ObjectivesNovel information about the relationships between farmers’ job demands, lack of resource, burnout, and ill health is reported based on testing the so-called “health impairment process” of the Job Demands─Resources Model on a representative sample of Finnish dairy farmers. The aim was to find out whether two different job demand factors; workload, societal demands and lack of resource; loneliness, were related to the indicators of ill health via burnout.MethodsThe data is based on a postal survey of 400 Finnish dairy farms. (...) Altogether 265 questionnaires were received from 188 farms and included in the analysis. The response rate was 47 per cent among sample farms. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the relationships between the variables. Explanatory factor analysis was used to group the job demand and lack of resource variables.ResultsWe identified two job demand factors, which we labelled workload and societal demands and one lacking job resource, loneliness. Our theoretical model was supported in that two of the factors, namely workload and loneliness, were related to ill health indirectly via burnout. In addition, workload was directly connected with ill health. Societal job demands were not significantly related to burnout, or to ill health.ConclusionOur results suggest that farmers could benefit from means to reduce workload, especially the physical load. This topic needs further research as the restructuring process has increased farm enterprise sizes. There is a need to develop tools and projects to alleviate loneliness among farmers. Lack of social support, high workload, ill health, and burnout among farmers may have serious direct and indirect negative consequences for the sustainability of farming. (shrink)

Most of the previous literature has focused on the positive effects of ethical leadership on organizations and employees, but some studies have unexpectedly found that ethical leadership is negatively related to employees' well-being at work. Based on the theory of workplace anxiety, this research explored whether ethical leadership can reduce employees' well-being at work by causing them to feel anxious about organizational citizenship behavior and whether organizational concern motivation moderates this mechanism. We collected 227 (...) three-stage time-crossed data samples from 12 institutions in Hainan China, then tested our research hypotheses to confirm that ethical leadership has a negative impact on employees' well-being at work under certain conditions. We found that: (1) ethical leadership is significantly and positively correlated with the organizational citizenship anxiety perceived by employees, (2) organizational citizenship anxiety perceived by employees plays a completely mediating role between ethical leadership and employee well-being at work, and (3) organizational concern motivation not only negatively moderates the negative correlation between employees’ organizational citizenship anxiety and well-being at work, but also further moderates the indirect negative effect of ethical leadership on employee well-being at work through organizational citizenship anxiety. (shrink)

Despite significant promotion of diversity in companies, as well as legislation for equal opportunities for women and men, it must be noted that women still remain largely in the minority in decision-making positions. This observation reflects the phenomenon of the glass ceiling that constitutes vertical discrimination within companies against women. Although the glass ceiling has generated research interest, some authors have pointed out that theoretical models have made little attempt to develop an understanding of this phenomenon and its implications. (...) Therefore, our study aims to fill this gap and to better understand the phenomenon of the glass ceiling by considering both its antecedents and its possible consequences. More precisely, we extend the model developed by Elacqua et al., proposing a more comprehensive model including organizational gender culture as a third factor in the emergence of the glass ceiling through the perception of differential treatment. We also investigated the glass ceiling’s consequences for organizational attitudes and well-being at work by considering work-to-family conflict as a possible mediator. We surveyed 320 women in managerial positions in a Belgian organization. Our study highlights the importance of all three factors in the emergence of the perception of differential treatment and, ultimately, the perception that a glass ceiling exists. Moreover, our results show that WFC fully mediates the effects of the glass ceiling on job strain and job engagement, and partially mediates the effects of the glass ceiling on job satisfaction and intention to quit. (shrink)

In this article I trace the connected histories of well-being and welfare within contemporary American social science and policy. Focusing on the postwar concept of learned helplessness and its associated notions like hopelessness, industriousness, and laziness, I trace a genealogy that is part of the story of the rise of positive psychology, as well as the disciplinary and cultural shift toward self-control, self-monitoring, and other aspects of a moral self-governance founded on values of responsibility and persistence in (...) pursuing personal well-being. Springing from animal research on rats, dogs, and pigeons, then swiftly toward human subjects such as sufferers of depression, students, and welfare recipients, the trajectory from helplessness and hopelessness toward responsibility and persistence followed and possibly influenced both attitudes toward welfarism and changes in American welfare policies. From Curt Richter’s work on hopeless rats to Martin Seligman and colleagues’ decades-spanning work that culminated in positive psychology (part of the wider happiness studies and science of well-being movements), psychological research is framed within the wider history of American welfare. Coinciding with a growing disciplinary inclination toward individual self-improvement that valued personal responsibility and persistence as key virtues, welfare was continually reformed and dismantled under the same principles. (shrink)

"Well-being," "welfare," "utility," and "quality of life," all closely related concepts, are at the center of morality, politics, law, and economics. Griffin's book, while primarily a volume of moral philosophy, is relevant to all of these subjects. Griffin offers answers to three central questions about well-being: what is the best way to understand it, can it be measured, and where should it fit in moral and political thought. With its breadth of investigation and depth of insight, (...) this work holds significance for philosophers as well as for those interested in political and economic theory and jurisprudence. (shrink)

Two studies were performed to test the relationship between readiness for self-improvement (consisting of two components: readiness to improve oneself and readiness to take care of one’s health) and selected measures of well-being. The first study investigated whether readiness for self-improvement is related to the selected measures of overall subjective well-being (or life satisfaction). The second one investigated in what way readiness for self-improvement is related to subjective well-being at workplace (or work engagement). (...) The results obtained in both cases showed that readiness for self-improvement is indeed related to and does account for well-being. In the first study, readiness for self-improvement (i.e. readiness to improve oneself) accounted for overall life satisfaction within important human life domains and satisfaction with the present and future life. In the second study, work engagement, was significantly linked to readiness to improve oneself but was not with readiness to take care of one’s health. (shrink)

