The Effect of Political Regime on the Association of Values with Subjective Well-Being
Ponarin E. Afanasyeva Y.
January 2025Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Journal of Happiness Studies
2025#26Issue 1
Previous research has often demonstrated that liberal values and democratic regimes are associated with higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB). However, consistent results are only found at the country level, while at the individual level the relationship between values, democracy, and SWB is not as clear. This article analyzes recent data from 86 countries and shows that individual SWB depends on whether one’s values match the country’s predominant values and political system. In authoritarian countries, those with more conservative values tend to exhibit higher levels of SWB, reaching a level of happiness comparable to that of an average person in a typical democracy. Conversely, their liberal-minded compatriots often report significantly lower levels of SWB. In democracies, people with more liberal values tend to have higher SWB than do conservatives, although this difference is not as robust as in autocracies. This study emphasizes the importance of political context in the relationship between liberal values and SWB.
Cross-cultural research , European Values Study , Political regime , Subjective well-being , Values , World Values Survey
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Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Laboratory for Comparative Social Research
Almaty
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
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