Happiness Research Research Articles

Recent Trends in Happiness Research

Happiness is a subjective term conceptualized in varied ways by individuals and across disciplines. However, how it comes to be understood in reference to the educational context can provide directions for future endeavors in increasing student happiness, or well-being, the terms often used interchangeably. The term well-being, nonetheless, has gained more prominence owing to a broader spectrum of features it encompasses. The discipline of positive psychology which has received eminent advancement in recent times has offered a plethora of approaches to improve well-being of individuals. The VIA classification of strengths by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman (2004), offers a framework of 24 positive traits condensed further into 6 virtues, emphasizing employment of simple strategies to foster inherent strengths possessed by individuals in varying degrees, for accomplishing a greater sense of well-being. This review paper, examines the empirical evidence of the influence of various strengths and virtues as delineated in the VIA classification of strengths and other positive psychology interventions on well-being. The impact of various intervention studies with school and university students is also looked at. Evidence has revealed correlation between positive psychology interventions on strengthening character strengths and student well-being across cultures. Simple intervention strategies, such as practicing gratitude, mindfulness and social skills enhancement exercises led to decrease in negative affect and increased levels of positive affect and life satisfaction. Further, as it may be aptly believed that for any school-based intervention to reap benefits in a sustainable manner, the role of teachers cannot be undermined. The paper attempts to highlight the role of teachers in advancement of student well-being, their conceptualization, attitudes and their own sense of well-being which has a bearing on their classroom management styles as evidenced in research.

A Philosophy for the Science of Well‐Being, by AnnaAlexandrova (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2017), pp. xiii + 196

The study of subjective well-being (SWB) has gone from a fringe occupation to the mainstream in the last decade or two. Chapter 1 canvasses various definitions of well-being and argues that its scientific study should adopt a variantist stance where the definition of well-being is context-sensitive. This section should be of interest to economists because Hausman essentially updates and refines old arguments in economics concerning why revealed preference is the most appropriate foundation for welfare analysis. The definition of well-being as SWB that predominates in happiness economics is only one definition and not an uncontroversial one. [Extracted from the article] email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hospitalidade, turismo e lazer


 
 
 
 Este artigo trata das relações conceituais entre hospitalidade, lazer e turismo, das vantagens heurísticas dessa articulação e das suas decorrências para os estudos nessas três áreas, hoje próximas mas ainda separadas. Para tanto, após estabelecer as semelhanças e diferenças entre esses conceitos, pretende mostrar como a articulação desses conceitos pode enriquecer a análise dos casos hoje bastante discutidos do overturismo, da escola e do turismo sexual. Finalizando, mostra que a emergência dos estudos de mobilidade e da economia da felicidade tendem a contribuir ainda mais para a integração dessas áreas.
 
 
 

Climate Change–Related Heat Stress and Subjective Well-Being in Australia

AbstractThere is mounting evidence that climate change impacts compromise people’s well-being. Many regions of Australia have experienced record hot temperatures and more frequent and longer heat waves with substantial consequences for people, economies, and ecosystems. Using data from an Australia-wide online survey with 1101 respondents, we investigated the relationship between self-reported measures of heat stress and different dimensions of subjective well-being. After controlling for socioeconomic factors known to affect well-being, we found that heat stress was linked to people’s certainty about and planning for their future but not to their life satisfaction, happiness, social state, capabilities, or purpose in life. This result indicates that, while heat is not associated with present well-being, many people worry about the effect that increased heat will have on their future well-being. People who were uncertain about their future were also more likely than those who did not feel uncertain to think that heat compromised their productivity. People who agreed that they were competent and capable in their activities rated their heat stress–related productivity loss lower than those who disagreed. The findings are relevant for future studies using life-satisfaction approaches to assess consequences of climate change impacts and to studies in “happiness economics.” We recommend that future research on the impact of climate change on well-being go beyond simply life satisfaction and happiness and test multiple dimensions of well-being.

Exploring Happiness Research Achievements in Various Disciplines for the Development of Geography Learning Contents of Happiness Related Unit in Integrated Social Studies

Exploring Happiness Research Achievements in Various Disciplines for the Development of Geography Learning Contents of Happiness Related Unit in Integrated Social Studies

Why is happiness research not an entirely positive phenomenon?

Why is happiness research not an entirely positive phenomenon?

