TRUST AND LIFE SATISFACTION IN ALBANIA

Merita H. Meçe Dr. /Clemson University

Abstract: Scholars argue that life satisfaction is one of the primary goals of most individuals. With regard to post-socialist societies, research has found that their citizens self-report lower levels of life satisfaction compared with those of the individuals living in the affluent Western countries. Evidence shows that post-socialist countries have undertaken several complex economic and institutional reforms which have reshaped their institutions, changed their rules and adapted their norms to meet the European Union admission criteria. The previous research reveals that a trusting society is also a satisfied society because it establishes trustful conditions for its members to maximize their benefits. However, few studies have examined the link between various types of trust (i.e, social trust and institutional trust) and life satisfaction in post-socialist societies, in general, and in Albania, in particular.
Therefore, the main purpose of the present quantitative study is to examine to what extent various types of trust (i.e social trust, and institutional trust) are associated with life satisfaction in Albania, after controlling for age, gender, and education level. It uses data from a sample of 1,063 participants aged 18-74 years who participated in the round 6 of the European Social Survey conducted in Albania in 2002-2003. Results of ordinal and multiple ordinal regression analyses show that both types of trust are significantly associated with life satisfaction. However, gender did not make a significant contribution to the model. Findings of this study have several implications for policy-makers.