Are virtuous people happier? Evidence from Italy

Abstract

The strength of norms of civic cooperation are known to be important for measurable macroeconomic outcomes, such us GNP and investment growth. At the individual level, lack of civic virtue or selfishness in interpersonal relationships is often found to be negatively correlated with happiness. In this paper we provide new empirical evidence on the relationship between happiness and civic virtue using data from the Survey of Italian Households' Income and Wealth. Besides regression results confirming the positive correlation between civic behavior and happiness, we provide novel empirical evidence of a positive correlation between happiness and selfish/asocial behavior. Our findings indicate that people with extreme views, either in the civic direction or in the selfish one, are happier than the others. In addition, the two effects are of a different order of magnitude and we find that the effect on happiness of having a selfish attitude is greater than the pro-social one.

Prosocialness and Happiness in Chilean Student Teachers

“…Third, the results lead to thinking about the social relevance of school and its potential to make substantive changes in individuals and therefore society. For example, in areas, such as civic education, if it is conceived not only as a cognitive exercise for learning concepts but also is stimulated with prosocial behaviors, its potential contribution in the formation of happier citizens is augmented (Simon and Mobekk, 2019;Lubian, 2020) and from multiple perspectives of happiness (Ryan and Deci, 2001;Keyes et al, 2002;Lyubomirsky, 2008;Waterman, 2008;Seligman, 2011;Goodman et al, 2018). At the same time, they would be more committed to the issues of their community and its development (Eisenberg et al, 2006;Grant and Dutton, 2012;Luengo et al, 2014).…”

“…At societal level, prosocialness promotes civic virtue, which in turn is positively associated with happiness (Simon and Mobekk, 2019;Lubian, 2020); moreover, it constitutes an effective way to increase happiness sustainably (Lai et al, 2020), which can also involve the economic dimension (Aknin et al, 2020;Dunn et al, 2020). This is relevant since a common goal of human beings is to achieve happiness (Buss, 2000).…”

Happiness and Age—resolving the Debate

“…The relationship between happiness and age is therefore U-shaped'. Lubian (2020) finds a U-shape in happiness using the 2004 wave of the SHIW. Ferrante (2017) examined the 2008 SHIW and concluded, 'I detect a U-shaped age-happiness relationship, confirming previous empirical evidence'.…”

Is there happiness in money? An attitudinal study of native Lithuanian speakers

“…Some essential factors of happiness are connected with earnings and the employment sphere being perceived in a different manner by different age and gender groups (Samoliuk et al, 2022). They can vary also in groups divided by marital status, educational attainment, unemployment duration (Aliyev, 2021), civic virtue (Lubian, 2020).…”