Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur lycka upplevs av förskolebarn.  Individuella intervjuer gjordes med 26 förskolebarn (73% pojkar) mellan 4 och 5 år, med hjälp av en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Tidigare forskning har visat på att lycka har många delar så som kärlek, välbefinnande, tillfredställelse, god hälsa och att lycka skulle kunna vara något större så som meningen med livet. Materialet analyserades med stöd av ICF-CY och resultatet visade att barn upplevde lycka när de kände sig delaktiga i ett sammanhang. Omgivningsfaktorer, så som att barnen fick något av materiell karaktär samt familjekontexten har också betydelse om barn känner sig lyckliga. Barn ville känna sig delaktiga, ha en stabil omgivning och kärleksfulla nära relationer. Denna studie bidrar till att belysa barns egen uppfattning av just begreppet lycka samt ger kunskap som bidrar till att kunna upprätthålla barns chans att få känna lycka. Vidare forskning skulle vara att undersöka om olika personlighets typer  har olika uppfattning om lycka.

Differential psychologists rightly identified evolutionary theory as a unifying framework for explaining the origins and persistence of individual differences in a wide array of human psychological characteristics. Psychological diversity occurs on multiple levels, including between species, populations, generations, and individuals. Each level reveals the outcome of evolutionary processes at different temporal scales. I embrace a range of methods and results from quantitative and population genetics, developmental evolution, and phylogenetically grounded comparative psychology to explore how personality evolves in humans and nonhuman primates. At the level of species, I compared personality structure derived from rater assessments for four species of macaques and found a consistent, core set of personality dimensions (Dominance, Confidence, and Friendliness) describing these species. At the population level, I studied the relationship in humans between fertility/longevity trade-offs and the average personality of a country and found that Neuroticism and Agreeableness exhibit adaptively plasticity to life-history conditions. At the level of families, I estimated the quantitative genetic structure of personality in orang-utans and found that, like humans, a large portion of the phenotypic variance was explained by non-additive genetic effects. I examined between generation changes in personality by testing whether personality traits in humans are genetically correlated with fitness and found that in modern environments personality evolves very slowly. Finally, I translated current conceptual models of biological reactivity and stress response into mathematical models of developmental evolution and determined that evolution would select highly resilient phenotypes but that variation could be maintained by skew in the distribution of underlying genetic factors. From these results I broadly conclude that primate personality structure is generally conserved among species, mean personality levels change only very slowly between human generations, and that this evolution results in a genetic basis of personality that is characterized by epistasis. The evolution of individual differences has much to gain from the rigorous application of evolutionary methodology.

This dissertation argues that: (1) deliberation (bouleusis) is distinguished from theoretical thought, in so far as the former is strictly about the particulars of a given situation, while the latter is about universal concepts; and that (2) deliberation is practical only in so far as it prescribes the best option for action, that is, it prescribes practical truth, but there is no element within the deliberative soul that can initiate an action directly. With these two points in mind, I will show in Chapter One that what lets us consistently cognize the moral ‘end’, the moral first principle, is a character or emotional disposition we acquire as a result of habituation (ethismos). Having explained how the conception of ends can be determined, I provide an argument for the first thesis mentioned above, and claim in Chapter Two that deliberation is not of the ends (ta telê), but is only of the means (ta pros to telos). My argument for the second thesis will lead me to claim in Chapter Three that prohairesis, the conclusion of deliberation, is not an action. I end my argument with an investigation showing that the interpretation of Aristotelian deliberation supported in this thesis secures its justification not only in those discussions that are directly related to the nature of deliberation, but also in the context of other important discussions in Aristotle’s ethics, namely, about the possibility of acrasia (in Chapter Four) and the definition of eudaimonia (in Chapter Five). My argument will provide a better treatment and solution, than existing attempts, of the puzzles surrounding the concepts of acrasia and eudaimonia in Aristotle’s ethics.

