Logo

Institute of Sociology
NAS of Ukraine

Logo

Institute of Sociology
NAS of Ukraine

Author(s) / Editor(s):

Viedrov Oleksii Igorovych, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Research Fellow

 email: oleksii.viedrov@gmail.com

 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6176-8173

Year: 2025

Pages: 149-170

Publication language: Ukrainian

Publisher: Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Type of Publication: chapter in edited volume

Publication Place: Kyiv

DOI: TBD

The composition of an individual’s close social environment and attitudes toward this environment constitute an established set of factors influencing individual well-being. Analysis of Ukrainian Society survey data from 2024 shows that these relationships persist under the extreme wartime conditions in Ukraine. Social factors have a significant impact on subjective well-being and, to a lesser extent, on self-rated health among individuals with similar sociodemographic profiles. Significant positive predictors of life satisfaction in linear models with sociodemographic controls include expected help from neighbors and the local community in times of need, belief in individual responsibility for mutual help (as opposed to reliance on state support), being married, providing financial support to the armed forces, and prioritizing the state and society in one’s value hierarchy. Negative predictors include mistrust as a safety strategy, disappointment in people, conflicts with social contacts during the previous year, local self-identification, the belief that people are unwilling to bear the burden of support, and experiences of serious illness or death of a close person. At the same time, the observed effects of the cognitive attitudes may hide the influence of objective characteristics of one’s social network that are not captured in the analyzed data.

References:

Anderson, B. R. O. (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism.Verso.

Burt, R. S. (1987). A note on strangers, friends and happiness. Social Networks, 9(4), 311-331. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(87)90002-5

Cleland, C., Kearns, A., Tannahill, C., & Ellaway, A. (2016). The impact of life events on adult physical and mental health and well-being: longitudinal analysis using the GoWell health and well-being survey.BMC research notes, 9(1), 470. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-016-2278-x

Girardi, D., Falco, A., De Carlo, A., Benevene, P., Comar, M., Tongiorgi, E., & Bartolucci, G. B. (2015). The mediating role of interpersonal conflict at work in the relationship between negative affectivity and biomarkers of stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 38(6), 922-931. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9658-x

Helliwell, J. F. (2007). Well-being and social capital: Does suicide pose a puzzle? Social Indicators Research, 81(3), 455-496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-0022-y

Helliwell, J. F., & Putnam, R. D. (2004). The social context of well-being. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1435-1446. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1522

Horst, M. van der, & Coffé, H. (2012). How Friendship Network Characteristics Influence Subjective Well-Being. Social Indicators Research, 107(3), 509-529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9861-2

Hui, B. P. H., Ng, J. C. K., Berzaghi, E., Cunningham-Amos, L. A., & Kogan, A. (2020). Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 146(12), 1084-1116. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000298

Ju, E., Qi, H., Zhao, L., Luo, Y., Li, Y., & You, X. (2025). The Longitudinal Relationship between Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior and Well-Being: A Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-025-02137-4

Keyes, C. L. M. (1998). Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(2), 121-140. https://doi.org/10.2307/2787065

Lahav, E., Sherman, A., & Shavit, T. (2025). The Longitudinal Effect of Pre-war Investments in Hedonic Capital on Wartime Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 26(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00851-7

Larson, J. S. (1993). The measurement of social well-being. Social Indicators Research, 28(3), 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01079022

Li, R., Xu, W., Nie, H., & Zhang, W. (2025). The Longitudinal Relationship Between Close Friendship and Subjective Well-Being: The Chain Mediation Model of Interpersonal Trust and Perceived Social Support.Behavioral Sciences, 15(4), 480. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15040480

Maricchiolo, F., Mosca, O., Paolini, D., & Fornara, F. (2021). The mediating role of place attachment dimensions in the relationship between local social identity and well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 645648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645648

Murayama, H., Fujiwara, Y., & Kawachi, I. (2012). Social capital and health: A review of prospective multilevel studies. Journal of Epidemiology, 22(3), 179-187. https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20110128

Ozer, S., & Schwartz, S. J. (2025). Striving for unity in a culturally fragmented world: Nested multiple cultural identifications associated with well-being through self-concept clarity. International Journal of Psychology, 60(1), e70004. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.70004

Pezirkianidis, C., Galanaki, E., Raftopoulou, G., Moraitou, D., & Stalikas, A. (2023). Adult friendship and wellbeing: A systematic review with practical implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1059057

Putnam, R. D. (2001). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster. https://doi.org/10.1353/scs.2001.0014

Reznik, V. (2023). War and Ukrainian societal community: Dynamics of legitimation and solidarization. In Ukrainian society in wartime. 2023 (pp. 45-86). Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Song, I., Kwon, J.-W., & Jeon, S. M. (2023). The relative importance of friendship to happiness increases with age. PloS One, 18(7), e0288095. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288095

Stepanenko, V. (2024). The current state and distinguishing features of solidarity-based relations in Ukraine in the third year of the full-scale war. In Ukrainian society in wartime. 2024 (pp. 151-170). Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Thomas, P. A., Liu, H., & Umberson, D. (2017). Family relationships and well-being. Innovation in Aging, 1(3), igx025. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx025

Tseng, F.-M., Petrie, D., & Leon-Gonzalez, R. (2017). The impact of spousal bereavement on subjective wellbeing: Evidence from the Taiwanese elderly population. Economics and Human Biology, 26, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2017.01.003

Windsor, T. D., Anstey, K. J., & Rodgers, B. (2008). Volunteering and psychological well-being among young-old adults: how much is too much? The Gerontologist, 48(1), 59-70. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/48.1.59

Social factors of individual well-being in Ukraine