Social Representation of Conditions for Happiness and Living Experiences Source of Happiness in Chile and Italy

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: Nov 2, 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22201/fesi.20070780.2013.5.2.42252

Main Article Content

María José Rodríguez Araneda
Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Escuela de Psicología, Profesora Asociada.

Abstract

The research is aimed at understanding and qualitatively describing the social representation of conditions for happiness and of living experiences source of happiness in the discourse of socializing agents in matters of well-being and quality of life. Whether these attributions are consistent with the findings of positive psychology was also analyzed. The study was non experimental, transversal, cross-cultural, and qualitative. The sample was non-probabilistic and included health and education students and professionals in Chile and Italy. Open-ended questions were applied to students of psychology, obstetrics and related fields of both sexes aged between 18 and 38 years. Focus groups were conducted with students and professionals of both sexes, including educators, psychologists and related professionals, aged between 22 and 67 years. People attributed happiness to external conditions (affection and personal freedom) and internal factors (psychological capital). The discourse balanced the presence of experiences of satisfaction by reception (passive role) and by realization (active role). The ranges of these experiences vary from individual to collective scopes. A common nucleus of social representation in both groups was identified, which included elements that positive psychology has linked with happiness. This information guides the training of professionals influencing the lifestyles of the population.

Article Details

How to Cite
Rodríguez Araneda, M. J. (2013). Social Representation of Conditions for Happiness and Living Experiences Source of Happiness in Chile and Italy. Journal of Behavior, Health & Social Issues, 5(2), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.22201/fesi.20070780.2013.5.2.42252

Citas en Dimensions Service

Author Biography

María José Rodríguez Araneda, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Escuela de Psicología, Profesora Asociada.

Degree: PhD in Psychology, University of Chile.

Affiliation: University of Santiago of Chile, School of Psychology, Associate Professor. Research Line: Meanings of happiness, ethics, quality of life, social and organizational psychology.

Email: mariajose.rodriguez.a @ usach.cl

References

Abric, J. (1984). A theoretical and experimental approach to the study of social representations in a situation of interaction. In R. Farr & S. Moscovici (Eds.), Social Representations (pp. 169-184). London: Cambridge University Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Fluir: una psicología de la felicidad. Barcelona: Kairos.

Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.95.3.542

Diener, E., Kesebir, P., & Lucas, R. (2008). Benefits of Accounts of Well-Being-for societies and for Psychological Science. Applied Psychology: Health & well-being, 3 (1), 1-43, available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00353.x

Diener, E., Suh, E., Luca, R., & Smith, H. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 271 – 301. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.125.2.276

Duckworth, A., Steen, T. & Seligman, M. (2005). Positive psychology in clinical practice. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 629-651. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144154

Fisher, C. (2010). Happiness at work. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12,384-412. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00270.x

González, F. (2008) Subjetividad social, sujeto y representaciones sociales. Revista Diversitas- Perspectivas en Psicología, 4, 225-243.

Hofstede, G. (2011). Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Downloaded on June 13, 2011 Site http://www.geert-hofstede.com

Javaloy, F. (Coord.) (2007). Bienestar y felicidad de la juventud española. España: INJUVE.

Jodelet, D. (1984). La representación social. Fenómenos conceptos y teorías. Barcelona: Paidós.

Kasser, T. & Ryan R. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410–22. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.65.2.410

Lu, L., & Gilmour, R. (2004) Cultural and conceptions of happiness: Individual oriented and social oriented SWB. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5, 269-291. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-004-8789-5

Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). La ciencia de la felicidad. Barcelona: Urano.

Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111-131. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111

Moscovici S. (1993). Psicología social II. Barcelona: Paidós.

New Economic Fundation. (2009). The Happy Planet Index 2.0. Downloaded on November 15, 2009 Site http://www.happyplanetindex.org/public-data/files/happy-planet-index-2-0.pdf

Páez, D. (1987). Pensamiento, individuo y sociedad: Cognición y representación social. Madrid: Fundamentos.

Reyes-Jarquín, K. & Hernández-Pozo, M. (2012) Análisis crítico de los estudios que exploran la autoeficacia y bienestar vinculados al comportamiento saludable. Journal of Behavior, Health & Social Issues, 3(2), 5-24. Available via: //http://dx.doi.org/10.5460/jbhsi.v3.2.29915

Rodríguez, M.J. (2011) Representación social de la noción de felicidad: un estudio transcultural en muestras calificadas de estudiantes universitarios y profesionales de las áreas de la educación y la salud en Chile e Italia. In Jesús Redondo (Editor) in Tesis Doctorales en Psicología, Compendio 2011. Colección Praxis Psicológicas. Universidad de Chile.

