Previous research has established the central role of an individuals’ locus of control (LoC) in influencing subjective well-being. However, earlier studies have predominantly omitted an exploration of potential moderating factors at the country-level and have rarely delved into the influence of LoC on an important yet often-overlooked dimension of well-being—namely, subjective well-being inequality. Addressing these gaps, this study examines the association between individuals’ LoC and subjective well-being, considering both the mean and inequality aspects. Additionally, it explores the moderating influence of country’s social values, particularly the individualism-collectivism dimension. Utilizing data from the Integrated Values Survey, comprising 170,000 observations across 37 countries from 1996 to 2022, our study confirms a strong positive relationship between LoC and subjective well-being while also unveiling a strong negative relationship with subjective well-being inequality. Moreover, it demonstrates that country’s social values exert significant moderation effects on the relationship between LoC and subjective well-being, affecting both the mean level and inequality aspects, albeit in opposing directions. By employing the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, our findings support the importance of structural effects. Understanding how increasing LoC shapes people’s wellbeing in a society holds implications for policymaking and contributes to ongoing discussions on collective choice and inequality.

以前的研究已经确定了个人的控制点 （LoC） 在影响主观幸福感中的核心作用。然而，早期的研究主要忽略了对国家层面潜在调节因素的探索，并且很少深入研究 LoC 对幸福感一个重要但经常被忽视的维度的影响，即主观幸福感不平等。为了解决这些差距，本研究考察了个人的 LoC 与主观幸福感之间的关联，同时考虑了平均值和不平等方面。此外，它还探讨了国家社会价值观的调节影响，特别是个人主义-集体主义维度。利用综合价值观调查的数据，包括 1996 年至 2022 年在 37 个国家/地区的 170,000 次观察，我们的研究证实了 LoC 与主观幸福感之间存在很强的正相关关系，同时也揭示了与主观幸福感不平等之间存在很强的负向关系。此外，它表明国家的社会价值观对 LoC 与主观幸福感之间的关系产生了显着的调节作用，影响了平均水平和不平等方面，尽管方向相反。通过采用 Oaxaca-Blinder 分解，我们的研究结果支持结构效应的重要性。了解增加 LoC 如何影响社会中人们的福祉，对政策制定具有重要意义，并有助于关于集体选择和不平等的持续讨论。