Influences on happiness and subjective well-being of entrepreneurs and labour: Kwazulu-Natal case study

Abstract

Globally, individuals seek happiness, but not everybody is happy. Economic reasoning suggests that rising incomes with expansions in GDP enhance the quality of life and subjective well-being. This paper examines the influences on individual happiness, using ordinal logistic regression and chi-square analyses. Based on the findings of a small case study, the chi-square test indicated that a significant relationship exists between gender, education, ethnicity, children, marital status, employment relations, income and self-reported happiness. The study also found that, on average, happier people tended to be educated, married with children, and treated fairly at work. But having too many children produced a decrement in individual happiness. The ordinal regression results indicate that an individual's education, gender, age distribution and work environment are influential in producing higher levels of happiness. Entrepreneurs were found to have a significantly higher mean level of happiness than employees. In the workplace, individuals who experienced personal growth and were able to contribute their ideas tended to be happier, relative to others who perceived themselves to be 'restricted'.

In the choice between health and money, health comes first: an analysis of happiness among rural Chilean elderly

“…The level of education of rural older adults was not a significant variable in the model, which is consistent with the results of Patrick et al 27 and Selim 14 . However, our results differ from those reported by other authors 13,15,21,22 .…”

“…Some studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health 10,19 , and more specifically several authors have established a relationship between happiness and income 12,20 , education 21,22 , family and friends 23,24 , marital status 13,14,20 , number of children 11,14 , perceived physical and mental health 10,25,26 , and capital and social support 13 .…”

Can I Sustain My Happiness? A Review, Critique and Research Agenda for Economics of Happiness

“…A study conducted in Rwanda supported that an increase in income wellness and financial well-being increases happiness [135] and focusing on demographic and economic indicators can improve the well-being of the economy. The literature further supports entrepreneurship to promote well-being [136]. In a cross-country study, the author discussed that an increase in economic freedom is positively associated with an improvement in well-being up to a level, but over time the increasing economic freedom decreases subjective well-being, keeping other factors constant [165].…”

“…One of the studies in Rwanda indicated that the valuing of friends and national pride predicted life happiness [135]. The trade of the individual determined happiness-entrepreneurs are happier than the employees and at the same time, idea contribution and the personal growth of employees lead them to experience happiness [136]. Pro-social behaviour causes happiness [85].…”

Considering Education for Opportunity versus Necessity-based Entrepreneurs: Does Income Lead to Greater Entrepreneurial Well-Being

“…Entrepreneurial well-being is typically measured in terms of general life satisfaction and satisfaction in entrepreneurial domains such as business growth, and work-life balance (Shir, 2015). Empirical evidence exists on higher job satisfaction or life satisfaction of self-employed than wage earners (Andersson, 2008;Carree & Verheul, 2012;Mahadea & Ramroop, 2015;VandenHeuvel & Wooden, 1997). Within this stream of research, an interesting point is made that the increase in satisfaction happens despite the lower incomes of the self-employed (Binder & Coad, 2013;Hamilton, 2000).…”