国民幸福理论与广州国民幸福研究

本文分析了国民幸福理论的起源,梳理了有关幸福研究在国内外的发展情况,比较了国民幸福指数与其他相近或相似指标的关联,在调研数据的基础上对广州幸福指数进行了计算和分析。     

从提升GDP转变为追求GNH——关于提高民众幸福指数的探析

幸福是现实生活中每一个人都向往和追求的,人类的任何一种追求都是对幸福的追求。由不丹国王所提出来的国民幸福指数作为一种新的全民考量体系,将人的主体性特别是人类对幸福的追求放在了中心位置。而传统的以国民生产总值为核心的经济衡量指标体系的弊端引起了人们的注意。因此,我国应该以追求民众幸福为目标,正确发挥"幸福指数"的积极意义,解决好民众幸福的现实问题,将其长期地落在实处。     

民族地区大学生幸福认知的实证研究

调查发现，民族地区大学生幸福认知的社会价值倾向明显：重视物质幸福，但不认同物质幸福高于一切，对精神幸福的认同度高于对物质幸福的认同；大学生认识到德性、智慧与幸福有密切关系；健康、家庭、友谊、知识能力、理想信念与自我实现是大学生的主要幸福目标取向。必须清醒地认识到，相当一部分大学生有消极颓废倾向，机械唯物主义幸福观使得大学生幸福认知带有很大的片面性，利己主义和功利主义幸福观在大学生中仍有较大的市场。加强对民族地区大学生幸福认知的实证研究，是增强马克思主义幸福观教育针对性和实效性的重要前提。     

与国民幸福密切相关的若干指标

要提升国民的幸福水平,我们首先要了解哪些因素会影响人们的幸福感。据社会科学家研究．影响人们幸福感觉的既有心理因素．也有客观因素。影响幸福的心理因素有:人格特质、耐性、乐观、自我效能．心理控制点．自我概念等。影响幸福的客观因素有:社会关系、经济社会地位、就业与失业、健康状况与性别差异等。社会指标是评价主观幸福的客观变量。诸如此类的客观变量涉及种族、收入、社会地位、受教育年限、寿命长度．以及城市生活和农村生活等。测量主观幸福的社会指标依据两种方法,一种称作"自上而下"的过程．也即从被试的整体满意度着手．探索整体满意度在各个特定领域的不同反映:另一种称作"自下而上"的过程,也即根据被试在各个特定领域的满意度来推测他们的整体满意度。社会心理学家曾经设计过许多研究来证实这两种方法的各自效验．而且大多采用统计模型。例如．有人分析了32个国家所从事的主观幸福测量,发现有29个国家采用"自下而上"的研究方法．另3个国家采用"自上而下"的研究方法。在采用"自下而上"方法的国家中,社会心理学家主要询问被试者哪些因素直接影响了他们的生活满意度．结果发现,最常提到的领域是:收入、就业、人际关系、健康、休闲、住房和教育。     

追求幸福的历史

英国记者最近在《卫报》上说：“你只要在英国走，就会被拦住，因为有人要让你幸福。”他是在提醒人们注意英国现在流行的、人人都感兴趣的幸福话题。自我帮助心理学的书堆满了书店的书架，“幸福研究”作为一门学科正在兴起，政治家和政策制定者，不管是工党还是托利党，都在试图把幸福作为国家管理艺术的核心。正如著名的英国经济学家理查德·拉亚德爵士不久前宣布的：“幸福应该成为政策的目标，国民幸福的进步应该像GNP增长一样进行测量和分析。”     

再婚夫妻:用心理帐户计算爱

"其实人与人之间需要一个心理账户,现在存进多少,将来就可以支取多少,甚至更多……"接过戒指那刻,我竟惭愧地流下了眼睛。他不知道,其实开始我是计较的,只是后来把这份计较无意间"升华",让外在的算计,转化成为内在的心理账户,同样还是算计,所不同的是,心理账户却越算计越幸福。再婚夫妻之间,或多或少总还是会算计,就如同在心里开了个帐户,对方存储多少,自己回报多少。     

