Subjective well-being across the life course among non-industrialized populations

Subjective well-being (SWB) is often described as being U-shaped over adulthood, declining to a midlife slump and then improving thereafter. Improved SWB in later adulthood has been considered a paradox given age-related declines in health and social losses. While SWB has mostly been studied in high-income countries, it remains largely unexplored in rural subsistence populations lacking formal institutions that reliably promote social welfare. Here, we evaluate the age profile of SWB among three small-scale subsistence societies (n=468; Study 1), forest users from 23 low-income countries (n=6,987; Study 2), and Tsimane’ horticulturalists (n=1,872; Study 3). Across multiple specifications, we find variability in SWB age profiles. In some cases, we find no age-related differences in SWB or even inverted-U shapes. Adjusting for confounders reduces observed age effects. Our findings highlight variability in average well-being trajectories over the life course. Ensuring successful aging will require a greater focus on cultural and socioecological determinants of individual trajectories.

Methods
Due to IRB arrangements with the Tsimane tribe, the datasets for Study 3 can't be shared openly. However, users can request access by following the instructions in the associate manuscript's Data Sharing Statement.

Study 1: Baka, Punan, and Tsimane As part of a cross-cultural project on the adaptive value of local ecological knowledge, subjective well-being was studied among two foraging populations, the Baka of the Congo Basin and the Punan of Borneo, and Tsimane’ horticulturalists, between 2012-2013. Subjective well-being was queried by: “Taking everything into consideration, would you say your life is 0=very bad, 1=not good, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good”, followed by verbal explanations for their answers. Overall, roughly half of the people in each of the three groups said life was “good”, and with more reports of “very good” than “very bad”. Individuals were sampled every three months, up to four times. In total, 474 individuals were sampled 1,174 times: Baka (n=223 inds/460 ob, mean age=36.4 ± 15.0 y), Punan (n=110/309, mean age=36.6 ± 14.5y) and Tsimane’ (n=135/405, mean age=36.3 ± 18.1 y). Half (49.5%) of participants showed consistency across quarters, and a quarter (25.1%) differed by one level. The few with larger differences stemmed from life events like widowhood or birth. Poor health was given as the main reason for low well-being, especially among Tsimane’ and Punan. Additional variables available include the highest level of schooling, household size, household wealth, total annual income, and the maximum number of days unable to work due to sickness in the past two weeks.

Study 2: Rural forest users in 23 countries (PEN) The CIFOR Poverty Environment Network (PEN) collected individual and household-level data from rural-living people in 23 low-income countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America between 2005-2010. Roughly 8,000 households were randomly sampled from village censuses; villages were selected based on stratification criteria according to land tenure regime, market involvement, vegetation type, and ethnicity. The first household head that was available was selected to be interviewed. The PEN study therefore had a strong female bias in sampling due to male absenteeism, with men constituting 75% of the total sample (see Table S4). Subjective well-being was measured on a five-point scale in response to the question: “All things considered together, how satisfied are you with your life over the past 12 months?” Interviewer ratings of positive affect were assigned based on observations of smiling and laughter, on a four-point scale (1=minimal,…,4=pervasive). Control variables include household size, marital status, education level and income (absolute and relative), and recent household shocks, like job loss, income loss, and death in the household. The final sample of SWB with covariates is 6,970 households.