From Inner Capacities to Global Outcomes: Social–Emotional Capital as a Driver of SDG Performance

Abstract

Despite unprecedented global commitment to the 2030 Agenda, progress toward the sustainable development goals (SDGs) continues to lag in ways that structural, institutional, and resource‐based explanations do not fully explain. This study argues that a critical missing dimension is human: the psychological and relational capacities that enable collective action for sustainable development. We introduce social–emotional capital (SEC) as a multidimensional typology of three distinct resources, particularised (bridging) trust, social tolerance and subjective well‐being, grounded in social capital theory, broaden‐and‐build theory, and the emerging literature on inner development goals (IDGs) for sustainability. Using combined European Values Study and World Values Survey data across 85 countries, merged with SDG Index 2025 indicators, we validate a three‐factor SEC model and examine its effects through multilevel modelling and bootstrapped country‐level regression. At the individual level, social tolerance consistently predicts pro‐sustainability attitudes, while particularised (bridging) trust shows more complex, outcome‐specific effects. At the country level, aggregate subjective well‐being is the only SEC dimension that independently predicts overall SDG performance after controlling for economic development and governance quality. SEC effects also vary across SDG clusters: well‐being is most strongly associated with the People goals, while trust uniquely predicts Peace, Justice and Institutions. The findings position well‐being as an independent macro‐level driver of sustainable development, introduce cross‐level divergence as a theoretical puzzle for social capital research and identify goal‐specific pathways through which inner capacities can support sustainability transitions.