Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn
Biographic Data
| ID | 269040 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Adam |
| FAMILY NAME | Okulicz-Kozaryn |
| SIGNATURE | OKULICZ-KOZARYN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7836-2456 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 251 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 37 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Do Unpredictable and Unstable Work Hours Reduce Subjective Wellbeing
We empirically explore how key dimensions of work hours and schedules (i.e., volatility, short advance notice, and irregular shift times) affect workers’ self-reported subjective wellbeing (SWB). Our analysis controls for the number of weekly hours, occupation, demographics, family income, and health. We use data from the 2016 U.S. General Social Survey, containing the Work Orientations IV module of the International Social Survey Program. The fi…
Happy Colombia, unhappy Bogota (urban-rural happiness gradient in Colombia)
We use the 1998, 2012, and 2018 Colombian World Values Survey • The effect size of the happiness urban penalty is weak -.25 for cities > 500k • The effect size of the happiness urban penalty is large -.4 to -.9 for Bogota. The exploration of life satisfaction across urban-rural gradients has become increasingly important in understanding the nuanced relationship between well-being and geographical settings. Yet many Latin American countries have …
Happiness is In The Air if It Grows Growing Places are Happier than Shrinking ones
We study the effect of population change on subjective wellbeing (SWB) using over 100,000 observations from behavioral risk factor surveillance system representative of 392 US counties. SWB correlates higher with population change (0.4) than with county-level crime (-0.25) and income (0.2). The relative ecological strong effect size holds in regressions controlling for person-level and county-level predictors of SWB-population change is one of th…
Constructing General Human Agency Indicators (GHAIs) and a General Personal Agency Scale (GPAS)
Despite its importance for the social sciences, human agency remains an ambiguous and underoperationalized construct. After engaging prior research to articulate clear criteria for defining agency and synthesize a multidimensional conceptual framework for human agency, this study develops and validates preliminary General Human Agency Indicators (GHAIs) to measure subconstructs within that framework. Utilizing the Midlife in the United States (MI…
Subjective well-being and urbanization in Egypt
World Values Survey data is used to test the association between urbanization, operationalized as population size, and subjective well-being, operationalized as life satisfaction, in the case of Egypt. Regression results show that the smallest settlements have the highest positive effect on subjective well-being compared to the large urban centers. These results are persistent even after controlling for an extensive set of socio-demographic varia…
Towards the Next Fifty Years of Social Indicators Research: Some Guidance for Authors
Exploring the association of urbanisation and subjective well-being in India
Materialism and Immorality: More Urban than Rural
Metropolitan areas tend to be materialistic/consumerist, and materialism/consumerism is usually considered immoral. Some literature argues that in cities, in general, there is more vice and immorality. In this study, we empirically explore the relationship between urbanness and materialism/immorality using 1972–2018 US General Social Survey. We find much support for a hypothesis that urbanness is associated with higher materialism and immorality.…
Experience of urban thermal pleasure: A qualitative study to the understanding of thermal-scape quality
Misanthropolis: Do cities promote misanthropy
Urban unhappiness is common
Police use of firearms: Exploring citizen, officer, and incident characteristics in a statewide sample
Religiosity and Trust: Evidence from the United States
Background Trust is one of the key driving forces behind human action and an important factor in shaping human interaction. Trust can improve economic growth, political and civic involvement, democratic stability, and subjective well-being. Yet, trust has been in decline for the last 60 years in the U.S. Purpose This article tests the effect of several indicators of religiosity, including an index for both social and individual religiosity, on tr…
A similar effect of volunteering and pensions on subjective wellbeing of elderly
We study the effect of pensions and volunteering on subjective wellbeing (SWB) of elderly using the latest wave 6 of Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). This is the first study to consider pensions and volunteering simultaneously as determinants of SWB among elderly. We find that the effect of volunteering on SWB is not much smaller or indeed about as large as that of pensions. The most SWB is associated with volunteering ab…
An Intensifying Urban–Rural Schism in U.S. Women’s Preference for Governmental Solutions to Social Problems
During the Reagan Revolution, a significant gender gap emerged, accompanied by an urban–rural schism in party preference by gender, one manifestation of the nation’s widening urban–rural divide. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data from 1972 to 2018, we explore this urban–rural schism in party preference by running several ordinary least squares models and specifications. Controlling for individuals’ traits, we find that differences in the …
