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The Relationship Between Age and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Five Capital Cities in Mainland China

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  • Zhanjun Xing
  • Liqing Huang
Abstract
Since the mid-60s of the twentieth-century, the researchers have made lots of studies on the relationship between age and subjective well-being (SWB), and yielded some contradictory conclusions. By using an urban sample (N = 3,099) from five capital cities in Mainland China, this paper presents some new evidence on this issue in the Chinese context. The paper reconfirms a significant relationship between age and subjective well-being, and argues that different measure instruments of subjective well-being lead to different types of relationship. It is partly testified that subjective well-being follows approximate U-shape across age groups, and the minimum point lies in the age band 45–49. It is also found that age is not always a strong significant predictor of subjective well-being when a different dependent variable was adopted to multiple regression analysis. It is suggested that the researchers should pay more attention to the specific content of subjective well-being while examining the relationship between age and subjective well-being. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Zhanjun Xing & Liqing Huang, 2014. "The Relationship Between Age and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Five Capital Cities in Mainland China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 743-756, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:117:y:2014:i:3:p:743-756
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-013-0396-6
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    Cited by:

    1. John F. Helliwell & Haifang Huang & Max B. Norton & Shun Wang, 2019. "Happiness at Different Ages: The Social Context Matters," Springer Books, in: Mariano Rojas (ed.), The Economics of Happiness, chapter 0, pages 455-481, Springer.
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    3. Nanang Dwi Wahyono & Niswatin Hasanah & Rita Parmawati & Wing-Keung Wong, 2023. "Improving Economic Welfare through Capital Development: Case Study of Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Pujon District," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, May.
    4. Zhongsheng Wu & Angela Bies, 2021. "Volunteering and Self-Rated Health in Urban China: New Evidence from Analyses of Treatment-Effects Models," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2185-2201, October.
    5. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.
    6. Germán Lobos & Klaus G. Grunert & Miguel Bustamante & Berta Schnettler, 2016. "With Health and Good Food, Great Life! Gender Differences and Happiness in Chilean Rural Older Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 865-885, June.
    7. Xiaoting Zheng & Jiayue Chen & Yipeng Li, 2021. "The association between charitable giving and happiness: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(6), pages 2103-2138, December.
    8. Yi Wang & Ronnel King & Shing On Leung, 2023. "Understanding Chinese Students' Well-Being: A Machine Learning Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(2), pages 581-616, April.
    9. Zhihui Jia & Xiaotong Wen & Xiaohui Lin & Yixiang Lin & Xuyang Li & Guoqing Li & Zhaokang Yuan, 2021. "Working Hours, Job Burnout, and Subjective Well-Being of Hospital Administrators: An Empirical Study Based on China’s Tertiary Public Hospitals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-13, April.

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