Collective Well-being Research Articles

Degrowth and Public Choice: Navigating Private Interests and Power Dynamics for a Sustainable Future

This article examines degrowth through the lens of public choice theory. Since degrowth is both a political and economic concept, public choice provides a useful framework for analyzing its various dimensions. Degrowth challenges the dominant ideology of constant economic expansion, promoting a deliberate reduction in resource consumption to restore ecological balance, reduce inequality, and improve collective well-being. However, the article emphasizes the difficulties of implementing degrowth policies, pointing to the self-interested motivations of key social actors: voters, politicians, and bureaucrats. Voters often prioritize their own utility when choosing a party or policy, while politicians focus on reelection and bureaucrats aim to expand their department’s budget. These individual interests often conflict with the broader goals of degrowth, making the transition to a more sustainable and equitable society difficult. The article critically analyzes degrowth from a public choice perspective, underscoring the systemic obstacles posed by inherent self-interest. It also argues that since government outcomes are often the result of the collective actions of self-interested individuals, the public choice perspective has the potential to provide useful insights for degrowthers.

Responsible leadership attributes: a systematic literature review

The literature on leadership points to a growing interest in leaders who understand their role not only in achieving economic and financial results, but also in generating and distributing social and environmental value. In this context, the concept of Responsible Leadership has gained relevance. Given the lack of consensus on the definition of this term, this article aims at summarizing the main attributes of a responsible leader identified in the literature. A systematic review was conducted in the Scopus, SciELO and SPELL databases, which provided a broad understanding of the subject. The initial search brought up 2,965 articles. Applying the established exclusion criteria, 88 articles dealt with the principles, values and competencies of this leadership. As a result of the analysis, a new framework was proposed with four dimensions of Responsible Leadership: individual, relational, organizational and systemic. Our framework offers a structure for developing leaders committed to sustainability, ethics and collective well-being. In this way, the model can be used as a strategic reference for the development of sustainable policies and practices, capable of aligning organizational objectives with global needs, guaranteeing the ethical and positive legacy of organizations.

Selfishness is an Endemic Pandemic: A Systematic and Meta-analysis Review

Selfishness has become a pervasive social issue, undermining both individual relationships and societal well-being. The primary objective of this study is to employ a didactic approach aimed at mitigating the phenomenon of selfishness. This myopic mindset prioritizes short-term gains (STG) over long-term sustainability (LTS) and collective prosperity. Individuals driven by selfishness often disregard the broader consequences of their actions, diminishing cooperation, empathy, and mutual respect. This self-centered approach to life is a personal flaw that leads to self-destruction for both individuals and societies, undermining the social fabric needed for sustainable development. Team sports illustrate this well; while cooperation is essential for success, a culture of individualism can disrupt team cohesion and sabotage collective goals. The pursuit of personal recognition frequently hampers team success, highlighting the detrimental effects of self-interest in collaborative efforts. When viewed in the context of societal challenges, selfishness might even eclipse deeply rooted divides like racism, tribalism, religious intolerance, and regional biases. While these types of discrimination typically arise from shared group identities, selfishness goes beyond these limits by poisoning the fundamental essence of human connection and concern for one another. Unlike racism or tribalism, which at least have identifiable social or historical roots, selfishness is a more insidious force that undermines efforts toward unity and understanding. Ultimately, love offers the antidote to this pandemic. Love, in its truest sense, encourages selflessness, compassion, and the recognition of shared humanity, fostering cooperation and collective progress. In a world where selfishness thrives, it is genuine love that holds the power to heal, unite, and overcome the divisive forces that threaten our collective well-being. Selfishness, as a widespread issue, is not just a flaw of individuals but a societal problem that impacts almost every facet of contemporary existence. Its proliferation is driven by a cultural and institutional environment that values personal achievement more than the welfare of the community, thereby deepening divisions and inequalities. Recognizing and appreciating our human and environmental interdependence can serve as a catalyst for transformative change, fostering a more harmonious and connected world.