对亚里士多德的幸福主义的思考

亚里士多德是古希腊时期著名哲学家,他博大精深的思想为后来西方思想的发展奠定了重要的基础,其中伦理思想影响深远。幸福问题是其道德理论的核心,它与善、德性、中道等问题有着紧密的关系。他认为幸福是一种最高的善,一种合乎美好德性的实现活动,也提出了幸福主义的道德目标,指出了中道原则在幸福实现过程中的重要性,对当代生活具有重要的指导意义。我们身处于物质极大丰富的时代,也是精神世界严重匮乏的时代,我们需要回到哲人那里寻找通往幸福的正确路径。     

试论穆勒功利主义视角下的幸福观

"幸福"是西方伦理学一个重要的范畴,从古希腊开始就有许多哲人对什么是幸福进行了探讨。穆勒在《功利主义》中谈到幸福是指快乐和免除痛苦,不幸是指痛苦和丧失快乐,同时把"最大多数人的最大幸福"也就是"最大幸福原理"作为功利主义的道德基础,从而为他的"幸福观"定下了基调。他从三个层次阐述了他的幸福观:第一,功利主义的价值原则是追求最大多数人的最大幸福;第二,幸福是具有现实性的;第三,追求幸福的整体性。对穆勒幸福观的探讨可以发现穆勒功利主义的优点和不足。     

论亚里士多德伦理学中的“幸福”

在现实社会中,更多的人将"幸福"定义为一种享受主义。文章研究了古希腊时期亚里士多德伦理学中的"幸福",并分析了亚里士多德幸福观对于当今社会的现实意义。     

论古希腊幸福思想及其对大学生幸福观教育的启示

幸福现在是、过去是、将来永远是所有时代和所有地方的人一致追求的终极目标。它也是哲学家关注的永恒话题。在古希腊,人们因对幸福认识和解读不同而形成了不同的幸福观。从禁欲主义、快乐主义与理性主义三种审视方式入手,阐述了古希腊三种幸福观的基本内容及其演化逻辑,概括了完善而辩证的幸福观的基本内涵,处理好德性、快乐与幸福之间的关系,使人的幸福既具有现实的历史基础,又有高尚道德的升华。针对当代社会所存在的人们幸福感的缺失、满意度下降等现状,阐述古希腊幸福思想对很多茫然无措的现代大学生具有重要的启示作用。     

The impact of retirement on psychological well-being in Canada

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of retirement on psychological wellbeing. The empirical part of this study uses seven longitudinal waves of the Canadian National Population Health Survey, spanning 1994 through 2006. To account for biases due to unobserved individual specific heterogeneity, this study deploys panel data methodologies such as fixed effect method, fixed effect logistic method, and instrumental variable fixed effect method. Using age specific retirement incentives provided by Canada's Income Security System as instruments for retirement behavior, the study finds that retirement has significant positive impact on subsequent psychological well-being. The findings of the study would substantiate the continuity theory notion that retirement may actually improve psychological well-being.     

Consumer possessions,consumer passions,and subjective well-being

Speculation about the linkages between consumer products, consumption-related attitudes, and subjective well-being is prominent in the social sciences. This paper examines three issues in this literature using data collected in 1989 and 1990. The first issue is whether the accumulation and anticipated accumulation of different types of consumer goods foster subjective well-being. Second is whether accumulation and anticipated accumulation explain the well-established relationship between income and subjective well-being. These issues are explored with two alternative measures that incorporate different assumptions about the relative importance of ownership and the newness of products. The third issue is whether passions for the new are positively or negatively related to subjective well-being. Although some results indicate that the heavy theoretical emphasis on the importance of consumer markets for subjective well-being and the income-subjective well-being relationship is overdrawn, others provide weak support for a market-centric perspective that emphasizes the positive consequences of accumulating different types of consumer goods. Different types of consumer goods fill different niches in individuals' lives as they age. Lastly, the passion for new experiences in the marketplace is positively related to subjective well-being.     

