Social relations and life satisfaction: the role of friends

Viviana Amati, Silvia Meggiolaro, Giulia Rivellini, Susanna Zaccarin, Viviana Amati, Silvia Meggiolaro, Giulia Rivellini, Susanna Zaccarin

Abstract

Social capital is defined as the individual's pool of social resources found in his/her personal network. A recent study on Italians living as couples has shown that friendship relationships, beyond those within an individual's family, are an important source of support. Here, we used data from Aspects of Daily Life, the Italian National Statistical Institute's 2012 multipurpose survey, to analyze the relation between friendship ties and life satisfaction. Our results show that friendship, in terms of intensity (measured by the frequency with which individuals see their friends) and quality (measured by the satisfaction with friendship relationships), is positively associated to life satisfaction.

Keywords: Friendship relationships; Life satisfaction; Multipurpose survey; Social capital.

Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Ego and kinds of alters in an ego-centered network
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentage distributions of individuals aged 18–64 according to their life satisfaction

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