The ‘crisis’ of fat body in the neoliberal era: the case of obesity in Turkey

Obesity research has been predominantly shaped by biomedical and political economy approaches that emphasize energy imbalance and individual responsibility. While critical perspectives challenge these narratives, they often neglect the structural and socio-economic production of obesogenic environments. This study conceptualizes obesity as a structurally embedded outcome of capitalist social relations and neoliberal restructuring, with a specific focus on the Turkish context. This study adopts a dialectical critical realist approach to analyse obesity at three levels: empirical (observable trends), actual (underlying mechanisms), and deep (structural causes). Quantitative data, obtained from authoritative institutional sources, illustrate rising obesity rates and contributing mechanisms. Qualitative data, systematically selected from academic and institutional sources, are used to examine the structural roots of obesity in capitalist social relations, focusing on how individuals function as both labour and consumers. The findings indicate that flexible labour markets contribute to obesity by increasing stress levels, while agricultural industrialisation promotes the consumption of chemical-laden, low-nutrition food. Furthermore, the commodification of health services frames obesity as an individual issue rather than a societal one, leading to ineffective treatment and prevention policies. Despite increasing scientific evidence on the biological and metabolic complexities of obesity, dominant strategies remain reductionist. Effective public health policies should move beyond profit-oriented frameworks and adopt holistic, interdisciplinary approaches that consider social, economic, and environmental factors. Further research is needed to explore transformative strategies that prioritize collective well-being over capital interests.

Diverse money, diverse freedoms: monetary infrastructures for solidarity and environmental sustainability

This article explores the complex relationship between money and freedom, focusing on how different types of money can promote various forms of freedom while addressing the tensions between individual autonomy and collective responsibilities. It critically examines the concept of modern money as a neutral medium, typically associated with negative freedom, in the context of global challenges. The article attributes the erosion of modern frameworks that enhance negative freedom through money to increasing interdependence and externalities and argues for the development of new types of money that can internalize global interdependencies, thereby effectively addressing contemporary challenges. The article highlights innovative monetary systems, such as Sardex and Twin Money, that support positive freedoms and promote social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and collective well-being.

Digital Long Covid Communities-Shaping Diagnoses, Treatment Strategies and Modes of Expertise.

Despite having been created on social media, research into the effects of online engagement on long Covid (LC) as a diagnosis is scarce. Studies on other health-related communities and patient participation argue that social media and other digital technologies have been instrumental in creating new ways for activism, advocacy and sharing of experiences. With its status as patient-made, LC constitutes an example of how diagnoses are (re)constructed through social interactions in addition to Western biomedical science and clinical practice. The aim of the study is to investigate the ways in which lived experiences and larger narratives of LC are communicated and form understandings of the condition as a heterogeneous diagnosis/phenomenon. This study uses netnography, mainly focused on hidden observations of patient support and advocacy forums in which users' posts are individually sourced and thematically analysed. These themes are further discussed to illustrate overarching discourse that contributes to the sense-making and creation of knowledge surrounding LC. The study highlights three major themes, namely: users seeking commonalities in experienced symptoms, interpatient tinkering as a form of biohacking conceptualised as an epistemological process, and negotiating expertise. The study finds that narratives shared in online spaces regarding LC act as critical factors that serve not just the affected individuals' sense-making and understanding of their lived experience, but also in the construction of the diagnosis itself. Through sharing experiences, symptoms, scientific information and treatment options, forum users contribute to knowledge production processes that change the definition of LC as a diagnosis. Building on the sociology of diagnosis, I argue that LC serves as a significant example of how diagnoses are products of the entanglement between biomedicine, clinical practice, the social and the digital. The project operates under the premise that patients from different social, cultural and professional backgrounds participate in online discussions about long Covid and that these individuals work towards individual as well as collective well-being. As such, highlighting their engagement has the potential to inform and strengthen research and clinical practice in various ways.

