Journal of Business & Economic Policy

A Meta-Analysis on the Effects of Social Support and Self-Concept on Subjective Well-Being
Ai-Chun Chang, Kuo-Chung Huang

Abstract
This study focused on the causal relations among social support, self-concept and subjective well-being. A meta-analysis was conducted with 17 available published works in use. These studies have homogeneous effect sizes and have no publication bias. The findings empirically revealed that social support and self-concept can positively affect subjective well-being, and social support positively affect self-concept. The mean effect sizes represented the high or medium effect size of the correlations between the three variables. Self-concept partially mediated the effects of social support on subjective well-being, implying that subjective well-being could be affected by social support indirectly via self-concept. Social support and self-concept can explain 27.04% and 10.25% variation in subjective well-being respectively, so a total of 37.29% variation in subjective well-being can be explained. The results provided a more comprehensive understanding of the causal relations among social support, self-concept, and subjective well-being.

Full Text: PDF