A critical analysis of happiness and well-being. Where we stand now, where we need to go


Abstract


This paper aims to critically analyse happiness and well-being to find novel ways for theorizing and promoting better life conditions for individuals and societies. The necessity to shift from a subjective view of individual well-being to a more social and contextual version of these constructs is the common thread running throughout the whole work. To this end, the first part introduces the reader into the complexity of the happiness and well-being scholarship by outlining some of the most relevant approaches developed by the psychological and economic literature. After highlighting the limitations of both disciplines, the second part of the paper presents some alternative models, namely the Feminist Economics, the Capabilities Approach, and the model of Four Qualities of Life. In addition to these, we will draw attention, in the last section, to the Critical Community Psychology approach to happiness and well-being. Our main argument is that this emerging discipline bears the potential to frame the pursuit of the good life in a whole new fashion that takes into account a) contextual features, in particular the recourses that a given environment offers and the opportunity to access them, b) the role of power, justice, and liberation, and c) the value of participation, reciprocity, and ethics of care. Current limitations of CCP are also discussed and future directions outlined.

 


DOI Code: 10.1285/i24212113v2i1p6

Keywords: social happiness, social well-being, economics of happiness, critical community psychology, capabilities approach, social justice

References


Allport, G. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.

Andreoni, V., & Galmarini, S. (2014). How to increase well-being in a context of degrowth. Futures, 55, 78–89. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2013.10.021

Arcidiacono C., (2013) Benessere e felicità: uscire dalla crisi globale. Percorsi interdisciplinari del Laboratorio Federiciano [Well-being and happiness: Escaping from the global crisis. Interdisciplinary accounts from the University of Naples Federico II]. Napoli, Italy: Diogene Edizioni.

Arcidiacono, C., & Di Martino, S. (2012). Psicologia della liberazione e psicologia critica di comunità come conquista di felicità, libertà ed equità [Liberation and critical community psychology in the pursuit of happiness, social fairness, and freedom]. Psicologia di Comunità, 8(1), 67–80.

Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.

Aristotle (1980). The Nicomachean ethics (D. Ross, Trans.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bartolini, S., & Bilancini, E. (2010). If not only GDP, what else? Using relational goods to predict the trends of subjective well-being. International Review of Economics, 57(2), 199–213.

Bauman, Z. (2008). Happiness in a society of individuals. Soundings, 38, (19-29). Retrieved from https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-178620739/happiness-in-a-society-of-individuals-zygmunt-bauman

Becchetti, L., Pelloni, A., & Rossetti, F. (2008). Relational goods, sociability, and happiness. Kyklos International Review of Social Sciences, 61(3), 343–363.

Becker, D., & Marecek, J. (2008). Dreaming the American dream: Individualism and positive psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1767–1780.

Bentham, J. (1781). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation (J.H. Burns & H.L.A. Hart Version). The collected works of Jeremy Bentham. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bok, D. (2010). The politics of happiness: What government can learn from the new research on well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bruni, L. (2006). Civil happiness. Economics and human flourishing in historical perspective. New York, NY: Routledge.

Bruni, L. (2008). Reciprocity, altruism and the civil society. In praise of heterogeneity. New York, NY: Routledge.

Bruni, L. (2010). The happiness of sociality. Economics and eudaimonia: A necessary encounter. Rationality and Society, 22(4), 383–406.

Burton, M. (2015). Economy and planet: A blind spot for community psychology? Universitas Psychologica, 14(4), 15–21.

Burton, M., & Kagan, C. (2005). Liberation social psychology: Learning from Latin America. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 15(1), 63–78.

Burton, M., & Kagan, C. (2015). Theory and practice for a critical community psychology in the UK. Psicología, Conocimiento Y Sociedad, 5(2), 182–205.

Burton, M., Boyle, S., Harris, C., & Kagan, C. (2007). Community psychology in Britain. In S. M. Reich, M. Riemer, I. Prilleltensky, & M. Montero (Eds.), International community psychology: History and theories (pp. 219–237). New York, NY: Springer.

Burton, M., Kagan, C., & Duckett, P. (2012). Making the psychological political – Challenges for community psychology. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 3(4), 1–11.

Campbell, C., & Murray, M. (2004). Community health psychology: Promoting analysis and action for social change. Journal of Health Psychology, 9(2), 187–195.

Christens, B., & Perkins, D. D. (2008). Transdisciplinary, multilevel action research to enhance ecological and psychopolitical validity. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(2), 214–231.

