Female influencers have during the last years reached great success on social media, they are popular and influential with a lot of followers who they have a close bond with. Therefore, they are frequently used as a third part of corporate marketing strategies. The content on social media have however been criticised for only presenting an edited and happy picture of life. Thereby, the purpose of this study was to analyse the five biggest influencers in Sweden and their self-representation concerning happiness on Instagram. More specifically to study how happiness is constructed discursively. The study was based on posts published during 2018 and was conducted through a discourse analysis inspired by Laclau and Mouffe, focusing on happiness as an empty signifier. The theoretical starting point of this essay was based on Ahmed´s (2010) argumentations about happiness, Gill´s (2007) understanding of postfeminism and Hochschild´s (2003) comprehension of feelings as a part of labour. The results showed that happiness was both expressed as a process and as a state of mind, where happiness either could be reached through change and improvement or by loving yourself just the way you are. The results also showed that happiness was used as a tool within their self-representation in order to market products and services. Furthermore, their relationships were constructed as an ideal for a happy life. Finally, setbacks and problems were expressed as an opportunity to grow and learn in order to experience greater happiness in the future.

Esta pesquisa de mestrado busca realizar a etnografia de algumas festas dos Krahô (autodenominados mehin), etnia situada no Tocantins, falante de língua macro-jê, e incluída entre os povos Timbira, nome que designa um conjunto de povos indígenas localizados nos Estados do Maranhão, Tocantins e Pará. O principal objeto desta pesquisa é a trama complexa de significado que atravessa um conceito krahô, amijkin. A amplitude de seu campo semântico foi notada há tempos e denota tanto o nome para qualquer festa krahô quanto o ato de alegrar-se, o estado de alegria. A partir desta sobreposição semântica crucial, esta dissertação busca refletir e evidenciar etnograficamente em quais termos e em que situações os Krahô experienciam os sentidos da categoria amijkin em seu mundo vivido. / This master\'s research aims to carry out the ethnography of some festivals of the Krahô (self-named mehin), an ethnic group located in Tocantins, speakers of a macrojê language and included among the Timbira peoples, which designates a group of indigenous peoples located in the States of Maranhão, Tocantins and Pará. The main object of this research is the complex web of meaning which constitutes a krahô concept, amijkin. The breadth of its semantic field has long been noted and denotes both the name for any krahô party and the act of rejoicing, the state of joy. From this crucial semantic overlap, this dissertation seeks to reflect and ethnographically evidence in what terms and in what situations the Krahô experience the senses of the amijkin category in their lived world.

Thesis advisor: Susan Michalczyk / Turbulent times always elicit change. Outside forces are constantly shifting, only to affect the lives of the characters that are at their mercy. Only by adapting to these changes can one truly survive in this world. However, unlike these forces of nature, God, or chance, people have to think about changing before they can carry through with it. Questions plague their minds and options torment their souls. What course of action is best for them, and which allows them to maintain some sense of self? These collected stories focus on people in turmoil. People in pain. People who must change. What happens to a man who will truly die if he loses the love of his life? Should you take the advice of a psychic, abandoning your own free will in the process? When the larger forces in the world are trying to destroy you, do you let them, or fight back against literally impossible odds? In the end, everyone must come to a decision. Stagnation and inaction themselves can decide your fate. As Neil Gaiman once said: Everything changes. But nothing is truly lost. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

