Skip to main content
Log in

Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between social capital and happiness both in Europe as a whole, as well as in its four main geographical macro-regions—North, South, East and West—separately. We test the hypothesis of whether social capital, in its three-fold definition established by Coleman (Am J Sociol 94:S95–S120 1988)—trust, social interaction, and norms and sanctions—influences individual happiness across European countries and regions. The concept of social capital is further enriched by incorporating Putnam (Making democracy work—civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993) and Olson (The rise and decline of nations—economic growth, stagflation, and social rigidities. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1982) type variables on associational activity. Using ordinal logistic regression analysis on data for 48,583 individuals from 25 European countries, we reach three main findings. First, social capital matters for happiness across the three dimensions considered. Second, the main drivers of the effects of social capital on happiness appear to be informal social interaction and general social, as well as institutional trust. And third, there are significant differences in how social capital interacts with happiness across different areas of Europe, with the connection being at is weakest in the Nordic countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Following the happiness economics literature, this paper uses the terms well-being, life-satisfaction and happiness as synonyms.

  2. We opted for an ordered logistic regression model because of its ability to capture the structure of our assumed generalized reported happiness function, as suggested by Blanchflower and Oswald (2004). An ordered logistic regression (ologit) can be seen as an extension to the logistic regression model. While the latter evaluates binary dependent variables, ologit models take into account dependent variables with more than two response categories ordered in a logical sequence i.e. from very unhappy to very happy. An alternative method would have been to run the regressions using ordinary least squares (OLS). We have conducted such analysis and, when OLS is used, neither the coefficients, nor the significance levels of both the control variables and the variables of social capital in question vary much with respect to the ologit analysis. This is in line with what is predicted by Ferrer-i-Carbonell and Frijters (2004). The OLS results of the analysis can be made available upon request.

  3. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia and Slovakia. Russia, Turkey, Norway, Ukraine and Israel (the non-EU members) were dropped from the dataset because of problems in comparability of some of the control variables. Complete datasets for Lithuania, Luxemburg, Italy and Malta were not available.

  4. The reverse causality issue, as explained by Helliwell and Putnam (2004), refers to the possible two-way linkage between happiness and other factors. While one could assume that, say, healthier people are happier than others, one could also argue the opposite, that happier people generally are healthier than unhappy ones.

  5. A similar method was used by Alesina et al. (2004). Instead of using the cluster option, they arbitrarily divided the answers ranging from 1 to 10 into two groups. This method proved to be unsatisfactory for the purpose of our analysis, since the various answers ranging from 1 to 10 are not equally distributed among the observations.

  6. The full results, including the macroeconomic and socio-demographic variables, can be provided upon request.

  7. The 11 happiness categories were divided as follows: 0, 1, 2, very unhappy, 3, 4, 5, fairly happy, 6, 7, happy, 8, 9, 10 very happy. Very happy was chosen to include the three scores 8, 9 and 10 to properly reflect the diversity of European countries when referring to the marginal effects. If only 9, 10 were chosen, only the Nordic countries would have been taken into consideration.

  8. Given that the income comparison variable was only available for one wave of the ESS, for the sake of brevity, these results are not displayed in the paper. However, they can be made available upon request.

References

  • Alesina, A., DiTella, R., & MacCulloch, R. (2004). Inequality and happiness: Are Europeans and Americans different? Journal of Public Economics, 88, 2042–2209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almond, G., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartolini, S., Bilancini, E. & Pugno, M. (2008). Did the decline in social capital depress Americans’ Happiness? Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia Politica, Università Degli Studi Di Siena.

  • Becchetti, L., Pelloni, A., & Rossetti, F. (2008). Relational goods, sociability, and happiness. Kyklos, 61, 343–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnskov, C. (2003). The happy few: Cross-country evidence on social capital and life satisfaction. Kyklos, 56(1), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnskov, C. (2006). The multiple facets of social capital. Journal of Political Economy, 22, 22–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnskov, C. (2008). Social capital and happiness in the United States. Applied Research Quality Life, 3(1), 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchflower, D., & Oswald, A. (2004). Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. Journal of Public Economics, 88, 1359–1386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A., & Oswald, A. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. The Economic Journal, 104(424), 648–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A., & Oswald, A. (1996). Satisfaction and comparison income. Journal of Public Economics, 61(3), 359–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, B., Funk, P., & Garcia-Peñalosa, C. (2001). Status effects and negative utility growth. The Economic Journal, 111, 642–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Den Butter, F. & Mosch, R. (2004). Externalities of social capital: The role of values, norms and networks. Tinbergen Institute and Vrije Universiteit Working Paper, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Amsterdam.

