The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations

Ângela Leite; Ana Costa; Paulo C. Dias; Ruut Veenhoven

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10

The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations

Ângela Leite^*, Ana Costa, Paulo C. Dias, Ruut Veenhoven

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Investments in education are growing, not only in the first phase of life but also throughout life. However, the million-dollar question is: does more education make us happier? The relationship between education and happiness is assessed on two levels: at the micro level of individuals and at the macro level of nations. At the micro level, the results of 86 studies were analyzed, in which most results point to a weak positive correlation between happiness and years of schooling (r = +0.06). This is considerably lower when controlling the values for the effects of education, such as income (partial r = +0.02). At the macro level, the correlation between education and happiness in 146 nations was assessed, and a strong positive relationship was found (r = +0.61). These results suggest that the effect of education on happiness is indirect and not direct; people who live in modern societies are happier, but this means that they need a higher level of education. Apparently, education alone is not satisfactory, at least not the school education that has been provided thus far.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Humanistic perspectives in happiness research
Editors	Luísa Magalhães, Maria José Ferreira Lopes, Bruno Nobre, João Carlos Onofre Pinto
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer International Publishing
Pages	141-160
Edition	1
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031386022
ISBN (Print)	9783031385995
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2024

Publication series

Name	Happiness Studies Book Series
ISSN (Print)	2213-7513
ISSN (Electronic)	2213-7521

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10

1 Active

CEFH: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies
Soares da Silva, A. (PI), Nobre, B. (Researcher), Melo, A. M. M. (Researcher), Dias, P. C. (Researcher), Balsas, Á. (Assistant Professor), Pereira, A. (Researcher), Lind, A. G. (Researcher), Azevedo, Â. (Researcher), Leite, Â. (Researcher), Pinto, A. P. (Researcher), Henriques, M. (Researcher), Gonçalves, A. (Researcher), Maia, B. R. (Researcher), Cardoso, C. P. (Researcher), Estevão, C. (Researcher), Morais, C. B. (Researcher), Morujão, C. (Researcher), Macedo, C. D. C. M. (Researcher), Costa, E. C. V. (Researcher), Morgado, E. (Researcher), Raguso, F. (Researcher), Oliveira, F. (Researcher), Bolinhas, I. (Researcher), Oliveira, Í. M. (Researcher), Silva, J. A. O. C. D. (Researcher), Pinto, J. C. O. (Researcher), Braga, J. P. (Researcher), Martins, J. C. D. O. (Researcher), Lopes, J. M. M. (Researcher), Lóia, L. (Researcher), Gil, M. M. (Researcher), Cunha, M. A. D. (Researcher), Pimentel, M. C. (Researcher), Pulido, M. (Researcher), Lopes, M. J. F. (Researcher), Magalhães, L. (Researcher), Gonçalves, M. (Researcher), Peixoto, R. (Researcher), Novais, R. A. (Researcher), Dimas, S. (Researcher), Afonso, S. (Researcher), Relvas, S. R. (Researcher), Filho, A. L. S. (Student), Antunes, A. (Student), Galvão, A. I. (Student), Lemos, C. F. D. L. R. (Student), Tages, E. (Student), Lima, J. B. C. (Student), Vale, M. J. P. M. M. D. (Student), Moura, M. (Student), Oliveira, P. (Student), Batista, R. B. (Student), Cunha, R. (Student), Costa, S. (Student), Fernandes, S. (Student), Souza, T. P. D. (Student), Mevis, A. (Student), Abrantes, A. M. (Researcher), Salazar, A. M. P. L. (Researcher), Pessôa, C. (Researcher), Duque, J. M. (Researcher), Rodrigues, A. (Researcher), Esteves, A. (Researcher), Silva, C. V. D. (Researcher), Marques, E. (Researcher), Andrade, J. G. (Researcher), Expósito, N. (Researcher), McDade, P. (Researcher), Petrella, S. (Researcher), Gouveia, S. S. (Researcher), Gama, J. (Emeritus Professor), Castillo, J. A. G. D. (Researcher), Brito, J. H. S. D. (Emeritus Professor), Pinto, J. R. C. (Emeritus Professor), Júnior, M. G. S. (Emeritus Professor), Lobo, F. (Researcher), Garcia, M. R. D. S. (Emeritus Professor), Mota, S. M. (Researcher), Mineiro, A. (Researcher), López-Sánchez, C. (Student), Costa, C. S. (Student), Mamas, C. (Researcher), Rodrigues, C. D. J. M. (Student), Coutinho, E. R. M. (Student), Albuquerque, E. (Student), Brunetto, G. M. (Student), Mello, H. (Student), Júnior, H. D. A. (Researcher), Bazmandegan, M. (Student), Brandão, M. C. (Student), Forjaz, M. J. B. P. (Student), Abraçado, J. (Student), Oliveira, M. R. D. (Student), Rúbio, M. G. (Student), Akoni-Mensah, M. (Student), Rocha, R. B. D. (Student), Tralhão, C. (Researcher), Costa, A. (Researcher) & Silva, S. (PI)
1/01/20 → 31/12/25
Project: Research

