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Abstract

The association between subjective well-being and macroeconomic conditions has been extensively studied across the social sciences, with most evidence stemming from the United States and Europe due to data constraints. Using time-series analysis, this article explores trends (long-term tendencies) and fluctuations (short-term movements) of financial satisfaction and macroeconomic indicators in Latin America during a period of great economic changes. We show that between 1996 and 2015, the trend in financial satisfaction was significantly negatively associated with the trend in the unemployment rate but it was not associated with the trends in the log of Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP) or the inflation rate. In the short-term, financial satisfaction, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and the log of GDP per capita move together. This study demonstrates that unemployment is the key macroeconomic indicator to tackle long-term financial satisfaction and thus likely improve citizens’ overall well-being.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been published in its final form in International Journal of Happiness and Development by Inderscience Publishers and it's available online at: http://doi.org/10.1504/ijhd.2023.10061263
Publisher Keywords:	Happiness, financial satisfaction, Easterlin Paradox, Latin America, time-series analysis
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F1201 Latin America (General) H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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