Partindo de acontecimentos recentes que evidenciam o aparecimento do tema da felicidade em pronunciamentos governamentais, em eventos de organizações internacionais, na assinatura de declarações, entre outros, esta pesquisa procura rastrear atuações que teriam contribuído para essa ascensão política da temática referida. Realizando uma reconstituição histórica relativa à produção de pesquisas sobre bem-estar subjetivo, constatou-se o papel decisivo exercido pela Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE) no sentido de promover maneiras de conceber e mensurar o progresso que vão além da consideração do PIB (Produto Interno Bruto). Examinando os Fóruns Mundiais realizados pela OCDE nos últimos anos, foi possível identificar ocasiões decisivas para de incentivo à utilização de dados de pesquisas sobre bem-estar subjetivo por parte dos governos. A partir da perspectiva oferecida pela literatura sobre comunidades epistêmicas, a presente dissertação traz elementos para a compreensão da valorização do discurso científico no cenário político contemporâneo. / Considering the recent emergence of the theme of happiness, highlighted in governmental discourse, in congresses organized by international organizations, or in recently signed statements, among similar events, this research tries to track the actions that may have contributed to the political rise of the subject mentioned. Undertaking a historical reconstitution of the production of research on subjective well-being, we found that the decisive role was played by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), who tried to promote alternative ways of conceiving and measuring progress beyond the sole consideration of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). By analyzing the Global Forums organized by the OECD in recent years, it was possible to identify crucial occasions on which the use of research data on subjective well-being by governments was enhanced. From the perspective offered by the literature about epistemic communities, this thesis brings elements which help understanding the value of scientific discourse in the contemporary political scenario.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é contribuir com a literatura de bem-estar subjetivo ao sugerir a aplicação da metodologia de pseudopainel para as \"happiness equations\", nome pelo qual ficaram conhecidas as equações de bem-estar com variável dependente \"satisfação com a vida\" ou \"felicidade\". Utilizando a base de dados WVS - pesquisa internacional realizada com periodicidade irregular de 1981 a 2008 em mais de 50 países - e seguindo a metodologia sugerida por Deaton (1985), foram rastreadas \"células\" de indivíduos ao longo dos últimos 20 anos para estimação dos determinantes do bem-estar. As células foram formadas pela interação entre geração, gênero e país de nascimento. A grande vantagem do modelo de pseudopainel é que permite controlar para efeitos fixos não-observáveis de células, que são prováveis fontes de viés. Os resultados apontam que os principais determinantes do bem-estar subjetivo individual e intergeracional são: saúde, porque o bem-estar subjetivo tem associação inegável ao bem-estar físico; renda individual ou agregada, porque os bens materiais trazem utilidade, mesmo considerando o efeito adaptação e as crescentes aspirações; emprego, porque além dos ganhos monetários o trabalho também conduz a um maior status social e autoestima; religião, porque a reflexão, a introspecção e a crença em um ser superior confortam em momentos de dificuldade, ajudam a aceitar as adversidades e dão esperança e sentido à vida; senso de liberdade, porque, na maioria das situações, as pessoas preferem ter a sensação de controle sobre suas escolhas e extraem utilidade do processo de decisão. Por fim, tendo em vista a discussão recente na literatura sobre a perda de bem-estar na transição dos países ex-socialistas para o capitalismo, o modelo de pseudopainel foi adaptado para estimar o impacto dessa mudança em diferentes gerações. Os resultados apontam que as gerações mais antigas foram aquelas que mais sofreram perda de bem-estar. O comportamento da satisfação com a vida após os anos 90 nesses países, mesmo considerando diversos outros fatores sócio-econômicos, assumiu um \"formato de V\": repentino declínio com gradual recuperação, que se estende até os dias de hoje. / The main concern of this work is to contribute to the recent discussion of subjective well-being (SWB) by suggesting a pseudopanel approach for the Happiness Equations. Using the WVS database and following the methodology suggested by Deaton (1985), cohorts of individuals were screened over the past 20 years to estimate the determinants of SWB. Cohorts were aggregated as an interaction of generation, gender and country of birth. It is important to point out that the pseudopanel estimation has several advantages, because it makes possible to control for unobservable cohort\'s fixed effects - which are likely sources of bias. Results indicate that the main determinants of SWB are: health, because subjective well-being has undeniable association to physical well-being; individual or aggregated income, because material goods bring utility, even considering the adaption effect and growing aspirations; employment, because beyond monetary gains, work also ensures self-steem and a higher social status; religion, because reflection, introspection and the belief in a Higher Self bring comfort in hard times, help to overcome adversities and bring hope and meaning to life; sense of freedom, because, in most situations, people prefer to have a sense of control over their choices and also extract utility of the decision process. Finally, considering the recent discussion in the literature about the loss of welfare of former socialist nations in transition to capitalism, the pseudopanel model was adapted to estimate the effect of this change in different generations. Results indicate that older generations were the one who suffered the most significant loss in terms of SWB. The behavior of life satisfaction in these countries assumed a V-shaped format: sudden decline with gradual recovey, which extends up until 2008.

