Abstract
The aims of this investigation were (1) to measure the impact of arts-related activities on the perceived quality of life of a representative sample of British Columbians aged 18 years or more in the spring of 2007, and (2) to compare the findings of this study with those of a sample of 1,027 adults drawn from five B.C. communities (Comox Valley, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Port Moody and Prince George) in the fall of 2006. Seven hundred and eight British Columbians responded to a mailed out questionnaire, and the working data set was weighted by age and education to match the 2006 census statistics for the province, yielding a fairly representative sample. Speaking quite generally, about 62.0% of the results for the two samples are very similar. In particular, in both surveys we found that (a) among arts-related activities in which people participate relatively infrequently (i.e., participation is counted in times per year rather than in hours per week), live theatre is supreme in the strength of its positive correlation with respondents’ perceived quality of life measured in 7 different ways, and (b) compared to 4 demographic variables (age, education, household income and body mass index), household income had the highest average, positive correlation with 7 different measures of respondents’ overall life assessments, namely, self-assessed general health, satisfaction with life as a whole (single item), happiness, satisfaction with the quality of life, satisfaction with life as a whole (5-item index), contentment with life (5-item index) and subjective wellbeing (4-item index). Different results were found in the province-wide versus the five-communities survey for the following, among other things, (a) compared to all 7 life assessment measures, for the province, satisfaction with the quality of life and happiness had the largest number of significant correlations with arts-related activities measured in hours per week engaged, while for the five communities, the single measure of satisfaction with the quality of life had the largest number of significant correlations, and (b) For the province, compared to all 7 life assessment measures, satisfaction with the quality of life had the largest number of significant correlations with arts-related activities measured in times per year engaged; for the five communities, compared to all 7 life assessment measures, self-assessed general health had the largest number of significant correlations with arts-related activities measured in times per year engaged.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cummins, R. A., Stokes, M. A., & Davern, M. T. (2007). Core affect and subjective wellbeing: a rebuttal to Moum and Land. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8(4), 457–466. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9065-2.
Davern, M. T., Cummins, R. A., & Stokes, M. A. (2007). Subjective wellbeing as an affective-cognitive construct. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8(4), 429–449. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9066-1.
Decima (2002) The Arts in Canada: Access and Availability, 2001 Research Study Final Report, Decima Research Inc., Ottawa. Accessed June 2007 from http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/arts/pubs/etude-report/arts_access.pdf.
Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
DiMaggio, P., & Pettitt, B. (1999). Surveys of public attitudes toward the arts: What surveys tell us about the arts’ political trials—and how they might tell us even more. Arts Education Policy Review, 100(4), 32–37.
Land, K. C. (2007). Comments from Kenneth C. Land. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8(4), 455. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9068-z.
Lavallee, L. F., Hatch, P. M., Michalos, A. C., & McKinley, T. (2007). Development of the contentment with life assessment scale (CLAS): Using daily life experiences to verify levels of self-reported life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 83(2), 201–244. doi:10.1007/s11205-006-9054-6.
Michalos, A. C. (1985). Multiple discrepancies theory (MDT). Social Indicators Research, 16(4), 347–413. doi:10.1007/BF00333288.
Michalos, A. C. (1991). Global Report on Student Well-Being, Vol.1: Life Satisfaction and Happiness. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Michalos, A. C. (2004). Social indicators research and health-related quality of life research. Social Indicators Research, 65(1), 27–72. doi:10.1023/A:1025592219390.
Michalos, A. C. (Ed.). (2005a). Citation classics from social indicators research. Dordrecht: Springer Publishers.
Michalos, A. C. (2005b). Arts and the quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 71(1–3), 11–59. doi:10.1007/s11205-004-8013-3.
Michalos, A. C., & Kahlke, P. M. (2008). Impact of arts-related activities on the perceived quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 89(2), 193–258. doi:10.1007/s11205-007-9236-x.
Michalos, A. C., Thommasen, H. V., Read, R., Anderson, N., & Zumbo, B. D. (2005). Determinants of health and the quality of life in the Bella Coola Valley. Social Indicators Research, 72(1), 1–50. doi:10.1007/s11205-004-4512-5.
Moum, T. (2007). A critique of ‘Subjective wellbeing as an affective-cognitive construct. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8(4), 451–453. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9067-0.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding this research through the Gold Medal for Achievement in Research 2004. This project complements an earlier one also funded by the Council through its Community-University Research grants program, with Will Garrett-Petts of Thompson Rivers University Principal Investigator. We would also like to thank Joyce Henley, Office Manager of ISRE, and all the anonymous respondents who shared their time and thoughts with us to make this report possible.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix: BC Arts and Quality of Life Survey, May 2007
Appendix: BC Arts and Quality of Life Survey, May 2007
See Table 25
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Michalos, A.C., Kahlke, P.M. Arts and the Perceived Quality of Life in British Columbia. Soc Indic Res 96, 1–39 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9466-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9466-1