Balancing individual autonomy and social solidarity: A pluriversal framework for educational leadership

This paper examines the critical challenge facing contemporary educational leaders: fostering individual autonomy while nurturing social solidarity in increasingly diverse and complex educational environments. Drawing from diverse philosophical traditions—including Kantian ethics, Ubuntu philosophy, Confucian thought, Cherokee wisdom, Durkheimian sociology, and Habermasian theory—a pluriversal framework is developed for educational leadership that transcends traditional dichotomies between individual agency and collective responsibility. Through careful analysis of recent empirical research and theoretical scholarship, the argument demonstrates how this tension manifests in pressing challenges such as student disengagement, cultural conflicts, and achievement disparities across both K-12 and post-secondary contexts. The paper advances a comprehensive strategic framework for implementing and evaluating leadership practices that balance individual empowerment with community cohesion. Our analysis reveals that successful educational transformation requires sophisticated approaches to leadership that honor both philosophical complexity and practical efficacy. This framework provides educational leaders with theoretical grounding and practical strategies for creating more inclusive, equitable, and transformative learning environments while maintaining commitment to both individual flourishing and collective well-being in an increasingly interconnected world.

My Pillow Is Filled with Tears… Syrian Refugees' Journey to Australia: Narratives of Human Courage and Resilience.

This article showcases Syrian refugees' narratives of trauma and survival, through a phenomenological approach to in-depth research, with refugees who have resettled in Australia. It explores their journey towards resettlement, highlighting the nexus between displacement in the home-transit-host countries and the biopsychosocial determinants of mental health. Since the 2011 uprising, over 12 million Syrians have been displaced, both internally and worldwide. A refugee's journey to safety often involves multiple displacements and exposure to dangerous, life-threatening, and dehumanising experiences. We have therefore adopted a qualitative approach that counters this dehumanisation by honouring the unique humanity in the voice of each of our research participants. This article aims to portray the nuanced interdependence between the individual, social, and political contexts of seven Syrian refugees' lived experiences through an in-depth consideration of what they have told us, how they narrate their stories, and the meanings they ascribe to what they have experienced. The findings of this small yet eloquent study reinforce the insight that the journey to resettlement is far from linear and that resettlement itself is a process marked by recurrent and persistent complexities. The article suggests that the resilience of these refugees is best understood as an ethical and altruistic commitment to collective well-being, transcending notions of individual fortitude.

Peer support groups as a participatory development principle

ABSTRACT This paper reimagines peer support groups by centring a community’s worldviews. We engage with Iliso Lamakhosikazi, a women’s peer support group in South Africa, through an eight-week qualitative study embedded within nearly a decade of collaborative research. This study, using participatory observations, interviews, and focus groups, reveals how Iliso Lamakhosikazi reimagines peer support groups in terms of sociality, focus, and operational structure. The findings show that embedding development efforts within community worldviews can emphasise collective well-being, enhance relationality, and support broader health and wellness goals. Future efforts should apply empowered participation to reimagine other participatory development principles, such as community gardens and mutual aid groups, grounded in a community’s ways of knowing.

Neural pathways to resilience: Leveraging neuroscience to understand and mitigate eco-anxiety.

As climate change increasingly impacts global health, the psychological ramifications are becoming a significant concern, especially the phenomenon known as eco-anxiety. This anxiety stems from the chronic fear of environmental doom and affects a growing number of individuals, profoundly impacting both personal and collective well-being. Notably, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the mental health effects of climate events, showing heightened symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety. Eco-anxiety, while sharing similarities with general anxiety disorders in terms of neural mechanisms, also exhibits unique characteristics that underscore its distinction. Research on the neurobiological underpinnings of eco-anxiety reveals that structures within the brain's salience network, such as the midcingulate cortex and the insula, are crucial in detecting and responding to environmental threats. These areas show altered structure and function in individuals experiencing high levels of climate anxiety, correlating with both increased anxiety and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Understanding these neurobiological pathways is essential for developing targeted interventions that not only mitigate distress but also enhance psychological resilience. Employing neuroscience-based strategies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and neurofeedback, may offer effective tools for managing eco-anxiety, ultimately empowering vulnerable populations to confront climate challenges with renewed vigor and a sense of control.

