Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Predictors of Regional Well-Being: A County Level Analysis

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current study takes a novel approach to studying the correlates of subjective well-being. Unlike previous studies, which typically examine group-level well-being at the state or national level, we analyzed correlates of well-being at the county level within the United States. Using nationally representative data, we found that reliable variance in well-being exists across counties. Furthermore, this variance was associated with a number of objective factors, including income, population density, health and education. Continued study of these factors at the regional level may have important implications for developing community programs and public policy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Economist Intelligence Unit. (2004). The Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index. The Economist’s The World in 2005.

  • Arthaud-Day, M. L., & Near, J. P. (2005). The wealth of nations and the happiness of nations: Why “accounting” matters. Social Indicators Research, 74, 511–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, K. M. (2005). Psychological wellbeing in later life: The longitudinal effects of marriage, widowhood and marital status change. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 280–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Zur, H., & Michael, K. (2009). Social comparisons and well-being following widowhood and divorce. Death Studies, 33, 220–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control, Prevention (CDC). (1998). State differences in reported healthy days among adults—United States, 1993–1996. MMWR Weekly, 47, 239–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008a). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2008b). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Questionnaire. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Deaton, A. (2008). Income, health and wellbeing around the world: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22, 53–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Diener, M., & Diener, C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 851–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., Schimmack, U., & Helliwell, J. F. (2009). Well-being for public policy. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In E. Diener & E. M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 185–218). Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1997). Measuring quality of life: economic, social and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 40, 189–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollinger, S. J., & Malmquist, D. (2009). Reliability and validity of single-item self-reports: With special relevance to college students’ alcohol use, religiosity, study and social life. The Journal of General Psychology, 139, 231–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A. (1994). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27, 35–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eid, M., & Larsen, R. J. (Eds.). (2008). The science of subjective well-being. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florida, R. L. (2002). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, K. R. (1999). The influence of physical activity on mental well-being. Public Health Nutrition, 2, 411–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (2008) Survey.

  • Gove, W. R., Style, C. B., & Huges, M. (1990). The effect of marriage on well-being in adults. Journal of Family Issues, 11, 4–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776–1780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and thinking about it: Two perspectives on life. In F. A. Huppert, N. Baylis, & B. Keverne (Eds.), The science of well-being (pp. 285–304). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E. (2008). Personality and subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 171–194). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., & Clark, A. E. (2006). Do people really adapt to marriage? Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 405–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). How stable is happiness? Using the STARTS model to estimate stability of life satisfaction. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1091–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., & Dyrenforth, P. S. (2006). Does the existence of social relationships matter for subjective well-being? In K. D. Vohs & E. J. Finkel (Eds.), Self, relationships: Connecting intrapersonal, interpersonal processes (pp. 254–273). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., & Schimmack, U. (2009). Income and well-being: How big is the gap between the rich and the poor? Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 75–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luttmer, E. F. P. (2005). Neighbors as negatives: Relative earnings and well-being. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 963–1002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S. (2007). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez-Martin, P. (2010). Composite rating scales. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 289, 7–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minkov, M. (2009). Nations with more dialectical selves exhibit lower polarization in life quality judgments and social opinions. Behavior Science Research, 43, 230–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriarty, D. G., Zack, M. M., Holt, J. B., Chapman, D. P., & Safran, M. A. (2009). Geographic pattern of frequent mental distress: US adults, 1993–2001 and 2003–2006. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 36, 497–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moriarty, D. G., Zack, M. M. & Kobau, R. (2003). The centers for disease control and prevention’s healthy days measures—Population tracking of perceived physical and mental health over time. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 1, 37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oishi, S., Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Suh, E. M. (2009). Cross-cultural variations in predictors of life satisfaction: Perspectives from needs and values. In E. Diener (Ed.), Culture and well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (pp. 109–127). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oswald, A. J., & Wu, S. (2010). Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: Evidence from the U.S.A. Science, 327, 576–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plaut, V. C., Markus, H. R., & Lachman, M. E. (2002). Place matters: Consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 160–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2008). A theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of geographic variation in psychological characteristics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 339–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rentfrow, P. J., Mellander, C., & Florida, R. (2009). Happy States of America: A state level analysis of psychological, economic and social well-being. Journal of Research in Psychology, 43, 1073–1082.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schkade, D. A., & Kahneman, D. (1998). Does living in Califorina make people happy? A focusing illusion in judgments of life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 9, 340–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In D. Kahneman, E. Deiner, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schyns, P. (1998). Crossnational differences in happiness: Economic and cultural factors explored. Social Indicators Research, 43, 3–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2008). Economic growth and subjective well-being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., & Lucas, R. E. (2010). Secondary Data Analysis: An Introduction for Psychologists. Washington, DC: APA.

  • Van de Vijver, F. J. R., van Hemert, D. A., & Poortinga, Y. H. (Eds.). (2008). Multilevel analysis of individuals and cultures. New York: Taylor & Francis Group/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1995). The cross-national pattern of happiness: Test of predictions implied in three theories of happiness. Social Indicators Research, 34, 33–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. (1967). Correlates of avowed happiness. Psychological Bulletin, 67, 294–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Nicole M. Lawless & Richard E. Lucas

Authors
  1. Nicole M. Lawless
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard E. Lucas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicole M. Lawless.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lawless, N.M., Lucas, R.E. Predictors of Regional Well-Being: A County Level Analysis. Soc Indic Res 101, 341–357 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9667-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9667-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation