Environmental perspectives and pollutants: Assessing their impact on subjective well-being across 118 countries

Sun Lee, Seon Ju Lee, Sung Jin Kang

Article ID: 10026
Vol 9, Issue 2, 2025


Abstract


Using individual- and panel country-level data from 118 countries for the period 1981–2020, this study investigates the effects of national- and individual-level economic and environmental factors on subjective well-being (SWB). Two individual SWB indicators are selected: the feeling of happiness and life satisfaction. Additionally, two environmental factors are also considered: CO2 emissions by country level and personal perspective on environmental protection. The ordered probit estimation results show that CO2 emissions have a significant negative effect on SWB, and a higher perspective on environmental protection has a significant and positive effect. Compared with the average marginal effect of national income, CO2 emissions are a more important determinant of SWB when considering a personal perspective on protecting the environment. The estimation results are robust to various estimation model specifications: inclusion of additional air pollutants (CH4 and N2O), PM 2.5 and various sample groupings. This study makes a novel contribution by providing comprehensive insights into how both individual environmental attitudes and national pollution levels jointly influence subjective well-being.


Keywords


subjective well-being; happiness; life satisfaction; environmental attitudes; ordered probit model

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd10026

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