Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer la publication de deux Notes en mai.
La première, en partenariat avec Quetelet-Progedo diffusion, analyse les représentations qu’ont les Français de leur place dans la société. Nous mettons en évidence un décalage entre l’image, globalement juste, qui émerge des questions d’auto-positionnement sur l’échelle sociale, et l’image, largement fausse, de la forme de la société française dans son ensemble. L’adhésion aux représentations populistes n’est semble-t-il pas sans lien avec cette dissonance.
La deuxième découle d’une recherche de L. Wilner (Crest) sur les transitions entre niveaux de la satisfaction de vie. Ce travail met en évidence que la satisfaction de vie actuelle est fortement liée aux niveaux de satisfaction de vie passée, créant une forme de dépendance au chemin dont l’importance rivalise avec les conditions matérielles de la satisfaction.
Nous relevons également un vaste panorama de travaux mobilisant les métriques de bien-être subjectif. Nous avons ajouté à nos sources d’informations récurrentes le blog Techno Sapiens, portant en particulier sur l’impact des technologies sur les enfants.
Observatoire
Note de l’Observatoire du Bien-être n°2022-07 : La France, société de classes moyennes ou pyramide inégalitaire ?
Comment les Français conçoivent-ils la répartition des revenus dans la société et leur propre place dans la hiérarchie sociale ? Et quelle est la prévalence des opinions dites « populistes » ? La dernière vague de l’enquête ISSP (2019) montre que ces différentes perceptions sont généralement cohérentes entre elles, à deux exceptions près : (1) la plupart des Français interrogés pensent appartenir à la classe moyenne, mais se font une idée très inégalitaire de la société française à l’image d’une pyramide, c’est-à-dire une grande proportion de pauvres et des effectifs de plus en plus faibles à mesure que l’on s’élève dans l’échelle des positions. (2) Ces différentes opinions des Français semblent dissociées de leur propre niveau de revenu.
Dylan Alezra et Claudia Senik, « La France, société de classes moyennes ou pyramide inégalitaire ? », Note de l’Observatoire du bien-être du CEPREMAP, no 2022‑07 (17 mai 2022). https://www.cepremap.fr/2022/05/note-de-lobservatoire-du-bien-etre-n2022-07-la-france-societe-de-classes-moyennes-ou-pyramide-inegalitaire/
Note de l’Observatoire du Bien-être n°2022-08 : Malheur éphémère, bonheur durable
La plupart de nos travaux s’intéressent aux facteurs observables qui ont un effet sur le bien-être subjectif – le revenu, le diplôme, le fait d’être en couple, etc. La satisfaction à l’égard de notre vie peut cependant aussi dépendre non seulement de notre situation actuelle, mais aussi de notre situation passée, et de comment nous l’avons ressenti.
Un récent article de recherche jette un éclairage sur cet effet de mémoire, et met en évidence trois résultats principaux:
- Les personnes les plus satisfaites de leur vie tendent à le rester ;
- Au contraire, les personnes les plus insatisfaites le restent moins longtemps ;
- Le fait d’être initialement très satisfait ou insatisfait pèse plus lourd dans l’appréciation de sa vie que les principaux facteurs externes.
Ces résultats fondent une politique du bien-être qui agit à la fois sur la prévention des chocs négatifs, sur l’accélération des sorties de l’insatisfaction forte, et sur la promotion des facteurs contribuant à un niveau élevé de bien-être.
Lionel Wilner et Mathieu Perona, « Malheur éphémère, bonheur durable », Note de l’Observatoire du Bien-être, no 2022‑08 (31 mai 2022). https://www.cepremap.fr/2022/05/note-de-lobservatoire-du-bien-etre-n2022-08-malheur-ephemere-bonheur-durable/
Lu sur le web
Multiplier les innovations sociales qui font la preuve de leur impact dans les territoires ruraux
L’association Impact Tank a publié le mois dernier un rapport sur les initiatives de revitalisation des territoires ruraux. Le premier volet de ce rapport recense une sélection de dispositifs en cours, mettant en valeur ceux qui se sont inscrits dans une démarche d’évaluation. Le second volet fournit une très utile synthèse des enjeux et outils de l’évaluation à l’échelle locale.
Mélissa Aksil et al., « Multiplier les innovations sociales qui font la preuve de leur impact dans les territoires ruraux », Rapport de solutions (Paris: Impact Tank, 16 mai 222apr. J.-C.), https://impact-tank.org/publications/multiplier-les-innovations-sociales-qui-font-la-preuve-de-leur-impact-dans-les-territoires-ruraux/.
