The Politics of Subjective Well‐Being: How Social Capital Operates in Different Regime Types
Nguyen Van Bao, Dang Thi Kim Dung, Mai TruongABSTRACT
To what extent does regime type condition the association between social capital and subjective well‐being (SWB)? While social capital is widely recognized as a correlate of SWB, little is known about how this association varies across political contexts. Using data from the World Values Survey and Our World in Data, we analyze 262,945 observations from 95 countries to examine how three dimensions of social capital—in‐group trust, out‐group trust, and informal social networks—are associated with life satisfaction, happiness, and financial satisfaction. In‐group trust and informal social networks are positively associated with all three SWB dimensions across political regimes. More importantly, the results reveal that regime type consistently moderates the association between out‐group trust and all three SWB outcomes, with the relationship between out‐group trust and well‐being being more favorable in democratic contexts. By contrast, the associations of in‐group trust and informal social networks with well‐being are largely regime‐invariant, suggesting that the well‐being benefits of close social ties operate independently of political regime type. These findings highlight the nuanced role of political context in shaping the social capital–SWB relationship, with regime type mattering most for how out‐group trust translates into well‐being.
Related Articles
Flavin, P., A. C. Pacek, and B. Radcliff. 2011. “State Intervention and Subjective Well‐Being in Advanced Industrial Democracies.”
Politics & Policy
39, no. 2: 251–269.
Ramírez Herrera, M. 2019. “The Measurement of Well‐Being Caught between Tradition and Modernity in Mexico's Poverty Reduction Strategy.”
Politics & Policy
47, no. 1: 79–104.
Jakubow, A. 2014. “State Intervention and Life Satisfaction Reconsidered: The Role of Governance Quality and Resource Misallocation.”
Politics & Policy
42, no. 1: 3–36.