Organizations receive multiple benefits when their members act ethically. Of interest in this study is if the actors receive benefits as well, especially as individuals look to work to fulfill psychological and social needs in addition to economic ones. Specifically, we highlight a series of ongoing ethical practices embodied in professional moral courage and their relationship to actor’s work meaningfulness and life well-being. Drawing on self-determination theory and affective events theory, we explore how exercising professional (...) moral courage in one’s work leads to positive work and life outcomes. Data from 106 administrative staff of non-profit organizations demonstrates the positive benefits of adopting ethical practices at work. Specifically, professional moral courage is found to be significantly related to both work meaningfulness and individual eudaimonic life well-being. Our findings note positive benefits for individuals who incorporate professional moral courage into their daily lives and provide support for organizations seeking to encourage it from their employees; benefits for organizations and employees go beyond just the gains from ethical behavior into other positive psychological processes. Implications for future work that considers both the psychological and normative approaches to meaningful work are discussed. (shrink)

This paper presents the results of ChiPS: Children’s Playfulness in School, a research project investigating the relationship between play and children’s well-being in primary schools. By analyzing 10 narrative interviews conducted with teachers from 4 schools in the province of Bolzano, we investigated how they perceive school environments and the existence of moments that foster children’s well-being. Sampling and data analysis were in line with the Grounded Theory approach. The results reveal that the quality of the (...) relationship between children, as well as between adults and children (Heinzel, 2022), is nourished by the pleasure of being together at school: in the spaces between lessons, during breaks, before and after school and in the group work encouraged by open teaching (Petillon, 1993; Peschel, 2003; Demo, 2016). We have termed such moments ‘liminal spaces’, that is, transitional situations between different places and times within the school institution (Turner in Berti, 2023). (shrink)

Although research has demonstrated the benefit of psychological detachment for employee well-being, the explanatory mechanisms related to work behaviors underlying this effect remain underdeveloped. Addressing this research gap, we consider self-discrepant time allocation (preferred–actual allocation) as a mediating mechanism through which psychological detachment affects employee well-being. We hypothesize that psychological detachment is associated with self-discrepant time allocation at work. Specifically, we suggest that employees with low detachment tend to allocate more time than preferred to (...) work activities that demand fewer self-regulatory resources, and allocate less time than preferred to activities demanding greater self-regulatory resources. These self-discrepant time allocations at work are associated with employee well-being. Polynomial regression analysis and response surface methodology were used to test the hypotheses. The results, based on a sample of 390 faculty members from 19 universities, showed that, when psychological detachment during weekends is low and self-regulatory resources are insufficient, employees will allocate less time than preferred to work activities that require more self-regulatory resources (i.e., researching activities) during the subsequent work period. Instead, employees tend to allocate more time to activities that require less resources (i.e., teaching activities). These discrepancies between actual and preferred time allocation at work activities, in turn, negatively affect employee well-being and mediate the relationship between psychological detachment and employee well-being. (shrink)

ABSTRACT:This paper examines the norms that should guide policies aimed at promoting happiness or, more broadly, well-being. In particular, we take up the question of which conception of well-being should govern well-being policy, assuming some such policies to be legitimate. In answer, we lay out a case for ‘pragmatic subjectivism’: given widely accepted principles of respect for persons, well-being policy may not assume any view of well-being, subjectivist or objectivist. Rather, (...) it should promote what its intended beneficiaries see as good for them: pleasure for hedonists, excellence for Aristotelians, etc. Specifically, well-being policy should promote citizens’ ‘personal welfare values’: those values—and not mere preferences—that individuals see as bearing on their well-being. Finally, we briefly consider how pragmatic subjectivism works in practice. While our discussion takes for granted the legitimacy of well-being policy, we suggest that pragmatic subjectivism strengthens the case for such policy. (shrink)

Previous research on unethical business behavior usually has focused on its impact from a financial or philosophical perspective. While such foci are important to our understanding of unethical behavior, we argue that another set of outcomes linked to individual well-being are critical as well. Using data from psychological, criminological, and epidemiological sources, we propose a model of unethical behavior and well-being. This model postulates that decrements in well-being result from stress or trauma stemming (...) from being victimized by, engaging in, or witnessing unethical behavior, or even from being associated with individuals involved in such behavior. (shrink)

Well-being in the broadest sense is what we have when we are living lives that are not necessarily morally good, but good for us. In philosophy, well-being has been an important topic of inquiry for millennia. In psychology, well-being as a topic has been gathering steam very recently and this research is now at a stage that warrants the attention of philosophers. The most popular theories of well-being in the two fields are (...) similar enough to suggest the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration. In this essay I provide an overview of three of the main questions that arise from psychologists’ work on well-being, and highlight areas that invite philosophical input. Those questions center on the nature, measurement, and moral significance of well-being. I also argue that the life-satisfaction theory is particularly well suited to meet the various demands on a theory of well-being. (shrink)

Chapter 5 focuses on the well-being and well-becoming of the workforce. Happy people work more effectively and are less at risk of avoidable ill-health, disability, and premature death. Mitigating risk factors such as mental health problems and health-harming lifestyle choices can improve employee health and well-being, creating substantial savings to the UK National Health Service (NHS), employers, and government. In this chapter, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is applied to the workplace to help us (...) think about the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions that focus on employee health and well-being, reduce presenteeism and absenteeism, and improve rates of retention and productivity. This chapter is structured around dimensions of good work, such as: pay and benefits; contracts; work-life balance; job design and the nature of work; relationships at work; employee voice; and health and well-being. The chapter concludes with curiosity questions for the reader to consider. (shrink)

This chapter argues that accounts of well-being or flourishing need to be responsive to our best understanding of the self, so that _self-fulfillment_ must constitute at least part of human well-being. Following on earlier work, two new arguments are offered for this conclusion. The _convergence argument_ suggests that many accounts of well-being implicitly converge on a self-fulfillment view. Taking three popular theories, the chapter argues that the most compelling insights of each militate for (...) a move toward a self-fulfillment view. Second, the _piggybacking argument_ starts from the reliance on notions of the self in other philosophical realms, suggesting there is independent reason to posit substantive views about the self. And once one has committed to an account of the self, it would be unreasonable to set that view aside when thinking about what it is for one to flourish, as if what’s good for people could be independent of who they are. (shrink)

