REAL HAPPINESS AS REALIZATION OF IMPORTANT VITAL VALUES AND RESEARCH OF ITS STRUCTURE IN LATGALE REGION

Authors

  • Ēriks Kalvāns Rezekne Academy of Technologies (LV)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17770/ercs2017.2752

Keywords:

real happiness, the realization of values, positive social relations, self-realization and positive attitude toward oneself, satisfaction with public values, Latgale inhabitants

Abstract

The aim of this scientific research article is to justify the term “real happiness” and the investigation of this phœnomen in the Latgale region.

A number of studies confirmed the link between happiness and the socio-economic conditions in the state. The low standard of living of Latgale’s inhabitants resulted in a fast decline of the number of inhabitants in the region. The unemployment rate in Latgale is the largest rate of unemployment in Latvia. For this reason, the problem of well-being, the integral psychological part of which is a sense of real happiness is very topical in this region.

The theoretical interpretation of happiness in this article is based on the interpretation of this phenomenon as the degree of realization of the person's vital values. The term “real happiness” is used in the context of this understanding of happiness. This interpretation allows us to fully study the phenomenon of happiness, in contrast to the hedonistic concept of this phenomenon, according to which happiness is treated only as a pleasure.

The author developed methodology „Real Happiness Scales”, were used in the research paper.

It was found out that the low level of feeling of real happiness is a topical problem for Latgale people, since 57.53 % can be classified as unhappy according the structure of this phenomenon. 

References

Adler, N. E., & Newman, K. (2002). Socioeconomic disparities in health: Pathways and policies. Health Affairs, 21 (2), 60-76.

Andrews, F. M., & Withey, S. B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: America's perception of life quality. NY: Plenum Press.

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.

Clark, A., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and Unemployment. The Economic Journal, 104, 648-659.

Diener, E. (1984). Subjective Well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95 (3), 542-575.

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

Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 2, 276 – 302.

Dunkel, C. S. (2013). Relative and longitudinal evidence for the importance of the General Factor of Psychosocial Development in predicting well-being. Personality & Individual Differences, 54 (1), 118-122.

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

Rand, A. (1992). Atlas Shrugged. New York: Dutton.

Starck, F., Argyle, M., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Subjective well-being an interdisciplinary perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 298 p.

Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2008). Economic growth and subjective well-being: Reassessing the Easterlin paradox. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring, 1-87.

Svence, G. (2009). Pozitīvā psiholoģija. Apgāds Zvaigzne ABC.

Theuns, P., Baran, B., & Van Vaerenbergh, R. (2012). A Cross-Cultural Experimental Approach to the Contribution of Health, Religion and Personal Relations to Subjective Satisfaction with Life as a Whole. Psicologica: International Journal of Methodology and Experimental Psychology, 33 (3), 591-608.

Valsts Nodarbinātības aģentūras dati. (2016). http://www.nva.gov.lv/

Wendt, A. (1994). Collective Identity Formation and the International State. American Political Science Review. N 88.

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

Капто, А. С. (2006). Генезис миролюбивых общечеловеческих ценностей. Социально-гуманитарные знания, 6, 256-277.

Карпинский, К. В. (2011). Ценностные конфликты и смысложизненный кризис в развитии личности. Психологические исследования: электронный научный журнал, 5 (19).

URL: http://psystudy.ru.

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

Downloads

Published

2017-12-22

Issue

Section

Articles