O presente estudo teve por objetivo identificar a felicidade e o significado atribuídos pelos profissionais da Educação do estado de São Paulo a diferentes domínios da vida. Para isso, esclarecemos através de uma revisão bibliográfica como a felicidade tem sido algo do interesse humano ao longo do tempo. Ressaltamos que o conceito de felicidade difere de acordo com o idioma, cultura e possui uma pluralidade de termos associados em pesquisas. Em um resgate histórico demonstramos que a felicidade consta como um ideal desde as primeiras civilizações ocidentais, recebeu ênfase entre os filósofos gregos, percorreu os séculos, impactou a economia e a criação dos seus índices nas últimas décadas e enseja atualmente o debate no campo da psicologia. A partir disso, abordamos o movimento da Psicologia Positiva, suas origens, propostas, evolução no cenário nacional, equívocos iniciais e desdobramentos do construto de bem-estar. No avanço desses estudos, duas concepções se destacaram: o Bem-Estar Subjetivo e o Bem-Estar Psicológico, alicerçadas nos conceitos filosóficos de hedonia e eudaimonia. Nesse sentido, expomos as propostas emergentes que propõem uma aproximação entre essas linhas filosóficos e uma articulação teórico-metodológica que ofereça uma perspectiva complexa sobre a felicidade. Este estudo se propõe, através de uma revisão temática sobre felicidade e uma compreensão de sua articulação com as concepções de hedonia e eudaimonia, avaliar os níveis de felicidade e significado em diferentes domínios da vida atribuídos pelos profissionais da Educação do estado de São Paulo. Nesse intuito utilizamos uma amostra de 2021 sujeitos, na faixa etária entre 20 e 70 anos, que participaram do processo seletivo para o curso de Especialização em Ética, Valores e Cidadania na Escola realizado pela Universidade de São Paulo. O instrumento utilizado foi o Eudaimonic Hedonic Happiness Inventory (EHHI), formado por perguntas abertas e escalas para a avaliação do nível de felicidade e significado em onze diferentes domínios da vida. Os dados foram coletados presencialmente nas cidades de São Paulo, São Carlos, Ribeirão Preto e Campinas em agosto de 2013. Os resultados mostraram que a família, a saúde e o crescimento pessoal são os domínios da vida com mais evidência em felicidade e significado. Foi possível também perceber que professores próximos ao final da carreira são mais felizes e que os mais jovens possuem menos significado na vida. Por fim, os resultados de significado apresentaram um poder de explicação de 20% do nível de felicidade. Consideramos que a compreensão de como esses profissionais atribuem felicidade e significado aos diversos domínios da vida traz a possibilidade do direcionamento de propostas que visem à promoção de felicidade e bem-estar docente. / The current study aimed at identifying the happiness and meaningfulness attributed to different life domains by professionals of Education of the State of São Paulo. In order to do that, we clarified, through a bibliographical review, how happiness has been something of human interest over time. We emphasized that the concept of happiness differs according to language, culture and it has a plurality of associated terms in research. In a historical review, we have shown that happiness has been an ideal pursued since the earliest Western civilizations, received emphasis by the Greek philosophers, it has gone through the centuries, impacted the economy and the creation of its indexes in the last decades and it currently led to debate in the field of psychology. From this point, we approached the Positive Psychology movement, its origins, proposals, evolution in the national scenario, initial misconceptions and the unfolding of the well-being construct. As these studies advanced, two conceptions stand out: Subjective Well-Being and Psychological Well-Being, based on the philosophical concepts of hedonia and eudaimonia. In this sense, we presented the emerging proposals that set out an approximation between these philosophical lines and a theoretical-methodological articulation that offers a complex perspective on happiness. By means of a theme review on happiness and an understanding of its articulation with the conceptions of hedonia and eudaimonia, this study proposes evaluating the levels of happiness and meaningfulness in different life domains, which were ranked by professionals of the State of São Paulo. To this end, we used a sample of 2.021 individuals between the ages of twenty and seventy, who participated in the selection process for the Specialization Course in Ethics, Values and Citizenship in School conducted by the University of São Paulo. The instrument used was the Eudaimonic Hedonic Happiness Inventory (EHHI), devised by open questions and scales for assessing the level of happiness and meaning in eleven different life domains. The data were collected in person in the cities of São Paulo, São Carlos, Ribeirão Preto and Campinas in August 2013. The results showed that family, health and personal growth are the life domains with more evidence of happiness and meaningfulness. It was also possible to perceive that teachers who were at the end of their careers are happier and younger ones have less meaning in life. Finally, the results of meaningfulness presented a power of explanation of 20% of the level of happiness. We believe that the understanding of how these professionals attribute happiness and meaning to the various life domains brings the possibility of directing proposals that aim to promote happiness and teachers\' well-being.

在過去的幾十年，儘管經歷了飛速的經濟增長，中國居民的平均幸福感水平卻並未大幅度提高。"幸福感悖論"的主流解釋強調相對經濟地位的角色，本文從不同的角度提供了社會比較效應在中國的新證據。 / 第一個使用2003到2013橫跨十年的橫截面時間序列數據，檢驗了幸福感悖論是否存在于中國。結果不但證實了該悖論：幸福感的長期變化與省級人均GRP的長期變化之間沒有顯著相關；也揭示了中國的獨特性：短時期內，省級人均GRP對居民幸福感有負向影響。 / 第二個研究關注社會比較效應在高速經濟增長背景下的異質性。基於調查數據的分析首先證實了"隧道效應"，即儘管經濟地位落後於他人，個人幸福感反而會升高。 此外，我們驗證了相關機制：納入未來收入指標后，同伴收入的正向影響甚至變為負向。進一步，我們分析了情境準實驗數據。主要結論包括，在具體的工作情境中，(1)比同事/好朋友的相對收入更高，情境幸福感越高，反之亦然；(2)與集體降薪背景相比，在集體升薪背景下，更低相對收入的負向影響加劇，而更高相對收入的正向影響減弱。 因而，中國居民對於當前收入不平等的容忍主要來自於他們對未來收入會上升的期望。 / 第三個研究關注社會比較效應在家庭內的異質性。基於調查數據的分析發現，相對經濟地位對幸福感的影響具有顯著的性別差異：比配偶相對經濟地位高會提高男性的家庭滿意度，卻會降低女性滿意度。此外，我們區分了兩種比較維度，發現在職業聲望上的相對地位效應的性別差異比在收入維度上更微弱。 我們進一步分析了自行收集的情境實驗數據。結果與調查數據分析基本一致。 最後，通過比較未婚群體及已婚群體在情境中的處理效應，我們揭示了性別角色意識對性別化不平等效應的強烈的型塑影響。 / Despite the remarkable economic growth in China over the past few decades, the average level of happiness of the Chinese does not rise on a large scale. The mainstay of the interpretation for this "happiness paradox" has been highlighting the role of relative economic standing. The current thesis provides new evidence on social comparison effects in China from different perspectives. / The first study describes a social fact under the influence of relative economic status: "happiness paradox". Using a cross-sectional time-series data spanning 10 years (2003-2013), we empirically test whether or not the "happiness paradox" also exists in China. We demonstrated the validity of the "happiness paradox" on one hand: there is no significant association between the economic growth (i.e. the 10-year difference of the provincial per capita GRP) and the change of happiness (i.e. the 10-year difference of the aggregated happiness index). On the other hand, we uncovered a unique pattern in China: in the short term, the provincial per capita GRP is negatively correlated with the provincial happiness index. / The second study examines the heterogeneity of social comparison effects in the workplace under the background of the rapid economic growth. Analyses on survey data firstly verify the "tunnel effect": after holding one’s income constant, the average income of peers in workplace imposes positive effect on personal happiness. In addition, the effect of reference income changes from positive to negative after incorporating the expected income index. Furthermore, we analyze a quasi-experimental dataset based on an original vignette design. Main conclusions include: in the workplace setting, (1) higher relative income comparing to one’s colleagues or friends makes one happier; (2) comparing with the pay-cut scenario, under the pay-rise scenario, the negative effect of lagging behind colleagues or friends would be aggravated, while the benefit of surpassing others would be eliminated. Our analyses suggest that the major social force behind the unexpected tolerance to the rising income inequality among the Chinese people is their prospect for the upward income mobility in the near future. / The third study focuses on the heterogeneity of social comparison effects within family. Analyses on survey data suggest that the impact of relative economic status between husband and wife is highly gendered: for males, the higher relative income over spouse, the more satisfied they are with family, while the opposite is true for females. In addition, given the multidimensionality of the relative status, we distinguished two dimensions for comparison, finding that the relative status effect on the dimension of occupational prestige is much weaker than on income. Further analysis based on a quasi-experimental vignette data confirmed the above two conclusions. Finally, by contrasting the treatment effects of the single and married population, we revealed a powerful impact of specialized gender role ideology in shaping people’s perspective on inequality within family. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 吳菲. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-137). / Abstracts also in English. / Wu Fei.

Fok, Sui Yan Maggie. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-57). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

