The Good Life, Affluence, and Self-reported Happiness: Introducing the Good Life Index and Debunking Two Popular Myths

Jan Delhey and Leonie C. Steckermeier

World Development, 2016, vol. 88, issue C, 50-66

Abstract: This paper examines two highly controversial questions about human well-being in the richer part of the world. First, is people’s quality of life (still) enhanced by national prosperity? Many scholars doubt this, in particular advocates of de-growth. The second question concerns the relationship between the good life and self-reported happiness: Do people chiefly report being happy and satisfied for reasons embodied in achieving a good life? For addressing these issues we draw on a novel quality of life approach, the ‘elements of the good life’ as sketched out by Skidelsky and Skidelsky in 2013. This approach focuses on life results in seven domains: health, security, friendship, respect, leisure, personality, and harmony with nature. Our article refines the original concept and suggests a way to measure the well-being of individuals with the help of the Good Life Index. By analyzing data for 30 European countries from the most recent European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) within a multilevel framework, we can show that Europeans’ life-quality is better in wealthier societies, and that Europeans are authentically happy.

Keywords: Good Life Index; quality of life; happiness; capabilities; affluence; de-growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:88:y:2016:i:c:p:50-66

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.07.007

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