The four qualities of life: Ordering concepts and measures of the good life
TLDR
In this paper, the authors proposed a classification based on two bi-partitions; between life chances and life results, and between "outer" and "inner" qualities, which imply four qualities of life: livability of the environment, life ability of the individual, external utility of life and inner appreciation of life.Abstract:
The terms ‘quality-of-life’, ‘well-being’ and ‘happiness’ denote different meanings; sometimes they are used as an umbrella term for all of value, and at other times to denote special merits. This paper is about the specific meanings of the terms. It proposes a classification based on two bi-partitions; between life ‘chances’ and life ‘results’, and between ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ qualities. Together these dichotomies imply four qualities of life: (1) livability of the environment, (2) life-ability of the individual, (3) external utility of life and (4) inner appreciation of life. This fourfold matrix is applied in three ways: firstly to place related notions and alternative classifications, secondly to explore substantive meanings in various measures for quality of life and thirdly to find out whether quality-of-life can be measured comprehensively. This last question is answered in the negative. Current sum-scores make little sense. The most inclusive measure is still how long and happily people live.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Scarring: The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the psychological impact of past unemployment and show that life satisfaction is lower not only for the current unemployed but also for those who have been unemployed more often in the past.
Conditions for Happiness
TL;DR: The concept of happiness is defined and various meanings of the word happiness are discussed in this article, and three kinds of indicators of overall happiness are defined: direct questions, indirect questions, and ratings by others.
Journal ArticleDOI
Climate and happiness
Katrin Rehdanz,David Maddison +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a panel of 67 countries attempting to explain differences in self-reported levels of happiness by reference to, amongst other things, temperature and precipitation was analyzed using a panel-corrected least squares approach.
Journal ArticleDOI
Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness
TL;DR: It is proposed that volunteering might contribute to happiness levels by increasing empathic emotions, shifting aspirations and by moving the salient reference group in subjective evaluations of relative positions from the relatively better-off to the relatively worse-off.
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Posted Content
Subjective Well-Being
TL;DR: The literature on subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, is reviewed in three areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory.
Book ChapterDOI
Subjective Well-being
TL;DR: The literature on subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, is reviewed in this article in three areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory.
BookDOI
The Quality of life
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address issues of defining and measuring the quality of life and discuss recent developments in the philosophical definition of well-being and link them to practical issues such as the delivery of health care, and the assessment of women's quality-of-life.