Clark, A.E., & Oswald, A.J. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. The Economic Journal, 104(424), 648–659.

Culley, M.R., & Hughey, J. (2008). Power and public participation in a hazardous waste dispute: A community case study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41(1-2), 99–114.

Darity, W., & Goldsmith, A.H. (1996). Social psychology, unemployment and macroeconomics. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10(1), 121–140.

Davidson, W.B., & Cotter, P.R. (1991). The relationship between sense of community and subjective well-being: A first look. Journal of Community Psychology, 19(3), 246–253.

Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2008). Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 1–11.

Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2002). Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester, NY: The University of Rochester Press.

Di Martino, S. (2013). Economia, psicologia e femminismo a confronto. Contributi per una innovativa visione di benessere e felicità [Economics, psychology, and feminism compared. Contributions for a novel vision of happiness and well-being]. In C. Arcidiacono (Ed.), Benessere e felicità: uscire dalla crisi globale. Percorsi interdisciplinari del Laboratorio Federiciano (pp. 155–175). Naples, Italy: Diogene Edizioni.

Di Martino, S., Arcidiacono, C., & Eiroa-Orosa, F.J. (2017). Happiness and well-being revisited: Including the role of context, justice and ethics in our understanding of the good life. In N.J. L. Brown, T. Lomas, & F.J. Eiroa-Orosa (Eds.), Handbook of critical positive psychology—A synthesis for social change. London, UK: Routledge. Manuscript in preparation.

Diener, E. (2009). The science of well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener. New York, NY: Springer.

Diener, E.D., Scollon, C.N., & Lucas, R.E. (2009). The evolving concept of subjective well-being: The multifaceted nature of happiness. In E. Diener (Ed.), Assessing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (Vol. 39, pp. 67–100). London, UK: Springer.

Diener, E., Suh, E.M., Lucas, R.E., & Smith, H.L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302.

Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(1), 94–122.

Duncan, G. (2010). Should happiness-maximization be the goal of Government? Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(2), 163–178.

Easterlin, R.A. (2004). The economics of happiness. Daedalus, 133(2), 26–33.

England, P. (2003). Separative and soluble selves: Dichotomous thinking in economics. In A.M. Ferber & J.A. Nelson (Eds.), Feminist economics today. Beyond economic man (pp. 33–59). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Eriksson, L., Rice, J.M., & Goodin, R.E. (2007). Temporal aspects of life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 80(3), 511–533.

Ferber, M.A., & Nelson, J.A. (2003). Feminist economics today: Beyond economic man. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Fisher, A.T., & Sonn, C.C. (2008). Psychopolitical validity: Power, culture, and wellness. Journal of Community Psychology, 36(2), 261–268.

Fondacaro, M.R., & Weinberg, D. (2002). Concepts of social justice in community psychology: Toward a social ecological epistemology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(4), 473–492.

Frey, B.S., & Stutzer, A. (2002). What can economists learn from happiness research? Journal of Economic Literature, 40(2), 402–435.

Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2009). Should national happiness be maximized? In A. Dutt & B. Radcliff (Eds.), Happiness, economics and politics: Towards a multi-disciplinary approach (pp. 301–323). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Frey, B.S., & Stutzer, A. (2010). Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect human well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Gable, S.L., & Haidt, J. (2005). What (and why) is positive psychology?. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 103–110.

García-Ramírez, M., Balcázar, F., & De Freitas, C. (2014). Community psychology contributions to the study of social inequalities, well-being and social justice. Psychosocial Intervention, 23(2), 79–81.

Gore, C. (1997). Policy arena irreducibly social goods and the informational basis of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach. Journal of International Development, 9(2), 235–251.

Graham, C. (2005a). Insights on development from the economics of happiness. World Bank Research Observer, 20(2), 201–231.

Graham, C. (2005b). The economics of happiness: Insights on globalization from a novel approach. World Economics, 6(3), 41–55.

Haybron, D.M. (2008). The pursuit of unhappiness: The elusive psychology of well-being. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Held, V. (2006). The ethics of care: Personal, political, and global. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Jahoda, M. (1958). Current concepts of positive mental health. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Kagan, C., & Burton, M. (2000). Prefigurative action research: An alternative basis for critical psychology. Review of Critical Psychology, 2, 73–87. Retrieved from

http://homepages.poptel.org.uk/mark.burton/bolpap.pdf

Kagan, C., & Burton, M. (2001). Critical community psychology praxis for the 21st century. British Psychological Society Conference, Glasgow (pp. 1–30). Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1112.0678

Kagan, C., & Kilroy, A. (2007). Psychology in the community. In J. Haworth & G. Hart (Eds.), Well-being: Individual, community and social perspectives (pp. 97–113). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kahneman, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics. The American Economic Review, 93(5), 1449–1475.

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kasser, T. (2002). The high price of materialism. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Katz, R. (1984). Empowerment and synergy: Expanding the community’s healing resources. Prevention in Human Services, 3(2-3), 201–226.

Katz, R., & Seth, N. (1987). Synergy and healing: A perspective on Western health care. Prevention in Human Services, 5(1), 109–136.

Kelly, J. G. (1966). Ecological constraints on mental health services. American Psychologist, 21(6), 533–539.

Kenny, C. (1999). Does growth cause happiness, or does happiness cause growth? Kyklos, 52(1), 3–25.

Keyes, C. L. M. (1998). Social well-being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(2), 121–140.

Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007–1022.

Kloos, B., Hill, J., Thomas, E., Wandersman, A., Elias, M. J., & Dalton, J. H. (2012). Community psychology: Linking individuals and communities (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Lane, R. (2000). The loss of happiness in market democracies. London, UK: Yale University Press.

Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. London, UK: Allen Lane.

Lucas, T., Zhdanova, L., & Alexander, S. (2012). Procedural and distributive justice beliefs for self and others. Journal of Individual Differences, 32(1), 14–25.

MacKerron, G. (2012). Happiness economics from 35,000 feet. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(4), 705–735.

Maiter, S., Simich, L., Jacobson, N., & Wise, J. (2008). Reciprocity: An ethic for community-based participatory action research. Action Research, 6(3), 305–325.

Marmot, G. (2004). The status syndrome: How social standing affects our health and longevity. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Martín-Baró, I. (1994). Writings for a liberation psychology. (A. Aron & S. Corne, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York, NY: Harper.

Mathews, G., & Izquierdo, C. (2009). Pursuits of happiness: Well-being in anthropological perspective. New York, NY: Berghahn Books.

McGillivray, M., & Clarke, M. (2006). Understanding human well-being. Tokyo, Japan: United Nations University Press.

Moane, G. (2003). Bridging the personal and the political: Practices for a liberation psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1-2), 91–101.

Montero, M., & Sonn, C.C. (2009). Psychology of liberation. Theory and applications. New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media.

Natale, A., Di Martino, S., Procentese, F., & Arcidiacono, C. (2016). De-growth and critical community psychology: Contributions towards individual and social well-being. Futures, in press.

Nelson, G., & Prilleltensky, I. (2010). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and well-being. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Noddings, N. (1984). Caring, a feminine approach to ethics and moral education. London, UK: University of California Press.

Noddings, N. (2003). Happiness and education. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Noddings, N. (2005). Educating citizens for global awareness. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Nussbaum, M. (2003). Capabilities as fundamental entitlements: Sen and social justice. Feminist Economics, 9(2-3), 33–59.

Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating capabilities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Nussbaum, M., & Sen, A. (1993). The quality of life. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

Orford, J. (2008). Community psychology: Challenges, controversies and emerging consensus. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6(1), 25–41.

Powdthavee, N. (2007). Economics of happiness: A review of literature and applications. Chulalongkorn Journal of Economics, 44(1), 55–59.

Power, M. (2004). Social provisioning as a starting point for feminist economics. Feminist Economics, 10(3), 3–19.

Powers, M., & Faden, F. (2006). Social justice: The moral foundations of public health and health policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Prilleltensky, I. (2001). Value-based praxis in community psychology: Moving toward social justice and social action. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29(5), 747–778.

Prilleltensky, I. (2005). Promoting well-being: Time for a paradigm shift in health and human services. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 33(66), 53–60.

Prilleltensky, I. (2012). Wellness as fairness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 49(1), 1–21.

Prilleltensky I., & Arcidiacono C., (2010). Modello ecologico e migranti: benessere, giustizia e potere nella vita degli immigrati [Ecological model and migration: Well-being, justice and power in migrant experience]. In C. Arcidiacono & F. Procentese (Eds), Modello ecologico e migrazioni. Psicologia di Comunità, 1, 11. doi:22. 10.3280/PSC2010-001002

Prilleltensky, I., & Prilleltensky, O. (2007). Webs of well-being: The interdependence of personal, relational organizational, and communal well-being. In J. Haworth & G. Hart (Eds.), Well-being, individual, community and social perspectives (pp. 61–78). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Prilleltensky, I., Dietz, S., Prilleltensky, O., Myers, N.D., Rubenstein, C.L., Jing, Y., & McMahon, A. (2016). Assessing multidimensional well-being: Development and validation of the I Coppe Scale. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(2), 199–226.