Research on gender inequalities in well-being, attribute lower levels of wellness in women to the burden of multiple role demands, particularly during midlife. Using mostly quantitative measures of subjective well-being (SWB), such studies tend to narrow the concept of well-being and overlook the value of in-depth, context-specific inquiry. Work-life balance is also a consistent causative narrative in studies on women's well-being. Yet, such a narrative frequently emphasizes individual agency in a seemingly (...) unattainable quest, implying an anomaly on how women then actually manage to sustain their well-being. The present study therefore explored the work-life experiences of women in their midlife. The aim was to reach a deeper understanding of the psycho-social dynamics at play in sustaining a psychologically-well self. Meta-theoretically the study built on non-traditional and gendered career models that augment female employees' unique career needs. From a socioanalytic stance, this study investigated secondary data gathered from focus groups, which were based on the socioanalytic method of social dream drawing. The data originated from four sessions of social dream drawings, in which the researcher as participant-observer, investigated work-life experiences of seven women. The gathered information was managed through Atlas.ti and processed through phenomenological hermeneutic analysis. The findings contribute to the discourse on women and well-being and give insight into the application of a unique socioanalytic methodology to research in this field from a gendered perspective. Results were analyzed by developing metaphors from the data. These metaphors reflect women's well-being as they present three unique career needs, namely challenge, balance, and authenticity, during their midlife career stage. Findings show how women's projective identification with outdated gender role norms may perpetuate a gendered notion of work-life balance, which consistently challenges their well-being. Projective identifications are evident in introjected feelings of self-doubt, self-stereotyping, and in the tension between female employees' personal and social identities. The study ultimately points to well-being as a dynamic phenomenon, which women sustain by engaging both positive and negative experiences and through identity tasks such as self-awareness, self-authorisation, self-regard, and authentic self-expression. These findings highlight the importance of creating self-reflective space in organizations to facilitate women's psychological well-being. (shrink)

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between Italian teachers’ well-being, socio-demographic characteristics and professional background. Using data from the 2015 wave of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) we considered information collected by the questionnaire completed by a total of 6,491 teachers in the sampled schools. Moving from existing literature on teachers’ well-being, we investigate several aspects related to the teachers’ working environment, career motivation and investment, and job satisfaction. We assess the variability in (...) the observed outcomes attributable to school factors and heterogeneity between disciplines. Measurement models are combined in a multilevel setting in order to define teachers’ well-being on a broad perspective while accounting for the multiple sources of heterogeneity due to several factors (e.g., discipline, teacher professional background, and individual differences) occurring at different levels of the data structure. In general, results show that the teachers’ positive perception of the working environment in terms of availability of adequate human and physical resources, and professional development opportunities, provide a substantial state of well-being at work, and are related to teachers’ job satisfaction. Moreover, results highlight the key role of transformational leadership in defining a teacher’s well-being. Findings and implications are discussed. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship of leadership effectiveness and psychological well-being with the work outcomes of intention to quit, job involvement and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), and whether workplace spirituality plays a role in mediating the associations of leadership effectiveness and psychological well-being with work outcomes. The study is cross-sectional and non-experimental. Data were obtained from 630 information technology (IT) employees from South India, adopting ‘power calculations’. The analysis was performed (...) using SPSS version 20 for Windows and LISREL version 8.72. Results reveal that leadership effectiveness and psychological well-being have a significant positive association with workplace spirituality, and this, in turn, has an impact on the work outcomes of intention to quit, job involvement and OBSE. Workplace spirituality can limit any negative associations of leadership effectiveness and psychological well-being with work outcomes. This research adds to the existing body of knowledge in the spirituality literature by drawing attention to the positive aspects of the interplay between spirituality, leadership transformation and well-being at work. The article concludes that building core values anchoring spirituality would lead to greater connectedness and healthier employee outcomes. (shrink)

Husserl, as is well known, bases his study of appearing on subjective functions. He also makes appearing prior to being insofar phenomenology grants being to entities only to the point that they can appear. Both positions result in the paradox that he presents in the Crisis, where he asks: “How can human subjectivity, which is a part of the world, constitute the whole world, i.e., constitute it as its intentional product…? The subjective part of the world swallows (...) up, so to speak, the whole world including itself. What an absurdity!”. The paradox arises from Husserl’s taking being as presence and asserting that presence is established through constitution and, as such, is the work of subjectivity. In this article, I explore an alternative based on Aristotle's concept of functioning. This is a functioning that is prior to both subjects and objects, a functioning that is responsible for both being and appearing. The introduction of this concept, I argue, does not change Husserl’s description of the functioning of constitution. It does, however, add an ontological basis that prevents phenomenology from falling into this paradox.Husserl, como es bien sabido, basa su estudio del aparecer en funciones sujetivas. También presenta el aparecer como anterior al ser en tanto en cuanto la fenomenología le concede ser a las entidades sólo hasta el punto de que puedan aparecer. Ambas posiciones dan como resultado la paradoja que presenta en La crisis, donde pregunta: "¿Cómo puede la subjetividad humana, que es parte del mundo, constituir el mundo entero, es decir, constituirlo como su producto intencional...? La parte subjetiva del mundo se traga, por así decirlo, todo el mundo, incluido él mismo. ¡Qué absurdo!". La paradoja surge del hecho de que Husserl toma el ser como presencia y de que afirma que la presencia se establece a través de la constitución y que, como tal, es el trabajo de la subjetividad. En este artículo, exploro una alternativa basada en el concepto de funcionamiento de Aristóteles. Este es un funcionamiento que es anterior a ambos sujetos y objetos, un funcionamiento que es responsable de ser y aparecer. La introducción de este concepto, sostengo, no cambia la des-cripción de Husserl del funcionamiento de la constitución. Sin embargo, agrega una base ontológica que evita que la fenomenología caiga en esta paradoja. (shrink)