Exposure to Climate Shocks, Poverty and Happiness: The “Three Little Pigs” Effect
Abstract: We evaluate the impact of climate shocks on household subjective wellbeing on a sample of farmers in a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) of the Pacific (the Solomon Islands). We find that both subjective (self-assessed exposure to climate shocks) and objective (past cumulative extended dry spells) environmental stress indicators significantly reduce respondent’s subjective wellbeing. Using the compensating surplus approach we calculate that this loss requires several years of crop income to be compensated. Subjective wellbeing is more severely impacted for farmers with poor dwellings (ie. with thatch walls, consistently with the well known Disney tale), below median income or durable asset and for farmers living more isolated and not being members of formal agricultural associations. Farmers hit by climate shocks experienced in significantly higher proportion nutrition problems in their households. These findings support the hypothesis of the strong interdependence between environmental and social shocks.
Leonardo Becchetti, Sara Mancini, et Sara Savastano, « Exposure to Climate Shocks, Poverty and Happiness: The ”Three Little Pigs” Effect », CEIS Research Paper (Tor Vergata University, CEIS, 2 avril 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/rtvceisrp/537.htm.
Social Preferences and Well-Being: Theory and Evidence
Abstract: The education systems of many countries emphasize the development of prosocial preferences. Clarifying how these preferences are related to well-being is therefore essential. Although many studies have shown that particular prosocial behaviors increase subjective well-being, it is unclear whether prosocial preferences rather than prosocial behaviors are associated with greater well-being. This study presents a model in which differences in social preferences explain differences in subjective well-being. Then, using survey data from the United States, it finds an association between social preferences and well-being. We measured social preferences using the Slider Measure of social value orientation to evaluate prosociality as a continuous variable. Using the Pemberton Happiness Index, we also measured subjective well-being in terms of the multiple dimensions of general well-being, hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, social well-being, and experienced well-being. Regression analysis revealed that the effect sizes of social value orientation on hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being were 0.19 and 0.15, respectively, which are comparable to the effect sizes of parenthood, income, and education.
Masaki Iwasaki, « Social Preferences and Well-Being: Theory and Evidence », MPRA Paper (University Library of Munich, Germany, 3 mars 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/pramprapa/112198.htm.
Happy to help: the welfare effects of a nationwide micro-volunteering programme
Abstract: There is a strong suggestion from the existing literature that volunteering improves the wellbeing of those who give up their time to help others, but much of it is correlational and not causal. In this paper, we estimate the wellbeing benefits from volunteering for England’s National Health Service (NHS) Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a sample of over 9,000 volunteers, we exploit the oversubscription of the programme and the random assignment of volunteering tasks to estimate causal wellbeing returns, across multiple counterfactuals. We find that active volunteers report significantly higher life satisfaction, feelings of worthwhileness, social connectedness, and belonging to their local communities. A social welfare analysis shows that the benefits of the programme were at least 140 times greater than its costs. Our findings advance our understanding of the ways in which pro-social behaviours can improve personal wellbeing as well as social welfare.
Paul Dolan et al., « Happy to help: the welfare effects of a nationwide micro-volunteering programme », LSE Research Online Documents on Economics (London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library, 31 mai 2021), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/ehllserod/114387.htm.
The current state of research on the two-way linkages between productivity and well-being
Abstract: Interest in the topic of well-being has burgeoned in recent years as the weaknesses of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita as a proxy for well- being have become more apparent. At the same time, the global economy has experienced a productivity slowdown. Since productivity growth is recognized as being by far the most important long-term source of sustainable gains in living standards, this development has implications for the future of living standards around the world. These two developments raise a number of issues related to the two-way linkages between productivity and well-being. First, does slower productivity growth constitute a significant threat to the betterment of the well-being of the world’s population, and, if so, by how much? Second, given that many indicators of well-being can have positive effects on productivity, should one aspect of any strategy to revive productivity growth be to focus on policies that improve well-being? The objective of this report is to survey the current state of research on the two-way linkages between productivity and well- being.
Andrew Sharpe et Shahrzad Mobasher Fard, « The current state of research on the two-way linkages between productivity and well-being », ILO Working Paper (International Labour Organization, 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/iloilowps/995172493102676.htm.
