FEELINGS OF WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

It is now commonly accepted that the study of well-being must incorporate a measure of life satisfaction. This satisfaction is studied here using a question asked in two surveys conducted in France in 2009 and 2013 on the perception of inequality and feelings of justice. Subjective well-being then appears to be influenced by income, professional life-course, social mobility and relative deprivation or, more broadly, by comparisons with others, as well as by social and emotional relationships. There is also a strong correlation with feelings about justice in society as a whole. This association could not be anticipated, since in one case it is a matter of judgment about one's own personal life and, in the other, about society as a whole. However, it may be explained by theories of justice and in particular that of Rawls. It is in any case an explanatory dimension which cannot be reduced to others, even to the mere perception of inequality. For a better understanding of subjective well-being, it would therefore be advisable to take into account this relationship with feelings of social justice beyond all indicators conventionally used.