scholarly journals Job Characteristics and Subjective Well-Being in Australia – A Capability Approach Perspective

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolai Suppa
Author(s):  
Flavio Comim

AbstractThe paper introduces a poset-generalizability perspective for analysing human development indicators. It suggests a new method for identifying admissibility of different informational spaces and criteria in human development analysis. From its inception, the Capability Approach has argued for informational pluralism in normative evaluations. But in practice, it has turned its back to other (non-capability) informational spaces for being imperfect, biased or incomplete and providing a mere evidential role in normative evaluations. This paper offers the construction of a proper method to overcome this shortcoming. It combines tools from poset analysis and generalizability theory to put forward a systematic categorization of cases with different informational spaces. It provides illustrations by using key informational spaces, namely, resources, rights, subjective well-being and capabilities. The offered method is simpler and more concrete than mere human development guidelines and at the same time it avoids results based on automatic calculations. The paper concludes with implications for human development policies and an agenda for further work.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Naz ◽  
Dieter Bögenhold

Disenchantment with traditional income-based measures of well-being has led to the search for alternative measures. Two major alternative measures of well-being come from subjective well-being research and the objective capability approach. The capability approach has been largely discussed in the context of development studies and economics and is mainly used within quantitative frameworks, but it also raises many questions that are worthy of discussion from a sociological perspective as well. This study opts for a qualitative approach to transpose capability approach in order to assess the well-being of female homeworkers in the football industry of Pakistan. The aim of this empirical research is to focus on the capabilities of homeworkers in accessing economic, individual, social and psychological aspects of well-being.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Goldin

I contrast formal institutional structures that are part of water resources management policy and practice with more fluid ‘outside’ spaces that I claim are more apt for participatory engagement around food production. I link these ideas to a discussion on hope. I make three distinct contributions. First the paper expands on the theoretical concerns of the Capability Approach by bringing to the fore the linkages between subjective well-being and emotions. The paper thus connects the Capability Approach and discourses of affect and emotions explicit. The Capability Approach (CA) is a helpful entry point into the idea of hope in particular and emotions in general. Second, I claim that emotions are of public concern and that they are embedded structurally. In these spaces the dimension of power is crucial in determining the nature of the emotions that are experienced, and there is a connection between hope and power. I argue that emotions mediate and inform social action and are a function of social processes. Third, I affirm that in the essentially technical and masculinised world of water, rural women farmers are more likely to experience positive feelings, such as self-esteem, hope, pride and dignity, in informal ‘outside’ spaces. Within the context of an ethics of care, the idea of ‘particularism’ places value on concrete circumstances and individual experience and the incorporation of emotions and compassion into a social justice discourse. I propose that hope be considered amongst a range of mental states contributing to valuable and complex social functionings that are relevant for assessing poverty and human development. Looking at emotional life might help answer the question: what makes people do what they do – and whether and in what ways they take on (or do not take on) board opportunities that present themselves? The article concludes that hope is a mental state that helps command commodities and helps achieve functionings. As such hope is an input as important as seeds and fertilizer for small-scale farming.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
Petya Ilieva-Trichkova ◽  
Pepka Boyadjieva

Using the capability approach as a theoretical framework, this article aims to: (1) explore how subjective individual well-being differs among higher education graduates and especially to what extent it is associated with graduates’ vertical education–job mismatches; (2) reveal the embeddedness of the link between graduates’ vertical education–job mismatches and subjective well-being in different socio-economic contexts; and (3) outline some policy implications of the analysis undertaken. It argues that vertical education–job mismatch among graduates has an important influence on experiences of the benefits that come from higher education. By analysing micro-level data from the European Social Survey, carried out in 2012 and macro-level data for 24 European countries via descriptive statistics and multilevel regression, the study shows that education–job mismatch is associated with capability deprivation, as graduates who are vertically mismatched have less interest in what they are doing, feel less autonomous and competent, and are less confident that they are leading a meaningful life or being treated with respect by others in comparison to those graduates who are employed in jobs which correspond to their level of education. The article also provides evidence that the association between graduates’ education–job mismatches and individual subjective well-being is embedded in different socio-economic contexts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Guzi ◽  
Pablo de Pedraza García

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of work conditions and job characteristics with respect to three subjective well-being (SWB) indicators: life satisfaction, job satisfaction and satisfaction with work-life balance. From a methodological point of view, the paper shows how social sciences can benefit from the use of voluntary web survey data. Design/methodology/approach – The paper makes use of a large sample of individual data obtained from voluntary web surveys collected as part of the WageIndicator project. The sample includes extensive information on the quality of working conditions together with different well-being indicators. The propensity score adjustment weights are used to improve the sample performance. Findings – The results shed light on the importance of certain job characteristics not only in determining job satisfaction, but also in other SWB domains. The findings support the theory of spillover perspectives, according to which satisfaction in one domain affects other domains. Research limitations/implications – As a voluntary web-survey, WageIndicator is affected by selection bias. The validity of the sample can be improved by weighting, but this adjustment should be made and tested on a country-by-country basis. Originality/value – The paper provides analysis of the quality of a web survey not commonly used in happiness research. The subsequent presentation of the effects of working conditions on several satisfaction domains represents a contribution to the literature.


GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Oberhauser ◽  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Eva-Marie Kessler

Abstract. Conflict avoidance increases across the adult lifespan. This cross-sectional study looks at conflict avoidance as part of a mechanism to regulate belongingness needs ( Sheldon, 2011 ). We assumed that older adults perceive more threats to their belongingness when they contemplate their future, and that they preventively react with avoidance coping. We set up a model predicting conflict avoidance that included perceptions of future nonbelonging, termed anticipated loneliness, and other predictors including sociodemographics, indicators of subjective well-being and perceived social support (N = 331, aged 40–87). Anticipated loneliness predicted conflict avoidance above all other predictors and partially mediated the age-association of conflict avoidance. Results suggest that belongingness regulation accounts may deepen our understanding of conflict avoidance in the second half of life.


GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan ◽  
Tihana Brkljačić ◽  
Zvjezdana Prizmić Larsen ◽  
Andreja Brajša-Žganec ◽  
Renata Franc

Abstract. Research shows that engagement in leisure activities promotes well-being among older adults. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between subjective well-being (flourishing) and leisure activities (total number of different activities in the previous year) in a sample of older adults in Croatia, thereby considering the variables of sex, marital status, financial status, and self-perceived health. The differences in the examined variables between the groups of older adults who reported to be engaged in new activities with those who did not were also examined. The sample of N = 169 older adults aged 60 years and above was drawn from a convenience sample of adult internet users in Croatia. Participants reported their self-perceived health and the number of leisure activities they engaged in over the previous year as well as completing the Flourishing Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that older adults who were engaged in more various leisure activities, who perceived better financial status, and who were married reported higher levels of flourishing. A comparison of the two groups of older adults with and without engagement in leisure activities showed that those engaged in at least one leisure activity were more likely to be women, reported higher levels of flourishing, and perceived their own financial status as better. This study indicated that engaging in leisure activities in later life might provide beneficial effects for the well-being of older adults.


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