Bireysel Mutluluğun ve Yaşam Memnuniyetinin Kaynağı: Türkiye'den Bulgular

The most important determinants of happiness and life satisfaction in Turkey are individual and contextual variables such as education, age, marital status, gender, caring for family and friends, being healthy, caring about religion, being satisfied with the financial situation, feeling free, trusting institutions and trusting people. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye'de mutluluk ve memnuniyet üzerinde bağlamsal ve bireysel olarak en etkili kaynakların neler olduğunu tahmin etmektir. Bu çalışmada kullanılan veriler, Dünya Değerler Araştırması'nın (WVS) 2005-2009, 2010-2014, 2017-2020 yıllarının oluşturduğu üç farklı dalgasından elde edilmiştir. Bu üç dalgadan elde edilen tüm veriler toplandığında toplam örneklem büyüklüğü 8.766 bireye ulaşmıştır. Bireysel mutluluk, bağımlı değişken olarak kullanılmış ve bireysel mutluluğun sıralaması olarak tanımlanan (1=mutsuz, 2=mutlu, 3=çok mutlu) bir soru ile ölçülmüştür. Ayrıca, karşılaştırma yapabilmek için bireylerin yaşam memnuniyeti (1=hiç memnun değil; 2= memnun değil; 3=ne memnun ne de memnun değil; 4=memnun; 5=en memnun) değişkeninin bağımlı değişken olduğu, mutluluk eşitliğinde kullanılan aynı açıklayıcı değişkenlere sahip bir yaşam memnuniyeti modeli geliştirildi. Çalışmadaki bağımlı değişkenler sıralı değişkenler olduğundan, bu çalışmanın temel modeli sıralı probit modelidir. Bu çalışmanın bulguları, Türkiye'de mutluluğu ve yaşam memnuniyetini etkileyen değişkenlerin benzer olduğunu göstermektedir. Türkiye’de mutluluğun ve yaşam memnuniyetinin en önemli belirleyicileri eğitim, yaş, medeni durum, cinsiyet, aileye ve arkadaşa önem vermek, sağlıklı olmak, dine önem vermek, finansal durumdan memnun olmak, özgür olduğunu hissetmek, kurumlara güven ve insanlara güven gibi bireysel ve bağlamsal değişkenlerdir. Türkiye’de evli bireyler bekâr bireylere göre, aileye önem veren bireyler aileye önem vermeyen bireylere göre, sağlıklı bireyler sağlığı iyi olmayan bireylere göre, arkadaşlığa önem veren bireyler arkadaşlığa önem vermeyen bireylere göre, dine önem veren bireyler dine önem vermeyen bireylere göre daha mutlu ve yaşamdan memnun olma düzeyleri daha yüksektir. Erkeklerin, bekar kadınların mutlululuk ve yaşam memnuniyet düzeyleri daha yüksektir. Yaş ve mutluluk arasında, yaş ile yaşam menuniyeti arasında U şeklinde ilişki olduğu belirlenmiştir. Finansal durumdan memnun olmak, kurumlara güvenmek ve insanlara güvenmek, özgür hissetmek bireysel mutluluğu ve yaşam memnuniyetini pozitif yönde etkilemektedir. Ancak, Türkiye’de politikaya ilgi duymak bireylerin mutluluk ve yaşam memnuniyet düzeylerini negatif etkilemektedir.

The Source of Individual Happiness And Life Satisfaction: Evidence From Turkey

The purpose of this study is to estimate the most effective sources of contextual and individual on happiness and satisfaction in Turkey. The data used in this study are obtained from three different waves of World Values Survey (WVS) which are 2005-2009, 2010-2014, 2017-2020. By summing all data from these three waves, total sample size has reached 8,766 individuals. Individual happiness was used as dependent variable and measured by a question that defined as the rank of individual happiness (1 =unhappy, 2 =happy, 3 = very happy). In addition, in order to make comparisons, a life satisfaction model was developed with the same explanatory variables used in happiness equation, in which the variable of individuals' life satisfaction (1=not satisfied; 2= dissatisfied; 3=neither satisfied nor satisfied; 4=satisfied; 5=most satisfied) was dependent variable. Because the dependent variables in the study are ordered variables, the main model of this study is the ordered probit model. The findings of this study show that the variables affecting happiness and life satisfaction in Turkey are similar. The most important determinants of happiness and life satisfaction in Turkey are individual and contextual variables such as education, age, marital status, gender, caring for family and friends, being healthy, caring about religion, being satisfied with the financial situation, feeling free, trusting institutions and trusting people. Married individuals are very happy and very satisfied with life compared to unmarried individuals, individuals who care about religion are very happy and very satisfied with life compared to those who do not care about religion. Men and single women have higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction. It was determined that there was a U-shaped relationship between age and happiness, age and life satisfaction. Being satisfied with the financial situation, trusting institutions and people, feeling free affect individual happiness and life satisfaction positively. However, interest in politics in Turkey negatively affects the happiness and life satisfaction levels of individuals.

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