Youth Subjective Well-Being: Explaining Variations By Micro and Macro Social Factors

Over the past few decades, a large number of studies have been conducted to explain variations in subjective well-being. Influenced by bottom-up theories, most of these studies emphasised micro-level demographic factors, which were consistently found to be able to explicate only a small amount of variation in well-being. To find a better explanation, researchers guided by this theoretical framework now focus more on macro-level contextual factors. However, these studies are mainly based on adults. There is little systematic evidence on how contextual factors such as self-perceived evaluation of the condition of democracy in the country, inequality, human rights situation, and trust for institutions and organisations are related to youth subjective well-being. The present study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relative strength of these micro and macro-level factors in explaining variation in youth subjective well-being.

Data for this study are from a recent survey conducted over 17,000 young people aged 16 to 25 from 14 European countries. A two-stage multiple regression analysis is carried out to examine the influence of micro and macro-level factors. In stage 1, micro-level demographic factors of age, gender, ethnic background, religious affiliation, occupational status, country of birth, and class are used to explain variation in the subjective well-being scale. In stage 2, macro-level contextual factors of young people's assessment of the state of democracy in the country, inequality, human rights situation, and trust for institutions and organisations are added to the analysis. These models are then evaluated regarding their ability to explain variation in subjective well-being. Findings are discussed in the context of previous empirical studies and theories on subjective well-being. Suggestions for future research have also been put forward.