Correlates of happiness assessed by ordered probit regression analysis†
| Characteristic | Category | Pooled‡ | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Belarus | Georgia | Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Moldova | Russia | Ukraine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking status | Current smoker | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Never | 0.0597** | 0.0842 | 0.1083 | 0.0823 | 0.0079 | 0.0222 | 0.1364* | 0.0587 | 0.0168 | 0.1295* | |
| (0.0215) | (0.0777) | (0.0746) | (0.0638) | (0.0713) | (0.0689) | (0.0689) | (0.0762) | (0.0498) | (0.0625) | ||
| Ex-smoker | 0.0973*** | 0.0441 | 0.3227* | 0.1107 | 0.1136 | 0.1751 | −0.0984 | 0.0438 | 0.0461 | 0.2535** | |
| (0.0295) | (0.1212) | (0.1643) | (0.0809) | (0.0827) | (0.0937) | (0.1082) | (0.0948) | (0.0669) | (0.0777) | ||
| Age (years) | 18–29 | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| 30–39 | −0.2005*** | −0.2516** | −0.3076*** | −0.2746*** | −0.2438** | −0.1423 | −0.0800 | −0.2515** | −0.2049** | −0.0587 | |
| (0.0257) | (0.0840) | (0.0795) | (0.0819) | (0.0741) | (0.0795) | (0.0731) | (0.0893) | (0.0655) | (0.0791) | ||
| 40–49 | −0.3199*** | −0.3759*** | −0.3036*** | −0.4571*** | −0.3503*** | −0.2246* | −0.2362** | −0.3609*** | −0.4064*** | −0.1925* | |
| (0.0268) | (0.0864) | (0.0809) | (0.0855) | (0.0756) | (0.0888) | (0.0811) | (0.0923) | (0.0666) | (0.0816) | ||
| 50–59 | −0.3415*** | −0.4583*** | −0.3146*** | −0.3720*** | −0.4103*** | −0.2472** | −0.1337 | −0.4145*** | −0.3607*** | −0.3149*** | |
| (0.0286) | (0.0977) | (0.0884) | (0.0957) | (0.0817) | (0.0924) | (0.0835) | (0.0923) | (0.0691) | (0.0868) | ||
| ≥60 | −0.2769*** | −0.3497*** | −0.3450** | −0.2261* | −0.4292*** | −0.0645 | −0.2235* | −0.2191* | −0.2506** | −0.4193*** | |
| (0.0313) | (0.1020) | (0.1110) | (0.1081) | (0.0863) | (0.0966) | (0.1006) | (0.1037) | (0.0765) | (0.0899) | ||
| Sex | Male | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Female | 0.0435* | 0.0067 | −0.0293 | 0.0149 | 0.0466 | 0.0435 | 0.0173 | 0.0884 | 0.1364** | 0.0400 | |
| (0.0190) | (0.0700) | (0.0686) | (0.0584) | (0.0667) | (0.0583) | (0.0565) | (0.0589) | (0.0452) | (0.0562) | ||
| Marital status | Married or cohabiting | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Never married | −0.1530*** | −0.1768* | −0.0545 | −0.2570*** | −0.3335*** | −0.0418 | −0.1364 | −0.1206 | −0.1186 | −0.0787 | |
| (0.0240) | (0.0774) | (0.0724) | (0.0753) | (0.0640) | (0.0759) | (0.0762) | (0.0842) | (0.0615) | (0.0751) | ||
| Divorced or widowed | −0.3237*** | −0.4688*** | −0.5677*** | −0.2807*** | −0.3445*** | −0.4069*** | −0.4360*** | −0.4040*** | −0.2470*** | −0.2187*** | |
| (0.0247) | (0.1026) | (0.1094) | (0.0741) | (0.0699) | (0.0757) | (0.0925) | (0.0756) | (0.0533) | (0.0634) | ||
| Education | High | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Middle | −0.0740*** | −0.0754 | −0.1296* | −0.0810 | −0.1019* | −0.1322* | 0.0441 | −0.0373 | −0.0462 | −0.0507 | |
| (0.0185) | (0.0621) | (0.0631) | (0.0586) | (0.0508) | (0.0595) | (0.0609) | (0.0625) | (0.0452) | (0.0531) | ||
| Low | −0.1100*** | 0.0097 | 0.0648 | −0.0237 | −0.2342* | −0.1548 | −0.1650* | −0.1192 | −0.1253 | 0.0729 | |
| (0.0297) | (0.0957) | (0.1128) | (0.1168) | (0.0983) | (0.0916) | (0.0728) | (0.0758) | (0.0814) | (0.0948) | ||
| Wealth | High | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Average | −0.2162*** | −0.3061*** | −0.4418*** | −0.2336*** | −0.2825*** | −0.1144 | −0.2242** | −0.0758 | −0.1990*** | −0.2667*** | |
| (0.0199) | (0.0628) | (0.0750) | (0.0589) | (0.0620) | (0.0646) | (0.0706) | (0.0673) | (0.0469) | (0.0584) | ||
| Low | −0.4283*** | −0.6563*** | −0.6478*** | −0.3526*** | −0.5038*** | −0.3550*** | −0.4319*** | −0.3997*** | −0.2959*** | −0.3558*** | |
| (0.0224) | (0.0696) | (0.0850) | (0.0870) | (0.0659) | (0.0688) | (0.0738) | (0.0657) | (0.0570) | (0.0664) | ||
| Self-rated health | Fair or better | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Poor | −0.4315*** | −0.4420*** | −0.4551*** | −0.5647*** | −0.2799*** | −0.4345*** | −0.3028*** | −0.5297*** | −0.4767*** | −0.4595*** | |
| (0.0246) | (0.0949) | (0.0774) | (0.0841) | (0.0536) | (0.0886) | (0.0914) | (0.0711) | (0.0652) | (0.0701) | ||
| Location | Urban | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Rural | 0.0806*** | −0.0047 | 0.3153*** | −0.0097 | −0.0011 | 0.1014* | 0.2093*** | 0.0712 | −0.0030 | 0.0077 | |
| (0.0174) | (0.0627) | (0.0546) | (0.0584) | (0.0481) | (0.0515) | (0.0503) | (0.0552) | (0.0442) | (0.0541) | ||
| Heavy episodic drinking§ | No | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. | ref. |
| Yes | −0.0778** | 0.2700** | 0.0841 | −0.1573* | −0.0421 | −0.1797** | −0.1167 | −0.0732 | −0.0868 | −0.0374 | |
| (0.0254) | (0.0939) | (0.1198) | (0.0703) | (0.0839) | (0.0688) | (0.1042) | (0.0978) | (0.0554) | (0.0680) |
Data are presented as coefficients with SEs.
*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
†Happiness was assessed by the question “Taking all things together, how would you say things are these days—would you say you are?” with answers provided on a 10-point scale that ranged from ‘very unhappy’ (scored 1) to very happy (scored 10).
‡Pooled analysis including all nine countries and also adjusted for country.
§Heavy episodic drinking was defined as consumption of at least one of the following on one occasion: ≥2 L of beer, ≥750 g of wine or ≥200 g of strong spirits.