Determinants of happiness among the Poles of Generation X

Abstract

The research undertaken focused on a specific group: Poles aged 35 and over, thus representing so-called Generation X. The main objective of the study was to check which factors affect overall satisfaction with life, as well as how to what extent, which was measured as a weighted average of partial satisfaction indicators from 21 different spheres of life. The weights used to establish this general indicator were the declarations of respondents on how important every sphere is in their life, how much they want to be implemented in it. To achieve this goal, the results of a survey conducted in the first half of 2017 on a sample of 1,110 respondents from the Wielkopolska Voivodeship were used, and in determining what factors significantly determine a high or low level of satisfaction a multidimensional regression analysis was used. The results of the modeling process indicated 14 out of a potential 41 determinants of happiness, and the set of these factors includes the following characteristics of respondents: having children, the number of children, being financially independent, the value of property, place of residence, experiencing or not experiencing great failure in life, level of freedom/ liberty, level of safety, fitness level, self-assessment of health, number of sexual contacts, social prestige, level of extraversion and level of conscientiousness. In addition, it turned out that some of these factors positively affect the level of satisfaction, some negatively, and this influence is also manifested with varying intensity.