Procentese, F., Scotto di Luzio, S., & Natale, A. (2011). Convivenza responsabile: quali i significati attribuiti nelle comunità di appartenenza [Responsible togetherness: Possible meanings for the belonging community]. Psicologia di Comunità, 2, 19–29. doi:10.3280/PSC2011-002003

Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Putnam, R. D., Feldstein, L. M., & Cohen, D. (2003). Better together: Restoring the American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Rappaport, J. (1977). Community psychology: Values, research, and action. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Rappaport, J. (1984). Seeking justice in the real world: A further explication of value contexts. Journal of Community Psychology, 12(3), 208–216.

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.

Ryff, C.D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.

Ryff, C.D. (2014). Psychological well-being revisited: Advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(1), 10–28.

Ryff, C.D., & Singer, B.H. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 13–39.

Sacco, P.L., Vanin, P., & Zamagni, S. (2006). The economics of human relationships. In S.-C. Kolm & J. M. Ythier (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of giving, altruism and reciprocity. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.

Schneider, G., & Shackelford, J. (1998). Ten principles of feminist economics: A modestly proposed antidote. Dept. of Economics, Bucknell University. Retrieved from http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/gschnedr/femprcpls.htm#_ftnref1

Schneider, G., & Shackelford, J. (2014). Economics standards and lists: Proposed antidotes for feminist economists. Feminist Economics, 7(2), 77–89.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2002a). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: Free Press.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2002b). Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. In C.R. Snyder & S.J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3–9). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Seligman, M.E.P. (2011). Flourish. Sydney, Australia: Random House Australia.

Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.

Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom. New York, NY: Random House.

Sen, A. (2009). The idea of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Smith, A. (1759). The theory of moral sentiments (revised ed., 1790) republished, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976.

Sonn, C.C., & Fisher, A.T. (2001). Oppression: Moving beyond the dominant-nondominant dichotomy. The Community Psychologist, 34(1), 34–36.

Sonn, C.C., & Fisher, A.T. (2003). Identity and oppression: Differential responses to an in-between status. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1-2), 117–128.

Stiglitz, J.E., Sen, A., & Fitoussi, J.-P. (2009). Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Retrieved from http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/en/index.htm

Thin, N. (2012). Social happiness: Theory into policy and practice. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

Tov, W., & Diener, E. (2009). The well-being of nations: Linking together trust, cooperation, and democracy. In E. Diener (Ed.), The science of well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (Vol. 37, pp. 155–173). New York, NY: Springer.

Trainer, T. (2012). De-growth: Do you realise what it means? Futures, 44(6), 590–599.

Tronto, J.C. (1993). Moral boundaries, a political argument for an ethic of care. New York, NY: Routledge.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124–1131.

Tyler, T.R., Boeckmann, R.J., Smith, H.J., & Huo, Y.J. (1997). Social justice in a diverse society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Uchelen, C. Van. (1999). Individualism, collectivism, and community psychology. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology (pp. 65–78). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media.

UNDP. (2010). Human Development Report 2010. The real wealth of nations: Pathways to human development. Human Development (Vol. 21). Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete_reprint.pdf

Veenhoven, R. (2000). Freedom and happiness. A comparative study in 46 nations in the early 1990’s. In E. Diener & E.M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective wellbeing (pp. 257–288). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Veenhoven, R. (2009). World database of happiness tool for dealing with the ’data-deluge'. Psychological Topics, 18(2), 221–246.

Veenhoven, R. (2010). Capability and happiness: Conceptual difference and reality links. Journal of Socio-Economics, 39(3), 344–350.

Veenhoven, R. (2013). The Four Qualities of Life ordering concepts and measures of the good life. In A. Delle Fave (Ed.), The exploration of happiness: Present and future perspectives (pp. 195–226). New York, NY: Springer.

Waring, M. (1988). If women counted: A new feminist economics. San Francisco, CA: Harper&Row Publishers.

Zamagni, S. (2004). Towards an economics of human relations: On the role of psychology in economics. Group Analysis, 37(1), 17–32.

Zevnik, L. (2014). Critical perspectives in happiness research: The birth of modern happiness. New York, NY: Springer.


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.