Satisfaction with the quality of life on Croatian small islands: Zlarin, Kaprije and Žirje

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of satisfaction with various life domains that constitute objective conditions of the quality of island life, and which influence the perception of islanders’ personal well-being among the inhabitants of three small islands (Zlarin, Kaprije and Žirje) in Croatia. The obtained results are based on a resident survey (N=141). A quality of life assessment was carried out by recognizing the specificity of an island’s surface area and its population (small communities, mostly elderly people), as well as by evaluating choices that respondents perceive to be important for their well-being. Based on applied multivariate analyses, the research suggests that life satisfaction, besides a significant correlation with material status (income), is also greatly affected by the extent of preserved social values, common to the rural communities to which the observed islands belong, such as the closeness of personal relationships (level of acceptance in the local community, solidarity) and the social order maintained through informal control (which provides a sense of security). Both islanders who have never lived off their island, as well as returnees and in-migrants, positively value the way of life in island communities.

Keywords

• assessment of life satisfaction
• Croatia
• Kaprije
• quality of life
• Šibenik’s archipelago
• small island communities
• Zlarin
• Žirje