The Cultural Foundation of Happiness

Pierluigi Conzo, Arnstein Aassve, Giulia Fuochi and Letizia Mencarini ()

No 477, Carlo Alberto Notebooks from Collegio Carlo Alberto

Abstract: The paper provides a framework for how culture affects happiness. According to self-determination theory, well-being is driven by the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness and competence. We assess if, and to what extent, generalized trust and the values of obedience and respect influence Europeans’ satisfaction of these needs, controlling for income and education. We find a positive and significant impact for generalized morality (high trust and respect, low obedience), which is robust to different checks for endogeneity, including instrumental variable regressions at country, regional and individual level and panel-data estimations.

Keywords: self-determination; culture; trust; subjective well-being; happiness; life satisfaction. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 E02 I31 P48 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: pages 41
Date: 2016
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Related works:
Journal Article: The cultural foundations of happiness (2017)
Working Paper: The Cultural Foundations of Happiness (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cca:wpaper:477

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