Research article

Are there heterogeneous impacts of social support on subjective well-being?

  • Received: 17 September 2021 Accepted: 06 October 2021 Published: 08 October 2021
  • JEL Codes: G15, F36, C40

  • Subjective well-being is a global health issue exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social support has a positive impact on subjective well-being, however, the level of impact and the regulatory mechanism of social support on subjective well-being with reference to economic and cultural differences is unknown. Based on the Gallup survey data, a panel fixed effect model is constructed to examine the heterogeneity and regulatory mechanisms of social support on subjective well-being according to country-based economic and cultural matrix. Our findings show that, first, economic differences cause heterogeneous influence of social support on subjective well-being. Specifically, high-income countries have positive impact of social support on subjective well-being; whereas the lower ones have no significant influence. Secondly, cultural differences also cause heterogeneous impact, i.e. generosity of cultural characteristics regardless of high or low level in countries has a significant positive impact on subjective well-being, however, the degree of impact varies and is associated with level of generosity. Thirdly, a cross examination of heterogeneous moderating effect shows that democracy and freedom have a significant positive adjustment effect in both high and low generosity culture-characterized countries. These findings are significant to shape the conception of economic dominated social support for well-being, with significant implication for balancing (or shifting) social and public health policy with economic support towards building generosity and democratic societies.

    Citation: Qingqing Hu, Xiaobing Wang, Mark Xu. Are there heterogeneous impacts of social support on subjective well-being?[J]. National Accounting Review, 2021, 3(4): 360-376. doi: 10.3934/NAR.2021019

    Related Papers:

  • Subjective well-being is a global health issue exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Social support has a positive impact on subjective well-being, however, the level of impact and the regulatory mechanism of social support on subjective well-being with reference to economic and cultural differences is unknown. Based on the Gallup survey data, a panel fixed effect model is constructed to examine the heterogeneity and regulatory mechanisms of social support on subjective well-being according to country-based economic and cultural matrix. Our findings show that, first, economic differences cause heterogeneous influence of social support on subjective well-being. Specifically, high-income countries have positive impact of social support on subjective well-being; whereas the lower ones have no significant influence. Secondly, cultural differences also cause heterogeneous impact, i.e. generosity of cultural characteristics regardless of high or low level in countries has a significant positive impact on subjective well-being, however, the degree of impact varies and is associated with level of generosity. Thirdly, a cross examination of heterogeneous moderating effect shows that democracy and freedom have a significant positive adjustment effect in both high and low generosity culture-characterized countries. These findings are significant to shape the conception of economic dominated social support for well-being, with significant implication for balancing (or shifting) social and public health policy with economic support towards building generosity and democratic societies.



