Human values, subjective well-being and the metropolitan region

ABSTRACT

Human values, subjective well-being and the metropolitan region. Regional Studies. Living in a country’s largest metropolitan centre has a negative effect on subjective well-being. Although documented in many developed economies, the reasons for this particular geography of well-being are still poorly understood. Meanwhile a separate body of research has shown that the holding of extrinsic or personally focused values is also associated with lower levels of subjective well-being. This paper demonstrates the link between the two. It draws on the European Social Survey (ESS) 2012 to show how metropolitan residents in Finland are more likely to hold extrinsic values such as power and achievement.

摘要

人类价值、主观福祉与大都会区域。Regional Studies. 居住于一个国家中最大型都会区的中心，对于主观福祉有负面的影响。尽管在诸多已发展经济体中已有所记录，我们对此般特殊的福祉地理之原因仍理解不足。同时，另一项独立的研究显示，紧握外加的或聚焦个人的价值，同时关乎较低程度的主观福祉。本文将証实两者之间的关联性。本文运用2012年的欧洲社会调查，展现芬兰的大都会居民如何更可能紧握诸如权力与成就等外加的价值。

RÉSUMÉ

Les valeurs humaines, le bien-être subjectif et la zone métropolitaine. Regional Studies. Habiter la plus grande zone métropolitaine d’un pays a des retombées négatives sur le bien-être subjectif. Les raisons qui expliquent cette géographie particulière du bien-être sont mal comprises, bien qu’elles soient bien documentées dans beaucoup des pays développés. Entre-temps, un autre corpus de recherche a démontré que s’en tenir à certaines valeurs extrinsèques ou spécifiques à l’individu s’associe aussi à des niveaux de bien-être subjectif moins élevés. Cet article démontre le lien entre les deux. Il puise dans l’Enquête sociale européenne 2012 afin de montrer comment les habitants des zones métropolitaines en Finlande sont plus susceptibles de s’en tenir à des valeurs extrinsèques, telles le pouvoir et le sentiment de satisfaction.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Menschliche Werte, subjektives Wohlbefinden und die Metropolitanregion. Regional Studies. Das Leben im größten metropolitanen Zentrum eines Landes wirkt sich negativ auf das subjektive Wohlbefinden aus. Diese besondere Geografie des Wohlbefindens wurde zwar in zahlreichen Industrieländern dokumentiert, doch ihre Gründe sind weiterhin unzureichend erforscht. Gleichzeitig verdeutlichen separate Studien, dass die Orientierung an extrinsischen oder persönlich fokussierten Werten ebenfalls mit einem niedrigeren Maß an subjektivem Wohlbefinden einhergeht. In diesem Beitrag wird der Zusammenhang zwischen den beiden Phänomenen nachgewiesen. Ausgehend von der europäischen Sozialstudie von 2012 wird gezeigt, wie sich Metropolitanbewohner in Finnland häufiger an extrinsischen Werten wie Macht und Leistung orientieren.

RESUMEN

Valores humanos, bienestar subjetivo y la región metropolitana. Regional Studies. Vivir en el centro metropolitano más grande de un país tiene un efecto negativo en el bienestar subjetivo. Aunque esta geografía particular de bienestar se ha documentado en muchas economías desarrolladas, todavía no se acaban de entender bien sus motivos. Asimismo en un campo de investigación separado, se ha demostrado que la orientación por valores extrínsecos o centrados personalmente también se asocia a niveles inferiores de bienestar subjetivo. En este artículo demostramos la relación entre estos dos fenómenos. A partir de la Encuesta Social Europea de 2012 mostramos cómo los residentes metropolitanos en Finlandia son más propensos a orientarse por valores extrínsecos, tales como poder y éxito.

