Subjective well-being and work - a brief review on international surveys and results

Abstract

The research and policy impacts of subjective well-being (SWB) have gained more emphasis in the last decade as international agencies became aware of its importance. Governments have realised that besides the improvements of the economy, the overall life satisfaction of citizens are influenced by multiple other factors. An important part of SWB is work related well-being - often referred to simply as work satisfaction. The nature of work has changed a lot in the recent decades due to immense technological development, more people are behind desks than ever and in general the structure and policies of huge companies have evolved as well. Simply put: life has changed substantially, especially for white-collar workers. The way how people perceive work has also changed, hence the structure of work satisfaction is also different. This paper aims to give an overview on results in this domain and to highlight some possible directions in future research. First the paper gives an overview on SWB and the related research methodologies. Then some current international surveys are briefly described that may be used for SWB related research and finally recent results on work related well-being are shown and some research questions are presented.