So far so good? Subjective and social well-being in Portugal and Europe

Based on the results of the European Social Survey (ESS), this study characterizes the levels of subjective well-being (SWB) and social well-being (SoWB) in 20 European countries. The relationships between well-being, socio-demographic and behavioural variables (sociability and social participation) were also explored. Results show extremely low levels of well-being in Portugal as compared to the other European countries, but similar to other less-developed countries. Wealth of the country was, as usual, associated with SWB and also with SoWB. Overall, for developed countries, our results replicate the associations of SWB with age, marital status and income. However, in less-developed countries these associations with SWB are different: it is positively associated with income and negatively associated with age; it is higher in individuals that were never married and is more strongly related to sociability. These results challenge a universal model of well-being and stress its contextual and social determinants