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Life Satisfaction During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Role of Human, Economic, Social, and Psychological Capital

Bibliographic Data

ID21704308
AuthorsJan Delhey (0000-0002-0475-8578, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, corresponding author), Stephanie He (0000-0003-1762-4461, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg), K Boehnke (0000-0002-5435-4037, Constructor University), Franziska Deutsch (0000-0001-9868-0988, Constructor University), Jan Eichhorn (0000-0003-4988-8891, University of Edinburgh), Ulrich Kühnen (0000-0001-9059-4719, Constructor University), Christian Welzel (0000-0002-1562-3580, Leuphana University of Lüneburg)
Year2023
Volume24
Issue7
Pages2201-2222
Publication date2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Happiness Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1389-4978 • E-ISSN: 1573-7780
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10902-023-00676-w
OpenAlexW4384662468
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited65

A cornerstone of well-being research is that the resource-rich are happier with their lives than the resource-poor and better positioned to cope with stressful life events. This paper addresses the role of various resources—human, economic, social, and psychological capital—in life satisfaction during the coronavirus pandemic, using panel data from Germany and the United Kingdom for 2020 and 2021. Cross-sectionally, we find life satisfaction to be clearly related to all these forms of capital, with psychological capital being the strongest predictor of life satisfaction. Longitudinally, the capital endowments in 2020 did not predict changes in life satisfaction within individuals from 2020 to 2021, except for psychological capital. Our results suggest two things: first, the unfolding pandemic did not heighten well-being inequalities; and second, weathering the pandemic required psychological resources in the first place

Cornerstone · Geography · Life satisfaction · Pandemic · Positive psychological capital · Positive psychology · Public health · Quality of Life Research · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts · Medicine · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Unique citing works16
Citations per year8
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 14
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