Among adults aged 65+ in Europe, different forms of civic and political participation show distinct associations with affective well-being: Cooperative, Expressive and Dutiful participation are positively associated, while Activating participation is negatively associated.
Perceived health and household income are strongly associated with affective well-being among European adults aged 65 and older.
Cooperative participation shows the strongest positive association with affective well-being among the four participation profiles.
Expressive and Dutiful participation are positively associated with affective well-being, though less strongly than Cooperative participation.
Activating participation is negatively associated with affective well-being.
Affective well-being differs across countries following a broad regional pattern, with higher average levels in Northern and Western Europe than in Southern and Eastern Europe.
Forms of engagement characterised by social embeddedness, reciprocity and meaningful interaction appear more consistently linked to higher affective well-being than confrontational forms.
This study used 2023 European Social Survey data on people aged 65 and older across Europe to ask whether taking part in civic and political life is linked to how good they feel emotionally. Instead of treating participation as one thing, it looked at four types: dutiful (such as voting), activating (such as protest-style, confrontational activity), expressive, and cooperative (working with others). Cooperative participation, which involves social connection and reciprocity, had the strongest positive link with emotional well-being, followed by expressive and dutiful participation. Activating, more confrontational participation was linked to lower well-being. Good perceived health and higher household income were also strongly linked to better well-being, and older adults in Northern and Western Europe reported higher well-being on average than those in Southern and Eastern Europe. Because this is a snapshot at one point in time, the research cannot show whether participation changes well-being or whether people who feel better are more likely to take part in certain ways. It suggests that not all participation is associated with well-being in the same way, and that programs for older adults may need to consider the type of engagement and the local context.
da Silva J, Alcântara L, Figueiredo T, Melo D, Mimoso I, Morgado M, et al.. (2026). Participation in later life: how civic and political engagement relates to affective well-being.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1803318