Education and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

at is the relation between formal educational attainment and adults' subjective well-being? What factors account for variation in the estimates of this relation? Does education contribute to adult subjective well-being by increasing income or occupational status? To address these questions, we performed a metaanalytic research synthesis. Dependent variables were zero-and first-order correlations between educational attainment and subjective well-being, and independent variables were sample, measure, and study quality characteristics. We found that education is significantly positively related to adult subjective well-being, accounting for 1 to 3% of the variance. The relation is stronger in samples of women than men and in older than younger adults, but no differences were found between whites and blacks. The strength of the relation has not changed significantly over a span of nearly five decades. When occupational status, but not income, was the control variable the education/subjective well-being relation was reduced. Overall, education is a small but positive Work on this paper was supported by funds from the College of Education and Provost's Office, Arizona State University. We appreciate the assistance of Clifford Kinney and Wendy Miller. Individuals interested in obtaining a copy of the list of sources from which effect sizes were extracted should write to Robert A. Witter,

The Happiness of Cities

“…A meta-analysis by WITTER et al (1984) found that education is a small but positive contributor to subjective well-being in adults, accounting for 1-3% of the variance. LAYARD (2005) found that education has a small (but significant) direct effect on happiness and that it also affects happiness indirectly by raising personal income.…”

Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions.

“…In turn, sociological accounts of the life course suggest that institutional opportunities for meaningful activity lag behind the added years that many older persons now experience (Riley, Kahn, & Foner, 1994). Beyond age-related influences on well-being, we also emphasize educational standing, thereby connecting our inquiry to the growing interest in social inequalities-that is, how differential access to resources and opportunities in life influences health and well-being (Adler, McEwen, & Marmot, 1999;Marmot et al, 1997;Witter, Okun, Stock, & Haring, 1984). This multidisciplinary literature increasingly draws on psychological constructs to articulate the mechanisms and processes through which standing in the socioeconomic hierarchy penetrates self-evaluation and life quality (see Ryff & Marshall, 1999).…”

Exploring the Meaningfulness and Relevance of Subjective Well-being for India

“…Apart from income, the reported determinants of SWB are culture (see Vitterso, et al, 2005;, age (for example, Blanchflower and Oswald, 2004;Agrawal, et al, 2010), employment status (for example, Clark and Oswald, 1994), social relationships (Diener, et al, 1999;Lucas, et al, 2003;Camfield, et al, 2009), health (for example, Witter, et al, 1984) and education (Agrawal, et al, 2010). For the Indian context, other factors such as caste (see Bosher, et al, 2007) also need to be taken into account.…”