THE STRUCTURE OF LATGALE INHABITANTS’ FEELING OF HAPPINESS AND ITS SOCIO- DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINATES

Authors

  • Ēriks Kalvāns Rezekne Academy of Tehnologies (LV)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17770/ercs2015.1141

Keywords:

gender, happiness, level of education, material assurance, social activity

Abstract

The aim of this scientific research article is to describe the structure of the Latgale inhabitants’ feeling of happiness, the influencing socio-demographic factors, as well as the presentation of socio-demographic portraits of the happy and unhappy Latgale inhabitants. A key concept of „happiness” is used in this publication. The theoretical interpretation of the happiness phenomenon is based on the findings of positive psychology, according to which happiness is defined as a life satisfaction and positive evaluation of his life and positive emotions over negative emotions. As the research base Latgale region has been chosen because this is the region of Latvia with the lowest socio-economic development, which is considered one of the poorest regions in the European Union - so it acquires a special topicality of welfare problem, the most important aspect of happiness. „Oxford happiness questionnaire” adapted by the author to Latvian culture and socio-demographic survey, were used in the research paper. It was found out that essential socio-demographic factors influencing the Latgale habitants’ feeling of happiness are a social activity, a material assurance, gender and level of education.

References

Adler, N. E., & Newman, K. (2002). Socioeconomic Disparities In Health: Pathways And Policies. Health Affairs, 21 (2), 60-76.

Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness. London: Routledge.

Argyle, M. (2003). Causes and Correlates of Happiness, In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.). Well being: The foundations of hedonic psychology, 353-373.

Argyle, M., & Lu, L. (1990). The happiness of extraverts. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 1011-1017.

Argyle, M., & Martin, M. (1991). The psychological causes of happiness. In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwarz (Eds.). Subjective well-being. An interdisciplinary perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 77-100.

Diener, E., Biswas-Diener, R. (2002) Will money increase subjective well-being? A review and guide to needed literature. Social Indicators Research 57, 119 – 169.

Diener, E., Oishi, S., Lucas, R.E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 403-425.

Diener, E., Seligman, M. (2004). Beyond Money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1-31.

Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81–84.

Galati, D., & Sotgiu, I. (2004). Happiness and Positive Emotions. In: A. Delle Fave (Ed.). Positive Psychology. Special issue of Ricerche di Psicologia 1, 41-62.

Hills, P.,Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences 33, 1073–1082.

Kahneman, D., Diener, E., Schwarz, N. (2003). Well-Being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology. Russell Sage Foundation Publications.

Kalvāns, Ē. (2013). Latgales iedzīvotāju laimes izjūtas struktūra un psiholoģiskās labklājības saturs. Promocijas darbs. Daugavpils.

Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 280-287.

Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137-155.

Prieto, K.C., Diener, E., Tamir, M., Scollon, C. (2005). Integrating The Diverse Definitions Of Happiness: A Time-Sequential Framework Of Subjective Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6 (3), 261 - 300.

Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic Happiness. New York: Free Press.

Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2004). Achieving sustainable new happiness: Prospects, practices, and prescriptions. In A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 127 – 145.

Snyder, C. R., & Lopez, S. J. (Eds.). (2009). Oxford handbook of positive psychology, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

Воронов, В.В., Лавриненко, О.Я. (2011). Доходы населения Латвии: уровень, дифференциация, динамика. Социологические исследования, 9, c. 47.

Мишутина, Е.А. (2009). Социально-философский анализ феномена счастья. Диссертационная работа. Новочеркас, 186 с.

Downloads

Published

2016-06-29

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Kalvāns, Ēriks. (2016). THE STRUCTURE OF LATGALE INHABITANTS’ FEELING OF HAPPINESS AND ITS SOCIO- DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINATES. Education Reform in Comprehensive School: Education Content Research and Implementation Problems, 5-13. https://doi.org/10.17770/ercs2015.1141