  • Diener, E., Diener, M., & Diener, C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 851–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiTella, R., MacCulloch, R., & Oswald, A. (2001). Preferences over inflation and unemployment. Evidence from surveys of happiness. The American economic review, 91(1), 335–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. (1974). Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In P. David & M. Reder (Eds.), Nations and households in economic growth: Essays in Honor of Moses Abramowitz (pp. 89–125). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. (1995). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1), 35–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. (2001). Income and happiness: Towards a unified theory. Economic Journal, 111, 465–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESS Round 3: European Social Survey Round 3 Data (2006). Data file edition 3.3. Norwegian Social Science Data Services, Norway—Data Archive and distributor of ESS data. http://ess.nsd.uib.no/ess/round3, accessed: 13.02.2011.

  • ESS Round 4: European Social Survey Round 4 Data (2008). Data file edition 4.0. Norwegian Social Science Data Services, Norway—Data Archive and distributor of ESS data. http://ess.nsd.uib.no/ess/round4, accessed: 23.02.2011.

  • Eurostat (2011). http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database accessed: 12.04.2011.

  • Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., & Frijters, P. (2004). How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness. Economic Journal, 114, 641–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, R. H. (1985). Choosing the right pond. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B., & Stutzer, A. (2000). Happiness, economy and institutions. The Economic Journal, 110, 918–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B., & Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and Economics—how the economy and institutions affect well-being. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerdtham, U. G., & Johannesson, M. (2001). The relationship between happiness, health and socio-economic factors: results based on Swedish micro data. Journal of Socio-Economics, 30(6), 553–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haller, M., & Hadler, M. (2006). How social relations and structures can produce happiness and unhappiness: An international comparative analysis. Social Indicators Research, 75, 169–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayo, B. (2004). Happiness in Eastern Europe. Philipps-Univsersität Marburg Working Papers on Economics No. 12/2004, Department of Economics, Marburg.

  • Hayo, B., & Seifert, W. (2003). Subjective well-being in Eastern Europe. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 329–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J. (2001). Social capital, the economy and well-being. Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, 1, 43–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J. (2003). How’s life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic Modelling, 20, 331–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J. and Putnam R. (2004). The social context of well-being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B., vol. 359, pp. 1435–1446.

  • Helliwell, J. (2006). Well-being, social capital and public policy: What’s new? The Economic Journal, 116, C34–C45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J., Barrington-Leigh, C., Harris, A. and Huang, H. (2009). International evidence on the social context of well-being, NBER Working Papers, Working Paper N° 14720, National Bureau of Economic Research.

  • Helliwell, J. and Barrington-Leigh, C. (2010). How much is social capital worth? NBER working papers, Working Paper N° 16025, National Bureau of Economic Research.

  • Helliwell, J., & Wang, S. (2011). Trust and well-being. International Journal of Well-being, 1(1), 42–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J. (2006). Institutional trust and subjective well-being across the EU. Kyklos, 59(1), 43–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keefer, Ph., & Knack, S. (1997). Does social capital have an economic payoff? A cross country investigation. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(4), 1251–1288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knack, S. (2003). Groups, growth and trust: Cross-country evidence on the Olson and Putnam Hypotheses. Public Choice, 117, 341–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. London: Penguin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lelkes, O. (2006). Knowing what is good for you. Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the “objective good”. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, 285–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leung, A., Kier, C., Fung, T., Fung, L. and Sproule, R. (2010). Searching for Happiness: The Importance of Social Capital. Journal of Happiness Studies, doi: 10.1007/s10902-010-9208-8.

