scholarly journals Can I Sustain My Happiness? A Review, Critique and Research Agenda for Economics of Happiness

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansi Jain ◽  
Gagan Deep Sharma ◽  
Mandeep Mahendru
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Human Happiness ◽  
Collective Levels ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Happiness Level

Human beings want to live in a state of happiness and prosperity, but happiness is important not just for the well-being of individuals but for the well-being of society. To ensure the maximization of happiness, it is necessary to consider more than just money, and rather include the right understanding of happiness at the individual level, the family level, the society level, and the environmental (nature) level. This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by consolidating the findings of the literature; grouping those into major themes and sub-themes; describing the mechanisms based on the empirical papers by highlighting the independent, dependent, control, and moderating variables, to study the causal relationships between variables under study; proposing an agenda for future research; and informing the policymakers about decisions influencing the human happiness level through legislative rules and regulations. Our results suggest prioritizing the conceptualization of happiness while computing the happiness level at the individual or collective levels. Furthermore, the study recommends governments to establish the conditions enabling individuals to report happiness independently from the political pressure to answer strategically for impressive happiness level figures at the macro level.

Does Sophistication Affect Electoral Outcomes?

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Rapeli
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Citizen Competence ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Sociodemographic Determinants ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Electoral Behaviour ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

It is widely assumed that a representative democracy requires an enlightened citizenry in order to function properly. The competence of citizens has been studied extensively and the sociodemographic determinants of political sophistication are particularly well known. Much less is known about whether and how citizen competence affects electoral behaviour and outcomes. This article reviews the existing literature on these topics. Despite the widespread consensus that, generally speaking, citizen competence matters for electoral outcomes, the review produced a mixed result: some studies suggest that the political left would benefit from a better-informed electorate, while other studies suggest the opposite. Although the majoritarian electoral context is overrepresented in the evidence, the review shows that at the individual level, political knowledge greatly increases a person’s ability to match personal preferences with the right candidate or party in an election. The article also identifies several gaps in existing knowledge, thereby suggesting future research questions.

The absorptive capacity process: an exposition and update

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Susilo Lukito-Budi ◽  
Nurul Indarti ◽  
Kusdhianto Setiawan
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Process Step ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Wald Tests ◽  
The Individual

PurposeThis study investigates the development of absorptive capacity. Using an integrated cognitive learning perspective, this study provides empirical evidence about the conceptual absorptive capacity model through examining the full process step by step. Two groups of moderating variables were studied—namely, social integration and appropriability—to examine their impact on the process.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a longitudinal study from a community service program (Kuliah Kerja Nyata) at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, by using surveys at the beginning and the end of the project. Of 492 teams from 2,444 students participated in the study. Each individual within a team had at least one project assigned to him/her during the project. The absorptive capacity process was examined through six consecutive models and analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. The moderating variables were tested using the Moderated Regression Analysis and Wald tests.FindingsThe study confirms the full cycle of absorptive capacity as an independent, dynamic and complex process; it involves acquiring, assimilating, transforming and exploiting sequencing variables from the individual level to the team level and vice versa using feed-forward and feedback mechanisms adopted from the 4I framework of organisational learning. However, the roles of the moderating variables are still inconclusive due to some possible factors, which were also reflected by the U-phenomenon.Originality/valueThis study provides vital support to the learning theory as well as to the organisation learning concept. This study also reveals empirical evidence about the unsupported moderating variables behave during a project cycle, such as what they function, how they evolve and what we should do about the moderating factors during a project. The findings of this study provide practical suggestions and highlight areas for future research.

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Trajectory of Loneliness and the COVID-19 Pandemic Among the Oldest-Old Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 1029-1029
Author(s):  
Jinmyoung Cho ◽  
Shinae Choi ◽  
Gelareh Rahimighazikalayeh ◽  
Peter Martin ◽  
Melinda Heinz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Longitudinal Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Loneliness is significantly associated with health and well-being among oldest-old adults. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19, physical and social distancing policies might elevate loneliness among the oldest-old population. This study examined the trends and changes in the prevalence of feeling lonely using the 2020 HRS COVID-19 module merged to the 15 waves of the HRS RAND longitudinal datasets from 1992 to 2018. A total of 14,371 respondents, including 614 respondents aged 80 years and older were included. Generalized linear models compared age group differences within the 2020 module. Generalized estimating equations assessed the longitudinal change at the individual level and the trend of feeling loneliness among oldest-old adults from 1992 to 2020. Loneliness was assessed with one item of the CES-D scale (i.e., during the past week, felt lonely). After adjusting for demographic characteristics and health, the results showed that oldest-old adults were more likely to feel lonely compared to younger age groups (18% for 80’s vs. 14% for 50’s) during the early months of the pandemic. A longitudinal trajectory also showed that they feel lonelier than in prior years (19% in 2020 vs. 14% in 2018). However, compared to same-age groups from earlier years, a significantly lower prevalence of feeling lonely was observed (18% in 2020 vs. 27% in 1994). The results show that the outbreak of the COVID-19 may elevate feeling lonely, but the recent cohorts be less lonely than earlier cohorts. Future research should continue to explore protective factors for loneliness among oldest-old adults.

