Life satisfaction predictors in the United Arab Emirates: Gallup data analysis

• In Event: 4467 - Section on Social Psychology Refereed Roundtables (Cosponsored with Section on Sociology of Emotions)
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 4: Context and Self

Abstract

The literature is rife with papers discussing the state of developed or developing economies with a number of commonalities around what drives life satisfaction. In sum, females, the educated and well off, younger and older generations, the married or partnered and employees with decent job prospects tend to report higher life satisfaction. Yet, whether these factors hold true in a small, homogeneous society transitioning from a post-oil society to a knowledge economy, as is the case in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), remains unknown. Using survey data of a nationally representative sample collected by the Gallup Organization between the years of 2006 to 2017, we explore the data on these questions from more than 17000 residents and citizens in the UAE. Results showed that many of the usual predictors found in other nations also held true in a prosperous country such as the UAE, including income and standards of living. However, unlike other countries, a few did not. For example, age had a flat U-shaped relationship with life satisfaction in male citizens and none for females. Tertiary education also remained a positive contributor to life satisfaction but only for men and older generations. Finally, unemployment as well as the freedom to live one’s life as chosen, considered a stalwart in the literature on life satisfaction, had little impact. Our findings suggest that while there are many universals in the relationship with life satisfaction, significant wealth may influence some of those factors otherwise

Authors

• Tatiana Karabchuk, United Arab Emirates University

• Louise Lambert, United Arab Emirates University