Is personality important for understanding the variation we see in animal welfare? In this thesis, I address that question by studying the association between personality and health, welfare, and happiness in three species of nonhuman primate: rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), brown capuchins (Sapajus apella), and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). As part of this research I test a newly designed animal welfare questionnaire. In Chapter 1 I review how animal welfare questionnaires can be designed and implemented as an addition tool for assessing animal welfare. In Chapter 2 I present a study of rhesus macaque personality, dominance, behaviour, and health. In Chapter 3 I test the reliability and validity of my animal welfare questionnaire. In Chapter 4 I extended my work on welfare questionnaires to test if they are valid for assessment of chimpanzee welfare and associated with personality. I specifically test if welfare ratings are based on observed behaviour. I conclude my quantitative work in Chapter 5 with a study testing the association between personality and health, welfare, and subjective well-being in rhesus macaques. Finally, Chapter 6 includes my conclusions and future directions for this line of research. Across all four quantitative studies some common trends were found. First, personality is associated with overall welfare and health. Second, welfare questionnaires are reliable and valid way to assess welfare in the studied species. And third, welfare and subjective well-being are measuring the same construct in these species. Overall, I conclude that personality is clearly useful for understanding animal welfare and that questionnaires are a reliable, valid, and valuable method of animal welfare assessment, in additional to traditional methods.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SandraSSC.pdf: 1736952 bytes, checksum: 49f7b872fa565ae73f0642a966a17a01 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-04-23 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Are there values that predict health? Moreover, would the absence of health motivate deterioration in the subjective well-being? This research has attempted to find answers to these questions by verifying in which proportion human values explain the subjective well-being experienced by people in different contexts of value reference. Both musicians and lawyers have been studied. In a preliminary study, composed of two researches, it was attempted to overcome the lack of bibliography in order to make known the current context of these professions in Jo?o Pessoa, Para?ba, through newspaper articles from the Correio da Para?ba and interviews with privileged informers. The technique of content analysis was then used identifying the main dilemmas of the professions as well as their socio-occupational contexts. In the second and main study, the aim was to verify the existing relations among the variables of subjective well-being and the human values for these professionals adopting the socioeconomical panorama of the occupations to support the analysis. 387 professionals took part in this study: 148 musicians (31.8% instrumentalists) and 239 lawyers (36.8% civil), with ages varying from 18 up to 77 years old (M=35.9; SD=12.35), and from 22 up to 79 years (M =38.6; SD=12.31), respectively, answered the Basic Human Values (BHV); Positive and Negative Affect Scale; Vitality Scale; General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12; Satisfaction with Life Scale and the socio-demographic questions. The SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used and it could be observed that, for the musicians, the importance of the type of existence/bio-social value stands out just as an indicator of vitality. The type of value Accomplishment/Power, showed itself important for the positive affection and for vitality, while the types Accomplishment/Self-direction and Normative haven t had any influence in the subjective well-being. Only the relation between the Existence/Bio- Social type and vitality was mediated by the sex and marital status variables. As for the lawyers, the type of predictor value of the subjective well-being was the normative [F(1,219) = 11,8, p ≤ 0,001; Rmultiple = 0,23, R2adjusted = 0,05]. On the other hand, the type Existence/Bio social presented a direct relation with vitality but inverse with depression. It was then concluded that the congruency of personal values with those promoted in the social context of reference may be an indicator of subjective well-being, given the existence of a social value context well demarcated / Existem valores que predizem a sa?de? Mais ainda, ser? que sua aus?ncia ocasionaria deterioro ao bem-estar subjetivo? A presente pesquisa buscou encontrar respostas a estas quest?es verificando em que medida os valores humanos explicam o bem-estar subjetivo experimentado pelas pessoas, nos diferentes contextos de refer?ncia valorativos. Para isso, foram estudadas as profiss?es de m?sico e advogado. Em um estudo preliminar, composto de duas pesquisas, buscou-se preencher lacunas quanto ? car?ncia de bibliografia que torne conhecido o contexto atual dessas profiss?es na cidade de Jo?o Pessoa, por meio de reportagens do Jornal Correio da Para?ba e entrevistas com informantes privilegiados. Foi utilizada a an?lise de conte?do identificando os principais dilemas das profiss?es, bem como seus contextos s?cioocupacionais. No segundo estudo (o estudo principal), o objetivo foi verificar as rela??es entre as vari?veis bem-estar subjetivo e valores humanos para os profissionais, adotando o panorama s?cio-econ?mico das profiss?es como suporte para as an?lises. Neste estudo participaram 387 profissionais, sendo 148 m?sicos (31,8% musicista) e 239 advogados (36,8% c?vel), com idades variando de 18 a 77 anos (M = 35,9; DP = 12,35), e de 22 a 79 anos (M = 38,6; DP = 12,31), respectivamente, que responderam ao Question?rio dos Valores B?sicos; ? Escala de Afetos Positivos e Negativos; ? Escala de Vitalidade; ao Question?rio de Sa?de Geral - QSG-12; ? Escala de Satisfa??o com a Vida e a Informa??es s?cio-demogr?ficas. Utilizou-se o Pacote Estat?stico para as Ci?ncias Sociais (SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) e se observou que, quanto aos m?sicos, destaca-se a import?ncia do tipo de valor Exist?ncia/Bio-social apenas com o indicador vitalidade. O tipo de valor Realiza??o/Poder mostrou-se importante para os afetos positivos e para a vitalidade, enquanto que os tipos de valores Realiza??o/Autodire??o e Normativos n?o tiveram influ?ncia no bem-estar subjetivo. Apenas a rela??o entre o tipo Exist?ncia/Bio social e vitalidade foi mediada pela vari?vel sexo e estado civil. Para os advogados, o tipo de valor preditor do bem-estar subjetivo foi o Normativo [F(1,219) = 11,8, p ≤ 0,001; Rm?ltiplo = 0, 23, R2 ajustado = 0,05]. O tipo de valor Realiza??o/Autodire??o n?o apresentou influ?ncia alguma no bem-estar subjetivo. O tipo Exist?ncia/Bio-social apresentou uma rela??o direta com vitalidade e inversa com depress?o. Para Realiza??o/Poder observou-se uma rela??o direta com afetos positivos e inversa com depress?o. Este estudo concluiu que a congru?ncia dos valores pessoais com aqueles que foram promovidos, no contexto social de refer?ncia, pode ser um indicador de bem-estar subjetivo, desde que se tenha um contexto social valorativo bem demarcado