This article presents the analysis of the characteristics of labor well-being in Colombian micro and small enterprises, this was developed through a documentary review from the model of Hoyos (2010), it is a qualitative research, where 42 investigations were collected, which were consulted in databases such as: Science Direct, Refseek, Redalyc, Scielo, Google Scholar and Dialnet, in addition to exploring the repositories of Colombian universities such as: UNAD, Uniminuto, ECCI, Usanbuenaventura, EAFIT, Unipiloto, UGranada, UTecnológica, UJavieriana, UAndes, UCatólica, UNIR, (...) among others, of which, 13 were adjusted with the categories: Practices of Labor Well-being, Theories of Labor Well-being, Needs in Collaborators and Sociodemographic Data, then descriptive synoptic sheets were constructed and then an analysis by category matrix was made, finally, a data analysis was carried out with the ATLAS.ti tool, which allows discerning the object of study through semantic networks. In this order, it is found that activities related to communication, incentives and motivation are part of the activities used as work welfare practices; as for the theoretical positions of well-being at work, the most supported is the one given by the WHO (2010), which is also defined from satisfaction and quality of life; Among the most outstanding needs to develop welfare programs is dissatisfaction in communication with colleagues and managers, ignorance of the responsibilities in their position, among others, on the other hand, there is evidence of a disregard to establish sociodemographic profiles, that is, companies do not consider it when planning or implementing workplace welfare actions. It concludes the need to build labor welfare policies and practices sensitive to the cultural and economic context for Colombian companies, this means recognizing the importance of adaptive and pragmatic approaches in microenterprises and the integration of more structured and theoretical approaches in small enterprises. (shrink)

This article reflects on a survey carried out at a non-profit organization that deals with health care for oncological terminally ill in order to find out for those who are involved in this project each worker's time projection and well-being class. The survey has pointed out each single team member's time perspective and well-being class and allowed building a pedagogical path for work orientation that has involved the same team members.

Business ethics has been emphasized throughout the past decade and organizations are aware of the influence it has on the organization’s performance. As a result, ethical leadership is important as it influences the employees profoundly. This study aims to address this issue and explore the influence ethical leadership has on employees by examining job satisfaction, subjective well-being at work, and life satisfaction. Two groups of independent data were collected and a multi-group analysis was conducted before pooling together (...) for a two-step structural equation modeling test. The results revealed that ethical leadership has a negative direct effect on employee well-being which offers significant findings for the meaning of ethical leadership in the Chinese culture. Useful managerial implications are provided for managers and supervisors at the end of this study. (shrink)

Well-being is said to concern what is good for persons. But the words ‘good for’ are indeterminate enough to support the worry that philosophers working on well-being might not be quarreling over the same conceptual territory. To allay these worries, it would be helpful to provide an analysis of prudential goodness that is substantive enough to coordinate disagreement about and adjudicate between competing theories of well-being, and yet not so substantive that it begs any (...) important questions at the normative level. The present paper is a sustained attempt to locate such a general characterization. My results are largely negative, although I conclude by cautiously supporting the idea that progress in well-being discussions requires employing more specific, stipulative characterizations of well-being rather than attempting to use a highly general characterization as a touchstone for well-being theorization. (shrink)

While virtual simulations are a familiar professional training tool, they have only recently been implemented in teacher education programs. These simulations are used to complement traditional student teacher placement. In this paper, the author critically examines one teacher training simulation, TeachLivE, specifically in terms of its implicit conceptions of what it means to teach and to learn. The analysis utilizes Aristotle’s explanation of the Greek concepts energeia and dunamis, as well as Heidegger’s interpretation of Aristotle’s Metaphysics. The author argues (...) that TeachLivE’s structure implies an ontology of teaching and learning that precludes the cultivation of a teacherly disposition, and that, were this ontology to be corrected, teacher training simulations would be rendered superfluous. (shrink)

An international line-up of fourteen distinguished philosophers present new essays on topics relating to well-being and morality, prominent themes in contemporary ethics and particularly in the work of James Griffin, White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford, in whose honour this volume has been produced. Professor Griffin offers a fascinating development of his own thinking on these topics in his replies to the essays.

The Theaetetus is about the definition of knowledge, but also about the young Theaetetus acquiring knowledge and sophia. By defining knowledge he gives an account of his personal vocation. According to the Protagorean interpretation of his first definition, any object of knowledge is at least co-determined by the subject who grasps it. There is no proper distinction between subject and object, no right or wrong epistemic approach or perspective on any object. The digression presents Theaetetus with a comparison of this (...) Protagorean sophia and true sophia which is the aim of the philosopher. It shows Theaetetus and the reader what a life that has either kind of sophia as its end amounts to. It also shows him that true sophia does involve a proper perspective toward its objects, that Theaetetus has to be careful which perspective he chooses, that he can improve upon his perspective, and that not everyone will approve of his choice of perspective and of the ensuing activities. The Thracian servant is an example for someone who does not approve, since she doesn’t know about perspectives. This is brought out in the anecdote, which presents the servant’s point of view. It is only the servant’s assumption that Thales fell into the well while observing stars. In fact, Thales wanted to observe zenith stars and deliberately chose a point of view, namely the bottom of a well, which allowed him to focus his field of vision on a well-defined section of the sky. Theaetetus must come to understand that the servant is missing the point of Thales’ actions. It must become clear to him that epistemic and moral success requires a careful choice of one’s perspective – and that this choice matters despite all adverse reaction he may have to face because of it. (shrink)

Although interest in the subject of human-resource marketing is growing among researchers and practitioners, there have been remarkably few studies on the effects on employees of how benevolent their organization is. This article looks at the link between the presumption of organizational benevolence and the well-being of employees at work. The results of an empirical study of 595 employees show that the presumption of organizational benevolence is positively linked to employee well-being. The effect is indirect, (...) as it is mediated by the perceived level of organizational support. The existence of a link between employee well-being and intention to quit the company is also confirmed. (shrink)

During sudden school closures in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had to move to distance teaching. This unprecedented situation could be expected to influence teacher well-being and schools as organizations. This article reports a qualitative study that aims at understanding how changes in teachers’ professional lives that were related to school closure affected Swiss primary teachers’ professional well-being. In semi-structured online-interviews, 21 teachers from 15 schools sampled by snowball method reported their experiences during (...) school closure and distance teaching and how this situation influenced their professional well-being. Results showed that medium to high levels of teacher well-being could accompany a general negative evaluation of the move to distance teaching. Factors such as high work-load, social distancing and feelings of lack of competence and self-efficacy were among the most aversive aspects of distance teaching and associated with deteriorating professional well-being. Among a plethora of factors that supported teachers in maintaining their well-being, contextual work-related aspects such as school resources, collegial support or leadership support along with individual aspects such as resilience, coping strategies, and clear work structures were important. Additionally, it was found that teacher well-being was nourished by positive experiences with the new forms of distance teaching and feelings of professional mastery. Despite methodological limitations (snowball sampling, retrospective interviews), the findings of this study could inform schools and authorities about what is needed to support teacher well-being and might help to develop organizational strategies that aim at preventing harmful declines in teacher well-being during challenging and difficult times such as a pandemic. (shrink)

