Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Labor Unions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from New Data

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While a growing literature demonstrates the impact of socio-political factors on citizens’ quality of life, scholars have paid comparatively little attention to the role political organizations such as labor unions play in this regard. We examine labor organization as a determinant of cross-national variation in life satisfaction across a sample of advanced industrial polities. Our findings strongly suggest that unions increase the life satisfaction of citizens, and that that this effect holds for non-union members as well. Moreover, we also find that labor organization has the strongest impact on the subjective well-being of citizens with lower incomes. We confirm these hypotheses using both individual and aggregate-level data from fourteen nations. We show these relationships to have an independent and separable impact from other economic, political, and cultural determinants. The implications for the study of life satisfaction and of labor unions as political actors in general are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We do not ignore the fact that recent dissenting opinions call into question the empirical usefulness of contemporary happiness/life-satisfaction research. Wilkinson’s (2007) thoughtful piece expounds the position that most happiness surveys do not in fact capture precisely what they intend to in respondents’ answers, and that better designed surveys will be necessary in the future to justify the often sweeping claims of happiness scholars. Nonetheless, for now the scholarly consensus is that the survey instruments hold up reasonably well provided one is careful not to attribute explanatory power to them beyond what they represent.

  2. Some evidence in the literature suggests that union members are actually more dissatisfied than non-members, but also that they are far less likely to quit then non-members (Freeman and Medoff 1984). This puzzle was resolved by applying the “voice hypothesis,” in that unionization allows members to complain about their working conditions since they are in a position to ameliorate them through collective action. Workers thus sought to improve their working conditions rather then “exit” because they could, and presumably because they valued their jobs enough to try. There is also an endogeneity problem that Pfeffer and Davis-Blake (1990) successfully explain. Clark (1996, 202) nicely addresses the issue: “if unions address worker dissatisfaction, the more dissatisfied workers will be the most attracted to union membership,” so that union shops will emerge in those industries and under those employers, that create the most initial dissatisfaction. When controlling for this effect, Pfeffer and Davis-Blake demonstrate that “unionization has a significant positive effect on [job] satisfaction.” Similar evidence is provided by Bender and Sloane (1998).

  3. When respondents who were former but not current union members are instead coded as non-members, the results are substantively identical to those we report below.

  4. Data on social welfare expenditures and unemployment rate are from the OECD. Data on GDP are from Penn World Tables. Data on a country’s level of “individualism” are drawn from Triandis (1993).

  5. Country-level measures of life satisfaction are computed by taking the mean response to the 1–10 scale life satisfaction item on the 2005 WVS.

  6. These results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables that measure a country’s culture, political ideology, and general disposition toward labor unions. Specifically, we added country-level mean values for post-materialism (to control for the general culture of a country, y001), political ideology (to control for a progressive cultural outlook, v114), and general trust of labor unions (to control for political receptivity to the demands of organized labor, v135) from the 2005 wave of the WVS to the model specification for Table 1 and all subsequent individual-level models (Tables 2 and 3). In all models, the coefficient for union density and/or union membership remains statistically significant and its substantive impact is of a similar magnitude.

  7. To assess the intervening mechanisms that link union membership and life satisfaction, we ran a series of additional models.  Specifically, we regressed (separately) three factors linked to life satisfaction in previous studies on our indicator of union membership.  The three possible mechanisms were: (1) the extent of free choice and control over one's own life (v46), (2) satisfaction with one's household financial situation (v68), and (3) how much independence one has while doing tasks at work (v246). For all three factors, the coefficient for union membership is positive and bounded above zero (p < .01), indicating that being a member of a labor union positively predicts these three important factors that lead to higher levels of life satisfaction.

