Wellbeing and engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport by adults in Northern Ireland
Findings from the Continuous Household Survey 2022/23

An Official Statistics publication
Published by: Professional Services Unit

Contact: Professional Services Unit
Email:
Coverage: Northern Ireland
Frequency: Annual
Publication Date: 29 February 2024

Main Story

Across a range of measures of personal wellbeing: life satisfaction, self-efficacy, locus of control and loneliness, analysis shows higher personal wellbeing among adults who engaged in culture, arts, heritage and sport than among adults who had not engaged in these activities. Whilst this report shows a link between engagement and personal wellbeing it does not show that one causes the other. For example, previous analyses have shown that individuals’ poor health is a key barrier to their full participation in culture, arts and sporting activities.

Introduction

This report presents the findings from the 2022/23 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in relation to wellbeing and engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport in Northern Ireland and also wellbeing and volunteering. In addition, the report presents an analysis of the relationship of loneliness and general health to engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport and volunteering.

Note: Following a move in 2020/21 from face-to-face interviewing to telephone interviewing to collect data, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 surveys used a mix of telephone and face-to-face modes. There has also been a reduction in the number of questions in all three years. Therefore, the results from these years are not directly comparable to previous years due to the significant changes to the survey in terms of methodology and content. More information is available on the NISRA website.

The Executive Office is responsible for publishing estimates of self-efficacy, locus of control, life satisfaction and loneliness for the population of Northern Ireland. This report looks at the relationship of these metrics to engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport.

Continuous Household Survey

More information relating to the CHS, methodology, definitions, wellbeing questions and the interpretation of figures can be found in the definitions and technical notes section. The questions that were asked in the CHS 2022/23 relating to culture, arts, heritage, sport and volunteering are available here. Data tables are available in Excel and ODS format.

Life satisfaction

Life satisfaction relates to an individual’s satisfaction with their life overall. Respondents were asked: ‘Overall, how satisfied are you with life nowadays?’ and asked to give their response on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is ‘not at all satisfied’ and 10 is ‘completely satisfied’. Higher scores on the life satisfaction scale represent a greater sense of contentment with life. Life satisfaction, is one of four measures currently being used by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to explore and measure national wellbeing 1.



Life satisfaction scale

In 2022/23, the estimated mean life satisfaction score for adults in Northern Ireland was 7.6. For adults engaging in culture, arts, heritage and sport the estimated mean score was 7.7 which was higher than for those not engaging (7.0). Higher average life satisfaction scores were found for those who engaged in the arts, visited a museum or science centre, visited a place of historic interest, used the public library service or participated in sport in comparison with those who did not engage in these activities. A higher average life satisfaction score was also found for those who volunteered in comparison with those who did not. No statistically significant difference was found for those who used PRONI services compared with those who did not.


Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is the extent or strength of an individual’s belief in their own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Those with high self-efficacy have confidence in their abilities and make sustained efforts to achieve goals. Those with low self-efficacy often doubt their capabilities, are less ambitious and give up on aims when challenged. This can limit the choices a person makes and how much effort they are willing to invest. Self-efficacy affects the decisions a person makes and what they see as achievable and has been shown to influence physical and mental health, learning and achievement, career and job satisfaction and family relations.

Self-efficacy is measured using five statements (see Definitions & technical notes) to which an individual indicates how much they agree or disagree on a five point Likert scale. It is presented as an overall score which is the sum total of the 5 statement questions, with a maximum of 25 and a minimum of 5. Higher scores indicate a higher level of self-efficacy.



Self-efficacy scale


In 2022/23, the estimated mean self-efficacy score for adults in Northern Ireland was 19.4. For adults engaging in culture, arts, heritage and sport the estimated mean score was 19.6, which was higher than for those not engaging (18.0). Higher average self-efficacy scores were found for those who engaged in the arts, visited a museum or science centre, visited a place of historic interest, used the public library, participated in sport or used PRONI services in comparison with those who did not engage in these activities. A higher average self-efficacy score was also found for those who volunteered in comparison with those who did not.



Low self-efficacy refers to self-efficacy scores ranging from 5 to 17. In 2022/23, 18.9% of all adults in Northern Ireland had low self-efficacy. For adults who engaged in culture, arts, heritage and sport,17% had low self-efficacy, a lower proportion than among those who did not engage (33%). Lower proportions of adults who engaged in the arts, visited a museum or science centre, visited a place of historic interest or participated in sport over the previous 12 months had low self-efficacy in comparison to those who did not engage in these activities. No statistically significant difference was found for those who used the public library service or used PRONI services compared with those who did not. A lower proportion of adults who volunteered over the previous 12 months also had low self-efficacy in comparison to those who did not.

Locus of control

Locus of control explains the degree to which a person feels in control over their life. Locus of control is classified as either external or internal. Those with an internal locus of control believe in their own influence and control, while those with an external locus of control believe control over their life is determined by outside factors.