KEYWORDS:

• human values
• value dissonance
• subjective well-being
• life satisfaction
• Finland

关键词:

• 人类价值
• 价值不一致
• 主观福祉
• 生活满意度
• 芬兰

MOTS-CLÉS:

• valeurs humaines
• discordance des valeurs
• bien-être subjectif
• satisfaction dans la vie
• Finlande

SCHLÜSSELWÖRTER:

• menschliche Werte
• Wertedissonanz
• subjektives Wohlbefinden
• Lebenszufriedenheit
• Finnland

PALABRAS CLAVES:

• valores humanos
• disonancia de valores
• bienestar subjetivo
• satisfacción con la vida
• Finlandia

JEL:

• R11
• R13

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

An early draft of the paper was presented by the authors at the 55th European Regional Science Association (ERSA) Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, August 2015, under the title ‘Capturing effects of cities on subjective wellbeing’. We thank the participants for their comments at the special session entitled ‘Regional well-being: measurement, analysis and policy practices’. We also acknowledge the valuable suggestions made by Judd Ormsby and Dr Arthur Grimes of Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, New Zealand, on an initial draft in March and April 2016. The authors also appreciated the encouraging and apposite comments made by the editor of Regional Studies and three anonymous referees. The responsibility for the published paper lies with the authors alone.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https:/doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1331036.

ORCiD

Philip S. Morrison http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-9807

Mikko Weckroth http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1697-2125

Notes

1. Geographical variations in well-being are summarized periodically in the World Happiness Reports (Helliwell, Layard, & Sachs, 2011, 2013, 2015). Several international reviews have also kept this issue in front of policy-makers (e.g., European Commission, 2013; Albouy, 2008; Lagas, Van Dongen, Van Rin, & Visser, 2015). Recent reviews of subjective well-being research at the level of the region include Morrison (2014), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2014) and Tomaney (2015).

2. The authors are aware of only two studies that have been unable to identify negative effects of big city living on well-being: Albouy (2008) and Itaba (2016). The first was based on objective quality-of-life estimates (in US cities) rather than subjective well-being. While the second was based on subjective measures of happiness across Japanese cities it was unable to identify separately the largest cities where much lower levels of life satisfaction are typically detected.

3. For details of the survey, see http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/about/index.html. For details of the Human Values module in ESS12, see: http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/data/themes.html?t=values. The Schwartz scale has been tested in many countries and the configural and metric invariance tests hold up well in the Finnish sample on which we draw here (Davidov, Schmidt, & Schwartz, 2008).

4. The concepts Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft were also used by Max Weber, who, writing in response to Tönnies, argued that Gemeinschaft was rooted in a ‘subjective feeling’, whereas Gesellschaft-based relationships were rooted in ‘rational agreement by mutual consent’ (Weber, 1921).

5. The ESS employs a shorter version of the original Schwartz Human Values Scale. In the Supplementary (Human Values Scale) Section G of the ESS6, each respondent positions themselves on a 1–6 ordinal scale with respect to 21 separate statements. For example, the interviewer presents (male respondents in this example) with the following statement:

Now I will briefly describe some people. Please listen to each description and tell me how much each person is or is not like you. The first statement on the card is A, as follows: ‘Thinking up new ideas and being creative is important to him. He likes to do things in his own original way.’ The respondent then selects one of the following six response options. The statement is 01 Very much like me, 02 Like me, 03 Somewhat like me, 04 A little like me, 05 Not like me or 06 Not like me at all, 88 (Don’t know).

6. For related discussions and interpretations of the Human Values Scale, see Huppert (2009). For other applications and discussion of the adjustment procedure, see Lindeman and Verkasalo (2005).

7. By selecting only two values from either side of the circumplex we are removing some of the complexity involved in the set of right-hand-side ‘extrinsic’ values. While this is necessary in order to generate a manageable argument, it is important to recognize what is not being considered. It would be possible for someone to exercise benevolence and conformity within their group but to exhibit weak levels of Universalism, for example, and be less than hospitable to particular minority groups including in-migrants. Benevolence might well strengthen the in-group, but at the expense of the out-group. (We are indebted to the editor for drawing our attention to this point.)

8. These findings of a positive role of intrinsic and a negative role of extrinsic ones are consistent with previous studies (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000; Kasser & Ahuyvia, 2002; Schmuck, Kasser, & Ryan, 2000; Sheldon et al., 2004; Vansteenkiste, Duriez, Simons, & Soenens, 2006; Bobowik et al., 2011).