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2001) On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Anual Review of Psychology, 52, 141-166. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141

Ryff, C. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,57, 1069-1081. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069

Ryff, C., & Singer, B. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 13-39. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9019-0

Salazar, M., & Herrera, M. (2007). La representación social de los valores en el ámbito educativo. Investigación y Postgrado, 22, 261-305. Downloaded on July 19, 2009 Site http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/pdf/658/65822111.pdf

Seligman, M. (1998). Learned optimism. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Seligman, M. (2003). La autentica felicidad. Barcelona: Vergara.

Sisto, V. (2008). La investigación como una aventura de producción dialógica: La relación con el otro y los criterios de validación en la metodología cualitativa contemporánea. Psicoperspectivas, VII, 114- 136. Downloaded on January 9, 2009 Site http://www.psicoperspectivas.cl

Sotgio, I., Galati, D. & Manzano, M. (2011). Happiness components and their attainment in old age: a cross-cultural comparison between Italy and Cuba. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 353-371. Available via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10902-010-9198-6

Taylor, S., & Bogdan, R. (1987). Introducción a los métodos cualitativos de investigación: La búsqueda de significados. Barcelona: Paidós Ibérica.

United Nation Development Programme (2011). International Human Development Indicators. Available via http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/profiles

Van Dijk, T. (2000). Ideología: Una aproximación multidisciplinaria. Barcelona: Gedisa.

Veenhoven, R. (1984). Conditions of Happiness. Downloaded on June 13, 2011 Site http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub1980s/84a-con.htm

Veenhoven, R. (1993). Happiness in Nation. Downloaded on June 13, 2011 Site http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/veenhoven/Pub1990s/93b-con.html

Veenhoven, R. (2005). Apparent quality-of-life in nations: how long and happy people live. Social Indicators Research 71, 61-68. Available via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-004-8014-2

Veenhoven, R. (2011). The Word Data Base of Happiness. Available via: http://www.worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl

Esta revista es de acceso libre inmediato a su contenido, bajo el principio de hacer disponible al público gratuitamente las investigaciones publicadas.

Los autores que publiquen en Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) aceptan las siguientes condiciones:

  1. De acuerdo con la legislación de derechos de autor, en Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) reconoce y respeta el derecho moral de los autores, así como la titularidad del derecho patrimonial, el cual será transferido —de forma no exclusiva— a la revista para su difusión en acceso abierto.
  2. La revista Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) no realiza cargos a los autores por enviar y procesar artículos para su publicación.
  3. Todos los textos publicados por en Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI)

—sin excepción— se distribuyen amparados bajo la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución- NoComercial 4.0 Internacional, que permite a terceros utilizar lo publicado siempre que mencionen la autoría del trabajo y a la primera publicación en esta revista.

  1. Los autores pueden realizar otros acuerdos contractuales independientes y adicionales para la distribución no exclusiva de la versión del artículo publicado en Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI), por ejemplo incluirlo en un repositorio institucional o darlo a conocer en otros medios en papel o electrónicos, siempre que indique clara y explícitamente que el trabajo se publicó por primera vez en el Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI).
  2. Para todo lo anterior, los autores deben remitir el formato de carta de transmisión de derechos patrimoniales de la primera publicación debidamente requisitado y firmado, al momento de ser aceptado para su publicación el manuscrito en cuestión.

 

 

This is an open-access journal in terms of its content, under the premise of making published research available to the public for free.

The authors who publish on the Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) accept the following terms:

  1. In accordance to the copyright law, the Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) recognizes and respects the moral law of the authors, as well as the ownership right, which will be transferred –in a non-exclusive manner- to the journal for its open access diffusion.
  2. The Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) does not charge the authors for sending and processing the papers for their publication.
  3. Every text published by the Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI) –with no exception- is distributed under protection of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, which allows third parties to utilize what was published as long as they mention the authorship of the paper and the first publication in this journal.
  4. The authors can hold other contractual agreements, independent and additional to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the article in the Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI), such as including it in an institutional repository or promoting it through channels different from paper or electronic publications, as long as it indicates clearly and explicitly that the paper was first published in the Journal of Behavior, Health and Social Issues (JBHSI).
  5. For all the previous matters, the authors must refer the format of the letter of transference of patrimonial rights of the first publication, properly required and signed, at the moment of being approved for publication in the manuscript at issue.