This paper provides evidence on (1) refugees' subjective well-being, (2) their access and barriers to health care utilization and (3) their perception of health care provision in Austria, one of the countries most heavily affected by the European "refugee crisis". It is based on primary data from the Refugee Health and Integration Survey (ReHIS), a cross-sectional survey of roughly five hundred Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Results indicate that refugees' self-rated health falls below the resident population's, in particular for female and Afghan refugees. Whereas respondents state overall high satisfaction with the Austrian health system, two in ten male and four in ten female refugees report unmet health needs. Most frequently cited barriers include scheduling conflicts, long waiting lists, lack of knowledge about doctors, and language. Although treatment costs were not frequently considered as barriers, consultation of specialist medical services frequently associated with co-payment by patients, in particular dental care, are significantly less often consulted by refugees than by Austrians. Refugees reported comparably high utilization of hospital services, with daycare treatment more common than inpatient stays. We recommend to improve refugees' access to health care in Austria by a) improving the information flow about available treatment, in particular specialists, b) fostering dental health care for refugees, and c) addressing language barriers by providing (web-based) interpretation services.

The relationship between alcohol or drug use and subjective well‑being among master of social work students and practitioners was examined. Subjective well‑being measures included core, life satisfaction, affect, eudaimonia and domain evaluation. Frequency of alcohol, tobacco, cannabinoids and psychotropic drug use was collected. There were modest to moderate negative correlations between alcohol and life satisfaction and eudaimonia. There were moderate negative correlations between psychotropic medication and life satisfaction, eudaimonia and domain. There was a modest negative correlation between tobacco and life satisfaction and a strong negative correlation between tobacco and eudaimonia. There were no significant correlations with cannabinoids in any subjective well‑being measure. Together, these findings suggest that alcohol or drug use has little effect on subjective well‑being.

