The Relationship between Political Attitudes and Life Satisfaction in Europe: An Econometric Analysis

Authors : İbrahim KURAN, Emre ÖZER, İrem SAYIL

Pages : 440-451

Doi:10.17494/ogusbd.1294283

View : 67 | Download : 68

Publication Date : 2023-08-10

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study examines the relationship between political attitudes and individuals’ life satisfaction. While there is a massive body of literature on the political economy of subjective well-being, no study has focused directly on political engagement insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(interest in politics); and political orientation insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(ideology);. To fill this gap in the current literature, the present study investigates the impact of political engagement and orientation on individual life satisfaction through regression analysis insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(OLS and 2SLS methods); using the European Social Survey dataset. Our initial findings insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(as well as the results of the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test); point out the endogeneity problem for political orientation. In order to overcome the endogeneity problem, the instrumental variable estimation and the Stock-Watson test were conducted. Our results show that political engagement and orientation have a statistically significant influence on personal life satisfaction. Accordingly, as individuals\` political engagement increases, life satisfaction decreases. Second, life satisfaction increases as one moves from left to right on the political spectrum.
Keywords : Yaşam memnuniyeti, siyasi bağlılık, siyasi yönelim, ideoloji