A measure of the potential pollutant load of urban wastewater

Water resource management is a crucial process for ensuring sustainable development and the achievement of the goals set by the 2030 Agenda. Preserving the integrity of ecosystems dependent on the water cycle over time is essential for achieving and maintaining collective, economic, and social well-being. As part of this context, this work aims to quantify the potential pollutant load of urban wastewater, generated at the municipal level and analyzing its distribution in the national territory. The tool adopted to achieve this goal is the estimation of Total Urban Equivalent Inhabitants (TUEI), a quantity that takes into account not only the resident population but also other categories of individuals contributing to the production of biodegradable pollutant loads, such as the tourism sector, commuter flows, industrial activities, accommodation, and catering establishments. The main contribution of the analysis is therefore to define the need for urban wastewater treatment from various pollution-generating sources, meeting the current needs of the Regions and the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security responding to European Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The estimation was produced for the year 2021, integrating information from multiple sources. Furthermore, different levels of territorial aggregation were considered. In particular, estimates in the domains of interest (municipal, provincial, regional) are obtained from data related to census sections. With this methodology, attempts were made to introduce elements useful for measuring TUEI and improving the assessment of pollutant loads, a complex topic that still presents critical elements in the availability and usability of sources and deserves further investigation.

Nature-based interventions for individual, collective and planetary wellbeing: A protocol for a scoping review.

Nature-based interventions (NBIs) provide an opportunity to enhance individual wellbeing, improve community cohesion, and promote a culture of care for the environment. Several scoping reviews have attempted to catalogue the positive effects of NBIs on wellbeing, yet, these have typically focused on outcomes relating to individual wellbeing, thus restricting the assessment of the possible benefits of NBIs. Here we present a protocol for a scoping review that will synthesise the evidence relating to the impact of NBIs across a much broader range of domains with a focus on self (individual wellbeing), others (collective wellbeing) and nature (planetary wellbeing). This scoping review will also provide insight into the relative effectiveness of different types of NBIs at enhancing wellbeing across these domains and synthesise the underlying theory on which interventions have been developed and reported outcomes have been presented. A literature search for theses and peer-reviewed studies will be conducted on four databases (APAPsycINFO, Web of Science, Medline, and Scopus) and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. Two independent reviewers will complete a two-stage screening process (title/abstract and full-text) using the Covidence platform. The protocol for this scoping review is registered with the Open Science Framework. Data extraction will focus on publication details, type of intervention, and wellbeing-related outcomes. Results will be reported in a scoping review following standardised guidelines relating to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews. This research will inform the design and delivery of NBI's across a wide range of sectors including health and social care, public policy, education, and community services, to ultimately promote human flourishing at scale.

Religion and Socio-Political Dynamics in Nepali History: Analyzing Consciousness, Class, and State Power

This paper examines the philosophy of Pasupata Shaivism and its socio-political impact on Nepali history, focusing on the relationship between ideology, class hierarchy, and state power. Central to this philosophy is the transactional relationship between consciousness and matter, where human interaction with the world through the five senses shapes the mind, influenced by karma (human actions). This dynamic interplay suggests that matter and consciousness are interdependent, reflecting a deeper principle of contradiction—where the existence of an entity relies on the coexistence of opposing conditions. The study argues that Pasupata Shaivism’s egalitarian principles, emphasizing collective well-being, spiritual equality, and shared resources, historically strengthened the Nepali state and fostered social cohesion. In contrast, periods dominated by Dharmasastra traditions, which advocated for private property and caste hierarchies, exacerbated class divisions and state fragility. Using primary sources such as inscriptions, genealogies, and religious texts, along with secondary analyses, the paper explores the socio-political implications of Pasupata Shaivism’s focus on material conditions (dravyani), skills and knowledge (guna), and human actions (karma). Findings highlight how Shaivism supported peasants and workers, promoting social harmony and challenging exploitative systems, while Smriti-based frameworks concentrated wealth and power among elites. The paper concludes that Pasupata Shaivism offers an indigenous framework for addressing social inequalities and fostering equitable governance.

BYSTANDER INTERVENTION

Bystander intervention is a crucial social concept that highlights the responsibility of individuals who witness harmful or potentially dangerous situations but are not directly involved. This approach emphasizes the importance of taking action to prevent harm, support victims, and promote a safer community. Individuals can intervene in various ways, including direct involvement, offering support to the victim, creating a distraction, or seeking help from authorities. The effectiveness of bystander intervention is influenced by multiple factors, such as awareness, empathy, perceived responsibility, and social norms. Research suggests that when individuals feel empowered and equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills, they are significantly more likely to intervene in situations involving bullying, sexual harassment, domestic violence, or other forms of harm. Training programs designed to promote bystander intervention focus on increasing awareness about the importance of stepping in, challenging misconceptions that discourage action, and providing practical strategies for safe and effective intervention. These programs aim to build confidence among bystanders, helping them recognize warning signs and understand their role in fostering a culture of accountability and support. Additionally, bystander intervention efforts often address barriers to action, such as the fear of retaliation, the diffusion of responsibility, or the belief that someone else will intervene. By educating individuals on these challenges and equipping them with appropriate intervention techniques, such initiatives contribute to the creation of safer and more inclusive communities. Ultimately, fostering a culture of active bystander intervention can lead to a significant reduction in instances of violence, discrimination, and harm, reinforcing the notion that everyone has a role to play in promoting social justice and collective well-being. KEYWORDS: Bystander effect, intervention strategies, diffusion of responsibility, situational awareness, social influence, proactive intervention, bystander apathy, moral courage

Gamification in Project Management

Abstract Studies have continuously shown that motivation is a key factor in the process of pursuing success. Domains such as education and business highly rely on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to drive personal and professional performance, foster innovation and achieve the proposed goals. Studies also highlight a decrease in motivation levels across various fields of activity. Considering this, individuals and companies have been searching for solutions to increase motivation and engagement. A less popular one is gamification. My study focuses on the impact of gamification on project management. Keeping a team motivated is an important responsibility for leaders. Moreover, individual and collective well-being can have a significant impact on performance and general satisfaction in a project. In light of this, I explored the effects of implementing points, leaderboards, badges and peer-to-peer collaboration, as gamification elements, on the performance and general satisfaction of a project team at Amazon Iași. By conducting both a qualitative and quantitative analysis, the study aimed to identify the possibility of perceiving gamification as a solution for increasing team motivation and performance. My findings show that most members of the team felt more satisfied after interacting with gamification, but their performance KPIs did not reveal any obvious change. This underscores the need to expand the research within the field of project management and gamification.

Educação intercultural e práticas decoloniais na perspectiva da educação do campo

This study aims to highlight the importance of Intercultural Education and Decolonial Practices from the perspective of Countryside Education. The methodology is based on a bibliographic review, anchored in a qualitative approach. The theoretical foundation is mainly based on Freire's literature and academic articles on the subject. The results indicate that Popular Education and Countryside Education are essential for contextualized and emancipatory education in rural areas. Furthermore, they show that interculturality and decolonial practices are essential approaches to promoting dialogue between different cultures and questioning power structures in education. It was concluded that, despite the challenges faced, such as institutional resistance and lack of teacher training, interculturality and decolonial practices represent a unique opportunity to reconfigure education, making it more inclusive and meaningful for countryside communities, contributing to a fair and egalitarian education, committed to collective well-being.

Wellbeing, nature connection and vaccine attitudes: A convergent mixed methods study in Wim Hof Method practitioners

Amidst global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, there’s a pressing need for strategies that improve wellbeing. This study investigates the Wim Hof Method (WHM) as a potential tool for enhancing wellbeing and its influence on related aspects including nature connectedness and health attitudes, including vaccine uptake. We conducted a mixed-methods study involving an online survey with 192 UK-based WHM practitioners and in-depth interviews with 15 of these participants. The focus was on their wellbeing, perceptions of climate change, and decisions regarding vaccine use during the COVID pandemic. Following exclusions, a total of 132 participants were available for quantitative analysis. Findings revealed higher levels of wellbeing among WHM practitioners relative to pre-pandemic (d= 0.78) and pandemic-era (d= 1.32) benchmarks. Notably, nature connectedness was found to mediate the relationship between WHM practice and enhanced wellbeing (p<.05, bootstrapped). Thematic analysis yielded seven main themes: the cultivation of positive psychological states, experience of challenging climate-related emotions, improved distress management, heightened sense of connectedness, perceived vulnerability to COVID-19, moral and social responsibility, and the recognition of opportunities for positive change. Vaccine attitudes were nuanced, with some practitioners prioritising public health through vaccination while others leaned towards natural health approaches, reflecting a broader tension between individual beliefs and collective wellbeing. While 73% (96 of 132) of our sample either had received or intended to receive the vaccine, this was lower than the wider UK population at that time (96%). Overall, our findings underscore WHM’s role in not only bolstering human wellbeing during adversity but also highlight opportunities for promoting environmentally sustainable behaviours by reconnecting people to nature. This dual benefit highlights potential for fostering human flourishing as well as environmental stewardship while reinforcing the need for carefully tailored public health strategies that engage with diverse perspectives to maximise both individual and societal resilience. Study registration The study was registered prospectively on August 4, 2021 and registration is available here: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GSAE9

