood-bias effects on life satisfaction judgments. The model is estimated using momentarily measured well-being data, from an experience sampling survey that we conducted on a population sample of Swedes aged 18–50 (n=252). Our main estimates of the correlation between life satisfaction and long-run affective well-being range between 0.78 and 0.91, indicating a stronger convergence between these variables than many previous studies that do not account for measurement issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Berlin, Martin & Fors, Filip, 2017. "The Association Between Life Satisfaction and Affective Well-Being," Working Paper Series 1/2017, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2017_001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Haiyang Lu & Ivan T. Kandilov, 2021. "Does Mobile Internet Use Affect the Subjective Well-being of Older Chinese Adults? An Instrumental Variable Quantile Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 3137-3156, October.
    2. Zhijian Zhang & Xueyuan Wang, 2021. "Ambition or Jealousy? It Depends on Whom you are Compared with," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1189-1215, March.

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    Keywords

    Subjective well-being; life satisfaction; affective well-being;
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