THE PRICE TAG OF RESPONSIBILITY

An opportunity in single-parenthood for women is the enhanced sense of competence. Yet, a well-documented hazard is depressed well-being. Remarriage may reverse these outcomes. This study compared two matched samples of divorced and remarried mothers. Contrary to the research hypothesis, remarried mothers had both a higher sense of competence and well-being than divorced mothers, which was significantly related to feelings of competence and satisfaction in the areas of love, community, and homemaking. There were no differences in other areas, such as work or parenting. Differences in income were significantly related to these outcomes, but did not predict a particular competence and well-being type. Remarried mothers were high on the "Love Competency" and "Achievement" Factors and low on the "Friendships" Factor, while the reverse was true for the divorced; these differences best distinguished the two marital groups. Overall, the sense of competence and well-being were dependent and dynaniically inseparable, both globally and in specific life areas. Risks to the sense of competence and well-being for single-parents were feeling in control of and satisfied with their time, finances, current lives (especially in areas of love, community, homemaking), aspirations, and futures. With proper attention to the legitimization and support of the single-parent, intervention might best focus also on single-parenthood as a training ground for self-empowerment and not remarriage.     

Variations in subjective well-being when ‘aging in place’ — A matter of acceptance,predictability and control

The aim of the present study is to explore how older home-help recipients regard their life situation in terms of subjective well-being. The background is that there seem to be two counteracting forces affecting the achievement of subjective well-being among home-help recipients: on one hand, both diminished everyday competence and dependence on others' help are supposed to reduce subjective well-being, and on the other hand, living in one's own home is supposed to affect subjective well-being positively. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 21 home-help recipients between the ages of 78 and 93. The findings indicate that the informants' expressions of subjective well-being fall into four main categories: ‘well-being’, ‘well-being despite it all’, ‘well-being so far’, and ‘lack of well-being’. Three comprehensive core themes were identified as relevant to a deeper understanding of the informants' various expressions of well-being. These core themes are acceptance, predictability, and control. The findings point to the possibility of experiencing subjective well-being despite diminished everyday competence and dependence on help and support from others. They suggest, in short, that subjective well-being among older people who receive help and support in their everyday lives is not only related to socio-contextual factors – such as physical and mental capability, activities and/or engagement in the outside world, the spatial and social consequences of physical limitations, social and emotional relations, as well as the social support they receive – but also to how they regard and handle these matters in terms of acceptance, predictability and control.     

In the Mind of the Beholder: Evaluation of Coping Styles of Immigrant Parents

The issue of coping with cultural transition, as in the case of immigration, has been the focus of extensive investigation in many domains. There is some diversity among scholars as to the relationship between change, stress, risk and well-being. Children, in particular, are regarded at risk since they experience parental stress and are exposed to two sometimes conflicting socializing systems. Consequently, parental modes of coping with “acculturation stress” are considered major factors in predicting immigrant children’s well-being. This article challenges existing views of a linear relation between parental coping and child well-being, suggesting that there is a great complexity and many variables that affect both parental coping strategies related to immigration and the definition of risk. We suggest that child development is affected by parental values and ideologies which form the “Adaptive Adult” image of the culture in which the children are raised. Immigrant parents confronted with a foreign Adaptive Adult image held by the socializing agents of the host culture may adopt one of the several different copying styles. The article describes three most common coping styles labelled by metaphores from the animal world: the traditional “uni-cultural” style which promotes conservation is represented by the Kangaroo strategy; the “culturally-disoriented” style which calls for rapid assimilation of children is represented by the Cuckoo metaphor; and the “bi-cultural” style, based on a meditative approach, is illustrated by the Chameleon’s ability to change its colour to blend in with the environment. Representatives of four professional sectors who are in daily contact with immigrant families, including educators, social workers, educational psychologists and paediatricians, were presented with three typical coping strategies and were asked to express their opinions regarding the adaptive and risk values of each coping style. By applying a qualitative research approach, results indicate that there are variations in the way the various stakeholders (parents and socializing agents) perceive basic concepts such as adaptation, risk and well-being. Consequently, their evaluations of the different parental coping styles vary, suggesting that it is all "in the mind of the beholder".     

