TY  - JOUR
AU  - Helliwell,John F.
TI  - Understanding and Improving the Social Context of Well-Being
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 18486
PY  - 2012
Y2  - October 2012
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18486
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18486.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
John F. Helliwell
Vancouver School of Economics
University of British Columbia
997-1873 East Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1
CANADA
Tel: 604/822-4953
Fax: 604/822-5915
E-Mail: john.helliwell@ubc.ca
AB  - The paper first attempts to demonstrate the fundamental importance of the social context. The related evidence is drawn from recent theoretical and empirical advances in the study of subjective well-being. Treating people’s self-assessments of the quality of their lives as valid measures of well-being exposes the importance of the social context and suggests new ways to design better policies.

The paper starts with demonstrations of the unexpectedly great well-being consequences of social and pro-social behavior. In addition, evidence is advanced to show an evolutionary fitness for social and pro-social behaviors above and beyond those flowing through their direct consequences for subjective well-being. This is followed by discussion of specific measures of the social context, of the fundamental importance of trust as social glue, and of several experiments designed to improve subjective well-being.
ER  -