Can business and government help enhance the quality of life of workers and consumers?

Abstract

Most of us use the term “quality of life” so loosely that it can mean almost anything-unpolluted air, the serenity of the mountains, the depth of an aesthetic experience, the arts, the preservation of the land, among many others. Of course, politicians are notorious for using the term as a “catch-all” phrase. Scientists are more precise with its definition, and in the basic and applied sciences the quality of life (QOL) is a subject of serious study. Many conceptual models, theories, and measures have been developed to show what the QOL is for an individual, a group, a community, or society, and the key factors that affect QOL. Social psychologists, for example, often define QOL as subjective well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, or simply contentment with one’s life accomplishments (Diener, 1984). In other words, the happier people are, the higher their QOL. Happiness and life satisfaction, thus, are positive feelings that endure, or the kind of feelings that stay with a person over timenot a fleeting moment of satisfaction or happiness. Thus, the challenge becomes how to enhance people’s lives in a manner to ensure long-term happiness (cfi Sirgy et al., 1982). In the basic and applied social/behavioral sciences, the QOL concept has also been conceptualized very differently by basic and applied social/behavioral scientists. One popular conceptualization of QOL is the classic Andrews and Withey (1974, 1976) life satisfaction model. Based on Andrew and Withey’s model, overall life satisfaction is theorized to be mostly determined by satisfaction decisions made in a number of life domains. A life domain is essentially the psychological space that harbors beliefs and expectations about the individual and the world related to a given social role (or set of interrelated roles). Examples of life domains include work, family, leisure, health, education, religion, shopping, etc. An individual experiences a certain amount of satisfaction within each life domain, the aggregate of which reflects overall life satisfaction. From a QOL perspective, the role of the marketing and management disciplines