This report aims to offer insights into cutting-edge research on digital well-being. Many of these insights come from a 2-day academic-impact event, The Future of Digital Well-Being, hosted by a team of researchers working with the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in February 2024. Today, achieving and maintaining well-being in the face of online technologies is a multifaceted challenge that we believe requires using theoretical resources of different research disciplines. This report (...) explores diverse perspectives on how digital well-being can be actively cultivated, while also emphasising the importance of considering individual differences, societal contexts, and nuanced cultural factors. We aim to offer a holistic view of the future of digital well-being, one that will inspire the next generation of designers of online tools, as well as policymakers who will regulate these tools. We start by asking what digital well-being is – how we can best define a concept that is used by diverse stakeholders and researchers from many disciplines in various ways. To do this, we explore the classic ethical theories of well-being, showing how they can give us insights into how the term digital well-being is currently deployed. We then move to look at the existing strategies that have been proposed to actively cultivate digital well-being, exploring the business models that threaten digital well-being and the relative advantages of the digital and non-digital solutions that are currently proposed. On the one hand, digital tools – such as Apple’s Screen Time and app blockers such as Opal and Forest – integrate seamlessly with the digital lifestyles of users. They also create precise metrics for digital well-being, which facilitates their solutions to reduce screen time. On the other hand, non-digital solutions, including mindfulness practices, digital detoxes, and digital well-being coaching, offer a new set of tools to reconnect individuals to their natural rhythms and help to actively promote offline activities. We then move to discuss diversity and how various groups of users have strikingly different digital well-being needs. Embracing neurodiversity in digital well-being is crucial as it strongly impacts the users’ experience of online technologies. When designing for diversity, organisations and designers alike need to prioritise customization for people with physical disabilities, mitigate harmful content for users with mental well-being conditions, address gender stereotypes and online harassment, and be designed in ways that recognize the very real risks of online technologies. This report closes by examining cultural differences. We believe that non-Western conceptions of well-being offer rich sources for enhancing digital well-being insofar as these traditions can inform and inspire the designers of future online technologies. We focus on East-Asian and South-Asian traditions, although in further work we recognise it would be useful to investigate conceptions of well-being that are influential in the Gulf region, Africa, and South America. Each of these areas have ethical frameworks that discuss well-being in depth as well as a rich cultural heritage. In conclusion, this report’s insights underscore the imperative of recognizing diversity in digital well-being, both in terms of cultural contexts and disciplinary perspectives. It emphasises the need for culturally responsive design methodologies and the integration of non-Western philosophical perspectives into current digital well-being research. Embracing this diversity, we believe, offers the best chance to create digital environments that prioritise well-being for users and the societies they live in across the world. Ultimately, we believe that it is not only about designing better online products; it’s about shaping a digital landscape that promotes well-being and flourishing for everyone. (shrink)

This daily diary study examined the within-person coupling between four emotion regulation strategies and both subjective well-being and perceived stress in daily life of geriatric nurses. Participants ( N = 89) described how they regulated their emotions in terms of cognitive reappraisal and suppression. They also indicated their subjective well-being and level of perceived stress each day over 3 weeks. At the within-person level, cognitive reappraisal intended to increase positive emotions was positively associated with higher subjective (...) well-being and negatively associated with perceived stress. Suppression of the expression of positive emotions was negatively associated with subjective well-being and positively associated with perceived stress. However, cognitive reappraisal intended to down-regulate negative emotions and suppression as a strategy to inhibit the expression of negative emotions were not associated with daily well-being or perceived stress. Off-days were rated as days with higher subjective well-being and lower perceived stress in contrast to working days. At the between-person level, individuals who reported more daily negative affect reported increased suppression of positive emotions, corroborating the within-person findings. Moreover, findings indicated that nurses with more years of experience in the job reported higher subjective well-being and less perceived stress. These results provide insights into important daily emotional processes of geriatric nurses, both at workdays and in their leisure time. (shrink)

The relevance of the work is due to the fact that the analysis of indicators of mental and physical health of a person and their mutual influence is little disclosed in the philosophical literature. There is a problem of studying the achievement of well-being in philosophical terms and the factors influencing it, including the connection of existential fullness (fundamental existential motivations) with various positive aspects of the functioning of the individual that make up well-being: autonomy, (...) competence, personal growth, positive relationships, self-acceptance, life goals. In this regard, we have undertaken a study related to the study at the theoretical level of the relationship between existential fulfillment and well-being. The purpose of the study: to identify the relationship between the components of life well-being and existential fulfillment. The degree of existential fullness shows whether there is a lot of meaning in life, whether a person lives in inner harmony, whether his decisions and actions correspond to his essence. Life well-being is a subjective feeling of wholeness of satisfaction with one's being. The study revealed significant connections between the components of such personal constructs as life well-being and existential fulfillment. As a result of the theoretical study, the following conclusions were made: The first fundamental existential motivation concerning the possibility of existence in the world is largely related to self-acceptance and competence. The second fundamental existential motivation concerning the value of life is largely related to self-acceptance and positive relationships. The third fundamental existential motivation concerning self-esteem is largely related to personal growth. The fourth fundamental existential motivation, crowning all the previous ones and concerning meaning, is essentially related to life goals and autonomy. (shrink)

Some economists now predict that technology will eliminate many millions of jobs and lead to a future without work. Much debate focuses on the accuracy of such a prediction—whether, or at what rate, jobs will disappear. But there is a wider question raised by this prediction, namely the merits or otherwise of automating work. Beyond estimating future job losses via automation, there is the normative issue of whether the quality of life would be enhanced in a world where (...) machines replace humans in work. Economics makes particular assumptions about the value of work and the nature of well-being that can address this normative issue. But a deeper enquiry into the scope for living well in a possible automated future requires us to think beyond the limits of standard economic theory and to engage in matters of relevance to business ethicists. This paper shows how automation raises crucial concerns about work—its meaning and contribution to well-being—and how the ability to envisage a better future of work depends on bridging the gap between economics and business ethics. Overall, the paper aims to further understanding of automation as a possible mechanism to raise well-being within work and beyond it. (shrink)

The well-being of children and young people has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to online education disrupted daily rhythms, transformed learning opportunities, and redefined social connections with peers and teachers. We here present a qualitative content analysis of responses to open-ended questions in a large-scale survey of teachers and students in Romania. We explore how their well-being has been impacted by online education through overflow effects of the sudden move to online classes; identity (...) work at the individual and group levels; and Students’ and teachers’ presentations of self in the online environment, with a focus on problematic aspects of webcam use. The results indicate that both students and teachers experienced ambivalence and diverse changes in well-being, generated by the flexibility, burdens, and disruptions of school-from-home. The identities associated with the roles of teacher and student have been challenged and opened for re-negotiation. Novel patterns have emerged in teachers’ and Students’ identity work. Failure or success at the presentation of self in online situations is relevant for the emotional valence of learning encounters, impacting well-being. Online classes have brought about new ways to control one’s presentation of self while also eliminating previous tactics and resources. The controversy regarding webcams has captured this duality: for some, the home remained a backstage that could not be safely exposed; for others, the home became a convenient front stage for school. Well-being was affected by the success of individual and collective performances, and by student-teacher asymmetries. Overall, our study of online learning indicates powerful yet variable influences on subjective well-being, which are related to overflow effects, identity work, and presentation of self. (shrink)

The sudden move to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created an influx of epistemological, psycho-social, emotional and financial challenges for first year students. Lecturers and academics had to find creative and sustainable ways of ensuring that all students were epistemologically included. New policies and practices were introduced rapidly at universities to facilitate the unavoidable move to online learning. As initial teacher educators at a public University in South Africa we noted that the sudden move to working online (...) has presented various challenges to first year students’ overall well-being which has further exacerbated issues of exclusion and marginalization for many. We argue that it is against this backdrop that this paper explores how the move to online learning has affected first year students’ overall well-being, at one teacher education institution. The Index for Inclusive Education was used as a theoretical lens to explore student’s perceptions of the institution’s policy, teaching and learning practices, and the institutional culture during this period. One hundred and eighty-seven purposively selected first year students participated in this qualitative, phenomenological research study. Data were collected by means of open-ended questionnaires. Responses were categorized by means of an emergent thematic analysis. The findings indicated that online learning compromised various aspects of well-being including physical, emotional, psycho-social and financial well-being for many students. The experiences of online learning and impact on well-being did, however, differ across students depending on their individual contexts and circumstances indicating that considerations of well-being need to take contextual realities into account to support the well-being and learning of all. We recommend that higher education institutions prioritize the psycho-social, emotional, and financial well-being of students during the period of online learning and not just the pedagogic needs of the qualification. (shrink)

This study examined teachers’ occupational well-being by identifying profiles based on teachers’ self-ratings of work engagement as well as work-related effort and reward. It also did so by examining whether the identified subgroups differed with respect to teachers’ self-reported occupational stress and emotional exhaustion as well as with respect to work-related resources such as the individual resource of work meaningfulness and the leader-level resource of the leader–follower relationship. The participants in the study (...) were 321 Finnish elementary school teachers. The data were collected in spring 2021, that is, at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic was present, yet there were no national school closures. Three groups of teachers were identified with latent profile analysis: (1) teachers recognized as being poorly engaged with the highest effort and lowest reward (4.7%); (2) teachers recognized as being averagely engaged with higher effort than reward (32.1%); and (3) teachers recognized as being highly engaged with higher reward than effort (63.2%). The subsequent analyses examining the differences among the profile groups revealed, for example, that each profile group differed with respect to the individual resource of work meaningfulness and profile groups 2 and 3 differed with respect to the leader-level resource of the leader–follower relationship. Thus, the findings indicate that there are differences in the ways in which teachers are able to benefit from the work-related resources and how they cope with job-related demands during the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

Identity Economics provides an important and compelling new way to understand human behavior, revealing how our identities--and not just economic incentives--influence our decisions. In 1995, economist Rachel Kranton wrote future Nobel Prize-winner George Akerlof a letter insisting that his most recent paper was wrong. Identity, she argued, was the missing element that would help to explain why people--facing the same economic circumstances--would make different choices. This was the beginning of a fourteen-year collaboration--and of Identity Economics. The authors explain how our (...) conception of who we are and who we want to be may shape our economic lives more than any other factor, affecting how hard we work, and how we learn, spend, and save. Identity economics is a new way to understand people's decisions--at work, at school, and at home. With it, we can better appreciate why incentives like stock options work or don't; why some schools succeed and others don't; why some cities and towns don't invest in their futures--and much, much more. Identity Economics bridges a critical gap in the social sciences. It brings identity and norms to economics. People's notions of what is proper, and what is forbidden, and for whom, are fundamental to how hard they work, and how they learn, spend, and save. Thus people's identity--their conception of who they are, and of who they choose to be--may be the most important factor affecting their economic lives. And the limits placed by society on people's identity can also be crucial determinants of their economic well-being. (shrink)

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the temporal dynamics of ethical organisational culture and how it associates with well-being at work when potential changes in ethical culture are measured over an extended period of 6 years. We used a person-centred study design, which allowed us to detect both typical and atypical patterns of ethical culture stability as well as change among a sample of leaders. Based on latent profile analysis and hierarchical linear modelling (...) we found longitudinal, concurrent relations and cumulative gain and loss cycles between different ethical culture patterns and leaders’ well-being. Leaders in the strongest ethical culture pattern experienced the highest level of work engagement and a decreasing level of ethical dilemmas and stress. Leaders who gave the lowest ratings on ethical culture which also decreased over time reported the highest level of ethical dilemmas, stress, and burnout. They also showed a continuous increase in these negative outcomes over time. Thus, ethical culture has significant cumulative effects on well-being, and these longitudinal effects can be both negative and positive, depending on the experienced strength of the culture’s ethicality. (shrink)