Teaching is considered one of the most challenging professions, often associated with high levels of occupational stress and job turnover that perpetuates additional negative outcomes including depleted funding for school districts, poor education quality, and reduced student academic performance. Research shows that teachers are an integral part of the classroom with the power to positively influence students’ perceived classroom support and emotional competence (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Positive psychology has facilitated school-based initiatives that foster feelings of subjective well-being (happiness) through the implementation of brief, scripted activities (i.e., Positive Psychology Interventions; PPIs) that reflect the thoughts and behaviors of happy people (Layous & Lyubomirsky, 2014). Studies have demonstrated the positive impact of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) for adults (Bolier et al., 2013) and youth including a multicomponent, multitarget PPI (i.e., Well-Being Promotion Program) that improves students’ well-being (Suldo et al., 2015). McCullough’s (2015) investigation of the efficacy of a strengths-based intervention (Utilizing Signature Strengths in New Ways) on elementary teachers’ well-being revealed promising effects on teacher reduced emotional distress, increased life and work satisfaction, and SWB. This study examined the additive impact of teachers’ participation in the brief strengths-based teacher intervention (SBTI) on elementary students’ social and emotional outcomes, as reflected in levels of SWB, psychopathology, as well as classroom engagement and relationships among teachers and students. Concurrently, these elementary students took part in a Classwide Well-Being Promotion Program, a 10-week intervention targeting a variety of positive psychological constructs (i.e., positive relationships, gratitude, kindness, character strengths, hope) with additional parent and teacher components. A total of 7 classes (4 fifth grade; 3 fourth grade) within one large elementary school received the classwide, multicomponent student intervention in spring 2016, while 3 teachers were randomly assigned to participate in the SBTI concurrently. Follow-up analyses examined group differences on the variables of interest for the combined intervention (WBPP + SBTI) group, relative to classes of students engaged in the classwide-only intervention (WBPP). At immediate post-intervention, results revealed that classes of students participating in the combined intervention group did not demonstrate significantly improved student-reported life satisfaction, positive or negative affect, classmate or teacher support, emotional or behavioral engagement, nor teacher-reported relationship satisfaction, instrumental help, and emotional or behavioral engagement relative to the classwide-only intervention group. Additionally, students in classes within the combined approach reported statistically higher levels of negative affect and reduced levels of perceived teacher support relative to a classwide-only intervention group at immediate post-intervention, although the unexpected impact on negative affect appeared driven by data from students in the class led by a teacher with questionable fidelity of intervention implementation. Results of this study do not provide support that targeting teachers’ well-being through the SBTI may promote superior student outcomes for students concurrently engaged in the WBPP. Nonetheless, high levels of treatment acceptability reported by teachers and students participating in the combined intervention, as well as limitations to the study design, justify further investigation on the impact of targeting both teacher and student well-being in the context of positive psychological practices.

Commons-based peer production is an activity that is emerging as a distinct mode of resource allocation and production of information, knowledge and culture ('social production' for short), potentially heralding a new stage in the development of information/knowledge-based economies. This paper presents a cross-country analysis of factors determining the information and knowledge output of the paradigmatic social production project, i.e. SETI@home. The main hypothesis explored is that the level of average subjective well-being in a country is a motivational proxy variable that can help explain the cross-country variation in SETI@home output levels. The hypothesis that trust might be of lesser importance is also explored. I find support for both hypotheses, but only for developed and advanced countries, not poor countries.

<p>Happiness research is advancing as an academic discipline as well as on the political agenda. An aspect, largely ignored in the field, is what impact an individual’s construction of the good life has on his or her subjective well-being. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how people in different situations in life and with different backgrounds construct the idea of a good life and the importance these constructions may have in explaining subjective well-being. Despite the differences between themselves, the respondents’ constructions of the good life were shown to have a lot in common. Some factors in the good life were shared by the respondents, such as relations to other people, access to food, water and housing, whereas in other aspects, such as money and time, the constructions of the good life differed quite a lot from one another. When evaluating their own lives the respondents used quite different criteria mostly corresponding to their idea of the good life. If this is a general pattern, possible to replicate in other studies, one may in the future be able to draw the conclusion that the construction of the good life has an effect on our subjective well-being.</p>

The present study focuses on the relationship between personality and Life Satisfaction. I analyzed the Big Five traits, six Narrow personality traits, and levels of Life Satisfaction in a sample of 5,932 individuals. A review of existing literature on other variables that contribute to Life Satisfaction was also conducted and used to measure against personality traits. The narrow traits added variance above and beyond the Big Five personality traits. All the Big Five traits and Optimism, Assertiveness, Intrinsic Motivation, and Tough-Mindedness were significantly and positively correlated with Life Satisfaction. Image Management was significantly and negatively correlated with Life Satisfaction. Results were discussed in terms of the relation of personality traits to Life Satisfaction and the amount narrow personality traits related to Life Satisfaction after controlling for the Big Five. Explanations were offered as to how these traits might have value in relation to Life Satisfaction.