scholarly journals Preparing Workplaces for Digital Transformation: An Integrative Review and Framework of Multi-Level Factors

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigid Trenerry ◽  
Samuel Chng ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Zainal Shah Suhaila ◽  
Sun Sun Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Individual

The rapid advancement of new digital technologies, such as smart technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, robotics, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), is fundamentally changing the nature of work and increasing concerns about the future of jobs and organizations. To keep pace with rapid disruption, companies need to update and transform business models to remain competitive. Meanwhile, the growth of advanced technologies is changing the types of skills and competencies needed in the workplace and demanded a shift in mindset among individuals, teams and organizations. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization trends, while heightening the importance of employee resilience and well-being in adapting to widespread job and technological disruption. Although digital transformation is a new and urgent imperative, there is a long trajectory of rigorous research that can readily be applied to grasp these emerging trends. Recent studies and reviews of digital transformation have primarily focused on the business and strategic levels, with only modest integration of employee-related factors. Our review article seeks to fill these critical gaps by identifying and consolidating key factors important for an organization’s overarching digital transformation. We reviewed studies across multiple disciplines and integrated the findings into a multi-level framework. At the individual level, we propose five overarching factors related to effective digital transformation among employees: technology adoption; perceptions and attitudes toward technological change; skills and training; workplace resilience and adaptability, and work-related wellbeing. At the group-level, we identified three factors necessary for digital transformation: team communication and collaboration; workplace relationships and team identification, and team adaptability and resilience. Finally, at the organizational-level, we proposed three factors for digital transformation: leadership; human resources, and organizational culture/climate. Our review of the literature confirms that multi-level factors are important when planning for and embarking on digital transformation, thereby providing a framework for future research and practice.

Acculturation

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Sam ◽  
John W. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Process Variations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Behavioral Repertoire ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Heritage Culture ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Individual

In cross-cultural psychology, one of the major sources of the development and display of human behavior is the contact between cultural populations. Such intercultural contact results in both cultural and psychological changes. At the cultural level, collective activities and social institutions become altered, and at the psychological level, there are changes in an individual’s daily behavioral repertoire and sometimes in experienced stress. The two most common research findings at the individual level are that there are large variations in how people acculturate and in how well they adapt to this process. Variations in ways of acculturating have become known by the terms integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. Two variations in adaptation have been identified, involving psychological well-being and sociocultural competence. One important finding is that there are relationships between how individuals acculturate and how well they adapt: Often those who integrate (defined as being engaged in both their heritage culture and in the larger society) are better adapted than those who acculturate by orienting themselves to one or the other culture (by way of assimilation or separation) or to neither culture (marginalization). Implications of these findings for policy and program development and for future research are presented.

Chimeras In Time-Honored Societies

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-466
Author(s):  
TUMMALA. SAI MAMATA
Keyword(s):  
Major Elements ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Life Changes ◽  
Inner Self ◽  
The World ◽  
Nature And Nurture ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Superstitious Beliefs

A river flows serenely accepting all the miseries and happiness that it comes across its journey. A tree releases oxygen for human beings despite its inner plights. The sun is never tired of its duty and gives sunlight without any interruption. Why are all these elements of nature so tuned to? Education is knowledge. Knowledge comes from learning. Learning happens through experience. Familiarity is the master of life that shapes the individual. Every individual learns from nature. Nature teaches how to sustain, withdraw and advocate the prevailing situations. Some dwell into the deep realities of nature and nurture as ideal human beings. Life is a puzzle. How to solve it is a million dollar question that can never be answered so easily. The perception of life changes from individual to individual making them either physically powerful or feeble. Society is not made of only individuals. Along with individuals it has nature, emotions, spiritual powers and superstitious beliefs which bind them. Among them the most crucial and alarming is the emotions which are interrelated to others. Alone the emotional intelligence is going to guide the life of an individual. For everyone there is an inner self which makes them conscious of their deeds. The guiding force should always force the individual to choose the right path.  Writers are the powerful people who have rightly guided the society through their ingenious pen outs.  The present article is going to focus on how the major elements bound together are dominating the individual’s self through Rabindranath Tagore’s Home and the World (1916)

scholarly journals Pro-Environmental Behavior in an Aging World: Evidence from 31 Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1748
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Feng Hao ◽  
Yunxia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Linear Models ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Environmental Behavior ◽  
National Level ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The Individual

