Forschung SOEP: Dynamiken von Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit

Life Goals Matter to Happiness: A Revision of Set-Point Theory

The purpose of the paper is to assess the theory that the downside risk insurance provided by more generous welfare states generates long run efficiency gains, which counterbalance the short run efficiency losses caused by work disincentives in these states (Feldstein 1974, 1976; Sinn 1995, 1996). Testing downside risk theory requires long term data, so the paper makes use of the three longest running ...

Obesity and Skill Attainment in Early Childhood

This paper investigates the association between obesity and skill attainment in early childhood (aged 2-3 years). Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study are used to estimate models of developmental functioning in four critical areas (verbal skills, activities of daily living, motor skills, and social skills) as a function of various measures of weight (including body mass index and obesity) ...

Macht die soziale Marktwirtschaft glücklich? Analysen mit dem Sozio-ökonomischen Panel ; Studie im Auftrag der Zeitschrift "Capital"

Immer mehr Erwerbstätige empfinden ihr Einkommen als ungerecht

Seit einiger Zeit mehren sich die Stimmen, die für Deutschland eine "soziale Schieflage" konstatieren und im Namen sozialer Gerechtigkeit Korrekturen fordern. So haben die Reallöhne in den vergangenen Jahren stagniert, teilweise sind sie sogar zurückgegangen. Zugleich kann eine Zunahme von Einkommensungleichheit beobachtet werden. Diese Entwicklung spiegelt sich auch in der subjektiven Bewertung der ...

Mittelschicht immer unzufriedener mit Arbeitseinkommen: Fünf Fragen an Jürgen Schupp

Woher kommt das Glück? Die Glücksforschung gibt Hinweise auf unterschätzte Politikbereiche

Quality of Life in Rural Areas: Processes of Divergence and Convergence

In Germany, processes can be observed that have long been out of keeping with the principle of equality of opportunity. Unemployment is concentrated in the structurally weak peripheral areas, in Eastern Germany in particular; emigration of young and better-educated people to the West is not diminishing, but contrary to expectation is again on the increase; aging processes have set in already, and when ...

The Set-Point Theory of Well-Being Needs Replacing: On the Brink of a Scientific Revolution?

Set-point theory has dominated the field of subjective well-being (SWB). It has served as a classic Kuhn research paradigm, being extended and refined for thirty years totake in new results. The central plank of the theory is that adult set-points do not change, except just temporarily in the face of major life events. There was always some "discordant data", including evidence that some events are ...

Desired Lifetime and End-of-Life Desires across Adulthood from 20 to 90: A Dual-Source Information Model

How long do people want to live, and how does scientific research on aging affect such desires? A dual-source information model proposes that aging expectations and desires are informed differently by two sources: personal experiences on the one hand, and scientific and societal influences on the other. Two studies with independent German national samples explored desires regarding length of life and ...

Volunteer Work, Informal Help, and Care among the 50+ in Europe: Further Evidence for 'Linked' Productive Activities at Older Ages

Objectives - Taking a cross-national comparative perspective, we investigate linkages between volunteer work, informal helping, and caring among Europeans aged 50 or older: Is the relationship between these activities characterized by complementarity or by substitution? Is there evidence for the existence of (unobserved) personality traits that foster engagement independent of a specific activity? ...