Civic Engagement and Subjective Well-Being: Mediating Effect of a Sense of Agency

• Background and Purpose

Civic engagement, involving people in public processes to achieve common goals, has received increased attention due to its potentially positive effects, such as health and well-being. Although several studies have found that civic engagement increases individuals’ well-being, little is known the exact mechanisms through which this contributes to well-being. This study examines the relationship between civic engagement and well-being among low-income populations in developing countries and the mediating effect of sense of agency, which is defined as the feeling of control over one’s life and freedom of choice, on the relationship between civic engagement and well-being.

• Methods

Individual-level data were drawn from the World Values Survey (Wave 6; 2010-2014). Country-level data were merged from the World Bank, Transparency International Corruption Index, and the Freedom House to control the impact of the country-level characteristics (GNI per capita, corruption perceptions, Gini index, and political openness). The study sample is 8,469 from 34 low-and middle-income countries. We limited our sample to low-income individuals whose income belongs to the bottom 20% of a country. Considering the nested characteristics of data, we estimated several multi-level structural equation models (MSEM). The missing data was dealt with the Full Information Maximum Likelihood. The statistical significance of indirect effects was tested using Sobel test and bootstrapping procedures with 5,000 bootstrapped samples.

• Results

Civic engagement is a latent factor, consists of membership in civic organizations, participation in civic activities, and cognitive engagement. Subjective well-being is also a latent factor of life satisfaction and happiness. The measurement models are all significant (p<.05). Regarding structural parts, this study found that increased civic engagement is related to increased well-being (b=2.31; p <.10). Also, the significant mediating effect was identified. A sense of agency significantly mediates this relationship (b=1.52; p<.05). The goodness of fit statistics (RMSEA =.02; CFI = .91; SRMR_within=.02; SRMS_between=.18) indicate that the analytic model fits the data set.

• Conclusions and Implications

This study extends our understanding of the relationship between civic engagement and subjective well-being. This study also suggests important implications for social work macro practice. Although engaging with civic matters that affect themselves is important for their autonomy and feeling of agency as citizens, low-income populations in developing countries have been particularly excluded from exercising this opportunity. This study shows by participating in civic engagement, the marginalized increases that they can bring changes to their lives and they have control over their life. This, in turn, increases their subjective well-being among the marginalized, who have not experienced this sense of agency. Social work has long been worked to empower the marginalized to be more engaged with the societies. The responsibilities of social workers in social and political engagement are stated in the NASW code of ethics. By focusing on the underserved population and the factors affecting their well-being, this study reaffirms the importance of engagement.