Linked Lives: Adult Children's Problems and Their Parents' Psychological and Relational Well-Being

This study examined associations between adult children's cumulative problems and their parents' psychological and relational well-being, as well as whether such associations are similar for married and single parents. Regression models were estimated using data from 1,188 parents in the 1995 National Survey of Midlife in the United States whose youngest child was at least 19 years old. Participants reporting children with more problems indicated moderately poorer levels of well-being across all outcomes examined. Single parents reporting more problems indicated less positive affect than a comparable group of married parents, but married parents reporting more problems indicated poorer parent-child relationship quality. Findings are congruent with the family life course perspective, conceptualizing parents and children as occupying mutually influential developmental trajectories.     

Adult happiness and prior traumatic victimization in and out of the household

A large share of the American population suffers from traumatic experiences early in life. Many adults are also victims of trauma. Using data drawn from the National Comorbidity Survey–Replication, we examine the link between self-reported happiness, a broad gauge of subjective well-being, and four types of traumatic victimization that may occur at various points in the life cycle. In particular, we consider the association between home violence, sexual assault, community violence, and stalking and subsequent victims’ adult happiness. For females and males, we find that each of these traumas significantly reduces self-reported happiness later in the life course, and for both women and men, the estimated impact of home violence is greatest. Furthermore, we find that the adverse effects of trauma on happiness are comparable to the impact of critical socioeconomic developments on happiness. Moreover, we find that experiencing more than one type of these four traumas has a greater negative impact on subsequent happiness than experiencing only one type. Our findings are robust to the inclusion of a wide range of controls, and the influence of trauma on subsequent happiness is independent of personal and family characteristics. Since happiness and mental health are closely related, our work suggests that traumatic victimization undermines overall health and well-being in the U.S.     

Competitive compensation and subjective well-being: The effect of culture and gender

This paper uses a controlled experiment to investigate how subjects exposed to competition in the workplace react in terms of well-being, and how this translates into productivity. The experiment was performed in Korea, a country with an interdependent culture, and France, a country with an independent culture. Exposure to the tournament slightly improves well-being in the Korean sample and decreases it in France. This different response is driven primarily by the opposite response of female subjects, with Korean women liking and French women disliking to compete. Finally, an improvement in well-being is associated with ex-post higher productivity in France, and this positive effect is most salient in the French male population; in Korea, a similar positive effect can be observed only in the female population.     

Does parental work affect the psychological well-being and educational success of adolescents?

The primary goal of this exploratory study was to observe the presence or absence of empirical associations between various parental working conditions, family and, ultimately, the psychological well-being and educational success of young adolescents in Canada. A structural equation model analysis was undertaken from a large Canadian database. This research project used a sub-sample from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, regrouping 3447 young adolescents, aged 12–15, who generally attend high school. The analysis confirmed the suitability of the model for explaining the trajectory of the hypothesized associations. More specifically, the results confirmed that parental working conditions have an indirect effect on the psychological well-being and educational success of adolescents, through family environment, parenting and the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship. The practical implications of this study are discussed.     

Safety, permanency, and in-home services: applying administrative data

This article describes the construction and use of safety and permanency indicators, two aspects of a full set of indicators that also includes child well-being and family functioning. The indicators were constructed from Philadelphia's Family and Child Tracking System and were used to examine the city's Services to Children in their Own Home (SCOH) program. Cohort datasets were constructed through the use of extract files, and two independent data file construction algorithms were employed to calibrate the accuracy of the data construction process. The primary unit of analysis was the "family" spell in SCOH services. Contextual variables included family structure, race, and service intensity. The indicators associated with SCOH spells included reports of maltreatment after service, founded maltreatment after service, and out-of-home placement after service. Event history techniques were used to conduct the data analysis. Baseline indicator data for Philadelphia are presented, and future uses for such data are discussed.