  • Loury, G. (1977). A dynamic theory of racial income differences. In P. A. Wallace & A. LeMund (Eds.), Woman, minorities, and employment discrimination. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayo, J., & Tinsley, C. (2009). Warm glow and charitable giving: Why the wealthy do not give more to charity? Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 490–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Napier, J., & Jost, J. (2008). Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Psychological Science, 19(6), 565–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North, D. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M. (1982). The rise and decline of nations—economic growth, stagflation, and social rigidities. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oswald, A. (1997). Happiness and economic performance. Economic Journal Royal Economic Society, 107(445), 1815–1831.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paldam, M. (2001). Social capital: one or many? Definition and measurement. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14, 629–653.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parissaki, M. And., & Humphreys, E. (2005). Regional social capital in Europe. Dublin: European foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paxton, P. (1999). Is social capital declining in the United States? A multiple indicator assessment. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 88–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pichler, F. (2006). Subjective quality of life of young europeans. Feeling happy but who knows why? Social Indicators Research, 75, 419–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollner, M. (1989). Divine relations, social relations, and well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, 92–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powdthavee, N. (2009). Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbours: Using surveys of life satisfaction to value social relationships. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 37(4), 1459–1480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (1993). Making democracy work—civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone—the collapse and revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ram, R. (2010). Social capital and happiness: Additional cross-country evidence. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11, 409–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Pose, A., & Maslauskaite, K. (2012). Can policy make us happier? Individual characteristics, socio-economic factors and life satisfaction in Central and Eastern Europe. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 5(1), 77–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrik, D. (1998). Where did all the growth go? External shocks, social conflict, and growth collapses. NBER Working Paper No. 6350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge.

  • Smelser, N., & Swedberg, R. (Eds.). (1994). The handbook of economic sociology. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uslaner, E. (2002). The moral foundations of trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Oorschot, W., Arts, W., & Gelissen, J. (2006). Social capital in Europe: Measurement and social and regional distribution of a multifaceted phenomenon. Acta Sociologica, 49(2), 149–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkelmann, R. (2009). Unemployment, social capital, and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(4), 421–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolcock, M. (1998). Social capital and economic development: Toward a theoretical synthesis and policy framework. Theory and Society, 27, 151–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolcock, M., & Narayan, D. (2000). Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy. World Bank Research Observer, 15(2), 1–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zak, P., & Knack, S. (2001). Trust and growth. The Economic Journal, 111, 295–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies, Antonella delle Fave, its coeditor for economics, Stephanie Rossouw, and a number of anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions to successive drafts of this paper. The research leading to this paper would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no 269868.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrés Rodríguez-Pose.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Description of variables

Variable type

Variable

Description

Range

SD

Mean

Coding

Control Variable

Lgdpcap

Log of GDP per capita

8.1–11.3

0.5788706

10.10462

 Macroeconomic

lgdpcap2

Log of GDP per capita squared

66.1–128.3

1.135.264

10.24384

 

Inflation

Inflation rate of respective country

1.3–15.3

232.473

3.422532

 

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate of respective country

3.1–13.9

239.543

7.049566

 

Inequality

Gini coefficient (= income inequality)

23.4–37.7

3.874.474

29.00267

Control Variable

Gender

Gender of respondent

0–1

0.4998242

0.4865488

Male = 1, female = 0

 Socio-demographic

Age

Age of respondent

15–90

17.55349

47.45001

 

Age2

Age of respondent squared

225–8100

1743.515

2559.622

 

No edu

No education

0–1

0.0663642

0.0044237

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Primary edu

Primary Education

0–1

0.230372

0.0562323

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Secondary edu

Secondary Education

0–1

0.498551

0.4618946

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Tertiary edu

Tertiary Education

0–1

0.4994964

0.4774495

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Very good health

Very good health

0–1

0.4159439

0.2225217

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Good health

Good health

0–1

0.4978669

0.4538085

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Fair health

Fair health

0–1

0.4354426

0.2542488

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Bad health

Bad health

0–1

0.2349899

0.0586601

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Very bad health

Very bad health

0–1

0.103176

0.0107609

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Unemployed

Respondent unemployed

0–1

0.2261212

0.0540513

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Married

Marital status: married

0–1

0.4987874

0.5348751

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Couple

Marital status: couple

0–1

0.1531499

0.0240319

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Separated

Marital status: separated

0–1

0.1171141

0.0139089

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Divorced

Marital status: divorced

0–1

0.2742934

0.0819514

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Widowed

Marital status: widowed

0–1

0.2666153

0.0770133

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Single

Marital status: single

0–1

0.4411016

0.264557

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Big city

Domicile: big city

0–1

0.3969727

0.1960002

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Suburb

Domicile: suburb of a big city

0–1

0.334481

0.1283486

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Town

Domicile: town

0–1

0.4652893

0.3169417

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Village

Domicile: village

0–1

0.4541886

0.290914

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Country side

Domicile: countryside

0–1

0.2513973

0.0677956

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Political orientation

Political orientation of the respondent

0–1

0.4759817

0.290914

Right = 1, left = 0

 