    加载中


    [1] Anderson C, Kraus MW, Galinsky AD, et al. (2012) The Local-Ladder Effect: Social Status and Subjective Well-Being. Psychol Sci 23: 764–771. doi: 10.1177/0956797611434537
    [2] Aristotle (2011) Eudemian Ethics.
    [3] Benson SG, Dundis SP (2003) Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and technology. J Nurs Manage 11: 315–320. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2834.2003.00409.x
    [4] Cassel J (1976) The contribution of the social environment to host resistance: the Fourth Wade Hampton Frost Lecture. Am J Epidemiol 104: 107–123. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112281
    [5] Cobb S (1976) Presidential Address-1976. Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosom Med 38: 300–314.
    [6] Cohen S, Janicki-Deverts D (2009) Can We Improve Our Physical Health by Altering Our Social Networks? Perspect Psychol Sci 4: 375–378.
    [7] Demirtas YE, Kececi NF (2020) The efficiency of private pension companies using dynamic data envelopment analysis. Quant Financ Econ 4: 204–219. doi: 10.3934/QFE.2020009
    [8] Gallagher EN, Vella-Brodrick DA (2008) Social support and emotional intelligence as predictors of subjective well-being. Pers Individ Differ 44: 1551–1561. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2008.01.011
    [9] Goers S, Schneider F (2019) Economic, ecological and social benefits through redistributing revenues from increased mineral oil taxation in Austria: A triple dividend. Green Financ 1: 442–456. doi: 10.3934/GF.2019.4.442
    [10] Helliwell J, Layard R, Sachs J, et al. (2021) World Happiness Report 2021.
    [11] Helliwell JF, Huang H (2011) Well-Being and Trust in the Workplace. J Happiness Stud 12: 747–767. doi: 10.1007/s10902-010-9225-7
    [12] Hofstede G (1980) Culture's Consequences: International Differences In Work-Related Values.
    [13] Hori M, Kamo Y (2018) Gender Differences in Happiness: the Effects of Marriage, Social Roles, and Social Support in East Asia. Appl Res Quality Life 13: 839–857. doi: 10.1007/s11482-017-9559-y
    [14] Huang Z, Li T, Xu M (2020) Are There Heterogeneous Impacts of National Income on Mental Health? Int J Environ Res Public Health 17.
    [15] Inglehart R, Foa R, Peterson C, et al. (2008) Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness A Global Perspective (1981–2007). Perspect Psychol Sci 3: 264–285. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00078.x
    [16] Itzick M, Kagan M, Tal-Katz P (2018) Perceived social support as a moderator between perceived discrimination and subjective well-being among people with physical disabilities in Israel. Disability Rehabil 40: 2208–2216. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1331380
    [17] Ju C, Zhang B, You X, et al. (2018) Religiousness, social support and subjective well-being: An exploratory study among adolescents in an Asian atheist country. Int J Psychol 53: 97–106. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12270
    [18] Kartal MT (2020) The behavior of Sovereign Credit Default Swaps (CDS) spread: evidence from Turkey with the effect of Covid-19 pandemic. Quant Financ Econ 4: 489–502. doi: 10.3934/QFE.2020022
    [19] Ko HC, Kuo FY (2009) Can Blogging Enhance Subjective Well-Being Through Self-Disclosure? Cyberpsychol Behav 12: 75–79.
    [20] Kong F, You X (2013) Loneliness and Self-Esteem as Mediators Between Social Support and Life Satisfaction in Late Adolescence. Soc Indic Res 110: 271–279. doi: 10.1007/s11205-011-9930-6
    [21] Kruse P (2020) Spreading entrepreneurial news-investigating media influence on social entrepreneurial antecedents. Green Financ 2: 284–301. doi: 10.3934/GF.2020016
    [22] Kumar S, Calvo R, Avendano M, et al. (2012) Social support, volunteering and health around the world: Cross-national evidence from 139 countries. Soc Sci Med 74: 696–706. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.017
    [23] Kyung-Hee L (2012) The effects of gratitude enrichment program on school adjustment, life satisfaction & emotional-behavioral problems of children. Korean J Elem Couns 11: 107–122.
    [24] Li T, Zhong J, Xu M (2020) Does the Credit Cycle Have an Impact on Happiness? Int J Environ Res Public Health 17.
    [25] Liang TP, Ho YT, Li YW, et al. (2011) What Drives Social Commerce: The Role of Social Support and Relationship Quality. Int J Electron Commer 16: 69–90. doi: 10.2753/JEC1086-4415160204