Teacher and Pupil: Happiness of Interaction

Happiness is a universal category that describes processes of human existence. Getting education, acquiring knowledge is an important process of personal and civic development. The research problem posed in the article: is it possible to feel happiness and pleasure during the process of learning? The authors analyze this problem from the theoretical positions of philosophy, axiology, and sociology of culture. Overview of the theories and techniques of happiness reveals the methodical helplessness and invalidity of Humanities in relation to the research of happiness as a natural right of a man. The authors believe that the formulation and justification of the category of “feeling”, and its introduction into the scientific terminology of social studies and Humanities are in demand in modern scientific practice. Modern pedagogical practice, which is limited by standards and instructions, is far from being a happy process of acquiring knowledge and self-disclosure by a student and a teacher. It does not only involve the release of feelings, but also poses threat to the social order by violating the social position of the status of the “teacher – student” interaction, “freezing” the meanings of the process of social inheritance due to the requirements of conformity with performance indicators, thus transferring the educational process from the domain of culture onto the plane of market relations. Value of knowledge is included into the axiological system of society and does not need to be evaluated. To realize the value potential of knowledge means to create conditions for happy interaction of the main participants of this process – the carriers of the “teacher” and “pupil” statuses, but not to control the amount of this process. Knowledge may have terminal and instrumental meanings, but its main purpose is to serve the formation of personality, and not to serve the existence and needs of controllers.

Creation of the 'Happiness 360º' Model: Qualitative Analysis from Survey Responses

Qualitative data analysis has been increasingly important in the development of research, especially in the author’s main fields of investigation: Happiness Economics and Communication for the Development. To understand what Happiness means and in what form certain variables like gender, literacy, etc., influence the concept of happiness, based on a survey conducted in April 2018, we have analyzed the answers to the question "What is happiness for you? " using the software of Qualitative Analysis, Webqda. The great peculiarity is that it is an open question. It could be considered that the question is recurrent and the work redundant, but the results are very interesting from an analytical point of view. The 360º Happiness model main purpose is to support organizations in understanding the expectations of their workforce and help on defining their human resources management policies and adapt them according to the gender, generation or education level, for instance.

What are the opportunities for future happiness research?

Happiness research has been a great success and has offered us great insights into the determinants and consequences of subjective well-being. As many contributions have accumulated, there are necessarily diminishing marginal insights. Most likely future happiness research will pursue the trodden paths. However, most fruitful results can be gained by comparing happiness to other human goals; by critically analyzing how the insights gained can be used for policy; by finding out what institutional prerequisites support happiness; as well as by turning to big issues so far neglected. The impact of tourism on life satisfaction is provided as an example.

Homeownership, city integration, and the sense of\xa0happiness of migrants in urban China

In the literature on the migrant phenomenon in China, homeownership, city integration, and sense of happiness have all been examined, yet the synergetic relationship among these three factors has not been fully discussed. This study uses the 2012 National Dynamic Monitoring Database of Migrants created by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China to explore the cooperative relationship between migrants’ homeownership, city integration and the sense of happiness. Generally, renting houses reduces migrants’ sense of happiness. However, with migrants’ greater integration into the place to which they have migrated, the sense of happiness of migrants who live in rental houses is enhanced to a greater degree than those who live in their own houses. This phenomenon is clear among migrants who have moved from less developed regions to developed regions and among those who have moved relatively longer geographical distances. This study demonstrates a city integration mechanism through which homeownership influences migrants’ sense of happiness. We contribute to happiness economics research and propose a scientific basis for speeding up new urbanization as well as improving a housing system which encourages both house renting and purchasing in China.

Soft paternalism and subjective well-being: how happiness research could help the paternalist improve individuals’ well-being

Soft paternalists claim to respect individuals’ preferences by trying to nudge them towards actions that would satisfy said preferences if they were suitably informed and debiased. This paper argues that soft paternalists neither respect preferences nor credibly improve individuals’ welfare through their nudges, as these are based on ad hoc judgements of what individuals’ informed preferences would look like. Recourse to an evolutionary economics methodology and empirical research on subjective well-being can solve the problem of establishing individuals’ interests and offers an “ex post” welfare test to find out to what extent revealed preferences are actually distorted or not. Individual welfare should always be based on ex post liking, not “ex ante” wanting, both of which do not necessarily coincide. The (evolutionary) process-view of well-being defended in this paper focuses on a number of important issues regarding the dissociation of wanting and liking and how nudges will be affected by this distinction (including phenomena such as faulty affective forecasting, hedonic adaptation and induced preference change).

Bruno S. Frey: Economics of happiness. Springer Briefs in Economics

Bruno S. Frey: Economics of happiness. Springer Briefs in Economics

An economic theory of depression and its impact on health behavior and longevity

In this paper, I propose an economic theory of depression and its impact on health behavior and longevity. Based on studies from happiness research, depression is conceptualized as a drastic loss of utility and value of life for unchanged fundamentals. The model is used to explain how untreated depression leads to unhealthy behavior and adverse health outcomes: depressed individuals are predicted to save less, invest less in their health, consume more unhealthy goods, and exercise less. As a result, they age faster and die earlier than non-depressed individuals. I calibrate the model for an average American and discus how depression enlarges the socioeconomic gradient of health and consider feedback effects of depression on earnings and of physical exercise on depression as well as a variety of depression shocks. Delays in treatment for depression in young adulthood are predicted to have significant repercussions on late-life health outcomes and longevity.