1 Edited book

Humanistic perspectives in happiness research
Magalhães, L. (Editor), Lopes, M. J. F. (Editor), Nobre, B. (Editor) & Pinto, J. C. O. (Editor), 23 Apr 2024, 1 ed. Springer. (Happiness Studies Book Series)
Research output: Book/Report › Edited book › peer-review

Cite this

Leite, Â., Costa, A., Dias, P. C., & Veenhoven, R. (2024). The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations. In L. Magalhães, M. J. F. Lopes, B. Nobre, & J. C. O. Pinto (Eds.), Humanistic perspectives in happiness research (1 ed., pp. 141-160). (Happiness Studies Book Series). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10

Leite, Ângela ; Costa, Ana ; Dias, Paulo C. et al. / The effect of education in happiness : lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations. Humanistic perspectives in happiness research. editor / Luísa Magalhães ; Maria José Ferreira Lopes ; Bruno Nobre ; João Carlos Onofre Pinto. 1. ed. Cham : Springer International Publishing, 2024. pp. 141-160 (Happiness Studies Book Series).

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abstract = "Investments in education are growing, not only in the first phase of life but also throughout life. However, the million-dollar question is: does more education make us happier? The relationship between education and happiness is assessed on two levels: at the micro level of individuals and at the macro level of nations. At the micro level, the results of 86 studies were analyzed, in which most results point to a weak positive correlation between happiness and years of schooling (r = +0.06). This is considerably lower when controlling the values for the effects of education, such as income (partial r = +0.02). At the macro level, the correlation between education and happiness in 146 nations was assessed, and a strong positive relationship was found (r = +0.61). These results suggest that the effect of education on happiness is indirect and not direct; people who live in modern societies are happier, but this means that they need a higher level of education. Apparently, education alone is not satisfactory, at least not the school education that has been provided thus far.",

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Leite, Â , Costa, A , Dias, PC & Veenhoven, R 2024, The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations. in L Magalhães, MJF Lopes, B Nobre & JCO Pinto (eds), Humanistic perspectives in happiness research. 1 edn, Happiness Studies Book Series, Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 141-160. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10

The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations. / Leite, Ângela ; Costa, Ana ; Dias, Paulo C. et al.
Humanistic perspectives in happiness research. ed. / Luísa Magalhães; Maria José Ferreira Lopes; Bruno Nobre; João Carlos Onofre Pinto. 1. ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2024. p. 141-160 (Happiness Studies Book Series).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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AU - Dias, Paulo C.

AU - Veenhoven, Ruut

PY - 2024/1/1

Y1 - 2024/1/1

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Leite Â , Costa A , Dias PC, Veenhoven R. The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations. In Magalhães L, Lopes MJF, Nobre B, Pinto JCO, editors, Humanistic perspectives in happiness research. 1 ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing. 2024. p. 141-160. (Happiness Studies Book Series). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-38600-8_10

The effect of education in happiness: lower at the micro level of individuals than at the macro Level of nations

Abstract

Publication series

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Projects

CEFH: Centre for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies

Research output

Humanistic perspectives in happiness research

Cite this