Wellbeing

Wellbeing is a popular concept in research and everyday life. Wellbeing understood in a broad sense covers objective living conditions as well as subjective aspects of wellbeing (see figure). The objective living conditions take account of all important areas of life, whereas subjective wellbeing refers to three dimensions of subjective perceptions of individual wellbeing. Wellbeing in a narrower sense means these subjective perceptions. FORS contributes to the research on subjective wellbeing by collecting data and authoring scientific articles. Furthermore, subjective wellbeing was the main topic of the Swiss Social Report 2016, which was edited by FORS.

Conceptional framework of wellbeing

Swiss Social Report 2016

FORS edited the Swiss Social Report 2016, which emphasises the subjective wellbeing: How satisfied are the Swiss with their social living conditions and their financial situation? Does religion still play a role in the search for a meaningful life? What impact do social developments such as the rise in divorce rates have on the wellbeing of the affected people? Does political participation make people happy? Are impoverished people less satisfied with life than the wealthy? Does increasing mobility in work and leisure time have a positive or negative effect on wellbeing? In addition to a selection of 75 indicators on these and other topics, the Social Report 2016 contains five analytically oriented in-depth articles that focus on subjective wellbeing and address the following topics: income and social contacts, dissociation from religion, wellbeing and poverty, political participation, as well as environment as a health factor.

Scientific publications from FORS in the field of subjective wellbeing

Publications of FORS collaborators
L’évolution du stress en Suisse – la première vague de la pandémie, une pause pour les personnes stressées / Die Entwicklung von Stress in der Schweiz – die erste Welle der Pandemie verschafft gestressten Menschen eine Pause. Klaas Hannah S., Kuhn Ursina, Refle Jan-Erik, Voorpostel Marieke, Ryser Valérie-Anne, Dasoki Nora, Tillmann Robin, 2021/07/05. Social change in Switzerland, 26. [DOI][serval:BIB_6BCB2EF1EFD7]

Welfare solidarities in the age of mass migration: evidence from European Social Survey 2016. Gugushvili Dimitri, Ravazzini Laura, Ochsner Michael, Lukac Martin, Lelkes Orsolya, Fink Marcel, Grand Peter, van Oorschot Wim, 2021/04. Acta Politica, 56 (2) pp. 351-375. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][WoS][serval:BIB_4358485C1358]

No Stratified Effect of Unemployment on Incomes: How the Market, State, and Household Compensate for Income Loss in the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Nallo Alessandro Di, Oesch Daniel, 2021. European Sociological Review. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_E79ECD14A897]

Augmented wealth in Switzerland: the influence of pension wealth on wealth inequality. Kuhn Ursina, 2020/12. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 156 (1). [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_B562878B7716]

Who is most affected by the Corona crisis? An analysis of changes in stress and well-being in Switzerland. Kuhn Ursina, Klaas Hannah S., Antal Erika, Dasoki Nora, Lebert Florence, Lipps Oliver, Monsch Gian-Andrea, Refle Jan-Erik, Ryser Valérie-Anne, Tillmann Robin et al., 2020/11/21. European Societies pp. 1-15. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_CC8960BB56F5]

Early retirement as a privilege for the rich? A comparative analysis of Germany and Switzerland. Kuhn Ursina, Grabka Markus M., Suter Christian, 2020/11. Advances in Life Course Research p. 100392. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_B708DE1702BF]

Debt and Subjective Well-Being: Does the Type of Debt Matter? Coste Tristan, Henchoz Caroline, Wernli Boris, 2020/11/01. Swiss Journal of Sociology, 46 (3) pp. 445-465. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_A13A2FE8DDA9]

(When) Do Critical Life Events Push People to the Populist Radical Right? Support for the Swiss People’s Party Following Relationship Dissolution, Unemployment or a Health Crisis. Voorpostel Marieke, Kuhn Ursina, Monsch Gian-Andrea, 2020/11/01. Swiss Journal of Sociology, 46 (3) pp. 515-533. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_2A56F42D1379]

The Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Well-Being of Older Long-Term Care Facility Residents in the Netherlands. Van der Roest Henriëtte G., Prins Marleen, van der Velden Claudia, Steinmetz Stephanie, Stolte Elske, van Tilburg Theo G., de Vries Danny H., 2020/11. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 21 (11) pp. 1569-1570. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][WoS][Pmid][serval:BIB_8289C5C74B2A]

Large loss in studying time during the closure of schools in Switzerland in 2020. Grätz Michael, Lipps Oliver, 2020/10/30. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 71 p. 100554. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][Pmid][serval:BIB_8A0CE856F827]

Work-Family Arrangement and Conflict: Do Individual Gender Role Attitudes and National Gender Culture Matter? Bornatici Christina, Heers Marieke, 2020/10/09. Social Inclusion, 8 (4) pp. 46-60. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_5AEF6A2E0831]

Division of Labour, Work–Life Conflict and Family Policy: Conclusions and Reflections. Ochsner Michael, Szalma Ivett, Takács Judit, 2020/10/09. Social Inclusion, 8 (4) pp. 103-109. Peer-reviewed. [DOI][serval:BIB_EFEB2D21BC8C]

The effect of unemployment on couples separating. Panel evidence for Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. di Nallo Alessandro, Lipps Oliver, Oesch Daniel, Voorpostel Marieke, 2020/08/27. DIAL Working Papers 14 pp. 1-41. [URN][serval:BIB_BE1E3E5258D2]

Loneliness and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Among Dutch Older Adults. van Tilburg Theo G, Steinmetz Stephanie, Stolte Elske, van der Roest Henriëtte, de Vries Daniel H, 2020/08/05. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. [URN][DOI][Pmid][serval:BIB_7859FF1085AD]

Views on a “Good Death”: End-of-Life Preferences and Their Association With Socio-Demographic Characteristics in a Representative Sample of Older Adults in Switzerland. Borrat-Besson Carmen, Vilpert Sarah, Borasio Gian Domenico, Maurer Jürgen, 2020/07/29. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying p. 003022282094507. [URN][DOI][Pmid][serval:BIB_4124A0A7998E]

Why Do Citizens Vote Against Their Basic Political Values? Lauener Lukas, 2020/06/16. Swiss Political Science Review. [URN][DOI][serval:BIB_D812D3176C86]

Social, cultural and experiential patterning of attitudes and behaviour towards assisted suicide in Switzerland: evidence from a national population-based study. Vilpert S., Bolliger E., Borrat-Besson C., Borasio G.D., Maurer J., 2020/06/15. Swiss medical weekly, 150 pp. w20275. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][Pmid][serval:BIB_C5A0875E9954]

Associations of end-of-life preferences and trust in institutions with public support for assisted suicide evidence from nationally representative survey data of older adults in Switzerland. Vilpert Sarah, Borrat-Besson Carmen, Borasio Gian Domenico, Maurer Jürgen, 2020/04/23. PLOS ONE, 15 (4) pp. e0232109. Peer-reviewed. [URN][DOI][WoS][Pmid][serval:BIB_73A2EDABF995]

Trapped in Precariousness? Risks and Opportunities of Female Immigrants and Natives Transitioning from Part-Time Jobs in Spain. Muñoz-Comet Jacobo, Steinmetz Stephanie, 2020/04/08. Work, Employment and Society p. 095001702090297. [DOI][WoS][serval:BIB_A4F8282876B9]

Enforcing Your Own Human Rights? The Role of Social Norms in Compliance with Human Rights Treaties. Benneker Violet, Gërxhani Klarita, Steinmetz Stephanie, 2020/03/20. Social Inclusion, 8 (1) pp. 184-193. [DOI][serval:BIB_D3313383A11F]

No stratified effect of unemployment on incomes. How the market, state and household compensate for income loss in the UK and Switzerland. Di Nallo Alessandro, Oesch Daniel, 2020. DIAL Working Paper Series. [URN][serval:BIB_526C02DC651A]

Being born to a single mother in France: trajectories of father’s involvement over the first year of life. Pailhé Ariane, Panico Lidia, Heers Marieke, 2020. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 11 (1) pp. 123-149. Peer-reviewed.[DOI][serval:BIB_1A1F6A96870A]

The social origin gap in university completion among youth with comparable school abilities in Switzerland. Combet Benita, Oesch Daniel, 2020. TREE Working Paper Series. [URN][serval:BIB_03C32120A6E7]

 

For all scientific publications by FORS collaborators see here.

Papers from the FORS Working Paper Series
2020-1
First results of the Swiss Household Panel – Covid-19 Study
Jan-Erik Refle, Marieke Voorpostel, Florence Lebert, Ursina Kuhn, Hannah S. Klaas, Valérie-Anne Ryser, Nora Dasoki, Gian-Andrea Monsch, Erika Antal and Robin Tillmann

2016-3
A methodological journey towards integrating a gender perspective into the measurement of violence against women and intimate partner violence
Julien Chevillard, Lavinia Gianettoni, and Véronique Jaquier

2016-2
Who are my people? Strengths and limitations of ego-centered network analysis: A case illustration from the Family tiMes survey
Gaëlle Aeby

2016-1
Does it take a village to raise a child? The buffering effect of relationships with relatives for parental life satisfaction
Małgorzata Mikucka and Ester Rizzi

A different version of this paper has meanwhile been published as :
Małgorzata, M. & Rizzi, E. (2016). Does it take a village to raise a child? The buffering effect of relationships with relatives for parental life satisfaction. Demographic Research 34, 943-994.

2015-4
An evaluation of the CASP-12 scale used in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to measure Quality of Life among people aged 50+
Carmen Borrat-Besson, Valérie-Anne Ryser and Judite Gonçalves

2015-3
The happiness-parenthood link in a context of limited state support: The case of Switzerland
Ester Rizzi and Malgorzata Mikucka

A different version of this paper has meanwhile been published as :
Lipps, O. (2016). Non-observation bias in an address-register-based CATI/CAPI mixed mode survey.
Methods, Data, Analyses 10(1): 5-24. DOI: 10.12758/mda.2016.001.

Contributions to blogs, newspapers and other non-scientific media
Nur unfreiwillige Teilzeitarbeit macht Väter unglücklich. Ursina Kuhn, 16.07.2018. Defacto (only in german and french).

Poverty makes active ageing more difficult. Franziska Ehrler, Martina Guggisberg, April 2018. Swiss federal statistics office, DEMOS 1/2018.

Teilzeit oder Vollzeit, was macht zufriedener? Die Antwort ist nicht dieselbe für Väter und Mütter. Florence Lebert, Gian-Andrea Monsch, Valérie-Anne Ryser, Caroline Henchoz, Boris Wernli, 05.09.2017. Defacto.

Sind Workaholics unzufriedener? (also available in French), Ursina Kuhn, Rafael Lalive, Oliver Lipps, Rainer Winkelmann, 23.03.2017. Die Volkswirtschaft.

Führt Wohlstand zu Wohlbefinden? Robin Tillmann, Maurizia Masia and Monica Budowski, 05.12.2016. Zeitschrift für Sozialhilfe (ZESO) 04, pp 24–25 (only in german).

Wohlbefinden in der Schweiz: Ausgrenzung macht unzufrieden. Franziska Ehrler, October 03.11.2016. Defacto (only in german and french).

Wohlbefinden in der Schweiz. Franziska Ehrler, Felix Bühlmann, August 2016. SAGW-Bulletin 3/2016, pp 36-38 (only in german).

Data on subjective wellbeing is available within the following surveys managed by FORS:

For a list of available data on subjective wellbeing in Switzerland see here.