Subjective Quality of Life of Young Europeans. Feeling Happy but who Knows why?

Latest developments in modern societies have altered living circumstances. Upcoming insecurities concerning employment and family relationships make life more and more incalculable. Especially young adults throughout the modern world are forced to rethink their life concepts and to desist from the lives of former generations. As difficulties to achieve a successful life increase, one could assume that the young are confronted with the impossibility of feeling happy and satisfied with their lives anymore. Yet, latest social surveys prove wrong. Although increasing unemployment, lower net income and single parenthood make life more difficult for the young, they still enjoy very high subjective quality of life in comparison to the older population. Throughout the paper I argue that it is not the objective conditions that make young adults (15–29 years old) feel overwhelmingly happy. Looking for other sources of explanation of high quality of life among people aged 29 or below, I argue for indicators of social embeddedness as being influential on their assessment of life. But again, the proportion of explained variance is smaller compared to older people. With the help of empirical data taken from the European Social Survey I highlight the differences in life circumstances between the young and the total population. Concerning occupation, habitation (kind of inhabited household) and financial situation, most of the young live under different situations compared to the adult world. But surprisingly, the rates of perceived high quality of life among the young do not vary to such a large extent as among the adults. I show that young adults, often damned to fail social demands because of their withdrawal from social life, are still the most happy in modern (more and more individualizing?) societies. But it gets more difficult to account for the reasons of their happiness.     

A Need-Based Measure of Consumer Well Being (CWB) in Relation to Personal Transportation: Nomological Validation

This paper reports the results of three studies designed to test the nomological validity of a consumer well-being (CWB) measure in relation to personal transportation. The CWB measure was developed guided by the theoretical notion that the CWB in relation to personal transportation vehicles is significantly enhanced when the consumption of the vehicle meets the full spectrum of human developmental needs (i.e., safety, economic, family, social, esteem, actualization, knowledge, and aesthetics needs). The nomological validity of the CWB measure was tested by exploring the various antecedents and consequences of the construct. This was done in three separate studies in which the results of one study prompted further conceptual development and additional testing. The overall findings of the three studies provided support for the nomological validity of the CWB measure.     

The Wealth of Nations and the Happiness of Nations: Why “Accounting” Matters

We review income-happiness research in light of competing theoretical frameworks, unit of analysis, and methodological issues. Within-countries, absolute income is weakly related to happiness, comparison effects depend on the measure utilized, and income change and perceived income produce inconsistent findings. Across countries, absolute income is a stronger predictor of happiness, different comparison effects are significant, income change results are predominantly positive, and the financial-life satisfaction relationship is more robust.     

我国老年人健康自评影响因素分析

健康自评是研究对象对自身健康的主观感受,是调查中经常运用的变量。健康自评能够反映健康状态的主观和客观两个方面,因此健康自评可以作为评价老年人健康状况的一个重要指标。采用2002年全国老年调查数据,做不同老年人群体的健康自评的差异性分析并进一步探究影响因素。旨在回答我国老年人健康自评的影响因素,对老年人自身和政策制定者提供参考依据。健康的生活方式对健康自评有积极的影响,身体的健康和健康自评有很强的相关性,老年人的社会人口学特征对健康自评影响十分有限。     

Combining Happines’s and Suffering in a Retrospective View of Anchor Periods in Life: A Differential Approach to Subjective Well-Being

The intersection of dimensions of subjective well-being (SWB) generates SWB types. We delineated SWB types by cross-tabulating happiness and suffering ratings that participants attributed to outstandingly meaningful periods in their life referred to as anchor periods. A sample of 499 older Israelis (age 58–94) was queried about two positive periods (the happiest, the most important) and two negative periods (the most miserable, the most difficult). A variety of variables discriminated between the more frequent congruous types of Happy (high happiness and low suffering) and Unhappy (low happiness and high suffering), but also presented the incongruous types of Inflated (high happiness and high suffering) and Deflated (low happiness and low suffering) as discriminable. Thus, women were more likely to be Inflated whereas men were more likely to be Deflated; low education related more to Happy in the happiest period and to Unhappy in the negative periods; present life satisfaction related more to Happy than to Unhappy in the positive, but not in the negative, periods; and Holocaust survivors were more likely to be Deflated and Unhappy in the negative, but not in the positive, periods. The study supported a differential perspective on SWB within people’s narratives of their lives. An erratum to this article is available at .     

The Subjective Well-Being of the Homeless, and Lessons for Happiness

The current study assessed the subjective well-being of a broad spectrum of homeless people. One-hundred-and-eighty-six homeless people from the streets of Calcutta (India), California, and a tent camp in Portland (Oregon) were interviewed, and responded to measures of subjective well-being. They answered questions about life satisfaction, satisfaction with various life domains, and their experience of positive and negative emotions. The mean rating of life satisfaction was slightly negative for both American samples but positive for the pavement dwellers in Calcutta. Satisfaction with self-related domains was positive, whereas satisfaction with material related domains was generally negative. Satisfaction with social domains appears to be the area of largest variation among the groups. We discuss the importance of social factors and basic material needs as they relate to overall subjective well-being of the homeless.     

Welfare Receipt Among Children Living with Grandparents

Considerable increases in the numbers of children living with grandparents have prompted concerns over their economic well-being and grandparents’ use of welfare programs. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I profile the economic well-being of children living with grandparents and estimate the likelihood of receiving two welfare programs: food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Findings suggest that identifying the exact living arrangements of children is pivotal to understanding differences in economic disadvantage and welfare receipt among children living with grandparents. Although children in grandmother-only, no parent present families are the most likely to be poor, they are not the children most likely to receive welfare. The children most likely to receive welfare live with their single mothers and grandparents in three-generation households.     

幸福营销:一个新的管理框架

近年来,基于“经济人”假设构建的营销管理理论,出现了部分失效,需要探索新的营销管理理论。基于企业营销实践和理论空隙的双重视角,完善了基于“社会人”假设的幸福营销管理理论,并建立了相应的逻辑框架,具体包括7个方面的内容:(1)确定创造幸福的使命及哲学;(2)选择为利益相关者带来幸福的目标;(3)依据幸福的使命和幸福的目标选择目标顾客;(4)依据目标顾客关注的幸福感确定幸福的营销定位点;(5)依据幸福营销定位点进行营销要素组合;(6)依据突出幸福定位点的营销组合构建关键流程;(7)依据关键流程整合营销者的重要资源。同时,构建了幸福营销管理的差距模型,并提出了实施幸福营销管理、弥合营销管理差距的步骤和方法。     

近年台湾贫穷问题的扩大化及其原因

贫穷问题包括客观贫穷与主观贫穷两个层面.21世纪以来台湾不论是客观贫穷还是主观贫穷均呈现扩大化趋势.客观贫穷扩大化与台湾人口高龄化加速以及身心障碍者增多有关,更重要的是宏观经济状况恶化和收入差距扩大加剧.而台湾主观贫穷感受的增强则表明台湾民众消费期望和收入状况严重不符.造成这种不符的原因既有总体经济层面的原因,如房价过高、薪资停滞、贫富差距增大等,也有传统消费习惯的路径依赖和经济全球化带来的消费市场高端化的影响.     

以治理民主实现社会民生——我国行政信访制度政治属性解读

行政信访制度,是具有中国特色的政治制度安排。文章以国家与社会的关系为视角,辩证分析了这一制度的制度基础、基本功能和内含价值,据此解读了这一制度安排的政治属性,认为它本质上是一项以治理民主实现社会民生的政治制度。在此基础上,文章解析了民主与民生各自含义、治理民主与社会民生关系等关键性理论命题。