Work

The impact of varieties of democracy on subjective well-being: Global evidence

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of democracy on subjective well-being (SWB) using panel data from 144 countries from 2005 to 2020. SWB measures the evaluation of life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions. In addition, democracy is conceived as a multidimensional concept, making this study utilise five different democracy indices. Addressing potential issues of endogeneity with the Lewbel two-stage least squares, our findings revealed that high-level democracy indices, such as liberal, participatory, egalitarian, electoral, and deliberative democracy enhance life satisfaction and positive emotions, while only liberal democracy significantly reduces negative emotions. The results also show that democracy improves SWB by enhancing freedom to make life choices. The findings also yield that social support, freedom to make life choices, generosity, GDP per capita, and life expectancy improve SWB and positive emotions. At the same time, perceptions of corruption and income inequality deteriorate SWB. These findings are robust to alternative econometric techniques and model specifications. The paper offers important policy implications for enhancing SWB and positive psychology.

Source: Acta Psychologica

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106219

Authors: Alex O. Acheampong, Eric Evans Osei Opoku

Institutions: Bond University, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, University of Nottingham

Language: English

Topic: Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,670