Happiness in the Kingdom of the Cleopatras: Examining Government Influence on Quality of Life in Hellenistic Egypt (332–30 BC)

The cross-cultural application of happiness studies has led to many interesting results over the last few decades. The merits of this field of research are widely recognized, resulting for instance in government strategies taking into account the scores of the World Happiness Index, rather than just Gross National Product and other economic parameters. However, not all fields of study related to sociology have completely caught up with recent developments, in particularly historical studies. Some pilot studies with a limited scope on applying happiness research to periods of time and regions in the past have already been executed with promising results. This paper proposes a happiness index for Hellenistic Egypt (332–30 BC), taking into account recent developments in the field of sociology and the specificity of the source material for this particular period and region. The goal is not to measure absolute happiness in a quantitative study involving scales, but studying government impact on the well-being of Egypt’s inhabitants through predetermined parameters derived from studies on cross-cultural determinants of happiness.

Relational happiness through recognition and redistribution: Emotion and inequality

This article develops a model of relational happiness that challenges popular individualized definitions and emphasizes how it can enhance the sociological analysis of inequality. Many studies of happiness suggest that social inequalities are closely associated with distributions of happiness at the national level, but happiness research continues to favour individual-level analyses. Limited attention has been given to the intersubjective aspects of happiness and the correlations between it and higher social equality. Conversely, key theoretical debates about inequalities, such as Axel Honneth and Nancy Fraser’s exchanges, have only indirectly touched on happiness. A relational approach to happiness is not new, but what this article offers is a new combination of a relational understanding of happiness as an intersubjectively, culturally experienced complex of emotions with discussions about recognition of marginalized groups and redistribution of material resources. This combined approach can further debates about understanding and remedying social inequalities. It argues that theories and measurements of happiness must consider how it can be achieved collectively through working at mutual respect as well as greater material equality.

How a Good Sleep Predicts Life Satisfaction: The Role of Zero-Sum Beliefs About Happiness.

Sleep, although a vital aspect of human functioning, has received scant attention in happiness research. This research examines the effect of sleep quality on life satisfaction, and one possible mechanism that bridges the two. One cognitive factor that might tie the relationship between sleep and life satisfaction is a belief about the (in) finite nature of happiness (zero-sum belief about happiness; ZBH), a mindset that occurs more under conditions of scarcity. Given the interconnections among experiences prompted by various types of scarcity (e.g., financial and calorie), we predicted that deprived cognitive resource caused by poor sleep may activate the ZBH, thereby hurting one’s life satisfaction. As expected, we found that sleep quality predicted the participants’ life satisfaction, even controlling for baseline variables. More importantly, this relationship was partially mediated by ZBH. This study opens interesting questions on a relatively unexamined role of non-social predictors, such as sleep, in well-being.

The Economics of Happiness: Tourism Development, Neocolonialism and Marginalization in Local Traditional Communities

This scienti c article takes as a starting point a series of studies done by anthropologist Helena Norberg-Hodge which resulted in the documentary “The Economics of Happiness” which explains the interrelation between globalization, economics, and happiness among a society. Through a study case in the Indian community of Ladakh, Norberg-Hodge witnesses with her own eyes the negative repercussions of globalization as a force which disintegrated the self-subsistence structure and undermined alternative ways of development other than the Westernized pro t oriented understanding of the concept. The main objective of the present article is therefore to analyze the globalization phenomenon as a neocolonial movement and how this has resulted in economic and social forms marginalization for traditional rural communities where tourism development has arisen. By analyzing two case studies in former colonized areas that are now touristic destinations, we nd empirical evidence supporting our main argument. It has been found that globalization is indeed a movement lead by apparent neoliberal principles which promote global integration and promise economic development to Third World Nations, but in reality, it results in an asymmetrical situation in which Western developed countries reap more bene t out of it than developing nations. Furthermore, local communities are economically and socially marginalized within their own localities.

Happiness Enrichment and Sustainable Happiness

Sustainable happiness research has recently received renewed attention. Studies present exercises intended to enhance happiness. A comprehensive process by which to sustain happiness has not thus far been studied comprehensively. Drawing on the Goal-Setting and Experimental Learning theories, we endeavour to form a Happiness Enrichment Perspective (HSP). A cyclic Happiness Sustainability Model of four stages is presented aimed at advancing a future research framework. Predicated on data gleaned from 458 respondents, we applied SEM aimed at validating HSP. Findings corroborate the proposed Happiness Sustainability Cycle (HSC). Implications and suggestions for future studies on happiness sustainability are proposed in order to further validate the proposed model.

Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?

There has been explosive growth in the analysis of subjective well‐being in Economics over the past 40 years. This article reviews some of this growth, and suggests a number of domains in which future research may proceed.

The Scientific Pursuit of Happiness

We review the history of happiness research that gave rise to our 1995 review. We then summarize—and update with a quick synopsis of more recent research—each of our conclusions regarding the associations of subjective well-being with age, gender, income, personal traits, social support, and religious engagement. Finally, we briefly review new research on the benefits of happiness, and of happiness interventions at both individual and national levels.