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The Relationships among Socio-Demographics, Perceived Health, and Happiness

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Abstract

This article explores explore the relationships among socio-demographics, perceived health, and happiness in a patient population of 221 adults recruited from 39 primary care practices in Alabama. We also explored whether the relationship between socio-demographics and happiness is mediated by perceived health. The dependent variable, happiness, was dichotomized as happy versus unhappy. Independent variables or correlates of happiness included race (Black or White), age (< 65 years vs. 65 years and older), gender (male vs. female), perceived income (sufficient vs. insufficient to meet basic needs), health literacy (adequate vs. inadequate), and self-rated health (excellent/very good/good vs. poor/fair). Data were analyzed using generalized linear latent and mixed models to examine the relationship between happiness and its correlates. Our findings suggest that adequate health literacy and better perceived health are associated with an increase in the likelihood of happiness. In addition, the relationship between perceived sufficient income and happiness is mediated by perceived health; whereas, individuals with sufficient income are more likely to have better perceived health, and as a result more likely to be happy. Other individual factors, such as gender, age, and race were not significantly associated with being happy or having higher perceived health in any of the models. Results suggest that policies aimed at increasing health literacy, promoting health, and reducing income disparities may be associated with greater happiness.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported in part by the AHRQ Deep South Musculoskeletal Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics (DSM CERTs) [U19 HS021110-01]. Robert Weech-Maldonado was supported in part by the NIA Deep South Resource Center on Minority Aging (RCMAR) [P30AG031054]. The sponsors did not review the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 2nd Ave. S., SHPB 558, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA

    Robert Weech-Maldonado & Justin C. Lord

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Michael J. Miller

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  1. Robert Weech-Maldonado
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Correspondence to Robert Weech-Maldonado.

Appendix

Appendix

Modified Happiness Items

  1. 1.

    How happy do you consider yourself to be in general? 1 means that you do not consider yourself to be a very happy person and 7 means that you consider yourself to be a happy person.

  2. 2.

    How do you compare your happiness to that of other people? 1 means that you are less happy than most people and 7 means that you are more happy than most people.

  3. 3.

    Some people are generally very happy. They enjoy life regardless of what is going on, getting the most out of everything. How well does this describe you? 1 means that the statement does not describe you at all and 7 means that it describes you a great deal.

  4. 4.

    Some people are generally not very happy. Although they are not depressed, they never seem as happy as they might be. How well does this describe you? 1 means that the statement does not describe you at all and 7 means that it describes you a great deal.

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Weech-Maldonado, R., Miller, M.J. & Lord, J.C. The Relationships among Socio-Demographics, Perceived Health, and Happiness. Applied Research Quality Life 12, 289–302 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9517-8

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