Onset of disability and life satisfaction: evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel.
This paper analyses the effect of the onset of disability on the well-being of individuals. In particular, we are interested in studying whether people can adapt to disability over time after its onset. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the period 1984-2006, we estimate life satisfaction equations using a fixed-effects model for working-age males (aged 21-58). The results show that disability has a significant negative effect on life satisfaction, but, in time, hedonic adaptation will return disabled males to life satisfaction levels registered by those who have not become disabled. These findings contribute to supporting the idea within psychology literature that individuals bounce back from painful events or adversities (such as the onset of disability) to achieve initial life satisfaction scores.
Departamento de Economía Aplicada (Estructura Económica), Faculty of Economics, University of Malaga, Plaza de El Ejido s/n, 29071 Malaga, Spain. rpr@uma.es
Ricardo
R
Pagán-Rodríguez
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004493:Education; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult