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This 2nd edition is a definitive resource on issues pertaining to the full range of topics in scientific and other scholarly research on the quality of life, including health-related quality of life research or also called patient-reported outcomes research. Altogether 500 new and updated entries appear in this new edition. This single, multidimensional reference work connects the most salient and important contributions to the relevant fields from the behavioral and social sciences as well as health and healthcare. New topics in this 2nd edition are on disabilities, religion/spirituality, sex, sports, politics, government, science, literature, performance and visual arts, environmental quality and sustainable development. The 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-being Research is an indispensable reference point for future research and writing topics on quality of life.

This book offers an understanding of subjective well-being (SWB) in the Indian context across ages and strata. It discusses the conceptualization and measurement of both subjective well-being (SWB) and subjective ill-being (SIB) through a multi-phased research study. The structure of SWB and development, standardization, and indexing of an SWB Measure provide insights on how the SWB Measure can enable nations to find out the national level of SWB/SIB for its citizens. The index may be useful in identifying the level of people's well-being or ill-being. It explores the possibility of implications and interventions in optimizing SWB both at the individual and collective levels. It is a consolidated account of the work done in SWB research, particularly with a cultural focus from the Indian context. This book has a wide application for students, researchers, psychometricians, practitioners, policymakers, and all individuals interested in concepts like SWB and Happiness.

We all strive for personal happiness in one way or another, but what about public happiness? What does public happiness mean and what role can governments and public policies play? The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the inadequacies of old governance paradigms and even before this pandemic, increasing inequalities and frustration with the old GDP-centric growth paradigm have fueled dissatisfaction with and distrust of governments. This book suggests a new path towards public happiness as a potential solution. The book builds a theory of public happiness as a distinct concept from individual happiness, borrowing especially from Eastern philosophy. It provides an overview of the efforts so far to go “beyond GDP” – including measurement and exploration of the determinants of happiness – and how these efforts have fallen short of expectation. Lastly, the book sketches out what a public happiness policy might look like and identifies the factors of a successful happiness policy.

This handbook discusses the latest findings from different fields of positive psychology from a global perspective by providing a coherent framework to get a better understanding of the development and practice of positive psychology. It starts with the parameters of positive psychology and a summary of the historical rise of positive psychology (both first wave and second wave of positive psychology) in the US, and its slow but steady growth on a global scale. This handbook highlights the major contributions of positive psychologists across 17 major regions of the world on theory, research, assessment and Practice. It discusses how positive psychology can progress human living in different countries and it shows the reasons why positive psychology has become an important source in research and education around the world.

This open access book defines happiness intuitively and explores several common conceptual mistakes with regard to happiness. It then moves on to address topical issues including, but not limited to, whether money can buy you happiness, why happiness is ultimately the only thing of intrinsic value, and the various factors important for happiness. It also presents a more reliable and interpersonally comparable method for measuring happiness and discusses twelve factors, from A to L, that are crucial for individual happiness: attitude, balance, confidence, dignity, engagement, family/friends, gratitude, health, ideals, joyfulness, kindness and love. Further, it examines important public policy considerations, taking into account recent advances in economics, the environmental sciences, and happiness studies. Novel issues discussed include: an environmentally responsible happy nation index to supplement GDP, the East Asian happiness gap, a case for stimulating pleasure centres of the brain, and an argument for higher public spending.

This is the first volume providing a research platform to showcase research in the field of positive psychology and well-being science in African contexts. Next to enhancing context-sensitive theory and practice on the African continent, it also contributes to the global discourse in positive psychology and facilitates the development of a science that reflects and is relevant to complexity and diversity in a globalising society. This volume brings together work from African scholars, featuring research on theoretical perspectives on well-being in Africa, measurement of well-being in Africa, manifestations and dynamics of well-being in Africa, and well-being promotion in Africa. It stimulates further research in positive psychology and well-being science in the African context and globally, and emphasises the interconnectedness and situatedness of human functioning and well-being, contributing to a more balanced perspective on well-being in an international perspective. The volume benefits researchers, students and practitioners in Africa and other international contexts who study or apply the science of positive psychology and well-being in diverse contexts.Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This edited volume approaches the life experiences and well-being of Japanese people from an empirical perspective. It explores the current trend of happiness among Japanese over time and examines the association of income, lifestyle, and perceived life conditions using modern econometric models with supplementary qualitative observations. Issues relating to ageing, gender, household division of labour, and emigration are also examined to provide a wide scope of results based on both survey and field methods for culturally sensitive researchers. Going beyond the conventional cultural interpretation of the uniqueness of the Japanese case, this book provides timely, empirical evidence for understanding how the various social groups comprising the Japanese population have enjoyed a better quality of life, while some groups are very dissatisfied with social arrangements and have elected to emigrate. The book is a pioneering endeavour to reveal the detailed structure ofquality of life and well-being in Japanese society.

