Assessing Well-Being Factors in a Growing Community: A Multi-Attribute Vignette Approach

There is significant support for measurement and utilization of subjective well-being (SWB) as an input in the public policy process, and analyses of secondary data have provided important insight into the well-being effects of several policy-relevant variables. However, such analyses may be limited by data availability and uncertainty about causality. Analogous to stated preference approaches in economics, vignettes with researcher-defined attributes can be used to assess potential SWB responses to policy-relevant variables. This study used vignettes to understand the effect of population growth, unemployment rate, utility cost, public input process, and recreation access on SWB in a growing high-amenity community in the United States. Results varied across SWB domains, with a general finding that population growth reduced SWB. Unemployment reductions and “high involvement” public processes enhanced SWB, while utility cost increases reduced SWB. Loss of trail connectivity reduced SWB for respondents who frequently engage in outdoor recreation. Results were consistent with those from previous studies utilizing indirect methods, while the vignette approach provided greater control over the attributes and levels being evaluated. Results generally indicated that the vignette attributes affected SWB in expected ways, thereby providing an indication of construct validity. However, some unexpected patterns were found, and additional evaluation of contingent SWB is needed.