Income 1

Household’s total net income, all sources: 1st quantile

0–1

0.3267789

0.1215588

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Income 2

Household’s income: 2nd quintile

0–1

0.407013

0.2095799

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Income 3

Household’s income: 3rd quintile

0–1

0.3977898

0.1970701

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Income 4

Household’s income: 4th quintile

0–1

0.4095151

0.2131188

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Income 5

Household’s income: 5th quintile

0–1

0.3360518

0.1297683

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Income comparison

Importance of comparing the own income with other people’s

1–6

1.828237

2.280028

1 = not important 6 = very important

Social capital: trust

Trust people

Most people can be trusted in dealing with people

0–1

0.4979426

0.4546315

Yes = 1, no = 0

 Social trust

Trust legal system

Trust in the legal system

0–1

0.4995074

0.4776964

Trust = 1, no trust = 0

 

Satisfaction health system

Satisfaction with the health system

0–1

0.4999977

0.5027365

Satisfied = 1, unsatisfied = 0

 

Satisfaction education system

Satisfaction with the education system

0–1

0.4845722

0.6232665

Satisfied = 1, unsatisfied = 0

Social capital: information channels

Never meet

Meet socially with friends, relatives or work colleagues: never

0–1

0.1171995

0.0139295

Yes = 1, no = 0

 Putnam-type (in)formal social interaction

Less than once

Meet socially: less than once a month

0–1

0.2565956

0.0708613

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Once a month

Meet socially: once a month

0–1

0.2835378

0.0881651

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Several times a month

Meet socially: several times a month

0–1

0.3924775

0.1902185

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Once a week

Meet socially: once a week

0–1

0.3897904

0.1868442

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Several times a week

Meet socially: several times a week

0–1

0.453685

0.2898235

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Everyday

Meet socially: everyday

0–1

0.3667563

0.160158

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Voluntary work

Participation in voluntary work

0–1

0.4519313

0.2860788

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Church attendance

Frequency of church attendance

1–7

2.527015

1.508663

1 = never 2 = less often 3 = only on special holy days 4 = at least once a month 5 = once a week 6 = more than once a week 7 = everyday

 

Work political party

Work in a political party or action group

0–1

0.2043219

0.0436521

Yes = 1, no = 0

 Olson-type formal social interaction

Contacted politician

Contacted a politician

0–1

0.3693793

0.1630108

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Worn campaign badge

Worn or displayed a campaign badge/sticker

0–1

0.2727716

0.0809568

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Participation demonstration

Participation in a lawful demonstration

0–1

0.2515144

0.0678637

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Member trade union

Member of a trade union or similar organization

0–1

0.4988599

0.4661783

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Work for professional association

Member in a professional association or organization

0–1

0.378035

0.1727501

Yes = 1, no = 0

Social capital: norms and sanctions

Feeling of safety

Feeling of safety when walking alone outside after dark

0–1

0.4171462

0.7756677

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

People fair

Most people try to take advantage of you/try to be fair

0–1

0.4318647

0.7519855

Yes = 1, no = 0

 

Worry about home

How often worry about your home being burgled

0–1

0.4570253

0.2971894

Worry = 1 not worry = 0

 

Worry becoming victim

How often worry about becoming a victim of violent crime

0–1

0.3952611

0.193778

Worry = 1 not worry = 0

Appendix 2

Number of observations by country and round

Country

ESS 2006

ESS 2008

Austria

2,405

Belgium

1,798

1,760

Bulgaria

1,400

2,230

Cyprus

995

Czech Republic

2,018

Germany

2,916

2,751

Denmark

1,505

1,610

Estonia

1,517

1,661

Spain

1,876

2,576

Finland

1,896

2,195

France

1,986

2,073

United Kingdom

2,394

2,352

Greece

2,072

Hungary

1,518

1,544

Ireland

1,800

1,764

Latvia

1,980

Netherlands

1,889

1,778

Poland

1,721

1,619

Portugal

2,222

2,367

Romania

2,146

Sweden

1,927

1,830

Slovenia

1,476

1,286

Slovakia

1,766

  1. Source European Social Survey 2006 and 2008

Appendix 3

Correlation matrix social capital variables

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1

1

           

