The main objective of this research is to understand how civic participation influences the well-being of older people, thus being a key activity of active aging. In addition, it recognizes differences by gender, age group and generational cohort. The data are drawn from the European Social Survey (2002–2016), considering individuals born before 1965 in 14 European countries. A pseudo-panel has been constructed from the cross-sectional data and a cross-lagged model applied using random effects (n = 1412). In addition to demonstrating that there is a two-way association between civic participation and the indicators of well-being, this study provides empirical evidence that the relationship from past civic participation to present health and happiness is stronger than vice versa. Therefore, this result confirms the causal effect of civic participation on well-being. Consequently, civic participation and its activities promote the well-being of the elderly and should be encouraged through public and social policies.

这项研究的主要目的是了解公民参与如何影响老年人的福祉，因此是积极衰老的关键活动。此外，它还可以识别按性别，年龄段和世代划分的差异。数据取自欧洲社会调查（2002-2016），其中考虑了1965年之前出生于14个欧洲国家的人口。根据横截面数据和使用随机效应（n = 1412）。除了证明公民参与与幸福指标之间存在双向关联之外，本研究还提供了经验证据，表明从过去的公民参与到现在的健康和幸福之间的关系要强于反之。因此，该结果证实了公民参与对幸福感的因果关系。因此，公民参与及其活动促进了老年人的福祉，应通过公共和社会政策予以鼓励。