Abstract
This chapter explores the association between different forms of sociopolitical integration and subjective well-being. Three dimensions of integration are considered: social cohesion and fragmentation, relationship between government and citizens, and quality of life. The results show that the forms of integration play a mediating role in the association of happiness and commonly studied determinants. These findings point towards the important role that community context plays in explaining people’s subjective well-being; the community context may even explain the observed heterogeneity in happiness across otherwise similar individuals.
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Notes
- 1.
The survey was funded by the Science and Technology National Council (Conacyt).
- 2.
The index is built with three variables: the shortage of education, goods and services.
- 3.
Clientelism in Spanish: crony patronage, exchange of goods for political support.
- 4.
The adjusted residuals were considered as well because they give additional information about the character of possible association. According to Agresti and Finlay (1997), if the adjusted residual value exceeds −3 or +3, it gives opposite evidence of independence.
- 5.
Individuals were asked how much conflict they had, from 0 to 10, and a variable was built, first of three categories and then of two: conflict-nothing of conflict.
- 6.
Seven questions were made with the same format: Could you tell me how many people are your friends … who have a lot of money?; who have less money than you or are in poverty?; who have more education than you?; who have less education than you?; who have another religion?; who are from another generation?; who are from another political party or have different ideas?. The scale had four values (all, most of all, some, none). Recoding implied that “All or most of all” would assume a value of 1, and “Some or none” the value of 0. Interviewers who got one in three or more statements (that is, who have three or more friends from different socioeconomic level, education, age, religion or political preference) didn’t experience the existence of a fragmented environment, while those who got one in two or less of the statements perceived it as such.
- 7.
In CHP: 35 % feels treated as equal and only 52 % thinks they trust people; in MTY 27 % and 32 % respectively.
- 8.
It is along these lines that we talk, in another dimension, about the “dark side” of social capital, such as in the mafia and other similar groups (Portes 1996).
- 9.
In general, do you think that most people can be trusted, or alternatively that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people? (this question was lightly adjusted to the Mexican sense: “being careful or watching your back”.
- 10.
For the relationship between interaction dilemma and incentives for collective goods, see Kollock (1998).
- 11.
For 2004, year of the survey, the minimum wage was 45 Mexican pesos; 4 current American dollars.
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Millán, R. (2016). Sociopolitical Dimensions of Subjective Wellbeing: The Case of Two Mexican Cities. In: Rojas, M. (eds) Handbook of Happiness Research in Latin America. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7203-7_18
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