The true returns to the choice of occupation and education
Abstract: Which occupations are best for wellbeing? There is a large literature on earnings differentials, but less attention has been paid to occupational differences in non-pecuniary rewards. However, information on both types of rewards is needed to understand the dispersion of wellbeing across occupations. We analyse subjective wellbeing in a large representative sample of UK workers to construct a measure of “full earnings”, the sum of earnings and the value of non-pecuniary rewards, in 90 different occupations. We first find that the dispersion of earnings underestimates the extent of inequality in the labour market: the dispersion of full earnings is one-third larger than the dispersion of earnings. Equally, the gender and ethnic gaps in the labour market are larger than data on earnings alone would suggest, and the true returns to completed secondary education (though not to a degree) are underestimated by earnings differences on their own. Finally, we show that our main results are similar, and stronger, for a representative sample of US workers.
Maria Cotofan, Richard Layard, et Andrew Clark, « The true returns to the choice of occupation and education », LSE Research Online Documents on Economics (London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library, 19 février 2021), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/ehllserod/114354.htm.
Mindsets Matter: How Beliefs About Facebook Moderate the Association Between Time Spent and Well-Being
Abstract: “Time spent on platform” is a widely used measure in many studies examining social media use and well-being, yet the current literature presents unresolved findings about the relationship between time on platform and well-being. In this paper, we consider the moderating effect of people’s mindsets about social media — whether they think a platform is good or bad for themselves and for society more generally. Combining survey responses from 29,284 participants in 15 countries with server-logged data of Facebook use, we found that when people thought that Facebook was good for them and for society, time spent on the platform was not significantly associated with well-being. Conversely, when they thought Facebook was bad, greater time spent was associated with lower well-being. On average, there was a small, negative correlation between time spent and well-being and the causal direction is not known. Beliefs had a stronger moderating relationship when time-spent measures were self-reported rather than coming from server logs. We discuss potential mechanisms for these results and implications for future research on well-being and social media use.
Sindhu Kiranmai Ernala et al., « Mindsets Matter: How Beliefs About Facebook Moderate the Association Between Time Spent and Well-Being », in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’22 (New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2022), 1‑13, https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517569.
Article repéré par le blog Techno Sapiens.
Do Individuals Adapt to All Types of Housing Transitions?
Abstract: This paper provides one of the first tests of adaptation to the complete set of residential transitions. We use long-run SOEP panel data and consider the impact of all housing transitions, whether or not they involve a change in housing tenure or geographical movement, on both life satisfaction and housing satisfaction. Controlling for individual characteristics, some residential transitions affect life satisfaction only little, while all transitions have a significant effect on housing satisfaction. This latter is particularly large for renters who become homeowners and move geographically, and for renters who move without changing tenure status. Regarding housing satisfaction, we only uncover evidence of some adaptation for renter-renter moves. Losing homeowner status is the only transition that produces lower housing satisfaction, and here the effect seems to become even more negative over time.
« Do Individuals Adapt to All Types of Housing Transitions? », consulté le 17 mai 2022, https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/15268/do-individuals-adapt-to-all-types-of-housing-transitions.
Life Satisfaction and Incumbent Voting: Examining the Mediating Effect of Trust in Government
Abstract: An emerging body of evidence suggests a causal relationship between wellbeing and incumbent voting. However, the evidence is primarily founded upon established democracies with regular turnovers of power. Moreover, the mechanism underlying this relationship is still relatively unknown. Using the intricacies of the Malaysian political context and Malaysian data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey (WVS), this study examines the mediating role of trust in government to explain the relationship between life satisfaction and incumbent voting. Notably, the Malaysian WVS was concluded two weeks before Malaysia’s fourteenth general election (GE14), which witnessed the end of the ruling coalition’s six-decade hold on power since independence and subsequently ushered in the country’s first-ever peaceful transfer of power. The empirical analysis indicated that the mediating role of trust in the relationship between life satisfaction and incumbent voting is supported. Further empirical analysis also showed that the mediating effect of trust was unique to the GE14 context compared to GE13, thus providing a better understanding of the role trust plays in the outcome of the election. The results provide valuable insights and implications in political science, especially for a nation emerging from its authoritarian state.
Jason Wei Jian Ng et al., « Life Satisfaction and Incumbent Voting: Examining the Mediating Effect of Trust in Government », Journal of Happiness Studies, 28 avril 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00536-z.
A Twenty-First Century of Solitude? Time Alone and Together in the United States
Abstract: This paper explores trends in time alone and with others in the United States. Since 2003, Americans have increasingly spent their free time alone, on leisure at home, and have decreasingly spent their free time with individuals from other households. These trends are more pronounced for non-White individuals, for males, for the less educated, and for individuals from lower-income households. Survey respondents spending a large fraction of their free time alone report lower subjective well-being. As a result, differential trends in time alone suggest that between-group inequality may be increasing more quickly than previous research has reported.
