Suchergebnisse

1 Introduction -- 2 The Concept of Happiness -- 2/1 The various meanings of the word happiness -- 2/2 Happiness defined -- 2/3 Components of happiness -- 2/4 Adjacent concepts -- 2/5 Synonyms of happiness -- 2/6 Summary -- 3 Can Happiness be Measured? -- 3/1 Validity problems -- 3/2 Reliability problems -- 3/3 Problems of comparison -- 3/4 Summary -- 4 Indicators of Happiness -- 4/1 Indicators of overall happiness -- 4/2 Indicators of hedonic level of affect -- 4/3 Indicators of contentment -- 4/4 Composites -- 4/5 Do the three kinds of indicators tap different phenomena? -- 4/6 Summary -- 5 Gathering the Available Data -- 5/1 Searching empirical happiness studies -- 5/2 The studies found -- 5/3 Presenting the findings -- 5/4 Limitations of the data -- 5/5 Summary -- 6 Happiness and Living Conditions -- 6/1 Happiness and society -- 6/2 Happiness and one's place in society -- 6/3 Happiness and work -- 6/4 Happiness and intimate ties -- 6/5 Summary -- 7 Happiness and Individual Characteristics -- 7/1 Happiness and personal resources -- 7/2 Happiness and some personality traits -- 7/3 Happiness and lifestyle -- 7/4 Happiness and longings -- 7/5 Happiness and convictions -- 7/6 Happiness and appreciations -- 7/7 Summary -- 8 Antecedents of Happiness -- 8/1 Happiness and earlier living conditions -- 8/2 Happiness and earlier personal characteristics -- 8/3 Summary -- 9 Conclusions -- 9/1 Conditions of happiness -- 9/2 Myths about happiness -- References -- Author index.

Today there is increasing support for the idea that governments should aim at greater happiness for a greater number of citizens. Is this a mission impossible? The following questions arise in this context: 1) Is greater happiness in a nation feasible? 2) If so, can governments do much about it? 3) If so, what can governments do to raise happiness in their country? 4) How does the pursuit of happiness fit with other political aims? In this paper I take stock of the available research findings on happiness that bear answers to these questions. To do this, I use a large collection of research findings gathered in the World Database of Happiness. These data show that greater happiness is possible and indicate some ways to achieve this goal. The pursuit of public happiness fits well with several other policy aims

The rational pursuit of happiness requires knowledge of happiness and in particular answers to the following four questions: (1) Is greater happiness realistically possible? (2) If so, to what extent is that in our own hands? (3) How can we get happier? What things should be considered in the choices we make? (4) How does The pursuit of happiness fit with other things we value? Answers to these questions are not only sought by individuals who want to improve their personal life, they are also on the mind of managers concerned about the happiness of members of their organization and of governments aiming to promote greater happiness of a greater number of citizens. All these actors might make more informed choices if they could draw on a sound base of evidence. In this paper I take stock of the available evidence and the answers it holds for the four types of questions asked by the three kinds of actors. To do this, I use a large collection of research findings on happiness gathered in the World Database of Happiness, which serves as an online supplement to this paper. The data provide good answers to the questions 1 and 2, but fall short on the questions 3 and 4. Priorities for further research are indicated. ; http://link.springer.com/journal/10902/16/4/page/1 ; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-014-9560-1 ; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9560-1

The rational pursuit of happiness requires knowledge of happiness and in particular answers to the following four questions: (1) Is greater happiness realistically possible? (2) If so, to what extent is that in our own hands? (3) How can we get happier? What things should be considered in the choices we make? (4) How does The pursuit of happiness fit with other things we value? Answers to these questions are not only sought by individuals who want to improve their personal life, they are also on the mind of managers concerned about the happiness of members of their organization and of governments aiming to promote greater happiness of a greater number of citizens. All these actors might make more informed choices if they could draw on a sound base of evidence. In this paper I take stock of the available evidence and the answers it holds for the four types of questions asked by the three kinds of actors. To do this, I use a large collection of research findings on happiness gathered in the World Database of Happiness, which serves as an online supplement to this paper. The data provide good answers to the questions 1 and 2, but fall short on the questions 3 and 4. Priorities for further research are indicated. ; http://link.springer.com/journal/10902/16/4/page/1 ; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-014-9560-1 ; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-014-9560-1

Abstract. Human society has changed greatly over the past centuries and this process of "modernization" has profoundly affected the lives of individuals; currently we live quite different lives from those our forefathers lived only five generations ago. There are differences of opinion as to whether we live better now than before, and consequently there is also disagreement as to whether we should continue modernizing or rather try to slow the process down. Quality of life in a society can be measured by how long and happy its inhabitants live. Using these indicators I assessed whether societal modernization has made life better or worse. First, I examined some findings from present day survey research. I started with a cross-sectional analysis of 90 nations and found that people live longer and happier in today's most modern societies. Second, I examined trends in 10 modern nations over the last 30 years and found that happiness and longevity have increased in most cases. Third, I considered the long-term and review findings from historical and comparative anthropology, which show that we lived better in the early hunter-gatherer society than in the later agrarian society. Together these data suggest that societal evolution has worked out differently for the quality of human life, first negatively, in the change from a hunter-gatherer existence to agriculture, and next positively, in the more recent transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society. We live now longer and happier than ever before.

Happiness is defined as the degree to which a person enjoys his or her life-as-a-whole. Accordingly 'Gross National Happiness' is defined as the degree to which citizens in a country enjoy the life they live. Individual happiness can be measured by self-report on a single standard question. Hence Gross National Happiness can be measured by the average response to such questions in general populations surveys. Survey data on average self-report of happiness can be combined with estimates of life expectancy based on civil registration. The resulting index denotes how long and happy people live in a country and can be expressed in a number of Happy-Life-Years (HLY). Comparison across present day nations shows huge differences on this indicator, HLY varying between 63 (Switzerland) and 21 (Moldavia). About 80 % of these differences can be explained by variation in societal characteristics, such as economic development, political democracy and mutual trust. HLY varies also over time. During the last decade it rose in western nations but plunged in the former Soviet nations. It is argued that HLY is the best available indicator of Gross National Happiness.