Subjective Wellbeing Metrics in the European Economic Area, ESS Round 6 (2012/13)

This data repository makes available subjective wellbeing (SWB) metrics in the European Economic Area. This dataset presents results derived from Round 6 (2012/13) of the European Social Survey (ESS, doi:10.21338/ess6e02_6), a cross-national survey collecting harmonised information on people’s attitudes, behaviours, and wellbeing across Europe. 

This dataset is a subset of the data extracted from the report entitled "Wellbeing and Quality of Life in Rural Europe" by Knies and Hopkins (Deliverable D4.4, Appendix 7 (A3-4) - GRANULAR project), aimed at advancing the understanding of subjective wellbeing across rural (and urban) Europe, combining systematic review, conceptual extension, and novel empirical analysis. 

The analysis focuses on European Economic Area (EEA) countries participating in Round 6 and accounts for the ESS’s complex survey design, using population weights and considering clustering and stratification as appropriate.

Subjective wellbeing is measured across five multidimensional domains, based on the ESS “Personal and Social Wellbeing” module and aligned with the conceptual framework proposed by Martela, Delle-Fave et al. (2023). All items are scaled so that higher values indicate higher wellbeing. For each domain, a domain-specific wellbeing index was computed using the Mazziotta–Pareto Index (MPI) to capture deviations from the European average (index = 100). The dataset includes respondents aged 15 years and older living in private households with complete information on settlement type, sociodemographic characteristics, and all wellbeing indicators.

All data sources and data processing are described in this resource.