Social Engagement: Conclusions

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Conclusions

As noted at the outset, there is broad interest among policy makers, researchers, community leaders and others in the social and civic activities in which Canadians are engaged. This is largely driven by the implications that social engagement and social networks may have for a broad range of outcomes, such as public health, economic growth and innovation, educational achievement and community development (Woolcock, 2001).

An analysis of the linkages between such outcomes and the views, activities and networks of Canadians is beyond the scope of this paper. However, we conclude by providing some descriptive information on the relationship between these characteristics and the assessments that Canadians provided of their happiness and satisfaction with life.

GSS respondents were asked:

Presently, would you describe yourself as very happy, somewhat happy, somewhat unhappy, very unhappy?

One-half of Canadians (aged 15 and older) said that they were 'very happy', while just under one-half (46%) said they were 'somewhat happy'. The remaining 4% said they were 'somewhat' or 'very unhappy'.

The degree of happiness expressed by Canadians was associated with many of the attitudes and activities discussed above. For example, individuals who described their sense of belonging to Canada, to their province or to their local community as very strong were more likely than others to have said they were very happy (Chart 25).

Chart 25. Level of happiness by sense of belonging, Canada, 2003

Similarly, individuals who reported higher levels of trust and greater confidence in institutions were more likely than other individuals to have said they were very happy, while this was also the case for those who were involved in at least one group or organization or who knew many or most of the people in their neighbourhood (Chart 26).

Chart 26. Level of happiness by selected characteristics, Canada, 2003

The same patterns were evident when respondents were asked about their satisfaction with life overall. More specifically, GSS respondents were asked:

I am going to ask you to rate certain areas of your life. Please rate your feelings about them using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means "Very dissatisfied" and 10 means "Very satisfied"... Using the same scale, how do you feel about your life as a whole right now?

As shown in Chart 27, levels of satisfaction were highest among individuals who described their sense of belonging to their community as very strong, among those who expressed trust in others, among those who were involved in one or more groups or organizations, and among those who expressed confidence in public institutions.

The relationship between life satisfaction and these aspects of social engagement generally remained significant when other characteristics, such as personal health and household income, were taken into account (data not shown).

Chart 27. Mean scores on life satisfaction scale, by selected characteristics, Canada, 2003

To conclude, the role that social engagement and social networks play in the well-being of individuals and society has garnered tremendous interest among researchers, practitioners and policy-makers in fields such as health, education, economics and community development. Statistics Canada's 2003 General Social Survey offers a rich source of data and will serve to advance research and understanding in this area.