In this thesis I compare the works of Confucius and Mencius with those of Saint Augustine. My purpose in so doing is to show Confucian Augustinianism as a new theological perspective on Confucian- Christian ethics and Augustinianism by discovering analogies and differences in their respective understandings of the formation of moral self, particularly the acquisition of virtue, and how they believe this leads to happiness. Using the method of inter-textual reasoning, and assuming continuity between Augustine’s early and later works, I compare Confucius and Mencius’s xue (學), si (思) and li (禮) including yue (樂) with Augustine’s moral learning, contemplation, sacrament, and music respectively from chapter two to four. For Augustine the formation of the moral self is the process of finding truth in God. For Confucius and Mencius it is the process of becoming a person of virtue, which follows from growth in self-understanding in relation to the Way (道). For Confucians humans already have potential self-in-heart bestowed by Heaven whereas for Augustine the self is the metaphor of the soul in the struggle of both body and soul to be directed toward the love of God in which true happiness exists. In the concluding chapter, I propose a Confucian Augustinian synthesis as a new theological perspective on Confucian-Christian ethics and Augustinianism which offers a useful medium for the formation of the moral self by mutually making up for their respective weaknesses as revealed by this critical intertextual and cross-cultural reading. I argue that Augustinians can learn the value of public ritual practices and the public political self from classical Confucians whereas Confucians can learn from Augustine the value of spiritual experience in the moral formation of the pubic self. Confucian Augustinianism is teleological, constructive, political, public, sacramental and sin-virtue oriented theology. Confucian Augustinianism which is based on virtue ethics as common ground between Confucians and Augustine not only shows methodologies for engaging in public issues with civil society for its articulation of theology in the public sphere, but also provides profound spirituality with the engagement of Augustinian biblical and systematic theology unlike liberation theologies. In contrast to modern Augustinianism such as Augustinian realism (hope), Augustinian proceduralism (justice), Augustinian civic liberalism (love), and Radical Orthodoxy (love), Confucian Augustinianism highlights the virtue of humility and sincerity (誠) for the practice of love of God and neighbour by offering specific methods for cultivating self. Contrary to Confucian theology according to understanding of Heaven in the Confucian tradition, Confucian Augustinianism focuses on how to embody the Way of Heaven by cultivating virtue (德) rather than the theology of Heaven (天) or lists of virtues. By linking the self to family, community, nation, and transcendent God Confucian Augustinianism shows distinguishing ways for sanctification. Confucian Augustinianism is to seek true happiness by cultivating virtue and promoting inward, outward, and upward self through moral learning, contemplation, sacramental ritual, and music on the basis of biblical truth in a pluralistic global context. It can rectify the limit of Protestant individualism. Confucian Augustinianism is an own angle of Asian Christians on Augustinianism in the rapid growth of Christians in Asia contrary to previous Western Augustinianism. Confucian Augustinianism could make Asian Christians happy in truth.

In this thesis, I offer a complex exploration of positive motivation and life evaluation in two adjacent villages in the Buganda kingdom of Central Uganda. Focusing primarily on the lives of five individuals, I examine the tensions and inconsistencies that arise in the day-to-day pursuit of a good life in these villages and argue that, while individual lives may differ, people everywhere face similar concerns in their desire to live well. Through these individuals, but drawing also on wider ethnographic insights, I explore five core themes, with a trajectory broadly moving from more material to more transcendental concerns. These are: making a living, aspiration, gratification deferral, the source of good things, and the importance of connectedness. Running through the thesis is the assertion that wellbeing is a relational and moral project as people’s efforts to live well are inextricably intertwined. A key underlying question is ‘How can we live well in a socially acceptable way?’ This research contributes to the fledgling field of the anthropology of happiness and wellbeing as well as regional scholarship on, for example, development, livelihoods, aspirations, and ‘modernity’. In addition, it speaks to interdisciplinary wellbeing research and I argue that the nuance and contextualisation offered by anthropological and ethnographic study can both augment and challenge the primarily quantitative research from other disciplines. Furthermore, I make a particular claim for the value of biographical approaches to the study of wellbeing.

This thesis explores how consumption impacts on people’s wellbeing in seven Peruvian communities. It draws on social science literature on consumption and incorporates the key factors highlighted by the research on wellbeing determinants. Generally, it is accepted that consumption increases wellbeing by lifting people out of poverty and that it has a negative impact if it fails to place them at a higher social position. Other aspects defining consumption such as the symbolic meaning of goods, its pleasurable dimension, the role of goods and services as basic needs satisfiers, etc. have not been systematically approached from the perspective of their effect on wellbeing. The thesis takes on this challenge by incorporating the most salient features of consumption studied by social scientists through the concepts of motives and satisfiers. It draws on psychologists’ claim that motives are important in understanding the linkages between wellbeing and people’s behaviour. It also integrates the work of human needs theorists stressing the importance of analysing the effectiveness of goods and services as basic needs satisfiers. The research follows a multi-methods approach that takes into account the local specificities of consumption, whilst aiming for a global understanding of the key factors mediating its relationship with human wellbeing; accounting for its objective and subjective dimensions. It uses regression analysis to study how consumption affects happiness through total expenditure and motives, and qualitative methods to explore the efficiency of satisfiers in meeting basic needs. The research finds, as expected, that in the Peruvian communities consumption enhances happiness when it improves basic needs levels and places people at a higher social position. People consuming because of hedonic reasons are also happier, but those consuming for social acceptance and higher status are not. Moreover, being motivated by basic needs is negatively associated with happiness. One of the reasons might be the type of satisfiers used. The exploratory study of needs satisfiers in a Peruvian slum points at their potential inefficiency, which might be contributing to people’s frustration through consumption.

<p>How are you today? The question was asked on a website by the artist Erik Krikortz, and the answers were displayed as a light show on a building complex in central Stockholm. In this thesis more than 20000 people have rated their subjective well-being on their own chosen occasions, on a seven graded scale of smileys in different colours. Results from November 2007 were analysed. The most frequently chosen colour was yellow, symbolising slightly better moods than average. Comparing means between days of the week showed that people feel the best on Sundays and are least happy on Tuesdays. Posthoc tests indicated significant dips in well-being on two days of the month. After answering the main question participants could also choose to rate their subjective experience of how well their sleep, family and friends, physical activity, stress levels and inspiration had been that day. The variables with the highest correlation with well-being were found to be “inspiration” and “family and friends”. Lowest were correlations for “sleep” and “physical activity”. The last variable was blank, for people to fill out for themselves and rate. The most frequently used word here was by far “love”, followed by “work” and “weather”. Summing up the results it seems social activities means most for the subjective well-being.</p>

<p>Respect for autonomy is the foundation of modern bioethics, even (or especially) where bioethics is attentive to the problem of suffering caused by the practice of medicine itself. It provides guidance in the midst of therapeutic and moral uncertainty, justification for morally problematic enterprises, and the promise of protection against self-serving or predatory medical personnel. Yet bioethical arguments that appeal to the injustice or the horror of suffering depend on an instinctual and uncomplicated association of suffering, especially imposed suffering, with evil. This uncomplicated association, this flattening of the complexities of the moral landscape, must lead to a diminished capacity to navigate the very difficulties that define the field of bioethics. This dissertation explores the relationship, particularly, of autonomy, suffering, and happiness in modern bioethics, as represented by three key theorists (James Childress, Tom Beauchamp, and H. Tristram Engelhardt). It then contrasts these findings with resources from the Christian tradition: Luke-Acts, the letters of Paul, and the theologians Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Genoa, and Margaret Ebner. Their accounts of the meaning and experience of suffering within well-lived lives makes for a more robust account of the moral life, one in which suffering plays a formative part.</p> / Dissertation

Inom lyckoforskningen finns kvantitativa studier däribland Veenhoven (2008) som via sin studie belyser hur lycka påverkar hälsa. Denna studies syfte är att genom en kvalitativ analys identifiera essensen i detta mångtydiga begrepp och belysa dess komplexitet. Ett antagande finns om att kvinnor tenderar att behöva mer uppskattning än män. Deltagarna var 79 kvinnor och 40 män. De beskrev en händelse då de upplevt lycka. Meningskoncentrering, tolkning och strukturering av materialet utifrån en narrativ fenomenologisk ansats resulterade i fem aspekter som visade sig vara centrala i människors upplevelser av lycka: (1) nära relationer, (2) socialt nätverk, (3) prestation, (4) uppskattning och (5) optimism. Fler män än kvinnor nämnde prestation medan fler kvinnor än män nämnde uppskattning. Samtidigt som vissa komponenter är allmänmänskliga, behövs olika komponenter för att män och kvinnor ska uppleva lycka. Denna insikt kan användas för att förhoppningsvis främja hälsa och motverka olycka.

American society has lost sight of one of its most valued virtues: Happiness. Research has showed that the United States is behind many other countries in the overall happiness of its citizens. Leading the world in well-being is Denmark. This paper’s aim is to explore possible factors that could be facilitating the well-being of Danish citizens, and applying them to American society. In this search, I explore universal individual factors, as well as factors that lead to the development of a culture and dispositions of its citizens. From these factors, as well as unique characteristics of both countries, I hypothesized determinates of well-being in Demark, as well as factors that are detrimental to American’s well-being. Factors for Demark include uniform cultural ideals, social equality, social programs, and unique perspectives on happiness. Conversely, the lack or low levels of these factors for Americans might attest to lower well-being. By emulating these Danish policies and ideals, the U.S. could produce happier, less stressed Americans.