Digital technology in its various forms is a significant component of our working environment and lifestyles. However, there is a broad difference between using digital technologies in everyday life and employing them in formal education. Digital technologies have largely untapped potential for improving education and fostering students’ well-being and inclusion at school. To bring this to fruition, systemic and coordinated actions involving the whole school community are called for. To help schools exploit the full range of opportunities digital (...) technologies offer for learning, the European Commission has designed and implemented a self-reflection tool called SELFIE (Self-reflection on Effective Learning by Fostering Innovation through Educational Technology). Based on the DigCompOrg conceptual framework, SELFIE encompasses key aspects for effectively integrating digital technologies in school policies and practices. The present study investigates how SELFIE can also support the school community to self-reflect about students’ well-being and inclusion. In Italy, the SELFIE online questionnaire has been completed by 24,715 students, 5,690 teachers and 1,507 school leaders, for a total of 31,912 users from 201 schools (at primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels) located in ten different regions. The complementary data we have collected regarding student well-being and inclusion highlight significant differences in the perceptions on this issue reported by students, teachers and school leaders. These findings have important implications for facilitating successful practices within the whole school community in order to promote students’ well-being and inclusion using educational technologies, as well as for planning future actions following a systemic approach. (shrink)

The study conducts an institutional, structured review of 43 official reports from countries and major international organizations (e.g., WHO, OECD, UN) to investigate how gender-related aspects are integrated into the conceptualization of well-being. A first literature background of this concept, very diffused but also very difficult to define in a shared way, highlights a lack of a clear and diffused definition and the presence of similar terms with other meanings, such as wellness, happiness, and quality of life. The (...) analysis of these very recent institutional documents reveals a significant emphasis on gender inequality as a key dimension of horizontal disparities, cited in 29 out of 43 reports. While various well-being indicators and dimensions are identified, with social and community life, health, and work/economy being the most frequent, the analysis of inequality indicators highlights a focus on the gender wage gap, political parity, and total hours worked. Finally, there is a clear lack of attention to gender diversity within entrepreneurship and corporate leadership. The findings underscore a widespread recognition of gender as a crucial factor in well-being at the institutional level yet point to a gap in comprehensively addressing its role in economic drivers like business and management. The study concludes by emphasizing the need for a broader integration of gender diversity across all societal sectors in well-being frameworks, including the management and entrepreneurship world, and suggesting that future research should compare institutional perspectives with academic literature and explore best practices. (shrink)

An emerging literature has begun to document the emotional consequences of everyday executive functions on emotional distress. Little is known, however, about whether this relation is mediated by other variables. A multiple mediation model was proposed to integrate core concepts of daily executive dysfunctions with emotional distress in order to increase understanding of their relationship to psychological well-being and emotional regulation. The working hypothesis was that dimensions of well-being and emotional regulation may be a suitable mediator. (...) It was hypothesized that dimensions of well-being and emotional regulation are a possible mediator between the executive dysfunctions and psychological distress. Participants were 122 undergraduate students from university courses in General Education and Social Education at, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, with a mean age of 21.76. Results indicate that several dimensions of psychological well-being and emotional reappraisal strategies mediate the relationships between daily executive dysfunctions and psychological distress. Implications of these data are discussed. (shrink)

Special Issue of AGATHEOS – European Journal for Philosophy of Religion on 'God Concepts and Spiritual Well-being'. -/- Editorial: Philosophers of religion are of course very much used to assessing concepts of God on conceptual and evidential grounds, as when they examine the internal consistency of a God concept, or the extent to which it can withstand one or another formulation of the “problem of evil.” In this collection of papers, the focus of discussion is somewhat different: here, (...) the authors consider how we might evaluate a God concept in the light of its bearing on our understanding of the nature of the well-lived, or “spiritual,” life, or in terms of its capacity to enable, in practical terms, the enactment of a given ideal of the spiritual life. And in general, we might suppose that it is possible to move back and forth between God concepts and accounts of the nature of the well-lived life, until we reach a point at which our God representation and ideal of life are in a state of reflective equilibrium. -/- The papers by Simon Hewitt and Tasia Scrutton begin from a conception of the well-lived life, defined in relational or political terms, and consider what might follow for our conception of God. These papers are nicely complementary, since each examines the bearing of ideals of the spiritual life on the question of whether God is to be conceived as immutable and impassible. The papers of Khai Wager and Mark Wynn also discuss the interplay between God concepts and ideals of the spiritual life, Wager exploring the structure and viability of a conception of the spiritual life that is grounded in a pantheistic conception of the divine, here using the work of Robinson Jeffers to bring out the implications of this view for lived experience, while Wynn considers the relevance of concepts of eternity for an account of the nature of the well-lived life, with reference to the experience of bereavement. Finally, Ryan Byerly’s paper examines how God concepts can provide a focus for spiritual practice, here drawing on empirical sources to support the claim that a God concept, when embedded in the right practice, can be spiritually transformative, even in the absence of any belief that the concept tracks the metaphysical facts. (shrink)

Self-compassion, sharing some commonalities with positive psychology 2.0 approaches, is associated with better mental health outcomes in diverse populations, including workers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is heightened awareness of the importance of self-care for fostering mental health at work. However, evidence regarding the applications of self-compassion interventions in work-related contexts has not been systematically reviewed to date. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to synthesize and evaluate the utility of self-compassion interventions targeting work-related well-being, (...) as well as assess the methodological quality of relevant studies. Eligible articles were identified from research databases including ProQuest, PsycINFO, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. The quality of non-randomized trials and randomized controlled trials was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Quality Assessment Table, respectively. The literature search yielded 3,387 titles from which ten studies met the inclusion criteria. All ten studies reported promising effects of self-compassion training for work-related well-being. The methodological quality of these studies was medium. All ten studies recruited workers in a caring field and were mostly conducted in Western countries. The Self-Compassion Scale or its short-form was used in almost all instances. Findings indicate that self-compassion training can improve self-compassion and other work-related well-being outcomes in working populations. However, in general, there is need for greater methodological quality in work-related self-compassion intervention studies to advance understanding regarding the applications and limitations of this technique in work contexts. Furthermore, future studies should focus on a broader range of employee groups, including non-caring professions as well as individuals working in non-Western countries. (shrink)

