engleski

What does differ happy from unhappy people? Results from national survey in Croatia

What makes people happy or unhappy in society they live is important research question. Various correlates of subjective well-being have been documented, personal, social, economic and environmental. Happy people tend to function better in different areas of life and report to be more active in the community than unhappy ones. Our study explores the determinants (sociodemographic, personal, social and behavioural) by which happy and unhappy people in Croatian society differ. Subjects were a representative sample (N=4000) of Croatian citizens, recruited for a purpose of a public opinion survey. Mean age of participants was 47 years, ranging from 18-89 years. The survey was conducted by face-to-face interviews in respondents home. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, income, employment status), ratings of subjective health, satisfaction with specific personal and national domains (IWI-International Well-being Index), trust in people and frequency of various off-the-job activities. Involvement in the community life was also reported, as well as respondent’s plans to leave Croatia in the near future. The sample was divided into two groups on the basis of overall happiness rated on the scale 0-10. The most happy group (N=400) represented the upper end of the happiness distribution, while the most unhappy group (N=400) represented the lower end of the distribution (N=400). The differences in examined variables were calculated between the two groups. Results showed that the happiest Croatian citizens were younger, with higher income, education and trust in people, better in personal and national well-being and of better subjective health than unhappy ones. While groups did not differ in their plans to leave Croatia, the happiest citizens were more involved in the community than the unhappiest. The implications of the study will be discussed in terms of the importance of individual well-being for society.

Happiness; Trust in institutions; Demographic

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