can cause physical pain, trauma and feelings of vulnerability and anxiety as well as a loss of property. Another channel through which crime and lack of security can affect general wellbeing is by constricting personal freedoms and behavior as well as social trust. International studies show that the extent of trust that people have in other people within their communities and work environment influences subjective wellbeing (Bjørnskov 2003; Graham 2009; Helliwell and Wang 2011).

_People’s public engagement has a limited effect on wellbeing_ . Humans are social beings and thus in general greater contact with other people is correlated with higher levels of wellbeing. Yet results show that the effect of participating in community meetings is small and nonsignificant. Individuals who report that they are willing to pay more taxes if the additional revenue is used to give more to the less fortunate are slightly more satisfied with their lives although the effect is also not statistically significant. In terms of correlations between social engagement with others and personal contentment, they may reflect a component of reversed causality as more satisfied people may be more likely to participate in social and community events and be more in favor of giving to charity and reducing inequalities in society. There may also be some reverse causality in aspects of political voice.

_One’s ability to exercise political voice is associated with subjective wellbeing._ People’s perceived wellbeing levels are positively and significantly correlated with having voted in the 2010 presidential elections. People who requested assistance from, or presented a petition to, a congressman or any local or federal authority were however significantly less satisfied with their lives. Yet such actions reveal the needs and deprivations of citizens and can help ensure greater accountability of public officials and public institutions (Stiglitz _et al._ 2009). It may be that a certain degree of frustration or unhappiness is necessary prior to citizens taking such public action and/or to participate in political demonstrations.<sup>15</sup> One potential proxy indicator for the degree of equality in society is if citizens practice mutual respect for each other. Having been discriminated or treated unjustly (due to one’s economic status, physical appearance or gender) in the past 5 years has a very strong negative effect on being satisfied (all things equal)—with 28 percent of respondents reporting having been discriminated. Once again, some reverse causality could be at play, with less satisfied respondents more likely to report discrimination. A few channels through which one’s quality of life may be negatively affected by discrimination are a lack of respect from other members of society, social tensions and fewer possibilities for social and economic mobility.

_Perceived poor economic management has no significant effect on people’s subjective wellbeing._ For a society to function well a certain degree of mutual trust is required between citizens and the government, with results in Table 1 illustrating that people who have trust in the national government are significantly more satisfied. Yet there is no significant effect on people’s wellbeing who believe that the current government is managing the economy poorly, or who believe that Juan Manuel Santos―the President―is in general doing a poor job. It is important to mention that results of perceptions (e.g. political views) on perceptions (e.g. of subjective wellbeing) should be read with caution as they can run in unison and the

> 15 Graham and Markowitz (2011), for example, show that respondents that intend to migrate from Latin America are wealthier and more educated than the average, but also less satisfied with their lives and with their economic conditions. Graham and Chattopadhyay (2011) show that those cohorts that were likely to participate in the Arab Spring protests were significantly less optimistic about their future happiness than were similar cohorts that did not participate in protests.

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