9. The role of psychological traits only made a brief appearance in the geographical literature some 30 years ago (Kitchin, 1997). The more recent focus on the geographical dimensions of psychological traits has come not from geographers but from psychologists (Rentfrow, 2014). This recent literature uses the term ‘geographical psychology’ and begins with the presumption that ‘social and physical characteristics of the environment significantly affect health, wellbeing, attitudes, and identity – constructs at the core of psychology’ (p. 3). The aim of geographical psychology is to identify how the places in which we live contribute to our psychological development. As such, ‘geographical psychology attempts to bridge research across areas of psychology and other disciplines by investigating the spatial organization and geographical representation of psychological phenomena and the mechanisms guiding those processes’ (p. 5).

10. Studies using a range of methodologies now provide support for the notion of ‘value environment congruence’ (Oishi, Diener, Lucas, & Suh, 1999; Lonnqvist, Walkowitz, Wichardt, Lindeman, & Verkasalo, 2009; Lun, Kesebir, & Oishi, 2008). Sharing the same values as proximate others contributes to feelings of belonging and inclusion, which are considered fundamental human needs (Musiol & Boehnke, 2013). Feeling understood by others (which is a possible outcome of value congruence) is associated with greater life satisfaction and fewer negative physical symptoms in the general population (Sortheix et al., 2013).

11. A relevant example is an exploration in Latin America where strong traditional values prevail (Garcia, Fuentes, Borrego, Gutierrez, & Tapia, 2007). Values conflict itself has sustained a presence in the regional economics literature, as exemplified by the conflict between community and capital outlined by Bluestone and Harrison (1982). The same conflict continues to be deeply embedded in transitional regions such as contemporary Wales where community culture traits remain negatively associated with an economic culture associated with economic success (Huggins & Thompson, 2015). A similar conflict of values underscores Syssner’s conceptualizations of culture and identity in regional policy (Syssner, 2009).

12. The Helsinki-Uusimaa region has the NUTS-3 level coding of FI1B1, which is defined as metropolitan Finland in this paper. The term ‘non-metropolitan Finland’ is used to refer to the other remaining 19 NUTS-3 regions combined. (NUTS = Nomenclature des Unités Territoriales Statistiques.)

13. The respondent’s domicile or settlement is a self reported measure. The ESS12 questionnaire (F5, card 47) asks:

Which phrase on this card best describes the area where you live? A big city 1, the suburbs or outskirts of a big city 2, a town or small city 3, a country village 4, a farm or home in the countryside 5. DK, 8.

(ESS12 Questionnaire, pp. 56–57)

Previous studies have found a varying degree of correspondence between people’s choice of the most appropriate characterization of their domicile and the categories an analyst of official statistics would use, as pointed out in the critique of Sørensen (2014) by Shucksmith, Cameron, Merridew, and Pichler (2009). Both studies use the European Value Survey (EVS) rather than the ESS.

14. For comparisons of this distribution with those of other countries, as well as comparisons of alternative measures of well-being and country rankings, see the World Happiness Report by Helliwell et al. (2011). For a comparison of Finland with the Europe-wide figures for life satisfaction and happiness, see p. 56 in the third World Happiness Report, also by Helliwell et al. (2015).

15. We have reversed the six-to-one coding of item identification in the original guide of Schwartz (2012) to a one-to-six scale in order to associate higher numbers with more intense idenfication with the value. In their study of Finland in 2006, Bobowik et al. found a positive correlation between life satisfaction and values in the case of benevolence and conformity and negative correlations with power and achievement, as we do below using the 2012 survey (Bobowik, Basabe, & Paez, 2014b, tab. 1, p. 7059).

16. The application of OLS regression to Likert life satisfaction scales is now routine (e.g., Helliwell & Putnam, 2004). For a methodological discussion, see Kristoffersen (2010) and Ferrer-i-Carbonell and Frijters (2004).

17. What is as yet unclear here is the degree to which the association between metropolitan residence and certain extrinsic values is a result of selective migration or as a result of adaptation to a prevailing or pre-existing set of values present in such centres. Any differentiation of the two – of selection and adaptation – would require longitudinal studies that collect both values and location.

18. See note 17 above.