Enghin Atalay, « A Twenty-First Century of Solitude? Time Alone and Together in the United States », Working Paper (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 7 avril 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/fipfedpwp/93940.htm.
The return of happiness: Resilience in times of pandemic
Abstract: Many papers have been written about people’s loss of life satisfaction during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but not much has been said about their resilience after the first shock had passed. Were people able to return, at least in part, to their original level of life satisfaction? This amounts to the question to which degree people had shown psychological resilience during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. In this context, it is also of interest which internal and external factors supported a person’s tendency to prove resilient during the crisis. Based on an online survey conducted in August / September 2020 in Germany we try to answer these questions. We find that after a loss of average life satisfaction during the first three months after the outbreak of the pandemic in Germany many people’s life satisfaction increased again. Roughly 60% of the respondents proved resilient in the sense that eight months after the outbreak of the pandemic they had regained the same or an even higher level of life satisfaction as compared to the situation before the COVID-19 crisis. Our results show that besides socioeconomic characteristics like age and income and certain character traits, people’s personal experience during the crisis and their approval or disapproval of government policy during the crisis had an important influence on their chance to prove resilient. Therefore, a consistent and competent crisis communication building up trust in government’s crisis management capacity is essential for people’s resilience in a crisis.
Michael Ahlheim, In Woo Kim, et Duy Thanh Vuong, « The return of happiness: Resilience in times of pandemic », Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences (University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/zbwhohdps/032022.htm.
Instant Loans Can Lift Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Evaluation of Digital Credit in Nigeria
Abstract: Digital loans have exploded in popularity across low and middle income countries, providing short term, high interest credit via mobile phones. This paper reports the results of a randomized evaluation of a digital loan product in Nigeria. Being randomly approved for digital credit (irrespective of credit score) substantially increases subjective well-being after an average of three months. For those who are approved, being randomly offered larger loans has an insignificant effect. Neither treatment significantly impacts other measures of welfare. We rule out large short-term impacts either positive or negative: on income and expenditures, resilience, and women’s economic empowerment.
Daniel Bjorkegren et al., « Instant Loans Can Lift Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Evaluation of Digital Credit in Nigeria », Paper (arXiv.org, février 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/arxpapers/2202.13540.htm.
People versus Machines: The Impact of Being in an Automatable Job on Australian Worker’s Mental Health and Life Satisfaction
Abstract: This study explores the effect on mental health and life satisfaction of working in an automatable job. We utilise an Australian panel dataset (HILDA), and estimate models that include individual fixed effects, to estimate the association between automatable work and proxies of wellbeing. Overall, we find evidence that automatable work has a small, detrimental impact on the mental health and life satisfaction of workers within some industries, particularly those with higher levels of job automation risk, such as manufacturing. Furthermore, we find no strong trends to suggest that any particular demographic group is disproportionately impacted across industries. These findings are robust to a variety of specifications. We also find evidence of adaptation to these effects after one-year tenure on the job, indicating a limited role for firm policy.
Grace Lordan et Eliza-Jane Stringer, « People versus Machines: The Impact of Being in an Automatable Job on Australian Worker’s Mental Health and Life Satisfaction », IZA Discussion Paper (Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), mars 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/izaizadps/dp15182.htm.
Predictors of aversion to happiness: New Insights from a multi-national study
Abstract: Aversion to happiness is defined as the belief that experiencing or expressing happiness can cause bad things to happen. In this study, the fear of happiness scale was used to measure aversion to happiness in a multinational sample of adults from several countries (N = 871). Partial measurement invariance was supported for the fear of happiness scale. The study also examined 9 potential predictors of aversion to happiness: gender, age, religiosity, belief in collective happiness, perfectionism, belief in karma, belief in black magic, loneliness, and perception of an unhappy childhood. Bayesian multilevel modeling showed that, except for gender and religiosity, all predictors contributed significantly to the prediction of aversion to happiness. Together, the predictors explained about 28% of the variance in aversion to happiness. The strongest predictors were an unhappy childhood, perfectionism, belief in black magic and karma, and loneliness. This study provides new evidence for the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the fear of happiness scale in adult samples and sheds new light on the nomological network of aversion to happiness.
Mohsen Joshanloo, « Predictors of Aversion to Happiness: New Insights from a Multi-National Study », Motivation and Emotion, 28 mai 2022, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09954-1.