Bernhard Riederer untersucht Auswirkungen der Elternschaft auf Glück und Zufriedenheit. Er zeigt, dass das individuelle und gesellschaftliche Umfeld beeinflussen, welche Konsequenzen Kinder für das Wohlbefinden der Eltern haben. In Einklang mit geringen Geburtenraten, Problemen der Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf oder der ‚Regretting Motherhood‘-Debatte erläutert die Glücksforschung, dass sich Kinder in westlichen Gesellschaften tendenziell negativ auf ihre Eltern auswirken. Die empirische Analyse von Daten 30 europäischer Staaten verdeutlicht jedoch, dass es zu positiven wie negativen Effekten kommt. Faktoren auf Individual-, Paar- und Gesellschaftsebene beeinflussen den Zusammenhang zwischen Kindern und Wohlbefinden systematisch. Dazu zählen in erster Linie Lebensabschnitt, Partnerschaftsstatus, Prozesse zwischen den Partnern, Kinderbetreuung und gesellschaftlich dominante Wertvorstellungen.Der Autor Dr. Bernhard Riederer ist Sozialwissenschaftler und wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Wittgenstein Centre (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU), Vienna Institute of Demography/Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.

This book is the seventh volume in a series covering best practices in community quality of life indicators. The case studies and analysis in this volume demonstrate how community indicators projects today operate within a need to amplify the voice of disadvantaged communities, seriously explore the increasing use of information technology, produce positive community change and sustain these efforts over time. The work presented here spans North American and Australian community work and demonstrates how the field of community indicators has undergone a rapid evolution in only a few decades. Today as in their original formulations, community indicators projects are designed to gauge the social, economic and physical health and well-being of communities.

This handbook presents the most comprehensive account of eudaimonic well-being to date. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical updates presented by leading scholars and young researchers. The handbook examines philosophical and historical approaches to the study of happy lives and good societies, and it critically looks at conceptual controversies related to eudaimonia and well-being. It identifies the elements of happiness in a variety of areas such as emotions, health, wisdom, self-determination, internal motivation, personal growth, genetics, work, leisure, heroism, and many more. It then places eudaimonic well-being in the larger context of society, addressing social elements. The most remarkable outcome of the book is arguably its large-scale relevance, reminding us that the more we know about the good way of living, the more we are in a position to build a society that can be supportive and offer opportunities for such a way of living for all of its citizens.

This timely text overviews theories, concepts, and contexts relating to the emerging field of behavioral economics. Research theories and data gathered across psychology, sociology, marketing, finance, and other relevant disciplines are synthesized to identify and elaborate on the defining aspects of consumer economic wellbeing. Against a background of consumer rights and responsibilities, the book discusses consumer phenomena of earning, spending, saving, and borrowing and their contributions to improving (and in some cases to worsening) economic wellness. In addition, the author presents effective ways consumers can be encouraged to navigate key economic environments such as the media, advertising, and the internet, and to change negative financial behaviors.Among the featured topics:Historical perspective on consumer economic wellbeing.Consumer financial capability and economic wellbeing.The role of government in promoting consumer economic wellbeing.Corporate social responsibility.Theories of online shopping and e-banking.Desirable and undesirable consumption behavior.Consumer Economic Wellbeing clarifies issues and provides insights for researchers in the fields of consumer psychology and economics, psychologists and mental health professionals, and policy analysts. It is also useful as a text for college courses in related subjects.

This handbook provides a comprehensive historical account of the field of Quality of Life. It brings together theoretical insights and empirical findings and presents the main items of global quality of life and wellbeing research. Worldwide in its scope of topics, the handbook examines discussions of demographic and health development, the spread of democracy, global economic accounting, multi-item measurement of perceived satisfaction and expert-assessed quality of life and the well-being of children, women and poor people. It looks at well-being in specific regions, including North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to contributions by leading and younger authors, the handbook includes contributions from International Organizations about their own work with respect to social reporting.

This book approaches the field of positive psychology from a post-modern perspective. It explores the consequences of combining current trends and models with supplementary participatory and transformative methods. The book brings a more collective, qualitative, culturally sensitive and transformative approach to the processes of making sense and implementing the science of positive psychology. It moves beyond the individual level towards a “knowledge community” and “knowledge of the communities”. The book is an invitation to more participatory and polyphonic dialogues in the field of positive psychology.

This is the first book to bring together examples of research in positive psychology / psychofortology conducted in the multi-cultural South African context with its diverse populations and settings. The volume reflects basic as well as applied well-being research in the multicultural South African context, as conducted in various contexts and with a variety of methods and foci. Theoretical, review, and empirical research contributions are made, reflecting positivist to constructivist approaches, and include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches. Some findings support universality assumptions, but others uncovered unique cultural patterns. Chapters report on well-being research conducted in the domains of education, work, health, and family, and in clinical, urban vs. rural, and unicultural vs. multicultural contexts. Studies span the well-being of adolescents, adults, and older people, and topics include resilience in individuals, families, and groups, measurement issues and coping processes, the role of personal and contextual variables, and facets such as hope, spirituality, self-regulation, and interventions.

Different cultures experience happiness differently. Traditionally, the West is considered materialistic, and happiness is said to come from achievement and acquisition. The East is said to be more people-oriented, where happiness is a result of deep personal interactions. Thus, poor people can be happier in the East than the West, because they are not so concerned with possession and more with society. This book considers happiness and quality of life in non-Western countries and cultures. Its coverage is diverse and spans the breadth of the non-Western world, revealing unique perspectives of happiness and life quality embedded in rich cultural traditions and histories.