    [26] Liu H, Li S, Xiao Q, et al. (2014) Social Support and Psychological Well-Being Under Social Change in Urban and Rural China. Soc Indic Res 119: 979–996. doi: 10.1007/s11205-013-0534-1
    [27] Liu Y, Li Z, Xu M (2020) The Influential Factors of Financial Cycle Spillover: Evidence from China. Emerging Mark Financ Trade 56: 1336–1350. doi: 10.1080/1540496X.2019.1658076
    [28] Mellor N, Dufoix F, Saunder L, et al. (2018) Subjective well-being at work and its relationship with perceived social support. Arch Mal Prof Environ 79: 23–33.
    [29] Mendonca C, Simoes F (2019) Disadvantaged Youths' Subjective Well-Being: The Role of Gender, Age, and Multiple Social Support Attunement. Child Indic Res 12: 769–789. doi: 10.1007/s12187-018-9554-3
    [30] Merida-Lopez S, Extremera N, Quintana-Orts C, et al. (2019) In pursuit of job satisfaction and happiness: Testing the interactive contribution of emotion-regulation ability and workplace social support. Scand J Psychol 60: 59–66. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12483
    [31] Moeini B, Barati M, Farhadian M, et al. (2018) The Association between Social Support and Happiness among Elderly in Iran. Korean J Family Med 39: 260–265. doi: 10.4082/kjfm.17.0121
    [32] Moskowitz D, Vittinghoff E, Schmidt L (2013) Reconsidering the Effects of Poverty and Social Support on Health: A 5-Year Longitudinal Test of the Stress-Buffering Hypothesis. J Urban Health-Bulletin New York Acad Med 90: 175–184.
    [33] Ott J (2015) Impact of Size and Quality of Governments on Happiness: Financial Insecurity as a Key-Problem in Market-Democracies. J Happiness Stud 16: 1639–1647. doi: 10.1007/s10902-014-9576-6
    [34] Ott JC (2010) Good Governance and Happiness in Nations: Technical Quality Precedes Democracy and Quality Beats Size. J Happiness Stud 11: 353–368. doi: 10.1007/s10902-009-9144-7
    [35] Peng H, Mao X, Lai D (2015) East or West, Home is the Best: Effect of Intergenerational and Social Support on the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults: A Comparison Between Migrants and Local Residents in Shenzhen, China. Ageing Int 40: 376–392. doi: 10.1007/s12126-015-9234-2
    [36] Sánchez-Ollero J, García-Pozo A, Ons Cappa M (2020) Talent reward and gender wage gap in the hospitality industry. Natl Account Rev 2: 367–383. doi: 10.3934/NAR.2020022
    [37] Sukharev OS (2020) Structural analysis of income and risk dynamics in models of economic growth. Quant Financ Econ 4: 1–18. doi: 10.3934/QFE.2020001
    [38] Syed MW, Li JZ, Junaid M, et al. (2020) Relationship between human resource management practices, relationship commitment and sustainable performance. Green Financ 2: 227–242. doi: 10.3934/GF.2020013
    [39] Tian Q (2016) Intergeneration social support affects the subjective well-being of the elderly: Mediator roles of self-esteem and loneliness. J Health Psychol 21: 1137–1144. doi: 10.1177/1359105314547245
    [40] Twenge JM, Baumeister RF, Dewall CN, et al. (2007) Social exclusion decreases prosocial behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol 92: 56–66. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.56
    [41] Valente RR, Berry BJL (2016) Working Hours and Life Satisfaction: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Latin America and the United States. J Happiness Stud 17: 1173–1204. doi: 10.1007/s10902-015-9637-5
    [42] Wang L, Wang H, Shao S, et al. (2020) Job Burnout on Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese Female Doctors: The Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support. Front Psychol 11.
    [43] Yoon E, Hacker J, Hewitt A, et al. (2012) Social Connectedness, Discrimination, and Social Status as Mediators of Acculturation/Enculturation and Well-Being. J Counsel Psychol 59: 86–96. doi: 10.1037/a0025366
  • NAR-03-04-019-s001.pdf
  • Reader Comments
  • © 2021 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
  • 1. 

    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

  1. 本站搜索
  2. 百度学术搜索
  3. 万方数据库搜索
  4. CNKI搜索

Metrics

Article views(1894) PDF downloads(92) Cited by(7)

Article outline

Figures and Tables

Tables(8)

Other Articles By Authors

/

DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
Return
Return

Catalog