150 – Eudaimonic happiness as a leading health indicator

Abstract

Eudaimonic happiness (measured in terms of sense of life) is a relatively unexplored subjective wellbeing indicator.

The empirical findings presented in this paper show that it has a significant and quantitatively remarkable correlation with the future insurgence of some chronic diseases and the reduction of most functionalities in the ageing population.

These results document that eudaimonic happiness is a relevant leading indicator of future health outcomes and expenditure and that its impact is independent from that of the traditional life satisfaction measure.

 
Keywords: eudaimonic satisfaction, health outcomes, functionalities, life satisfaction.

JEL Numbers: I12 Health Behavior; I31 General welfare, wellbeing.