Why are conservatives happier than liberals? Comparing different explanations based on system justification, multiple group membership, and positive adjustment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10901047 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sebastian Butz (0000-0002-6504-6291, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Mannheim Mannheim Germany, corresponding author), Pascal J Kieslich (0000-0002-0853-9364, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Mannheim Mannheim Germany), Herbert Ble (0000-0002-8822-1515, Technische Hochschule Mannheim), Herbert Bless (Faculty of Social Sciences University of Mannheim Mannheim Germany) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 362-372 |
| Publication date | 2017-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0046-2772 • E-ISSN: 1099-0992 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ejsp.2283 |
| OpenAlex | W2619981410 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 17 |
This study examined the relation between conservatism and life satisfaction. Analyses based on data from a representative German survey (ALLBUS 2010) revealed a positive relation between conservatism and self‐reported life satisfaction, thus supporting prior claims of this link. Different accounts have been proposed for this relationship, suggesting system justification, positive adjustment, or multiple group membership as potential mediators. Going beyond prior research, this study allowed for a comparison between these different mechanisms. Analyses revealed that system justification and one of the three examined constructs related to positive adjustment (i.e., religiosity) were significant mediators of the positive relationship between political conservatism and life satisfaction. Comparable results were obtained after controlling for a number of sociodemographic variables. The present findings indicate (i) that conservatives report to be more satisfied with their lives than liberals and (ii) that this difference is in part due to conservatives' system justification and religiosity
Conservatism · German · Happiness · Life satisfaction · Political science · Politics · Relation (database) · Religiosity · Subjective well-being · Law · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1.88 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |