Environmentally Responsible Happy Nation Index: A Proposed National Success Indicator

The average happy life years HLY (of a country) is the product of the average happiness (or life satisfaction) index and the life expectancy index. Adjusting HLY to get rid of the misleading parts with negative happiness to obtain the adjusted or net HLY; deducting again the per-capita environmental costs imposed on others, we obtain the ‘environmentally responsible happy nation index’ as an internationally acceptable national success indicator that accounts positively for long and happy lives but negatively at the external costs of environmental disruption imposed on others and in the future. Hopefully, this ‘environmentally responsible happy nation index’ will lead to some re-orientation of both the market and national governments towards something more fundamentally valuable.

Quality of Life Temporal Aspects in International Migration Studies

The article is devoted to revealing the scientifi c potential of temporal aspects in studying the quality of life of international migrants. Th e purpose of this paper is to initiate a scientifi c discussion on temporal indicators of population well-being and present empirical evidence of their importance in migration research. Th e scientifi c novelty lies in revealing the widespread use of temporal elements in the structure of systems for quality of life assessing, substantiation the need to use time indicators in studies of international migrants’ well-being. Th e article uses methods of system approach, analysis and synthesis, grouping, comparison. Th e study showed that contemporary approaches of the quality of life analysis abounds with time-dependent elements. However, conceptualization of temporality is absent there. Temporal indicators connected with duration and rhythm are most oft en used. Th e main empirical basis for studying the migrants’ quality of life in this article is the results of the European Social Survey (ESS). Th e reference group for comparing the migrants’ well-being in this study is local population. Th e integrated indicator of quality of life assessment, the average happiness score, is used. It shows almost identical overall values of this indicator for both population groups (the diff erence was 0.1 points on a 10-point scale). Th ere was a lack of territorial universality to identify a happier group because in half of the analyzed countries the locals were happier than newcomers whereas in the rest of the territories there was the opposite situation or the same values of the indicator. Th e average happiness scores and life satisfaction scores among migrants decrease in parallel with the increase in length of stay in the destination country. A separate eff ect of age and length of stay temporal characteristics on the quality of life of international migrants is established. The degree of freedom, the agency to infl uence their own lives is considered a separate temporal element of the migrants’ well-being. According to the ESS, the average value of this indicator for newcomers and locals coincides.

De (on)gelukkige relatie tussen Covid-19 en werkgeluk

SUMMARY In March 2020 a lockdown was announced due to the Covid-19 outbreak. As a result, most employees were asked to work from home. Shortly after the lockdown, a questionnaire survey was conducted among 314 workers. This questionnaire was about happiness at work experienced before the outbreak of Covid-19 and during the (full or partial) lockdown. This provided information about the influence of Covid-19 and the associated working from home on employee happiness at work. This study examines the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and a number of other factors on people’s happiness at work. In short, it can be stated that people in the Netherlands rate their happiness at work as more than satisfactory. In the period of Covid-19, however, the average happiness at work rate decreased. Both personal and work-related factors influence happiness at work. Respondents’ mental health is a major predictor of happiness at work. Work-related factors that influence happiness at work are: autonomy, competence, relatedness and social support from the supervisor. Also, social environment influences happiness at work during the Covid-19 crisis. Employees without a partner appeared to be most vulnerable. This has implications for managers and Human Resource Managers within organizations in order to effectively facilitate these groups of employees.

Dimensionally Decomposed Development and Happiness

The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the relative effects of different developmental dimensions on happiness. However, such an attempt requires an approach that divides the phenomenon of development into building blocks. In this respect, this study focuses on the dimensions of economic prosperity, good governance, education, health, the sustainable environment, gender equality, trade and financial flows, and mobility. Following the general trend in the literature, the relations between the country's average happiness levels calculated from microdata and the development indicators compiled from the World Bank data were analyzed using the least-squares method. In this analysis, Box-Cox transformation was used to ensure that the dependent variable, the average happiness levels, showed normal distribution. Our study reveals that all dimensions have the expected effects on happiness. However, the economic prosperity, sustainable environment, and government efficiency dimensions create the top three blocks of development that have the most significant impact on life satisfaction, respectively. On the other hand, the effects of the remaining aspects on happiness seem relatively minor. Additionally, handling the reflection of the mobility dimension on happiness deserves special treatment since the association between net migration and happiness is most likely tend to indicate a reverse causality, unlike the migration stock and life satisfaction relation.

Population ethical intuitions

We investigated lay people’s population ethical intuitions (N = 4,374), i.e., their moral evaluations of populations that differ in size and composition. First, we found that people place greater relative weight on, and are more sensitive to, suffering compared to happiness. Participants, on average, believed that more happy people are needed to outweigh a given amount of unhappy people in a population (Studies 1a-c). Second, we found that—in contrast to so-called person-affecting views—people do not consider the creation of new people as morally neutral. Participants considered it good to create a new happy person and bad to create a new unhappy person (Study 2). Third, we found that people take into account both the average level (averagism) and the total level (totalism) of happiness when evaluating populations. Participants preferred populations with greater total happiness levels when the average level remained constant (Study 3) and populations with greater average happiness levels when the total level remained constant (Study 4). When the two principles were in conflict, participants’ preferences lay in between the recommendations of the two principles, suggesting that both are applied simultaneously (Study 5). In certain cases, participants even showed averagist preferences when averagism disfavors adding more happy people and favors adding more unhappy people to a population (Study 6). However, when participants were prompted to reflect as opposed to rely on their intuitions, their preferences became more totalist (Studies 5-6). Our findings have implications for moral psychology, philosophy and policy making.

Social capital as a source of happiness: evidence from a cross-country analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of social capital on happiness. The previous literature generally measures social capital using “generalized trust”, which is a narrow dimension of social capital. In this study, social capital is measured as a multidimensional concept consisting of generalized trust, institutional trust and trust on family, neighborhood and strangers.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores the relationship between social capital and average happiness using a panel data of 89 countries from 1980 to 2017. The empirical analysis is done by employing pooled OLS (POLS), fixed effects method (FEM), random effects method (REM) and system generalized method of moments.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that all measures of social capital are positively associated with happiness while comparatively institutional trust and generalized trust appear more significant for happiness. The findings are robust to different robustness checks. The findings document the importance of social capital for average happiness.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has certain limitations. First, the objective of study was to cover global sample of countries, however, the data series were not available for all countries. Second, the empirical is restricted to global evidence instead of exploring separate estimates for developed and developing world.Originality/valueThe findings document the importance of social capital for average happiness. The awareness of the importance of social capital needs to be increased. Government can develop such organizations or institutions that are conducive for social capital development.

The Mediating Role of Affects between Mind-Wandering and Happiness

The aim of this study was to assess the mediating role of affects between mind-wandering and happiness. The study was conducted with a sample comprising 270 university students—133 men (49.26%) and 137 women (50.74%)—who filled out the Mind-Wandering Questionnaire (MWQ), the Positive and Negative Affect Questionnaire (PANAS), and the SHS subjective happiness scale. Mind-wandering was found to be negatively correlated with happiness and positive effects. Higher mind-wandering-related scores went hand in hand with scores related to both lower happiness and positive affects. Approximately half the participants yielded low mind-wandering and negative affect scores and above-average happiness and positive affects scores. In addition, one in four scored above average in terms of mind-wandering and low in terms of happiness and positive effects. Finally, the mediating role played by affects was examined. It can be concluded that although in principle mind-wandering has no direct effect on happiness, some influence can be attested when affects, both positive and negative, are taken into consideration.

Ways to Greater Happiness: A Delphi Study

In the first round of this Delphi study 14 experts suggested strategies for improving life-satisfaction. In a second round, experts rated these strategies for (a) effectiveness, (b) feasibility and (c) cost-effectiveness. They considered 56 strategies policy makers can use to raise average happiness in a nation and 68 ways in which individuals can raise their own happiness. Experts were informed about the average ratings made by the panel and about the arguments advanced. Then, in a third round, experts made their final judgments. Summed ratings for average effectiveness and feasibility of the strategies ranged between 8.4 and 4.9 on scale 2–10, which means that most of the recommendations were deemed suitable. Agreement was slightly higher on policy strategies than on individual ways to greater happiness. Policy strategies deemed the most effective and feasible are: (1) investing in happiness research, (2) support of vulnerable people and (3) improving the social climate, in particular by promoting voluntary work and supporting non-profits. Individual strategies deemed most effective are: (a) investing in social networks, (b) doing meaningful things and (c) caring for one’s health.

Happiness levels of the nurses working at a University Hospital

This study was planned to determine the happiness level of nurses. The population of this descriptive study was done with 121 nurses who accepted to participate in the study out of 323 nurses who worked at a research and training hospital. The average happiness score of the nurses is 108.63 ± 19.48. However, the mean scores of happiness scale of nurses who had an average working time of 120–180 hours per month and who were satisfied with nursing and working in the institution were higher (p < 0.005) and these findings were statistically significant. In conclusion, nurses’ happiness level was found to be higher than the average level (moderate level). But, it was identified that nurses who did not exceed weekly working hours were happier and nursing not being satisfied with working in the institutional negatively affects the level of happiness.Keywords: Hospital, nurse, happiness.