Gutenberg Open Science: Closing the “happiness gap” by closing the wealth gap : the role of wealth on life satisfaction between east and west-Germans

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8256

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DC Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Kasinger, Christoph	-
dc.contributor.author	Braunheim, Lisa	-
dc.contributor.author	Beutel, Manfred	-
dc.contributor.author	Brähler, Elmar	-
dc.date.accessioned	2023-01-30T08:18:41Z	-
dc.date.available	2023-01-30T08:18:41Z	-
dc.date.issued	2022	-
dc.identifier.uri	https://openscience.ub.uni-mainz.de/handle/20.500.12030/8272	-
dc.description.abstract	Background In Germany there is a large wealth gap between East and West Germans as well as a gap in life satisfaction, with people in East Germany reporting to be less satisfied. This paper intends to shed light on the role of the different levels of wealth and their association with life satisfaction. On a wider scale, this paper examines psychological consequences of wealth inequality between large societal groups. Method Longitudinal data from the years 2007, 2012, and 2017 of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) with a sample size of N = 5066 (Nfemale = 2522, Nwest = 3756, mage2007 = 50.46) was used. To test our hypothesis, multiple linear regression models as well as a fixed-effects regression model were run. Furthermore, to examine the development of wealth distribution between different birth cohorts in East and West Germany a latent growth curve model was calculated. Results Net-worth was found to be a highly significant predictor for life satisfaction. This holds true for variance between respondents as well as for individual change over time within respondents. Additionally, the results show that the wealth gap between East and West Germans in total as well as within most of the birth cohorts increased. Conclusion Due to their socialistic history and the related obstacles in acquiring wealth as well as the unbalanced distribution of GDR-assets after the reunification, East Germans are significantly less wealthy than West Germans. This has consequences on the mental well-being and the life satisfaction of East Germans.	en_GB
dc.description.sponsorship	Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 491381577	de
dc.language.iso	eng	de
dc.rights	CC BY	*
dc.rights.uri	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	*
dc.subject.ddc	150 Psychologie	de_DE
dc.subject.ddc	150 Psychology	en_GB
dc.subject.ddc	610 Medizin	de_DE
dc.subject.ddc	610 Medical sciences	en_GB
dc.title	Closing the “happiness gap” by closing the wealth gap : the role of wealth on life satisfaction between east and west-Germans	en_GB
dc.type	Zeitschriftenaufsatz	de
dc.identifier.doi	http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8256	-
jgu.type.dinitype	article	en_GB
jgu.type.version	Published version	de
jgu.type.resource	Text	de
jgu.organisation.department	FB 04 Medizin	de
jgu.organisation.number	2700	-
jgu.organisation.name	Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz	-
jgu.rights.accessrights	openAccess	-
jgu.journal.title	Journal of public health	de
jgu.journal.volume	Version of Record (VoR)	de
jgu.publisher.year	2022	-
jgu.publisher.name	Springer	de
jgu.publisher.place	Berlin u.a.	de
jgu.publisher.issn	1613-2238	de
jgu.organisation.place	Mainz	-
jgu.subject.ddccode	150	de
jgu.subject.ddccode	610	de
jgu.publisher.doi	10.1007/s10389-022-01716-0	de
jgu.organisation.ror	https://ror.org/023b0x485	-
jgu.subject.dfg	Lebenswissenschaften	de
Appears in collections:	DFG-491381577-H

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