The idea of microfinance has burst into the area of global poverty reduction. Many comments have been made about its benefits such as; it is an alternative tool for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Many studies have attempted to assess different facets of the impact of microfinance, especially trying to show its potential for greater financial inclusion and economic benefits using advanced rigorous quantitative approaches. Although some studies have evaluated this topic in the past there remains some significant gaps in the literature, including the impact of microfinance on other dimensions such as the social impact, education or environmental impact, the impact on happiness and subjective wellbeing of its clients has been hardly examined. This study aims to fill this gap by using rigorous quantitative methods with a rich qualitative dataset to assess the impact of microfinance on both economic and non-economic aspects, especially the happiness and psychological dimension. I Use primary data from a household survey and an ethnographic approach combining quantitative methods such as matching estimators, propensity score matching with nonparametric regression. The mixed methods were employed in order to evaluate the impact of the microfinance schemes on the improvement of borrowers’ wellbeing, household condition and local economic and environmental development. The most notable findings were that the borrowers from the savings group using group lending schemes utilised the loan for mainly entrepreneurial purposes and household spending, performed better than other groups of borrowers. This could be seen from the increase in household income and a high repayment rate. In addition, by observing the social impacts, it indicated that the group lending together with the ecotourism project generated and strengthened the social ties in the community. The group members also produced high positive psychological indicators compared to the non-member households. Easterlin’s paradox was revisited and found that not only was it income that affected happiness and wellbeing, but other factors seemed to have an influence on self-reported happiness. Those factors included health or health condition of family members which significantly influenced self-reported happiness in all models. Considering the impact of microfinance on happiness and wellbeing, it was found that clients of the group lending scheme can repay better and led to a higher level of self-reported happiness and subjective wellbeing. The ability to repay also affected a low level of stress or negative moods.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-04-11T12:02:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia Lopes.pdf: 889172 bytes, checksum: b567f082fcfbd2afbc279ae1034ac1d2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-11T12:02:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vera Lucia Lopes.pdf: 889172 bytes, checksum: b567f082fcfbd2afbc279ae1034ac1d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The Aristotelian ethics is articulated from the research on which is the supreme good of man and the purpose for which all things tend. Artistotle says that happiness (eudaimonia) is this good that we all seek in life and, therefore, is the end to which all things desired by man tend. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is the successful accomplishment of the human being viewed as a rational political animal. Thus, the man is happy when performing the purpose for which he exists, i.e., when performing the work (érgon) of its own. This study, which focuses on the part of the Nicomachean Ethics that became known as “The treaty of virtue” (Books I-IV), aims at understanding the design and place that occupies eudaimonia in the ethics of Aristotle. Therefore, we investigate some concepts of Aristotelian ethics closely linked with his conception of eudaimonia. In conclusion to the paper, we present a recent debate that has become paradigmatic in studies of Aristotelian ethics. This is the debate between the positions of two great contemporary Aristotelians, Hardie and Ackrill on the conception of eudaimonia as a supreme good, to be understood as an inclusive one (Hardie) or a dominant one of all the others (Ackrill) / A ética aristotélica se articula a partir da investigação de qual é o bem supremo do homem e o fim a que tendem todas as coisas. Aristóteles afirma que a felicidade (eudaimonia) é esse bem que todos buscam na vida e, por isso, é o fim ao qual devem tender todas as coisas desejadas pelo ser humano. Para Aristóteles, a eudaimonia é a realização bem-sucedida do ser humano entendido como animal político racional. Desta forma, o homem é feliz quando realiza o fim para qual existe, isto é, quando realiza a obra (érgon) que lhe é própria. A presente dissertação, que se concentra na parte da Ética Nicomaqueia conhecida como “O tratado da virtude” (livros I-IV), tem por objeto compreender a concepção e o lugar que a eudaimonia ocupa na ética de Aristóteles. Para tanto, investiga-se alguns conceitos da ética aristotélica estreitamente ligados com a sua concepção de eudaimonia. Em conclusão, apresenta-se um debate recente que se tornou paradigmático aos estudos da ética aristotélica. Trata-se do debate entre as posições de dois grandes aristotélicos contemporâneos, Hardie e Ackrill, acerca da concepção da eudaimonia como bem supremo, a ser entendida como um bem inclusivo de todos os outros (Hardie) e um bem dominante de todos os outros (Ackrill)

There is a wealth of literature on job satisfaction from both Western and Eastern experiences and perspectives, but the literature is limited when it comes to happiness at work, especially in the Arab region. This study is an attempt to encourage research studies in the field of happiness at work in the Middle East and specifically in the United Arab Emirates, the context of the present research, to influence planning in government organisations in implementing a strategy for long-term impacts on happiness levels. This research uses a mixed methods approach of both questionnaires and interviews to collect data. The analysis is conducted by using quantitative and qualitative tools to recognise the gaps and the factors that influence happiness at work and suggests recommendations in order to raise happiness across organisations over the long run. The findings of this study emphasise the necessity of correlating HRM practices, rules and systems with strategic planning that focuses on employee happiness as the greatest purpose of an organisation. The findings emphasise the power of three factors related to employees' feelings towards work which are: Leadership style, organisational culture and organisation structure and how reflecting them in an organisation will positively influence satisfaction and build a strong, positive and happy workplace. This research also discusses one of the controversial inquiries found in the literature about the relationship between job satisfaction and happiness. A conceptual framework is suggested to illustrate the connection between job satisfaction and happiness from a new perspective and clarify how these two concepts positively interact. It clarifies that organisations that indicate a high-level of happiness at work usually indicate a high-level of job satisfaction, and when an organisation achieves a high-level of job satisfaction, it can be deduced that people in the organisation are happy, even where happiness per se is not measured. The findings also show that the role of religion in raising happiness in general is clearer than its role in raising happiness at work and that employees from the sample group, who emphasise the importance of practicing religious rituals, still indicate low feelings towards work regardless of all the facilities that are provided to them to practice their religion.

The thesis analyzes the relationship of the perceived happiness level and the level of work busyness of full time employees. For this purpose, a questionnaire was built which mapped happiness and busyness with considering both subjective and objective variables. 205 employees participated in the questionnaire survey. The sample showed above-average education, a high level of busyness and above-average salary (or wages). It has been shown that the work happiness level depends on the level of workload: the unbusy employees are the least happy ones. Influence of ambitions or influence of the importance of work area to the relationship of happiness level and workload level has not been confirmed.