References

  • Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness (2nd ed.). London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bender, K., & Sloane, P. (1998). Job satisfaction, trade unions, and exit-voice revisited. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 51(2), 222–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjornskov, C. (2003). The happy few: Cross-country evidence on social capital and life satisfaction. Kyklos, 56, 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjornskov, C., Dreher, A., & Fischer, J. A. V. (2007). The bigger the better? Evidence of the effect of government size on life satisfaction around the world. Public Choice, 130, 267–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, M. H. (1987). Relation of economic change to Swedish health and social well-being. Social Science and Medicine, 25, 183–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catalano, R. (1991). The health effects of economic insecurity. American Journal of Public Health, 81(9), 1148–1152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charles, K., & DeCicca, P. (2008). Local labor market fluctuations and health: Is there a connection and for whom? Journal of Health Economics, 27, 1532–1550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. (1996). Job satisfaction in Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 34, 189–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., & Rogers, J. (1983). On democracy. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed., Diener, M., & Diener, C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 851–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, Ed., & Suh, E. M. (2000). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, R. (1979). Contested terrain. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, K. (1986). On work and alienation. American Sociological Review, 51(1), 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenwick, R., & Olson, J. (1986). Support for worker participation. American Sociological Review, 41(4), 505–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R., & Medoff, J. (1984). What do unions do?. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B., & Stutzer, A. (2000). Happiness prospers in democracy. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1, 79–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B., & Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and economics. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, E., & Grunberg, L. (1995). Work, alienation, and problem alcohol behavior. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 83–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, P. M. (1999). Predicting employee life-satisfaction: A coherent model of personality, work, and nonwork experience, and domain satisfactions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(4), 564–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J. F. (2003). How’s life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic Modeling, 20(2), 331–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J. F., & Huang, H. (2008). How’s your government? International evidence linking good government and well-being. British Journal of Political Science, 38(4), 595–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial democracies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton, University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R. (2000). Globalization and postmodern values. Washington Quarterly, 23, 215–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inglehart, R., Foa, R., Peterson, C., & Welzel, C. (2008). Development, freedom, and rising happiness: A global perspective (1981–2007). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(4), 264–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P. (1992). Specifiying the buffering hypothesis: Support, strain, and depression. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55(4), 363–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kohn, M., Naoi, A., Schoenbach, C., Schooler, C., & Slomcynski, K. M. (1990). Position in the class structure and psychological functioning in the United States, Japan, and Poland. American Journal of Sociology, 95(4), 964–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korpi, W., & Shalev, M. (1979). Strikes, industrial relations, and class conflict in capitalist society. British Journal of Sociology, 30, 164–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuttner, R. (1986). Unions, economic power, and the state. Dissent, 33, 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laitinen, E., Ek, E., & Sovio, U. (2002). Stress related eating and drinking behavior and body mass index and predictors of this behavior. Preventative Medicine, 34(1), 29–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. (1978). Autonomy, felicity, futility. Journal of Politics, 40, 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. (2000). The loss of happiness in market democracies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levi, M. (2003). Organizing power: Prospects for the American labor movement. Perspectives on Politics, 1(1), 45–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loscocco, K., & Spitze, G. (1990). Working conditions, social support, and the well-being of female and male factory workers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 31(4), 313–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, G. S., & Northcott, H. C. (1988). The impact of working conditions, social roles, and personal characteristics on gender differences in distress. Work and Occupation, 15, 55–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, D. (1993). The pursuit of happiness. New York: Avon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, D., & Diener, Ed. (1995). Who is happy? Psychological Science, 6, 10–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, D., & Diener, Ed. (1997). The science of happiness. The Futurist, 31, 27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Near, J. P., Smith, C. A., Rice, R. W., & Hunt, R. G. (1984). A comparison of work and nonwork predictors of life satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 27(1), 84–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacek, A., & Radcliff, B. (2008a). Assessing the welfare state: The politics of happiness. Perspectives on Politics, 6(2), 267–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacek, A., & Radcliff, B (2008b). Welfare policy and subjective well-being across nations: An individual-level assessment. Social Indicators Research, 89(1), 179–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pateman, C. (1970). Participation and democratic theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, J., & Davis-Blake, A. (1990). Unions and job satisfaction. Work and Occupations, 17(3), 259–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polity IV project: political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800–2007. (2007). George Mason University: Center for Systemic Peace.

  • Putnam, R. (1993). Making democracy work. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radcliff, B. (2001). Politics, markets, and life satisfaction: The political economy of human happiness. American Political Science Review, 95(4), 939–952.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radcliff, B. (2005). Class organization and subjective well-being: A cross-national analysis. Social Forces, 84(1), 513–530.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radcliff, B., & Saiz, M. (1998). Labor organization and public policy in the American States. Journal of Politics, 60(1), 113–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radcliff, B., & Wingenbach, Ed. (2000). Preference aggregation, functional pathologies, and participation: A social choice defense of participatory democracy. Journal of Politics, 62, 977–998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, R. W., McFarlin, D. B., Hunt, R. G., & Near, J. P. (1985). Organization work and the perceived quality of life: Toward a conceptual model. Academy of Management Review, 10, 296–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rode, J. (2004). Job satisfaction and life satisfaction revisited: A longitudinal test of an integrated model. Human Relations, 57(9), 1205–1230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seeman, M., & Anderson, C. S. (1983). Alienation and alcohol: The role of work, mastery, and community in drinking behavior. American Sociological Review, 48(1), 60–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sousa-Posa, A., & Sousa-Posa, A. (2000). Well-being at work: A cross-national analysis of the levels and determinants of job satisfaction. Journal of Socio-Economics, 29(6), 517–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, J. (1990). Bureaucrats and entrepreneurs: Institutional responses to deviant children in the united states. American Journal of Sociology, 95(6), 1367–1400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Triandis, H. (1993). Collectivism and individualism as cultural syndromes. Cross-Cultural Research, 27(3–4), 155–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uehara, E. (1990). Dual exchange theory, social networks, and informal social support. American Journal of Sociology, 96(3), 521–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1993). Happiness in nations. Rotterdam: Risbo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1996). Developments in satisfaction research. Social Indicators Research, 37, 1–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1997a). Advances in understanding happiness. Revue Quebecoise de Psycologie, 18, 29–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (1997b). Quality of life in individualistic societies. In M.-J. DeJong & A. C. Zijderveld (Eds.), The gift of society. Nijker, The Netherlands: Enzo Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (2000). Well-being in the welfare state: Level not higher, distribution not more equitable. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 2, 91–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (2002). Why social policy needs subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 58(1–3), 33–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Clark, L. (1991). Self vs. peer ratings of specific emotional traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 927–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Western, B. (1997). Between class and market. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, W. (2007). In pursuit of happiness research: Is it reliable? What does it imply for policy? Policy Analysis, 590, 1–41.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, 217 O’Shaughnessy Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    Patrick Flavin & Benjamin Radcliff

  2. Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Alexander C. Pacek

Authors
  1. Patrick Flavin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexander C. Pacek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Benjamin Radcliff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick Flavin.

Additional information

Authors’ names are listed alphabetically to reflect their equal contribution to the research. Radcliff gratefully acknowledges the generous support provided by the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. The authors also thank Frederick Boehmke for making his “grinter” program, a Stata utility for graphing the marginal effect of an interacted variable in regression models, publicly available on his website.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Flavin, P., Pacek, A.C. & Radcliff, B. Labor Unions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from New Data. Soc Indic Res 98, 435–449 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9549-z

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9549-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation