Biographical Notes - James H. Reynierse; Dennis Ackerman; Alexis A. Fink; John B. Harker; James T. Scarnati; David Boyd; Jay A. Halfond; Barbara A. Edwards; Tomas Brytting; Claes Trollestad; Margaret Ryan

Biography

Biographical Notes - James H. Reynierse; Dennis Ackerman; Alexis A. Fink; John B. Harker; James T. Scarnati; David Boyd; Jay A. Halfond; Barbara A. Edwards; Tomas Brytting; Claes Trollestad; Margaret Ryan     

Determinants of happiness in Thailand: The moderating role of religiousness

This research investigates the influences of family satisfaction, health satisfaction, environmental livability, and neighbor relationship as determinants of happiness in Thailand. In this research, the moderating effects of religiousness in relation to the influences of different determinants of happiness are also investigated. The data were collected by telephone survey questionnaires developed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. There were a total of 1,004 respondents. All research hypotheses were tested by means of hierarchical regression analysis, by which religiousness was tested as a moderating factor. The analysis results indicate that among all model variables, only family satisfaction, health satisfaction, and environmental livability positively affected happiness in Thailand. Additionally, the family satisfaction aspect played the most important role in predicting happiness. Moderator tests revealed that significant interaction effects existed only between religiousness and health satisfaction and between religiousness and environmental livability. Furthermore, in full regression analyses, only the moderating effect of religiousness on the relationship between environmental livability and happiness was negatively significant. Our results not only validate research findings in other countries but also verify the importance of family satisfaction, health satisfaction, environmental livability, and religiousness as important factors of happiness for public policy makers. Importantly, as an alternative explanation, our results suggest that religiousness can play an important role not only as a direct determinant of happiness but also as a moderator of determinants of happiness, especially in a Buddhist society such as Thailand.     

Examining the link between social responsibility and decision styles

The paper examines the factors that influence socially responsible decision making by individuals. The study found four social responsibility styles: Playing it Safe, Weather The Storm, Problem to Solve, and Hope it Goes Away. These styles describe individuals on the basis of decision style, propensity for risk, and coping style. The styles explain why people with different values might come to the same decision in the same circumstances.