2

0.29

1

          

3

0.20

0.27

1

         

4

0.19

0.25

0.37

1

        

5

−0.05

−0.03

−0.03

−0.02

1

       

6

−0.08

−0.07

−0.08

−0.05

−0.03

1

      

7

−0.06

−0.05

−0.06

−0.04

−0.04

−0.09

1

     

8

−0.01

−0.01

−0.01

−0.02

−0.06

−0.13

−0.15

1

    

9

0.01

0.01

0.01

0.02

−0.06

−0.13

−0.15

−0.23

1

   

10

0.08

0.08

0.07

0.05

−0.08

−0.18

−0.20

−0.31

−0.31

1

  

11

0.01

−0.01

0.02

0.01

−0.05

−0.12

−0.14

−0.21

−0.21

−0.28

1

 

12

0.03

0.03

0.02

0.01

−0.01

−0.02

−0.01

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.02

1

13

0.05

0.05

0.02

0.00

−0.02

−0.03

−0.03

−0.02

0.00

0.03

0.03

0.28

14

0.07

0.06

0.04

0.03

−0.02

−0.05

−0.04

−0.02

−0.01

0.04

0.05

0.26

15

0.03

0.01

0.01

−0.04

−0.02

−0.03

−0.03

−0.01

−0.02

0.03

0.05

0.19

16

0.10

0.10

0.06

0.07

−0.05

−0.08

−0.05

−0.02

−0.01

0.07

0.06

0.14

17

−0.04

−0.03

−0.06

0.02

0.01

0.04

0.04

0.01

0.02

−0.05

−0.03

0.02

18

0.10

0.07

0.02

0.07

−0.01

0.01

0.04

0.03

0.03

−0.02

−0.08

0.05

19

0.15

0.14

0.10

0.05

−0.04

−0.08

−0.05

−0.01

−0.01

0.08

0.04

0.24

20

0.15

0.13

0.13

0.10

−0.04

−0.05

−0.03

0.00

0.01

0.05

0.01

0.03

21

0.35

0.20

0.17

0.15

−0.06

−0.09

−0.05

0.01

0.02

0.07

0.00

0.01

22

−0.12

−0.07

−0.05

−0.06

0.02

0.01

0.02

0.01

0.01

−0.03

−0.01

0.00

23

−0.12

−0.09

−0.05

−0.07

0.03

0.01

0.01

−0.01

−0.01

−0.03

0.03

−0.01

 

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

1

           

2

           

3

           

4

           

5

           

6

           

7

           

8

           

9

           

10

           

11

           

12

           

13

1

          

14

0.18

1

         

15

0.13

0.27

1

        

16

0.18

0.13

0.08

1

       

17

0.03

0.00

−0.04

0.10

1

      

18

0.08

0.07

0.02

0.04

−0.05

1

     

19

0.27

0.25

0.16

0.34

0.01

0.12

1

    

20

0.05

0.03

0.02

0.07

−0.04

0.03

0.09

1

   

21

0.02

0.04

0.02

0.08

−0.05

0.06

0.10

0.12

1

  

22

0.01

−0.01

0.00

−0.01

0.02

0.00

−0.02

−0.26

−0.08

1

 

23

−0.02

0.00

0.02

−0.03

0.01

−0.03

−0.04

−0.28

−0.10

0.42

1

  1. 1 trust people 2 trust legal system 3 satisfaction health system 4 satisfaction education system 5 never meet 6 less than once 7 once a month 8 several times a month 9 once a week 10 several times a week 11 everyday 12 work political party 13 contacted politician 14 worn campaign badge 15 participation demonstration 16 voluntary work 17 church attendance 18 member trade union 19 work for professional association 20 feeling of safety 21 people fair 22 worry about home 23 worry becoming victim
  2. Italic values correlation between 0.3 and 0.4, Bold value Correlation between 0.4 and 0.5

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rodríguez-Pose, A., von Berlepsch, V. Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe. J Happiness Stud 15, 357–386 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9426-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9426-y

Keywords

Navigation