Locus of control is measured using five statements (see Definitions & technical notes) to which an individual indicates how much they agree or disagree on a five point Likert scale. It is presented as an overall score which is the sum total of the 5 statement questions, with a maximum of 25 and a minimum of 5. The locus of control scale is not a measurement of higher or lower, rather it is a continuum from external to internal.



Locus of control scale


In 2022/23, the estimated mean locus of control score for adults in Northern Ireland was 17.2. For adults engaging in culture, arts, heritage and sport the estimated mean score was 17.3, a more internal locus of control than for those not engaging (16.2). More internal locus of control scores were found for those who engaged in the arts, used the public library service, visited a museum or science centre, visited a place of historic interest, participated in sport or used PRONI services in comparison with those who did not engage in these activities. A more internal locus of control score was also found for those who volunteered in comparison with those who did not.


Loneliness

The Continuous Household Survey includes the following direct measure of loneliness: ‘How often do you feel lonely?’ with the five response options ‘often/always’, ‘some of the time’, ‘occasionally’, ‘hardly ever’ and ‘never’. An analysis of engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport and loneliness of adults in Northern Ireland is presented below. For ease of understanding and interpreting results, the responses ‘often/always’ and ‘some of the time’ were grouped into a single category called ‘lonely at least some of the time’.

In 2022/23, 19.4% of all adults in Northern Ireland reported feeling lonely ‘often/always’ or ‘some of the time’ and were therefore described as ‘lonely at least some of the time’. For adults who engaged in culture, arts, heritage and sport, 18% reported feeling ‘lonely at least some of the time’, a lower proportion than among those who did not engage (27%).


Engaged legend


A lower proportion of adults who engaged in the arts, visited a museum or science centre or participated in sport over the previous 12 months, reported feeling ‘lonely at least some of the time’ in comparison to those who did not. No statistically significant difference was found for those who visited a place of historic interest, used the public library service or used PRONI services compared with those who did not engage in these activities. Similarly, there was no significant difference in loneliness for those who volunteered compared with those who did not.


General Health

The Continuous Household Survey asks the following question in relation to general health: ‘How is your health in general? Would you say it was very good, good, fair, bad or very bad?’. An analysis of engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport and the general health of adults in Northern Ireland is presented below.

In 2022/23, 71% of all adults in Northern Ireland rated their health as ‘very good’ or ‘good’. For adults who engaged in culture, arts, heritage and sport, 75% rated their health as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, a higher proportion than among those who did not engage (47%).


Engaged legend


Greater proportions of adults who engaged in the arts, used the public library service, visited a museum or science centre, visited a place of historic interest or participated in sport over the previous 12 months rated their health as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in comparison to those who did not engage in these activities. No statistically significant difference was found for those who used PRONI services. A greater proportion of adults who volunteered over the previous 12 months rated their health as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in comparison to those who did not.


Definitions & technical notes

Continuous Household Survey

The Continuous Household Survey is a Northern Ireland wide household survey administered by Central Survey Unit, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The sample for this survey consists of a systematic random sample of 9,000 addresses selected from the Land and Property Service’s list of private addresses. The findings reported for 2022/23 are based on 4,960 respondents, aged 16 and over.

Note: Following a move in 2020/21 from face-to-face interviewing to telephone interviewing to collect data, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 surveys used a mix of telephone and face-to-face modes. There has also been a reduction in the number of questions in all three years. Therefore, the results from these years are not directly comparable to previous years due to the significant changes to the survey in terms of methodology and content. More information is available on the NISRA website.

Weighting the Continuous Household Survey

Analysis of the culture, arts and sport modules of the CHS have been weighted for non-response. A chi square goodness-of-fit test showed that the CHS sample (4,960) was not representative of the population by age and sex when compared with the 2021 Census for Northern Ireland (NISRA 24 May 2022). As a result, separate weights were produced for age, sex and age and sex combined.

Non-response weighting sometimes increases standard errors, although the impact tends to be fairly small, i.e. the adjustment may be less or greater than 1, but will generally be reasonably close to 1. In the case of the culture, arts and sport modules of the CHS, the values of the adjustment for all three weighting systems are so close to one, it is not necessary to take account of this in the calculation of standard error and confidence intervals.

While weighting for non-response (also called post-stratification) should reduce bias, it must be acknowledged that it will not eliminate bias. The reasons individuals choose to take part in surveys are complex and depend on lots of factors specific to the individual. As a result, the non-response biases in surveys are likely to be complex. Post-stratification works on the assumption that, by aligning the survey to the population along a small number of dimensions such as age, gender and MDM, many of these complex biases will reduce. However, it would be misleading to suggest that they will be eliminated.

Statistical significance in this report

Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. The base numbers, sizes of percentages (relating to low self-efficacy and loneliness) or variance of scores (relating to wellbeing) have an effect on statistical significance. Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points or mean score between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the percentages are to 0 or 100 or the smaller the variance in scores, the smaller the standard errors. This leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood that the difference between the proportions or mean scores is actually significant and has not just arisen by chance.

Official Statistics

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