Greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well-being: An analysis of Swedish households

Andersson, David,1979Chalmers tekniska högskola,Chalmers University of Technology,Göteborgs universitet,University of Gothenburg (author)

In the contemporary discussion on society's transformation towards long-termclimate targets, it is often implicitly assumed that behavioral changes, unlike technological changes, would lead to reductions in human wellbeing.However, this assumption has been questioned by researchers, who instead argue that people may live better lives by consuming less and reduce their environmental impact in the process. In this study we explore the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and subjective well-being, using a sample of 1000 Swedish respondents.Our results show that there is no strong link between an individual's emissions and subjectivewellbeing. We also analyze the relationship between specific emission-intensive activities and subjective well-being and find thatnone of the activities examined correlates with subjective well-being. Finally, we explore a hypothesis put forward in the literature, suggesting that a poor work-life balance, long commuting distances, and materialistic values may decrease individuals' subjective well-being and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Our results indicate that materialistic values do correlate with lower levels of well-being and to some extent also with highergreenhouse gas emissions.

Nässén, Jonas,1975Chalmers tekniska högskola,Chalmers University of Technology,Göteborgs universitet,University of Gothenburg(Swepub:cth)jonasna (author)
Larsson, Jörgen,1966Chalmers tekniska högskola,Chalmers University of Technology,Göteborgs universitet,University of Gothenburg(Swepub:cth)jorlar (author)
Holmberg, John,1963Göteborgs universitet,University of Gothenburg,Chalmers tekniska högskola,Chalmers University of Technology(Swepub:cth)frtjh (author)
Chalmers tekniska högskolaGöteborgs universitet (creator_code:org_t)

By the author/editor: Andersson, David ...; Nässén, Jonas, 1 ...; Larsson, Jörgen, ...; Holmberg, John, ...

About the subject

SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOCIAL SCIENCES; and Other Social Sci ...; and Social Sciences ...

NATURAL SCIENCES: NATURAL SCIENCES; and Earth and Relate ...; and Climate Research

By the university: Chalmers University of Technology; University of Gothenburg

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