Religious Influences on Personal and Societal Well-being

Social Indicators Research - This paper examines religious influences on personal and societal well-being in South Korea by systematically analyzing recent research on the topic, and by comparing...     

Socio-demographic Correlates of Subjective Well-being in Urban India

This study aimed to explore subjective well-being (SWB) in an urban Indian sample. Adults (n = 1099) belonging to two wards in the city of Bangalore in South India, responded to a study-specific questionnaire. This paper is based on data generated as part of an ongoing larger study looking at correlates of SWB. Almost equal number of men and women responded to the study and their age ranged from 20 to 81 years (mean age 37 years). Majority of them were married, Hindus, from middle socio-economic status, had studied above pre-university level and more than half were earning. The mean scores on positive affect (40.9), negative affect (27.6) and life satisfaction (24) suggested above average levels of SWB. Higher age, being married, having higher education, higher income and working in a full time job seemed to improve life satisfaction and decrease negative affect. Religion was also significantly associated with negative affect. Step-wise regression analysis suggested that only education and income were important predictors of positive affect, while negative affect was better predicted by age, income, work status and religion. Life satisfaction was predicted by income, age and education. The important correlates of SWB for men and women were somewhat different. Overall, sociodemographic variables have minimal effect on SWB in urban India and research needs to explore other predictors of SWB.     

Subjective Well-being in a Multicultural Urban Population: Structural, and Multivariate Analyses of the Ontario Health Survey Well-being Scale

The validity of a scale, from the OntarioHealth Survey, measuring the subjective senseof well-being, for a large multiculturalpopulation in Metropolitan Toronto, is examinedthrough principal components analysis withoblique rotation. Four factors are extracted. Factor 1, is a stress and strain factor, andconsists of health worries, feeling exhaustedand worn out, and feeling tense. Factor 2,interpreted as a sense of control, consists ofno health worries, and ability to handlefeelings. Factor 3, interpreted as positiveaffect, consists of having an interesting life,feeling cheerful and light-hearted, feelingloved, feeling relaxed and full of vitality. Factor 4 is interpreted as a despondency factorconsists of feeling lonely, having a boringlife, inability to control feelings and feelinglow. The statistic of multiple discriminantanalysis between the variables, sex, age, andethnic groupings, as independent discriminatingvariables and the four factor scores asdependent variables, is calculated. Theresults show that the observed mean variance inthe well-being factor scores cannot beexplained by the respondents being eitherfemale or male, or being a certain age or bybelonging to specific cultural groupings. These results are discussed in relation toother studies on the dimensions of subjectivewell-being.     

Personal and Planetary Well-being: Mindfulness Meditation,Pro-environmental Behavior and Personal Quality of Life in a Survey from the Social Justice and Ecological Sustainability Movement

Employing data from a mailed survey of a sample of ecologically and spiritually aware respondents (N = 829), the study tests the hypothesized relationship between ecologically sustainable behavior (ESB) and subjective well-being (SWB). The proposed link between ESB and SWB is the spiritual practice of mindfulness meditation (MM). In multiple regression equations ESB and MM independently explain statistically significant amounts of variance in SWB, indicating, for at least the study’s sample, that there can be a relationship between personal and planetary well-being. The inter-relationships among SWB, ESB and MM suggest that for specific segments of the general population (e.g., the spiritually inclined) there may not necessarily be an insurmountable conflict between an environmentally responsible lifestyle and personal quality of life. The research reported here also points to the potential for meditative/mindful experiences to play a prominent role in the explanation of variance in SWB, a direction in QoL studies recently highlighted by several researchers (Layard 2005, pp. 189–192; Nettle 2005, pp. 153–160; Haidt 2006).

Work Matters: Work Personal Projects and the Idiosyncratic Linkages Between Traits,Eudaimonic and Hedonic Well-being

A holistic understanding of relationships between personality and well-being requires knowing the linkages between several levels of personality analysis and different wellbeing varieties, namely hedonic and eudaimonic measures. We explore the moderator effect of work personal projects, a personality variable linked to personal action, on the relations between proactive conscientiousness facets, personality traits, and subjective and psychological well-being. In two cross-sectional studies, a battery of self-report questionnaires was used to assess personality traits, personal projects, subjective and psychological well-being in 398 teachers of primary and high schools. Findings show that work personal projects moderate the relations between competence and deliberation, but not achievement striving, and the three psychological well-being dimensions. However, work personal projects do not have a moderator influence on the relationship between these traits and subjective well-being components. Therefore, work personal projects seem to provide specific and distinct linkages on the relationships between personality trait and these two kinds of well-being. Additionally, findings support the importance of work in adult lives, considered by diverse authors.     

城市弃婴问题及其对策分析--以天津市为例

尽管到目前为止尚缺乏官方的统计数字,但弃婴数量在改革开放以来迅速增长却是不争的事实。民政部在20世纪80年代末对全国儿童福利院收养的孤儿与弃儿的数量统计结果为5000~6000人1,到本世纪初则已经达到了50590名2,人数几乎翻了10倍。2004年国务院办公厅《中国的社会保障状况和政策》白皮书中数据显示,目前中国共有192个专门儿童福利机构和近600个综合福利机构中的儿童部,共收养5.4万名孤残儿童3。遗弃行为严重损害了被遗弃儿童的生存权和发展权,同时成为社会发展的不和谐因素之一。遗弃行为剥夺了儿童所应该享有的来自父母的关心与照料,危…     

The Impact of Food Price Inflation on Subjective Well-being: Evidence From Urban Ethiopia

The world has experienced dramatic food price inflation in recent years, which sparked social unrest and riots in various developing countries. In this paper, we use a novel approach to measure the impact of food price inflation on subjective well-being of urban households in Ethiopia, a country which exhibited one of the highest rates of food price inflation during 2007–2008. Using an ordered probit regression, we show that being negatively affected by a food price shock reduced subjective well-being of households significantly, although the economy was growing rapidly. We also show that relative standing has a large negative effect on subjective well-being of respondents. The fact that rapid economic growth was accompanied by a decline in citizens’ average reported level of life satisfaction brings its pro-poorness into question. We argue that controlling the rise in food price and ensuring that economic growth trickles down to the average urban citizen would enhance welfare significantly.     

我国城市老年人意外伤害保险购买意愿现状及影响因素的实证研究

基于2010年中国城乡老年人口状况追踪调查,本文发现仅有不到四分之一的老年人愿意购买意外伤害保险.年龄、受教育程度、婚姻状况、所处地理区域、经济状况、思想意识、遭受意外经历以及其他保险购买状况是影响老年人购买意外伤害保险意愿的重要因素.但是,身体健康状况对老年人购买意外伤害保险意愿不存在直接显著影响,老年人购买意外伤害保险很大程度上是出于家庭责任的考虑.因此,改变传统的保险和风险观念,切实关注老年人身体健康是改变意外伤害保险购买现状的努力方向.     

家庭结构与未成年子女的福利--中国式的综合分析框架探讨

文章借鉴并修正了西方解释父母离婚对孩子影响的相关理论,提出中国式的综合分析模型。该框架强调子女的学业成绩对其福利的重要影响,将“家庭结构”概念扩大到“亲属支持”,把“家庭冲突”拓展为“父母素质”,并引入“社会人文环境”变量。研究结果显示,子女的学业成绩与其福利总水平具有最大的正相关,以学业成绩为中介变量的路径分析的综合模型,是符合中国实际和有效的;离婚后同居监护人是否称职对子女福利的直接影响比离婚前的夫妻冲突更为显著;亲属支持在一定程度上抵消了因家庭解体对子女福利所带来的负面影响。     

Demographics and Consumption Patterns in Urban China

This study examines differences among urban Chinese consumers and their consumption patterns in three major cities—Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin—utilising data from a nationally representative sample survey conducted in 2005. Differences were found in these consumers’ age distribution, education level, household composition, birth and death rates, income, expenditure patterns and consumer durable ownership rates. Beijing and Shanghai, the two most affluent cities in China, exhibited the highest consumer durable ownership rates and the highest cost of living. While previous research has frequently segmented China in terms of a rural versus urban dichotomy or by geographic region, this study suggests that the urban Chinese do not constitute a homogeneous market. Further, it is suggested that both geographic region and income, which varies between rural and urban settings, are sound bases for segmenting this important market.     

外来人口与我国城市低生育率

最近梁秋生和郭志刚二位教授围绕京津沪大城市超低生育率中外来人口的分母效应展开了讨论。他们得出了不同的结论。本文利用2000年人口普查千分之一抽样原始数据,对城市超低生育率中的外来人口分母效应作了进一步的检验和分析,认为外来人口的分母效应的大小,既与外来人口的规模,也与外来人口的生育水平有关。京津沪地区超低生育率中的外来人口分母效应并不存在,其原因是外来人口与本地人口的生育水平没有差别。对于全国城市地区,尽管外来人口的生育率显著地低于本地人口,但是由于外来人口规模不够巨大,它的分母效应也不太大。作为对比,广东省是最强烈体现外来人口分母效应的例证。不仅外来人口的生育率只及本地人口的一半,而且育龄妇女中外来人口占近30%,所以其分母效应非常明显。     

Poverty and Subjective Well-being in Mexico

There are two tendencies in the literatureregarding the relationship between income andsubjective well-being. The first tendencymaintains that there is a strong relationshipbetween these two variables, and that thepoorer the population, the more pronounced thisrelationship. The second tendency downplaysthis relationship, arguing that a largepercentage of happiness cannot be explained byeconomic variables. The objective of this studywas to compare the subjective well-being ofthree socioeconomic groups – extremely poor,moderately poor and not poor – and to discoverthe combination of subjective well-beingfactors that makes it possible to predict thesocioeconomic group to which subjects belong.Subjective well-being was measured by using aninstrument developed by Palomar Lever (2000) andconsisting of eleven related factors thatinquire into the subjects' satisfaction ineleven areas of life. The results indicatestatistically significant differences in nearlyall the subjective well-being factors inrelation to the socioeconomic group to whichsubjects belong, with the poorest subjectsreporting the least satisfaction. In additionsome differences were found in relation to sexand age. Also, low correlations were observedbetween income and subjective well-being in theextremely poor and moderately poor groups, withmore of these correlations in the first group,followed by the last. Finally, it was foundthat membership in the socioeconomic groups canbe predicted by a combination of subjectivewell-being factors such as satisfaction withone's recreational activities, socialsurroundings, personal development and couplerelationship.     

中国城市的地域范围和地域区分探析

城市地域范围和地域区分是城市研究的起点。但我国学术界在较长时间的讨论中,一直没有形成较为一致的意见。本文拟从"实质城市"地域的角度,并考虑到实际数据的可获得性,探讨了城市地域,包括它与外部——乡村的区分和它的内部构造——中心区、边缘区和郊区的区分方法。本文提出,可用建制市内全部"区"作为城市地域,而在城市地域内,根据各部分地域的人口密度、在业人口中从事二、三产业的比例,昼夜人口比和三产区位系数等指标来区分城市的中心区、边缘区和郊区。     

中国城市老年人的贫困问题

关注弱势群体的状况 ,对这一群体提供必要的帮助已经在全社会取得了共识。贫困老年人属于弱势群体中更加脆弱的人群 ,了解他们的基本状况是开展社会救助的基础。本文根据中国老龄科研中心 2 0 0 0年在全国 2 0个省、自治区和直辖市进行抽样调查的结果 ,在各地区贫困救助标准的基础上 ,运用国际上普遍采用的等值系数方法 ,测算了城市老年人的贫困率 ,并对城市贫困老年人的特征进行了描述 ,而且初步探讨了造成城市老年人贫困的原因。     

中国城镇流动人口的住房状况研究

许多发展中国家城市普遍存在乡城人口迁移和贫民窟扩张现象。尽管我国正快速城市化,城镇贫民窟现象并不普遍。2000年人口普查资料显示,城镇地区流动和迁移人口的住房状况并不比非流迁人口差;在某些房屋设施方面,流动人口甚至要好于城镇当地居民。本文运用2000年0.095%抽样数据研究中国城镇流动人口的住房状况,试图回答三个问题:(1)流动人口在城镇如何居住?(2)不同类型的流动人口居住方式是否不同?(3)为什么部分流动人口的住房状况优于城镇当地居民?     

中国城市人口增长的决定因素分析

文章从城市发展的基本理论出发,利用计量经济学模型,分析了中国20世纪90年代城市人口增长的决定因素。实证分析的结果表明:(1)中国城市的发展具有趋同性,即城市规模越大,人口增长率越低;(2)迁移的惯性对城市人口增长起促进作用;(3)对外开放能显著促进城市的发展,在经济还处于相对封闭状态的内陆地区,其作用尤为显著;(4)基础设施条件能显著影响城市人口增长的节奏。     

城市女性高龄老人问题的调查与思考

文章结合实地调查和相关资料对城市女性高龄老人的生活状况进行了分析。结果表明,中国城市女性高龄老人生活状况不容乐观,基本生活缺乏保障,存在着高风险,面临着生存危机。为改善女性高龄老人的生活状况,提高生活质量,必须构建以居家养老和社区养老相结合的养老体系。     

Migrant Workers and Workplace Bullying in Urban China

Trends of subjective well-being (SWB) in transition countries are peculiar: they show substantial changes that are more strongly correlated with the trends of GDP than in other developed countries. This paper examines the role of the trends of GDP and of social trust in predicting the trends of well-being. We find that the strength of the relationship between social trust and SWB over the medium-term is comparable to that of GDP. We conclude that in the medium-term, even in countries where material concerns strongly affect well-being, social trust is a powerful predictor of the trends of SWB. However, in the short run the relationship between social trust and SWB does not hold and GDP stands out as the only significant correlate of SWB.     

当代中国城市的人口与社区

文章回顾了近20年来中国从社区服务到社区建设的政策演变,着重探讨中国社会对城市人口的公共管理从“单位制”向“社区制”转变的结构性变化,以及城市人口和城市社区目前的现状,并就社区的本义,社区服务在社区建设中的地位和作用,以及社区民主与社区的职业化,讨论当前社区建设中的问题和对策。