Scientific Journal "Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing"
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АSPIRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS AS FACTORS OF HAPPINESS / SATISFACTION: MECHANISMS OF FORMATION
stmm. 2021 (2): 45-59
DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2021.02.045
ALISA PIASKOVSKA, Master of Sociology (National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”); student at the Vienna Central University (23–25, 414, Kenyongasse, Vienna, Austria, 1070)
alicepaniotto@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6570-4234
The article is devoted to testing hypotheses related to the mechanism of causing the level of happiness / satisfaction. Happiness is usually measured by looking at the whole process from the other side — that is, the factors of happiness / satisfaction that shape the respondent's well-being at a given point in time are measured. Only achievements are measured, but a person's claims to their achievements are not measured. The mechanism considered in the article can be conditionally represented as a fraction, in the numerator of which — the level of security in the broadest sense or the level of achievement (material security, creative work, loved one, etc.), and in the denominator — the level of claims (for example, the level of material security that a person considers sufficient). At the same time, the level of claims is formed depending on the level of achievements of the reference group of the respondent. Since reference groups generally influence a person's self-identification and worldview, they also form a comparison point for the respondent on how happy and successful his or her life is. The author has developed a method for measuring the level of claims and tested a few hypotheses that follow from these ideas about the mechanism of causing happiness / satisfaction. The following hypotheses are made: 1) the higher the level of claims, the lower the level of happiness 2) the ratio of achievement to the level of claims has a significant positive relationship with the level of happiness, 3) the higher the level of financial security of the immediate social environment, the higher the level of claims. Confirmation of the third hypothesis and partial confirmation of the first are received and directions of further research are outlined.
Keywords: happiness / satisfaction, harassment, achievement, metrics, methodology, reference groups
References
Benjamin, J., Ebstein, R., Belmaker, R. (1996). Molecular genetics and the Human Personality. Washington, DC.
Brulé, G., Veenhoven, R. (2014). Average Happiness and Dominant Family Type in Regions in Western Europe around 2000. Advances in Applied Sociology, 4 (12), 271–288. DOI: 10.4236/aasoci.2014.412031
Deutsch, M., Gerard, H. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51 (3), 629–636. DOI: 10.1037/h0046408
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95 (3), 542–575. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Diener, E., Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In: E. Diener, E. Suh, Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 185–218). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. DOI https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/2242.001.0001
Diener, E., Oishi, S., Lucas, R. (2003). Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54 (1), 403–425. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Diener, E., Suh, E. (2000). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Haybron, D. (2008). The pursuit of unhappiness: The elusive psychology of wellbeing. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Helliwell, J., Putnam, R. (2004). Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. The Science of Well-Being: Integrating Neurobiology, Psychology and Social Science, 359 (1449), 1435–1446. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1522
Hoorn, A. (2008). Introduction. In: Statistics, Knowledge and Policy 2007: Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies (pp. 215–229). S.l.: OECD.
Joshanloo, M. (2013). Comparison of Western and Islamic Conceptions of Happiness December 2013. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14 (6), 1857–1874. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-012-9406-7
Kahneman, D., Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 107 (38), 16489-16493. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011492107
Keyes, C. (2005). Mental Illness and/or Mental Health? Investigating Axioms of the Complete State Model of Health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73 (3), 539–548. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006x.73.3.539
Keyes, C., Annas, J. (2009). Feeling good and functioning well: distinctive concepts in ancient philosophy and contemporary science. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4 (3), 197–201. DOI: 10.1080/17439760902844228
Khmelko, V. (1988). Social orientation of the individual: some questions of theory and methodology of sociological research. [In Russian]. Kyiv: Politizdat Ukrainy. [=Хмелько 1988]
Kim, Y., Tov, W. (2011). Cultural processes underlying subjective well-being. In: Cultural Processes: A Social Psychological Perspective (pp. 154–171). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511779374.014
Layard, R. (2006). Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. East Rutherford: Penguin Publishing Group.
Margitics, F., Pauwlik, Z. (2009). Depression, subjective well-being, and individual aspirations of college students. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Paniotto, V. (1986). The quality of sociological information. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka. [=Паниотто 1986]
Paniotto, V., Piaskovska, A., Sakhno, Y. (2018). Dynamics of the level of happiness and its determinants. Ukraine 2001–2017. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 1, 84–101. [= Паніотто, Пясковська, Сахно 2018]
Pavot, W., Diener, E., Suh, E. (1998). The Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 70 (2), 340–354. DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa7002_11
Pérez-Asenjo, E. (2010). If happiness is relative, against whom do we compare ourselves? Implications for labour supply. Journal of Population Economics, 24 (4), 1411–1442. DOI: 10.1007/s00148-010-0322-z
Raibley, J. (2011). Happiness is not Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13 (6), 1105–1129. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-011-9309-z
Sempe, L. (1999). Social Circle and Reference Group. S.l.: Université de Pau.
Stavrova, O. (2019). How Much do Sources of Happiness Vary Across Countries? A Review of the Empirical Literature. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 71 (51), 429–464. DOI: 10.1007/s11577-019-00612-y
Veenhoven, R. (1984). Conditions of Happiness. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
Veenhoven, R., Berg, M. (2010). Income inequality and happiness in 119 nations. Social Policy and Happiness in Europe (174–194). S.l.: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. DOI https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781000731.00017
World Happiness Report (2020). Retrieved from: https://worldhappiness.report/
World Happiness Report, UN (2020). Retrieved from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2017/HR17.pdf
Одержано / Received 12.11.2020
АSPIRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS AS FACTORS OF HAPPINESS / SATISFACTION: MECHANISMS OF FORMATION
stmm. 2021 (2): 45-59
DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2021.02.045
ALISA PIASKOVSKA, Master of Sociology (National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”); student at the Vienna Central University (23–25, 414, Kenyongasse, Vienna, Austria, 1070)
alicepaniotto@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6570-4234
The article is devoted to testing hypotheses related to the mechanism of causing the level of happiness / satisfaction. Happiness is usually measured by looking at the whole process from the other side — that is, the factors of happiness / satisfaction that shape the respondent's well-being at a given point in time are measured. Only achievements are measured, but a person's claims to their achievements are not measured. The mechanism considered in the article can be conditionally represented as a fraction, in the numerator of which — the level of security in the broadest sense or the level of achievement (material security, creative work, loved one, etc.), and in the denominator — the level of claims (for example, the level of material security that a person considers sufficient). At the same time, the level of claims is formed depending on the level of achievements of the reference group of the respondent. Since reference groups generally influence a person's self-identification and worldview, they also form a comparison point for the respondent on how happy and successful his or her life is. The author has developed a method for measuring the level of claims and tested a few hypotheses that follow from these ideas about the mechanism of causing happiness / satisfaction. The following hypotheses are made: 1) the higher the level of claims, the lower the level of happiness 2) the ratio of achievement to the level of claims has a significant positive relationship with the level of happiness, 3) the higher the level of financial security of the immediate social environment, the higher the level of claims. Confirmation of the third hypothesis and partial confirmation of the first are received and directions of further research are outlined.
Keywords: happiness / satisfaction, harassment, achievement, metrics, methodology, reference groups
References
Benjamin, J., Ebstein, R., Belmaker, R. (1996). Molecular genetics and the Human Personality. Washington, DC.
Brulé, G., Veenhoven, R. (2014). Average Happiness and Dominant Family Type in Regions in Western Europe around 2000. Advances in Applied Sociology, 4 (12), 271–288. DOI: 10.4236/aasoci.2014.412031
Deutsch, M., Gerard, H. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51 (3), 629–636. DOI: 10.1037/h0046408
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95 (3), 542–575. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Diener, E., Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In: E. Diener, E. Suh, Culture and subjective well-being (pp. 185–218). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. DOI https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/2242.001.0001
Diener, E., Oishi, S., Lucas, R. (2003). Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54 (1), 403–425. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Diener, E., Suh, E. (2000). Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Haybron, D. (2008). The pursuit of unhappiness: The elusive psychology of wellbeing. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Helliwell, J., Putnam, R. (2004). Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. The Science of Well-Being: Integrating Neurobiology, Psychology and Social Science, 359 (1449), 1435–1446. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2004.1522
Hoorn, A. (2008). Introduction. In: Statistics, Knowledge and Policy 2007: Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies (pp. 215–229). S.l.: OECD.
Joshanloo, M. (2013). Comparison of Western and Islamic Conceptions of Happiness December 2013. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14 (6), 1857–1874. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-012-9406-7
Kahneman, D., Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 107 (38), 16489-16493. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011492107
Keyes, C. (2005). Mental Illness and/or Mental Health? Investigating Axioms of the Complete State Model of Health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73 (3), 539–548. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006x.73.3.539
Keyes, C., Annas, J. (2009). Feeling good and functioning well: distinctive concepts in ancient philosophy and contemporary science. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4 (3), 197–201. DOI: 10.1080/17439760902844228
Khmelko, V. (1988). Social orientation of the individual: some questions of theory and methodology of sociological research. [In Russian]. Kyiv: Politizdat Ukrainy. [=Хмелько 1988]
Kim, Y., Tov, W. (2011). Cultural processes underlying subjective well-being. In: Cultural Processes: A Social Psychological Perspective (pp. 154–171). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511779374.014
Layard, R. (2006). Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. East Rutherford: Penguin Publishing Group.
Margitics, F., Pauwlik, Z. (2009). Depression, subjective well-being, and individual aspirations of college students. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Paniotto, V. (1986). The quality of sociological information. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Naukova dumka. [=Паниотто 1986]
Paniotto, V., Piaskovska, A., Sakhno, Y. (2018). Dynamics of the level of happiness and its determinants. Ukraine 2001–2017. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 1, 84–101. [= Паніотто, Пясковська, Сахно 2018]
Pavot, W., Diener, E., Suh, E. (1998). The Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 70 (2), 340–354. DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa7002_11
Pérez-Asenjo, E. (2010). If happiness is relative, against whom do we compare ourselves? Implications for labour supply. Journal of Population Economics, 24 (4), 1411–1442. DOI: 10.1007/s00148-010-0322-z
Raibley, J. (2011). Happiness is not Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13 (6), 1105–1129. DOI: 10.1007/s10902-011-9309-z
Sempe, L. (1999). Social Circle and Reference Group. S.l.: Université de Pau.
Stavrova, O. (2019). How Much do Sources of Happiness Vary Across Countries? A Review of the Empirical Literature. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 71 (51), 429–464. DOI: 10.1007/s11577-019-00612-y
Veenhoven, R. (1984). Conditions of Happiness. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.
Veenhoven, R., Berg, M. (2010). Income inequality and happiness in 119 nations. Social Policy and Happiness in Europe (174–194). S.l.: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. DOI https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781000731.00017
World Happiness Report (2020). Retrieved from: https://worldhappiness.report/
World Happiness Report, UN (2020). Retrieved from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2017/HR17.pdf
Одержано / Received 12.11.2020
LATEST PRINTED ISSUE
LATEST FREELY ACCESSIBLE MATERIALS