Dying in Darkness: Deviations From Data Sharing Ethics in the US Public Health System and the Data Genocide of American Indian and Alaska Native Communities.

Tribal governments and Tribal Epidemiology Centers face persistent challenges in obtaining the public health data that are essential to accomplishing their legal and ethical duties to promote health in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. We assessed the ethical implications of current impediments to data sharing among federal, state, and Tribal public health partners. Public health ethics obligates public health data sharing and opposes data collection without dissemination to affected communities. Privacy practices, like deidentification and data suppression, often obstruct data access, disproportionately affect American Indian and Alaska Native populations, and exacerbate health disparities. The 2020-2024 syphilis outbreak illustrates how restricted data access impedes effective public health responses. These practices represent a source of structuralized violence throughout the US public health system that contributes to the data genocide of American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Good governance practices like transparent data practices and the establishment of a social license (ie, the informal permission of a community to collect and use data) is essential to ethically balancing collective well-being with individual privacy in public health.

Future Material Wellbeing: A Speculative Approach to Transitioning Sustainable Societies

The contribution of this paper is a speculative model of future material wellbeing grounded in the theory of recognition. I explore wellbeing through Honneth’s (2012) concept of recognition, which emphasises how reciprocal social interactions contribute to the ethical development of individuals, promoting social justice and individual and collective wellbeing. Material wellbeing is discussed as a compound of life-qualities derived from conditions granted in the public sphere. The model evokes critical questions about existing social justice and economic systems, which may not make sense in transitions to sustainable societies; and renders possible futures in a trajectory of material wellbeing in relation to social justice. I narrate a fictional story containing familiar norms and interpretations of social setups and relate these as life-qualities elemental to the material wellbeing of future societies. In essence, I sketch an imagined social futures context, the reality of which would require governance, policies, laws, and economic distribution alternatives to today’s. My starting point is to challenge the visionary space of future sustainable societies, with a looser grip of markets-dependencies and utility-maximisation on our beliefs and attitudes, and where other possible worlds may arise from recognition and reciprocity that build social justice. The speculative model is a medium to raise questions about our relationships with reality and to project an alternative potential world, provoking us to think of our place within it. I use the sufficiency paradigm for revealing critical points in our present systems, while building on the paradigm’s ideas for reduced material outputs and increased social justice as a potential for sustainable societies.

Nesting of groups: Links among personal magnetism, community trust, inequality perception and depression.

In the context of China's rapid transition from a collectivist work-unit system to a more individualized, community-oriented society, this study investigates the relationship between personal magnetism-an individual's social appeal-and its protective role in mitigating depression. This study aims to examine the moderating role of perceived inequality and the mediating effect of community trust in the relationship between personal magnetism and depression. Utilizing longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2018 to 2020, involving 26,711 respondents aged 16 to 96, this study employs multivariate regression models to explore these relationships. The findings reveal that perceived inequality amplifies the negative relationship between personal magnetism and depression, suggesting that personal magnetism becomes less effective in alleviating depressive symptoms in contexts of higher inequality. Additionally, community trust is identified as a key mediator, explaining how strong social networks can buffer the psychological effects of inequality and enhance mental well-being. The findings underscore the importance of fostering community trust and addressing income inequality in public policy. By leveraging the positive effects of personal magnetism and social solidarity, targeted interventions can reduce depression and enhance collective well-being in societies undergoing socio-economic transformation.