scholarly journals Unmet Aspirations and Urban Malaise

Author(s):  
Tomas Hanell

AbstractThis article analyses the gap between human aspirations concerning self-enhancement and corresponding outcomes in ten western European countries. Utilizing individual data for 14,300 respondents from the European Social Survey, four self-enhancement gap metrics are created: (1) the Ambition gap; (2) the Success gap; (3) the Wealth gap; and (4) the Authority gap. The findings suggest that subjective well-being (SWB) appears to be higher in rural than in urban communities. One reason for lower SWB among urban residents relates to their higher aspirations in certain areas of life. However, urban areas are apparently able to meet the financial expectations of their inhabitants far better than rural areas are, whereas an unmet craving for, e.g., success in rural areas appears not to affect SWB at all. Overall, there is a strong association between unmet aspirations and lower satisfaction with life. The added value of this paper is that it goes beyond existing explanations of the reasons behind urban malaise in developed economies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-109
Author(s):  
Xiangnan Chai ◽  
Hina Kalyal

This study explores the relationship between cell phone use and self-reported happiness among older adults in Mainland China and whether rural/urban residence status moderates this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 6,952 respondents over the age of 60, from the 2010 wave of China Family Panel Studies. Findings show that using own cell phone is positively associated with self-reported happiness among Chinese older adults (odds ratio [ OR] = 1.283, p < .001). This relationship remains for respondents residing in rural areas ( OR = 1.616, p < .01) but not for their urban counterparts. Findings reflect on how the happiness of Chinese older adults has been affected by a growing shift in the traditional family values due to the unprecedented economic growth. Results also highlight the disparities between state support for older adults in rural and urban areas as well as the necessity to develop relevant policies to improve the subjective well-being of China’s rapidly growing population of older adults.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 599-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artjoms Ivlevs

While there has been a growing interest in the relationship between perceived tourism impacts and residents’ quality of life, little is known about how residents’ well-being is affected by actual tourist arrivals. This article studies the effect of international tourist arrivals on the subjective well-being—happiness and life satisfaction—of residents in European countries. Data come from the six waves of the European Social Survey, conducted in 32 countries in 2002-2013. The results of the OLS fixed-effects and instrumental-variable estimations suggest that tourist arrivals reduce residents’ life satisfaction. This negative relationship tends to be more pronounced in countries where tourism intensity is relatively high, as well as among people living in rural areas. In addition, tourist arrivals have a greater negative relationship with the evaluative component of subjective well-being (life satisfaction) than its affective component (happiness).


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0252134
Author(s):  
Priscilla Duboz ◽  
Enguerran Macia ◽  
Amadou H. Diallo ◽  
Emmanuel Cohen ◽  
Audrey Bergouignan ◽  
...  

Very few studies have analyzed the influence of the environment, rural or urban, on the notion of good life and subjective well-being in sub-Saharan Africa and none, to our knowledge, has combined qualitative and quantitative methodologies for this purpose. The objectives of this interdisciplinary study were: a) to understand the emic representations of the good life in rural and urban Senegal and; b) to compare the levels and determinants of satisfaction with life between these two populations. This study was carried out in Dakar and in a very isolated rural area in the North East of Senegal: the sylvo-pastoral zone of Ferlo. A total of six focus groups were conducted for the qualitative phase, while the quantitative phase was conducted on representative samples of the populations living in Dakar (N = 1000) and Téssékéré (N = 500). Our results indicate that, against all expectations, life satisfaction is better in the Senegalese Ferlo than in the capital, Dakar. This difference may be the joint result of less meaningful social comparisons and a relationship with nature as a source of stress restoration in rural areas. However, the lifeworld of the rural Fulani of the Ferlo is being undermined by global climatic disturbances, which imposes rapid adaptations of pastoralism; otherwise this activity, that is not only subsistence but also identity-based, may disappear.


Author(s):  
Vivian Isaac ◽  
Teresa Cheng ◽  
Louise Townsin ◽  
Hassan Assareh ◽  
Amy Li ◽  
...  

Australia adopted hard lockdown measures to eliminate community transmission of COVID-19. Lockdown imposes periods of social isolation that contributes to increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and worry. We examined whether lockdowns have similar psychosocial associations across rural and urban areas and whether associations existed between happiness and worry of loneliness in the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Data were collected using the “COVID-19 Living Survey” between 13 and 20 May 2020 by BehaviourWorks Australia at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. The mean self-reported feeling of happiness and anxiousness (N = 1593), on a 10-point Likert scale with 0 being least happy or highly anxious, was 6.5 (SD = 2.4) and 3.9 (2.9), respectively. Factors associated with happiness were older age and having a postgraduate education. Participants worried about becoming lonely also exhibited reduced happiness (estimate = −1.58, 95%CI = −1.84–−1.32) and higher anxiousness (2.22, 1.93–2.51) scores, and these conditions remained associated after adjusting for demographics. Interestingly, worry about loneliness was greater in rural areas than in urban communities. The negative impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on rural youth and those less-educated was evident. Participants in rural Australia who were worried about becoming lonely were reportedly less happy than participants in major cities. This dataset provides a better understanding of factors that influence psychological well-being and quality of life in the Australian population and helps to determine whether happiness may be an associative factor that could mitigate self-feelings of anxiety and worry about loneliness.


