century utilitarians. Their thinking ultimately led to a justification of income maximisation as the measure of progress, equating income and utility. In contrast, the revived approach by neo-utilitarians intends to replace income as the objective by measures of happiness derived from surveys. This paper assesses happiness as the objective of development and measure of progress, contrasting it ...

In a review of recent cross-cultural evidence on happiness and well-being, the authors identified substantial cultural variations in (1) cultural meanings of happiness, (2) motivations underlying happiness, and (3) predictors of happiness. Specifically, in North American cultural contexts, happiness tends to be defined in terms of personal achievement. Individuals engaging in these cultures are...

JEL classification: C31 D6 O13 Q56 The measurement of natural capital and its management during the economic development process are important aspects of the capital approach to sustainable development. However, the assessment of social welfare in terms of genuine savings (or changes in total wealth per capita) is arguably too limited. This paper tries to make a case for the incorporation of su...

Although attaining happiness is a nearly universal goal, surprisingly little research has focused on how happiness can be increased and then sustained. Three studies test predictions of a model (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005) positing that sustainable happiness is possible through intentional activity changes, more so than through circumstantial changes. Study 1 shows that less hedonic adaptation is...

Despite the existence of a large volume of literature on subjective well-being (SWB) of the general population, very few studies have focused on individuals with disabilities. The present study uses data on 24,036 Canadians with disabilities to investigate factors affecting their SWB. It found that SWB, measured here by level of happiness, decreases with severity of disability but is independen...

The present study aimed to explore the influences of extraversion and neuroticism on happiness, PA and NA and to examine the mediating effect of resilience in this relationship. NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to 289 college students. Results from...

We studied the relationship between happiness and individual socio-demographic context and health and dietary variables by interviewing 389 elderly individuals (age 60-90 years) living in rural areas in the Maule Region of Central Chile. The Lyubomirsky & Lepper (1999) subjective happiness scale was used. Ordinal logistic regression models were estimated. The discrete dependent variable was lev...