Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Measuring Time Use in Surveys – Concordance of survey and experience sampling measures

It is still unclear to what extent time allocation retrospectively reported in questionnaires reflects people’s actual behavior. Addressing this research gap, we analyze the congruence of time use information assessed through retrospective questionnaires and through experience sampling methodology. Participants completed standard survey questions on time allocation. In addition, a mobile-phone-based ...

DC-Obesity: A New Model for Estimating Differential Lifetime Costs of Overweight and Obesity by Socioeconomic Status

Objective :The aim of this study was to quantify the magnitude of lifetime costs of overweight and obesity by socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: Differential Costs (DC)-Obesity is a new model that uses time-to-event simulation and the Markov modeling approach to compare lifetime excess costs of overweight and obesity among individuals with low, middle, and high SES. SES was measured by a multidimensional ...

The Automation of Jobs: A Threat for Employment or a Source of New Entrepreneurial Opportunities?

New and emerging technologies pose a serious challenge for the future of employment. As machines learn to accomplish increasingly complex production tasks, the concern arises that automation will wipe out a great number of jobs. This paper investigates the relationship between the risk posed by the automation of jobs and individual-level occupational mobility using a representative German household ...

Occupational Choice and Self-Employment—Are They Related?

Often, a person will become an entrepreneur only after a period of dependent employment, suggesting that occupational choices precede entrepreneurial choices. We investigate the relationship between occupational choice and self-employment. The findings suggest that the occupational choice of future entrepreneurs at the time of labor market entry is partly guided by a taste for skill variety, the prospect ...

Labour market transitions of youth in Germany and Italy

Who Can Buy Happiness? Personality Traits Moderate the Effects of Stable Income Differences and Income Fluctuations on Life Satisfaction

The present research tested whether the Big Five personality dimensions - extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience - moderate the effects of income on life satisfaction. The authors analyzed data from three large-sample, nationally representative, longitudinal studies: the British Household Panel Survey, the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, and the Household ...

Optimal taxation, social contract and the four worlds of welfare capitalism

Personality development in adulthood and old age

This chapter provides an overview on changes in the Big Five personality traits in young adulthood, middle adulthood, and old age. It includes information on mean-level changes in personality trait levels, rank-order consistencies of individuals on personality traits as well as changes in personality type membership. Findings from meta-analyses, large and national representative panel studies, and ...

Personality development in reaction to major life events

Major life events are abrupt changes in the status of individuals that may impact thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This chapter provides a review of studies that examined the impact of major life events on the development of the Big Five personality traits. First, theoretical perspectives are introduced on why personality may (or may not) change in reaction to major life events. Second, methodological ...

The Benefits of Believing in Chance or Fate: External Locus of Control as a Protective Factor for Coping with the Death of a Spouse

The death of a spouse is an extremely stressful life event that consequently causes a large drop in life satisfaction. Reactivity to the loss, however, varies markedly, a phenomenon that is currently not well understood. Because lack of controllability essentially contributes to the stressful nature of this incident, we analyzed whether individual differences in the belief in external control influence ...