Elderly Volunteering in Europe: The Relationship Between Volunteering and Quality of Life Depends on Volunteering Rates
This paper investigates the effect of volunteering on quality of life (QoL) in 50+ populations across European countries and Israel. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Using the Kendall tau-b correlation coefficients, we show that the extent of effect volunteering has on quality of life is nonlinearly related to the prevalence of volunteering in a given country. The relationship follows an inverted…
The perennial dissatisfaction of urban upbringing
Correlates of intentional weight loss among American adults
Obesity has become a global epidemic. Intentional weight loss has significant health benefits for people who are overweight and obese. This study used the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to examine influences on intentional weight loss among American adults based on an adapted version of the Social Determinants of Health framework of the World Health Organization (WHO). Binary logistic regression analyses indicated th…
Are we happier among our own race
We study the effect of residential segregation by race on wellbeing. Wellbeing is measured as self-reported happiness (subjective wellbeing). Segregation is measured at three levels of aggregation. We use the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System containing information about over 125 metropolitan areas and over 125,000 people living there, and measure segregation using exposure/isolation index based on census data at the metropolitan le…
Urbanism and happiness: A test of Wirth’s theory of urban life
Social scientists have long studied the effects of cities on human wellbeing and happiness. This article demonstrates that people in cities are less happy, confirming a long-standing argument in the literature. But it had not yet been tested whether it is urbanism that negatively affects happiness, or if urban problems such as crime and poverty are to blame. Wirth posited that urbanism itself led to negative effects, but Fischer noted the necessi…
No urban malaise for Millennials
Urban malaise or unhappiness with city life is common in developed countries. City dwellers, particularly those in the largest metropolitan areas, are reported to be the least satisfied with their lives. Using the US General Social Survey (1972–2016), this paper explores the latest happiness trends. The results confirm earlier findings of urban malaise: Americans in general are happiest in smaller cities and rural areas. However, the advantage of…
Unhappy metropolis (when American city is too big)
Happy Tourists, Unhappy Locals
More Unequal in Income, More Unequal in Wellbeing
Natural Sprawl
Sprawling and leapfrogging suburbs, as opposed to compact central cities, appear peaceful, clean, and safe. They appear happy and healthy. On the other hand, suburbs look and feel fake, dull, and alienating. Which one is happier and healthier, sprawling or compact areas? I discuss pros and cons of sprawling and compact counties drawing on social and natural sciences. I also perform a simple quantitative exercise—I regress several wellbeing/health…
An Urban-Rural Happiness Gradient
Data collected by the General Social Survey from 1972 to 2008 are used to confirm that in the United States, in contrast to many other parts of the world, there is a gradient of subjective well-being (happiness) that rises from its lowest levels in large central cities to its highest levels on the small-town/rural periphery. This gradient, which is present after controlling for many of the characteristics that affect individuals' happiness, is dr…
City Life: Rankings (Livability) Versus Perceptions (Satisfaction)
Urbanism and happiness: A test of Wirth’s theory of urban life
Social scientists have long studied the effects of cities on human wellbeing and happiness. This article demonstrates that people in cities are less happy, confirming a long-standing argument in the literature. But it had not yet been tested whether it is urbanism that negatively affects happiness, or if urban problems such as crime and poverty are to blame. Wirth posited that urbanism itself led to negative effects, but Fischer noted the necessi…
Dissatisfaction with city life: A new look at some old questions
The city size distribution debate: Resolution for US urban regions and megalopolitan areas
Geography of European Life Satisfaction
No urban malaise for Millennials
Urban malaise or unhappiness with city life is common in developed countries. City dwellers, particularly those in the largest metropolitan areas, are reported to be the least satisfied with their lives. Using the US General Social Survey (1972–2016), this paper explores the latest happiness trends. The results confirm earlier findings of urban malaise: Americans in general are happiest in smaller cities and rural areas. However, the advantage of…
Towards the Next Fifty Years of Social Indicators Research: Some Guidance for Authors
Unhappy metropolis (when American city is too big)
Income and Well-being Across European Provinces
Religiosity and Trust: Evidence from the United States
Background Trust is one of the key driving forces behind human action and an important factor in shaping human interaction. Trust can improve economic growth, political and civic involvement, democratic stability, and subjective well-being. Yet, trust has been in decline for the last 60 years in the U.S. Purpose This article tests the effect of several indicators of religiosity, including an index for both social and individual religiosity, on tr…