Population change and environmental degradation have become two of the most pressing issues for sustainable development in the contemporary world, while the effect of population aging on pro-environmental behavior remains controversial. In this paper, we examine the effects of individual and population aging on pro-environmental behavior through multilevel analyses of cross-national data from 31 countries. Hierarchical linear models with random intercepts are employed to analyze the data. The findings reveal a positive relationship between aging and pro-environmental behavior. At the individual level, older people are more likely to participate in environmental behavior (b = 0.052, p < 0.001), and at the national level, living in a country with a greater share of older persons encourages individuals to behave sustainably (b = 0.023, p < 0.01). We also found that the elderly are more environmentally active in an aging society. The findings imply that the longevity of human beings may offer opportunities for the improvement of the natural environment.

scholarly journals The Value of Recreational Ecosystem Services in India

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Muniyandi Balasubramanian
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
National Park ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Forest Ecosystem Services ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Mental Well Being

Forest ecosystem services have played a vital role in human well-being. Particularly, recreational ecosystem services are creating physical and mental well-being for human beings. Therefore, the main objective of the paper is to estimate the economic value of recreational ecosystem services provides by recreational sites such as Nandi Hills and Nagarhole National Park based on the individual travel cost method in Karnataka, India. This study has used a random sampling method for 300 tourist visitors to recreational sites. The present study has also estimated the consumer surplus of the visitors. The results of the study have found that (i) economic value of two creational sites has been estimated at US $323.05 million, (ii) the consumer surplus has been estimated for Nandi Hills at US $7.45 and Nagarhole National Park at US $3.16. The main implication of the study is to design the entry fees for the recreational site and sustainable utilization of recreational ecosystem services for the present and future generations.

Are we Ready for a “Microbiome-Guided Behaviour” Approach?

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (04) ◽  
pp. 708-724
Author(s):  
ANDREA LAVAZZA ◽  
VITTORIO A. SIRONI
Keyword(s):  
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Fecal Microbiota ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Mind

Abstract:The microbiome is proving to be increasingly important for human brain functioning. A series of recent studies have shown that the microbiome influences the central nervous system in various ways, and consequently acts on the psychological well-being of the individual by mediating, among others, the reactions of stress and anxiety. From a specifically neuroethical point of view, according to some scholars, the particular composition of the microbiome—qua microbial community—can have consequences on the traditional idea of human individuality. Another neuroethical aspect concerns the reception of this new knowledge in relation to clinical applications. In fact, attention to the balance of the microbiome—which includes eating behavior, the use of psychobiotics and, in the treatment of certain diseases, the use of fecal microbiota transplantation—may be limited or even prevented by a biased negative attitude. This attitude derives from a prejudice related to everything that has to do with the organic processing of food and, in general, with the human stomach and intestine: the latter have traditionally been regarded as low, dirty, contaminated and opposed to what belongs to the mind and the brain. This biased attitude can lead one to fail to adequately consider the new anthropological conceptions related to the microbiome, resulting in a state of health, both physical and psychological, inferior to what one might have by paying the right attention to the knowledge available today. Shifting from the ubiquitous high-low metaphor (which is synonymous with superior-inferior) to an inside-outside metaphor can thus be a neuroethical strategy to achieve a new and unbiased reception of the discoveries related to the microbiome.

Small Business Orientation: A Construct Proposal

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-552
Author(s):  
Rodney C. Runyan ◽  
Jeffrey G. Covin
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Multidimensional Construct ◽  
Small Business Management ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Business Orientation

Entrepreneurship and small business management literatures diverged decades ago, with the former receiving the bulk of subsequent scholarly attention. The concept of a small business orientation (SBO) has not been widely and consistently employed in the literature. We present a conceptual framework aimed at clarifying the construct of SBO, and conceptualize SBO as a firm size- and age-independent phenomenon operating at the individual level, and reflecting manager values about how the business ought to be conducted. We discuss the values-based derivation of SBO, identify elements of this multidimensional construct, its likely consequences, and propose future research directions.

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