Social Capital and Subjective Happiness in Taiwan Wen-Chun Chang*

Social capital has been argued to have important positive effects on democracy and economic outcomes, but the study on the relationship between social capital and subjective happiness for the new democratic Asian societies has received much less attention. Since the late 1980s, Taiwan has experienced a political transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime along with rapid economic development and further opening of society toward different individual beliefs, cultures, and global views. During this process, there have been various changes in the socio-cultural context of society that is critical for the formation of social capital. This study tests the theoretical predictions of the social capital investment model and examines the relationships between different forms of social capital and subjective happiness in Taiwan. Using data from the Survey of Social Development Trends in Taiwan 2003, the findings are mostly consistent with the characteristics implied by the social capital investment model. In addition, to some extent, the individual impacts of different measures of social capital- including contributions to non-profit organizations, volunteering, social and community involvement, and trust- on subjective happiness are identified