Towards a Sociology of Happiness: The Case of an Age Perspective on the Social Context of Well-Being

37 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2011

See all articles by Christian Kroll

Christian Kroll

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Sociology

Date Written: April 14, 2011

Abstract

A vast literature has recently emerged on subjective well-being (SWB) examining the determinants of happiness and life satisfaction, particularly in Psychology and Economics. The research area has become very influential in the policy world, as governments are becoming increasingly keen to 'measure happiness' through official statistics. In Sociology, by contrast, the concept of happiness has not gained such prominence, despite the fact that the discipline would have a lot to offer. Consequently, this article examines what can be the contribution of Sociology to the ‘new science of happiness’, and what can such happiness studies contribute to Sociology? It does so by presenting the example of a quantitative analysis of European Social Survey data for the UK on social capital and life satisfaction by age. The aim is to illustrate how Sociological theory can crucially enrich research on SWB by relating the under-theorised field to broader narratives. At the same time, it is demonstrated that analysing data on life satisfaction can deliver much needed empirical tests of and new perspectives on long-standing sociological theories.

Keywords: happiness, homo sociologicus, role-identity theory, social capital, subjective well-being

JEL Classification: I31, J13, J16

Suggested Citation

Kroll, Christian, Towards a Sociology of Happiness: The Case of an Age Perspective on the Social Context of Well-Being (April 14, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1809833 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1809833

Christian Kroll (Contact Author)

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Department of Sociology ( email )

Houghton Street
WC2A 2AE London, England
United Kingdom

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