Contradictory effects of religiosity on subjective well-being

Abstract

This article provides empirical evidence for the contradictory effects of religiosity on subjective well-being (SWB). While a number of empirical studies demonstrate that higher religiosity is associated with higher happiness at the level of the individual, the published lists of happiest countries indicate that these countries are not religious. In this article, the empirical analysis is conducted at the level of the individual using a respondent-based dataset with 347,947 subjects in 96 countries as well as at the level of the country using a cross-section dataset including the same 96 countries. The empirical results at the respondent level indicate that happier people are likely to be female, younger, and healthier with higher social status and a stronger sense of control over their lives. Additionally, higher religiosity is associated with higher levels of SWB. At the country level, while religiosity tends to lose its statistical significance or negatively affect SWB, institutional quality emerges as a positive covariate of SWB. However, the country-level results are sensitive to alternative measures of SWB and religiosity.

Keywords:

• subjective well-being
• happiness
• religiosity
• institutional quality

JEL Classification:

• D03
• I30
• Z12

Public Interest Statement

Subjective well-being or happiness may seem a rather personal subject that could be of interest to mental health professionals. Often Economics is perceived to be all about national income, unemployment, inflation, etc. However, a movement toward the collection of social indicators started in the 1970s in the advanced European countries based on the belief that democracies should pay attention to the well-being of their citizens. This perspective implies that policy makers should consider policy options using the benchmark of whether a certain policy will increase people’s satisfaction with their lives. Against this background, this article examines the issue of subjective well-being and tries to juxtapose religiosity and institutional quality with respect to their effects on subjective well-being. The results indicate that while religiosity contributes to subjective well-being at the respondent-level, it is not effective in raising a country’s average subjective well-being. By lowering corruption and increasing government effectiveness policy makers may be able to increase countries’ subjective well-being.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Ayse Y. Evrensel

Ayse Y. Evrensel is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Finance at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her teaching focuses on courses such as International Finance, International Trade, Macroeconomics, and Financial Markets & Institutions. While her research focus is currently directed toward culture and institutions, she has published on corruption, exchange rate regimes, the IMF, and preferential trade agreements.