| This study attempts to determine what makes people happy using information provided by the World Values Survey augmented by several country-level datasets. To solve methodological problems evident in previous work a random coefficient multilevel model is employed to account for the fact that individuals are nested within countries. Several types of analysis are undertaken: (1) Comprehensive multilevel modelling of data from the World Values Survey merged with national indicators of wellbeing. (2) Exploration of the consequences of political and economic change for life satisfaction in the former Soviet bloc. (3) Local data analysis of the European provinces. (4) Modeling of the process of social comparison using spatial analytic techniques that control for interdependence across units of observation.;Confirming previous work, I conclude, for example, that money does make people happy at both individual and country levels: it is good for your happiness to earn a higher income and it is good to live in a wealthy country. However, people living in a poorer region are happier than others, ceteris paribus, if that region is nested within a set more affluent regions. Extending previous research, other findings including similar social comparison tests, cross-level interactions, and new variables are tested. Many conclusions flow, some confirming previous research and others that are new. For example, people who feel unfree in free countries feel less happy than those who feel unfree in unfree countries. East Europeans feel less free and less satisfied with their lives than other nationals, but a personal feeling of freedom increases their life satisfaction at a higher rate. Blue collar workers feel less happy than other occupational groups, and people living in larger cities feel less happy than people living in smaller towns.;The study concludes by pointing to future research directions: (1) Data analysis using another set of interactions. (2) Spatial modelling. (3) Exploration of the new data sources that are now being developed, such as Gallup survey of life satisfaction or the 5th wave of the World Values Survey. |
