Friday, April 25th, 2008
[...]Imagine you are a president or prime minister. It is imperative to keep your people happy because you hope to be re-elected in order to make your citizens happier and to run your country efficiently. You also know that people care about personal factors like health, income, education and development in general. You have an intuitive idea that they care also about external factors like inflation and security. But how do you work out the relative importance of all these things that constitute well-being which in turn translate to happiness? We are talking about happiness economics.
Historically, economists have said that well-being is a simple function of income. By their argument, happiness ought to be the preserve of the super rich— the Bill Gates and the Roman Abramovichs of this world. But the million dollar question is: Are the rich always happy?[...]
Rooted in this postulation is the thinking of happiness economics, which is the study of a country’s well-being by combining economists’ and psychologists’ techniques. The goal of happiness economics is to determine where people derive their well-being. Happiness economists hope to change the way governments view well-being and how to most effectively govern and allocate resources given this paradox.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Economics, Education, Government, Happier, Happiness Economics, happy, Health, Income, Inflation, Psychology, Pursuit of Happiness, Security, Well-being
Posted in Economics, Education, Government, Happier, Happiness Economics, Health, Income, Inflation, Psychology, Pursuit of Happiness, Security, Well-being, happy | No Comments »
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Although some people may spend part of the Labor Day weekend complaining about their bosses or about job burnout, most Americans are satisfied with their jobs, a new University of Chicago study shows.
The survey found that job satisfaction increases with age, with workers over 65 among the most satisfied. The study shows that 86 percent of the people interviewed between 1972 and 2006 said they were satisfied at their jobs, with 48 percent saying they were very satisfied. Only four percent reported being very dissatisfied.
In addition to older workers, those with more education, those earning more money, and workers in the South Central states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississipi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee were the most satisfied. Blacks, Hispanics and people doing unskilled labor were the least happy, according to the report “Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demographic Correlates” by Tom W. Smith, Director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Center at the University of Chicago.
Click here for the full article.
Tags: Alabama, Americans, Arkansas, Blacks, Bosses, Burnout, Education, General Social Survey, happy, Hispanics, Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demograph, Jobs, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississipi, Money, National Opinion Center, Oklahoma, Salary, Satisfaction, Tennessee, Texas, University of Chicago, Unskilled Labor, Work
Posted in Alabama, Americans, Arkansas, Blacks, Bosses, Burnout, Education, General Social Survey, Hispanics, Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction in America: Trends and Socio-Demograph, Jobs, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississipi, Money, National Opinion Center, Oklahoma, Salary, Satisfaction, Tennessee, Texas, University of Chicago, Unskilled Labor, Work, happy | No Comments »
