Abstract

In recent decades, several studies have been conducted on the determinants of happiness thanks to the work of a large group of social scientists. In this paper we study the link between some indicators of social capital and satisfaction with life using two strategies of analysis: the first one, which we could define as standard, consists in applying a linear regression model to a sample of observations coming from the 2011 "Multiscopo" survey, run by Istat. The second strategy of analysis is based on a matching procedure in order to limit the dependence on the model and the undue generalizations that are not supported by empirical evidence. The analyses reveal that trust towards others, meetings with friends and attending places of worship are all positively associated with satisfaction with life.