The perennial dissatisfaction of urban upbringing
Exploring the association of urbanisation and subjective well-being in India
Urban unhappiness is common
Freedom From' and 'Freedom To' Across Countries
A similar effect of volunteering and pensions on subjective wellbeing of elderly
We study the effect of pensions and volunteering on subjective wellbeing (SWB) of elderly using the latest wave 6 of Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). This is the first study to consider pensions and volunteering simultaneously as determinants of SWB among elderly. We find that the effect of volunteering on SWB is not much smaller or indeed about as large as that of pensions. The most SWB is associated with volunteering ab…
Elderly Volunteering in Europe: The Relationship Between Volunteering and Quality of Life Depends on Volunteering Rates
This paper investigates the effect of volunteering on quality of life (QoL) in 50+ populations across European countries and Israel. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Using the Kendall tau-b correlation coefficients, we show that the extent of effect volunteering has on quality of life is nonlinearly related to the prevalence of volunteering in a given country. The relationship follows an inverted…
More Unequal in Income, More Unequal in Wellbeing
Misanthropolis: Do cities promote misanthropy
Correlates of intentional weight loss among American adults
Obesity has become a global epidemic. Intentional weight loss has significant health benefits for people who are overweight and obese. This study used the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to examine influences on intentional weight loss among American adults based on an adapted version of the Social Determinants of Health framework of the World Health Organization (WHO). Binary logistic regression analyses indicated th…
Are we happier among our own race
We study the effect of residential segregation by race on wellbeing. Wellbeing is measured as self-reported happiness (subjective wellbeing). Segregation is measured at three levels of aggregation. We use the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System containing information about over 125 metropolitan areas and over 125,000 people living there, and measure segregation using exposure/isolation index based on census data at the metropolitan le…
Happy Tourists, Unhappy Locals
Freedom and life satisfaction in transition
Freedom and life satisfaction are desirable conditions and they both have a special meaning in Eastern Europe — transition was largely about gaining freedom and ultimately overall wellbeing. There are several studies about the effect of freedom on life satisfaction, but none of them focuses on Eastern Europe. I investigate the effect of self-reported freedom on life satisfaction in post-transition Eastern Europe using the World Values Survey. Sur…
Subjective well-being and urbanization in Egypt
World Values Survey data is used to test the association between urbanization, operationalized as population size, and subjective well-being, operationalized as life satisfaction, in the case of Egypt. Regression results show that the smallest settlements have the highest positive effect on subjective well-being compared to the large urban centers. These results are persistent even after controlling for an extensive set of socio-demographic varia…
Natural Sprawl
Sprawling and leapfrogging suburbs, as opposed to compact central cities, appear peaceful, clean, and safe. They appear happy and healthy. On the other hand, suburbs look and feel fake, dull, and alienating. Which one is happier and healthier, sprawling or compact areas? I discuss pros and cons of sprawling and compact counties drawing on social and natural sciences. I also perform a simple quantitative exercise—I regress several wellbeing/health…
Are there Enso signals in the macroeconomy
Dissatisfaction with city life: A new look at some old questions
Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations
This paper investigates the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction in 79 nations using World Values Survey data. Extant literature analyzes religiosity and life satisfaction at person level. But religiosity is an attribute of both, persons and societies. To solve methodological problems evident in previous work a random coefficient multilevel model is employed to account for the fact that individuals are nested within countries. T…
Geography of European Life Satisfaction
Does religious diversity make us unhappy
I investigate the effect of religious diversity on well-being using the World Values Survey data across 77 countries. Religious diversity is measured as fractionalisation or polarisation. People are unhappy in religiously diverse societies. One explanation is that people have a need to belong and like to live among like-minded individuals. Another explanation is that religion creates bonding social capital as opposed to bridging social capital. D…
An Urban-Rural Happiness Gradient
Data collected by the General Social Survey from 1972 to 2008 are used to confirm that in the United States, in contrast to many other parts of the world, there is a gradient of subjective well-being (happiness) that rises from its lowest levels in large central cities to its highest levels on the small-town/rural periphery. This gradient, which is present after controlling for many of the characteristics that affect individuals' happiness, is dr…
Income and Well-being Across European Provinces
The city size distribution debate: Resolution for US urban regions and megalopolitan areas
City Life: Rankings (Livability) Versus Perceptions (Satisfaction)
Winners and Losers in Transition: Preferences for Redistribution and Nostalgia for Communism in Eastern Europe
I study the preferences for redistribution in Eastern Europe. After the collapse of communism c. 1990, preferences for redistribution did not decrease by 2000, and if anything, they increased. One explanation is the so‐called “public values effect”: individual beliefs shape preferences for redistribution. East Europeans continue to believe that it is the responsibility of the state to provide for the poor, and hence, they prefer redistribution. I…
Freedom From' and 'Freedom To' Across Countries
Freedom and life satisfaction in transition
Freedom and life satisfaction are desirable conditions and they both have a special meaning in Eastern Europe — transition was largely about gaining freedom and ultimately overall wellbeing. There are several studies about the effect of freedom on life satisfaction, but none of them focuses on Eastern Europe. I investigate the effect of self-reported freedom on life satisfaction in post-transition Eastern Europe using the World Values Survey. Sur…
Natural Sprawl
Sprawling and leapfrogging suburbs, as opposed to compact central cities, appear peaceful, clean, and safe. They appear happy and healthy. On the other hand, suburbs look and feel fake, dull, and alienating. Which one is happier and healthier, sprawling or compact areas? I discuss pros and cons of sprawling and compact counties drawing on social and natural sciences. I also perform a simple quantitative exercise—I regress several wellbeing/health…
Unhappy metropolis (when American city is too big)
Happy Tourists, Unhappy Locals
More Unequal in Income, More Unequal in Wellbeing
Urbanism and happiness: A test of Wirth’s theory of urban life
Social scientists have long studied the effects of cities on human wellbeing and happiness. This article demonstrates that people in cities are less happy, confirming a long-standing argument in the literature. But it had not yet been tested whether it is urbanism that negatively affects happiness, or if urban problems such as crime and poverty are to blame. Wirth posited that urbanism itself led to negative effects, but Fischer noted the necessi…
No urban malaise for Millennials
Urban malaise or unhappiness with city life is common in developed countries. City dwellers, particularly those in the largest metropolitan areas, are reported to be the least satisfied with their lives. Using the US General Social Survey (1972–2016), this paper explores the latest happiness trends. The results confirm earlier findings of urban malaise: Americans in general are happiest in smaller cities and rural areas. However, the advantage of…
Are we happier among our own race
We study the effect of residential segregation by race on wellbeing. Wellbeing is measured as self-reported happiness (subjective wellbeing). Segregation is measured at three levels of aggregation. We use the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System containing information about over 125 metropolitan areas and over 125,000 people living there, and measure segregation using exposure/isolation index based on census data at the metropolitan le…
An Intensifying Urban–Rural Schism in U.S. Women’s Preference for Governmental Solutions to Social Problems
During the Reagan Revolution, a significant gender gap emerged, accompanied by an urban–rural schism in party preference by gender, one manifestation of the nation’s widening urban–rural divide. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data from 1972 to 2018, we explore this urban–rural schism in party preference by running several ordinary least squares models and specifications. Controlling for individuals’ traits, we find that differences in the …
Elderly Volunteering in Europe: The Relationship Between Volunteering and Quality of Life Depends on Volunteering Rates
This paper investigates the effect of volunteering on quality of life (QoL) in 50+ populations across European countries and Israel. We analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Using the Kendall tau-b correlation coefficients, we show that the extent of effect volunteering has on quality of life is nonlinearly related to the prevalence of volunteering in a given country. The relationship follows an inverted…
The perennial dissatisfaction of urban upbringing
Correlates of intentional weight loss among American adults
Obesity has become a global epidemic. Intentional weight loss has significant health benefits for people who are overweight and obese. This study used the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to examine influences on intentional weight loss among American adults based on an adapted version of the Social Determinants of Health framework of the World Health Organization (WHO). Binary logistic regression analyses indicated th…
Urban unhappiness is common
Police use of firearms: Exploring citizen, officer, and incident characteristics in a statewide sample
Psychology (26 works) · Sociology (24 works) · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction (22 works) · Economics (21 works) · Social Psychology (21 works) · Geography (19 works) · Political science (19 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (16 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Happiness (13 works)