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Between wellness and fairness: the mediating role of autonomous human choice and social capital in OECD countries
Scarpa, M.P. Prilleltensky, I.
Scarpa, M.P.
Prilleltensky, I.
Publication Date
2022-09
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© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Community Psychology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Gold
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2022-01-17
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Abstract
Aims: Theoretical arguments and empirical evidence have been provided in the literature for the role of fairness in wellness. In this paper we explore the role of two potential mediating variables: autonomous human choice and social capital. Methods: Using aggregated panel data across countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) we compared the OECD Social Justice Index with data on life satisfaction to test whether fairness has direct and indirect effects on wellness. Results: Results from a series of Manifest Path Analyses with time as fixed effect, support the hypothesis that the OECD Social Justice Index is directly linked to country-level life satisfaction and also reveal that its indirect effect operates primarily through people’s autonomous choices in life and their country’s level of social capital. Conclusions: Our results contribute to two distinct bodies of knowledge. With respect to community psychology, the findings offer empirical evidence for the synergistic effect of personal, relational, and collective factors in well-being. With respect to the impact of economic inequality on wellness, we extend the literature by using social justice as a more comprehensive measure. Limitation and recommendations for future studies are discussed.
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Citation
Di Martino S, Scarpa MP, Prilleltensky I (2022) Between wellness and fairness: the mediating role of autonomous human choice and social capital in OECD countries. Journal of Community Psychology. 50(7): 3156-3180.
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Notes
Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, Jan 2022.