Author(s):  
Eva Kallay ◽  
◽  
Sebastian Pintea ◽  

"The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the physical and psychological functioning of the entire world’s population. Our study has had three major aims: (1) to identify the major sources of discomfort related to COVID-19 pandemic in third year psychology students, (2) to establish a hierarchy of the major sources of discomfort, and (3) to identify possible vulnerabilities for different sources of discomfort. We used a cross-sectional study to explore more accurately the individual reactions and possible vulnerabilities, also including open-ended questions to explore perceived sources of discomfort. Our study included 289 third-year psychology students from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (M=24.39 years, SD=7.12). All participants were assessed regarding their levels of: depression, narcissistic traits, perfectionism, perceived stress, self-esteem, intolerance of uncertainty, subjective well-being, and emotion regulation strategies. Our results indicate significant gender and age differences: male participants reported mobility restrictions as a source of discomfort more frequently than female participants, and younger students are less concerned with restrictions regarding social relations, while older students report less emotional problems and less concern with educational problems. Students living in urban areas report less emotional problems than students from rural areas. The results generated by our research point out certain social and psychological vulnerabilities for each perceived source of discomfort (emotion-regulation strategies, perfectionism, narcissism), can bring a valuable input in counselling and therapy for individuals who are maximally affected by the pandemic of COVID-19."


Author(s):  
Young Ho Yun ◽  
Ye Eun Rhee ◽  
Eunkyo Kang ◽  
Jin-ah Sim

This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SWBI) in a nationally representative sample in Korea. A total of 1200 people completed the semi-structured, self-reported questionnaire, which included five items from the SWLS and 14 items from the SWBI. All items and the total score of both the SWLS and the SWBI showed high internal consistency (with Cronbach’s alphas of 0.886 and 0.946, respectively). The item-total correlation values for both measures were in the ranges of 0.71–0.75 and 0.65–0.80, respectively. There were positive correlations between the SWLS and SWBI (r = 0.59, p = 0.01). The SWLS, SWBI and global well-being (GWB) scores were positively correlated with the McGill Quality of Life subscales (p = 0.01) but negatively correlated with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (p = 0.01). Participants under 50 years old (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00–1.69) and those in rural areas (aOR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.28–2.07) had higher scores on the SWLS than other participant groups. Participants who were under 50 years old (aOR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.12–1.92), were male (aOR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.04–1.71), were married (aOR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.13–2.01), lived in rural areas (aOR = 2.30, 95% CI = 1.35–3.91), or had higher incomes (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.02–1.65) showed higher SWBI scores. This study showed that the SLWS and SWBI have good psychometric properties and could be applicable to Korea.


Author(s):  
Zheng Zhou ◽  
Ying Ma ◽  
Wenbin Du ◽  
Kaiji Zhou ◽  
Shaojie Qi

AbstractThis paper examines the association between housing and adolescents’ socioemotional well-being in China using a large nationally representative dataset from the 2016 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The results showed that housing conditions were negatively correlated with adolescents’ depression and positively correlated with subjective well-being when family income was controlled. However, homeownership did not predict adolescent’s subjective well-being and depression. Adolescents living in urban areas have better socioemotional well-being than adolescents living in rural areas, as demonstrated by their higher subjective well-being, lower depression, and higher self-esteem. Both urban and rural adolescents were influenced by housing conditions in a similar pattern. In addition, self-esteem mediated the relationship between housing conditions and adolescents’ socioemotional well-being. The results indicate that housing conditions are an important factor for policymakers to consider when promoting children’s well-being in China.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0242664
Author(s):  
Arthur A. Stone ◽  
Joan E. Broderick ◽  
Diana Wang ◽  
Stefan Schneider

Subjective well-being has captured the interest of scientists and policy-makers as a way of knowing how individuals and groups evaluate and experience their lives: that is, their sense of meaning, their satisfaction with life, and their everyday moods. One of the more striking findings in this literature is a strong association between age and subjective well-being: in Western countries it has a U-shaped association over the lifespan. Despite many efforts, the reason for the curve is largely unexplained, for example, by traditional demographic variables. In this study we examined twelve social and psychological variables that could account for the U-shaped curve. In an Internet sample of 3,294 adults ranging in age from 40 to 69 we observed the expected steep increase in a measure of subjective well-being, the Cantril Ladder. Regression analyses demonstrated that the social-psychological variables explained about two-thirds of the curve and accounting for them significantly flattened the U-shape. Perceived stress, distress-depression, an open perspective about the future, wisdom, satisfaction with social relationships, and family strain were measures that had pronounced impacts on reducing the curve. These findings advance our understanding of why subjective well-being is associated with age and point the way to future studies.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110230
Author(s):  
Marloes Hoogerbrugge ◽  
Martijn Burger

Although more and more people choose to live in (large) cities, people in the Western world generally report lower levels of subjective well-being in urban areas than in rural areas. This article examines whether these urban–rural differences in subjective well-being are (partly) driven by selective migration patterns. To this end, we utilise residential mobility data from the United Kingdom based on 12 waves of the British Household Panel Survey. We explore urban–rural differences in life satisfaction as well as changes in life satisfaction of people moving from rural areas to urban areas (or vice versa), hereby paying specific attention to selection and composition effects. The results show that selective migration can, at least partly, explain the urban–rural subjective well-being differential through the selection of less satisfied people in cities and more satisfied people in the countryside. While the average life satisfaction of urban–rural migrants is higher compared to the life satisfaction of rural–urban migrants, we do not find – on average – long-lasting life satisfaction effects of migration. At the same time, there are differences between sociodemographic groups in that we find that a move from the countryside to the city is positively associated with the life satisfaction of students while it is negatively associated with the life satisfaction of people with a non-tertiary education.


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