“Euphoria” or “Only Teardrops”? Eurovision Song Contest performance, life satisfaction and suicide
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Filippidis, F
Laverty, anthony
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
The popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Europe has been high for decades. We aimed to assess whether a country’s performance in the ESC is associated with life satisfaction and suicide mortality in European countries.
Methods
We analysed nationally representative Eurobarometer survey data on life satisfaction from 33 European countries (N = 162,773) and country-level standardised suicide mortality data for years 2009 to 2015. The associations of winning the Contest, performing terribly, and higher final ranking with life satisfaction and suicide rates were all assessed.
Results
Winning the ESC was not statistically significantly associated with increased life satisfaction or suicide rates, although every ten-place increase in final ranking was associated with an increase in life satisfaction (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02 to 1.05) and a decrease in suicide mortality rates (β = − 0.30; 95% CI: -0.59 to − 0.01). Terrible performance was associated with greater life satisfaction compared to not competing at all (aOR 1.13; 95%CI: 1.07 to 1.20).
Conclusion
The good news for participating countries is that just competing at the ESC is associated with higher life satisfaction among the population. As improved performance is linked to Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit of improved life satisfaction, further research into how such international competitions may impact public health is needed.
The popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Europe has been high for decades. We aimed to assess whether a country’s performance in the ESC is associated with life satisfaction and suicide mortality in European countries.
Methods
We analysed nationally representative Eurobarometer survey data on life satisfaction from 33 European countries (N = 162,773) and country-level standardised suicide mortality data for years 2009 to 2015. The associations of winning the Contest, performing terribly, and higher final ranking with life satisfaction and suicide rates were all assessed.
Results
Winning the ESC was not statistically significantly associated with increased life satisfaction or suicide rates, although every ten-place increase in final ranking was associated with an increase in life satisfaction (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02 to 1.05) and a decrease in suicide mortality rates (β = − 0.30; 95% CI: -0.59 to − 0.01). Terrible performance was associated with greater life satisfaction compared to not competing at all (aOR 1.13; 95%CI: 1.07 to 1.20).
Conclusion
The good news for participating countries is that just competing at the ESC is associated with higher life satisfaction among the population. As improved performance is linked to Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit of improved life satisfaction, further research into how such international competitions may impact public health is needed.
Date Issued
2018-05-11
Date Acceptance
2018-04-23
Citation
BMC Public Health, 2018, 18 (1)
ISSN
1471-2458
Publisher
BioMed Central
Journal / Book Title
BMC Public Health
Volume
18
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2018 The Author(s). Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Subjects
1117 Public Health And Health Services
Public Health
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
582
Date Publish Online
2018-05-11