In the United States (U.S.), cars play a key role in facilitating mobility. Americans heavily rely on their cars for daily travel due to the benefits of access, convenience, comfort, and autonomy that private vehicle travel offers. However, the potential negative implications of high rates of car ownership and use for wellbeing, sustainability, and social equity have sparked the interest of many scholars. We contribute to these lines of inquiry by examining whether and if so, how car dependence relates to people’s satisfaction with life. Our data come from a national survey with a representative sample (n = 2,155) of U.S. adults living in urban and suburban areas. Using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression models, we find that there is a threshold effect of car dependence on life satisfaction. Our results show that beyond a certain point, increases in car dependence yield a decrease in people’s satisfaction with life. For instance, we find that, in a typical week, relying on a car for more than 50 percent of the time for out-of-home activities is associated with a decrease in life satisfaction. These findings suggest that planners and decision-makers should promote multimodality and land use patterns that may help to reduce car dependence and its potential negative effect on subjective wellbeing (SWB).

中文翻译：

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对汽车的依赖会让人对生活不满意吗？来自美国全国调查的证据


在美国 （U.S.） ，汽车在促进出行方面发挥着关键作用。由于私家车旅行提供的可达性、便利性、舒适性和自主性等好处，美国人在日常旅行中严重依赖汽车。然而，高汽车拥有率和使用率对福祉、可持续性和社会公平的潜在负面影响引发了许多学者的兴趣。我们通过研究汽车依赖是否以及如果是，与人们对生活的满意度有何关系来为这些研究方向做出贡献。我们的数据来自一项全国性调查，该调查对居住在城市和郊区的美国成年人进行了代表性样本 （n = 2,155）。使用描述性统计和多元回归模型，我们发现汽车依赖对生活满意度存在阈值效应。我们的结果表明，超过一定程度后，对汽车的依赖增加会导致人们对生活的满意度降低。例如，我们发现，在典型的一周内，超过 50% 的时间依赖汽车进行户外活动与生活满意度的下降有关。这些发现表明，规划者和决策者应该促进多模式和土地使用模式，这可能有助于减少对汽车的依赖及其对主观幸福感 （SWB） 的潜在负面影响。