With the COVID-19 pandemic, governments implemented successive lockdowns that forced employees to work from home to contain the spread of the coronavirus. This crisis raises the question of the effects of mandatory work from home on employees’ well-being and performance, and whether these effects are the same for all employees. In the present study, we examined whether working at home may be related to intensity, familiarity with WFH, employees’ well-being and creativity. We also examined (...) whether the psychological profile of employees, combining preference for solitude and associated personality variables from the Big Five, may influence the effects of WFH. The data were collected via an online survey from November 13th to December 15th 2020 among 946 employees from various organizations during the second lockdown in France. In addition to identifying two distinctive psychological profiles for employees having to WFH, results revealed that those with a “Solitary” profile reported higher loneliness at work, higher levels of stress, and lower levels of job satisfaction and work engagement than those with an “Affiliative” profile. It was also found that employees with a “Solitary” profile perceived themselves as less creative and produced objectively fewer ideas than individuals with an “Affiliative” profile. The present study suggests the necessity to distinguish the profiles of teleworkers and to offer a stronger support for the less affiliative employees when working from home. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the risks that can be involved in healthcare work. In this paper, we explore the issue of staff safety in clinical work using the example of personal protective equipment in the COVID-19 crisis. We articulate some of the specific ethical challenges around PPE currently being faced by front-line clinicians, and develop an approach to staff safety that involves balancing duty to care and personal well-being. We describe each of these values, (...) and present a decision-making framework that integrates the two. The aim of the framework is to guide the process of balancing these two values when staff safety is at stake, by facilitating ethical reflection and/or decision-making that is systematic, specific and transparent. It provides a structure for individual reflection, collaborative staff discussion, and decision-making by those responsible for teams, departments and other groups of healthcare staff. Overall the framework guides the decision maker to characterise the degree of risk to staff, articulate feasible options for staff protection in that specific setting and identify the option that ensures any decrease in patient care is proportionate to the increase in staff well-being. It applies specifically to issues of PPE in COVID-19, and also has potential to assist decision makers in other situations involving protection of healthcare staff. There are no data in this work. (shrink)

In previous work, I have argued that subjectivists about well-being must turn from a preference-satisfaction to a desire-satisfaction theory of well-being in order to avoid the conceptual problem of interpersonal comparisons of well-being. In a recent paper, Van der Deijl and Brouwer agree, but object that no version of the desire-satisfaction theory can provide a plausible account of how an individual's degree of well-being depends on the satisfaction or frustration of their (...) various desires, at least in cases involving the gain or loss of desires. So subjectivists can avoid the conceptual problem of interpersonal comparisons only by adopting a substantively implausible view. In this reply, I defend subjectivism by arguing that the totalist desire-satisfaction theory avoids Van der Deijl and Brouwer's objections, and briefly suggest that it may also be able to handle the problem of adaptive desires. I conclude that subjectivists should endorse the totalist desire-satisfaction theory. (shrink)

The popularity of concept of spirituality is increasing exponentially in the field of human resource management. Both academicians and practitioners are looking at spirituality to solve modern day human resource challenges. Spirituality at work is about search for meaning or higher purpose, connectedness and transcendence. The present research article addresses conceptual and empirical gap using the concept of workplace spirituality and empirically examines relationship between workplace spirituality and employee commitment, job satisfaction and work–life balance satisfaction. The article successfully (...) augments literature by suggesting one more dimension (Karma Capital) of Indian spiritual values. This is one of the pioneer studies that used necessary condition analysis (NCA) to explore workplace spirituality. Workplace spirituality was reported as a necessary determinant of employee commitment, job satisfaction and work–life balance satisfaction. Relationship between these variables is further investigated through correlation matrix and regression analysis. (shrink)

Purpose: This study examines the interrelations between religious commitment, spirituality, and employee well-being in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on the serial mediating roles of the strength of religious faith and career calling. The integration of these variables is aimed at providing a more profound understanding of how intrinsic personal values influence psychological and emotional well-being in the workplace. Method: A cross-sectional design was used with data from 248 employees working in different departments (...) across Saudi Arabia. The measurement of the constructs was based on validated scales used in earlier research. Data were analyzed using Stata for SEM to check the hypothesized relationships as well as to check the mediation effects. Results: Thereby, the results revealed that religious commitment and spirituality are positively contributing to psychological and emotional employee’s well-being. All these relations are significantly mediated by religious faith and career calling. Findings highlight the salience of intrinsic values and purpose work, with the serial mediation model that shows robust explanatory power. Originality/Implication: This study advances theoretical frameworks by linking spirituality, faith, and professional purpose to well-being. It offers practical implications for organizations by bringing up the need for supportive environments accommodating religious and spiritual dimensions at the workplace, which increases the general satisfaction and performance in a workplace. (shrink)

This study used the latent profile transition analysis to analyze whether emotional labor profiles change across time and how these profiles relate to occupational well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, quality of work life, psychological distress, and work–family conflict). A total of 155 full-time Chinese employees completed the questionnaire survey at two time points. Three latent profiles were identified at Time 1 and the same profiles were replicated at Time 2. We determined that the majority of the participants (...) retained the original profiles. Lastly, occupational well-being differed significantly across the identified profiles. The limitations and implications of this study were also provided. (shrink)

The concept of well-being has been and continues to be topical and a contested subject among scholars. It has generated different meanings and conversations within disciplines such as Economics, Ethics, Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology. Furthermore, well-being has been more conceptualised within Western literature than African literature. In an attempt to define the concept, Ruggeri et al, say that ‘It is a sustainable condition that allows the individual or population to develop and thrive’’ (2009:2). The definition provided (...) above suggests that the concept goes beyond the conditions of being happy, flourishing, and even the absence of ill-being to anything that helps the individual’s or population’s mental health or helps them to prosper. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined positive mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realises her or his own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a contribution to his or her community’ (2001). Whereas the Western understanding encapsulates various themes such as happiness, flourishing and mental health with a focus on the individual, the traditional African understanding of well-being is often understood to be a harmonious interconnectedness of the self with the community, the natural environment and the spiritual beings. The question of which of these three ought to be given primacy has never been a vexation for the traditional African, who naturally understands that her or his well-being, sustainability and progress rely on all of these three simultaneously. Regardless of what well-being is taken to mean, whether happiness or fulfilment, the traditional African finds it in living a shared social life with members of her or his community, in a good human-nature relatedness, and in maintaining a cordial relationship with her or his spiritual beings. However, a critical look at our society today, portrays that a large number of Africans are failing to either achieve or maintain the traditional African notion of well-being. There seem to be two ways of looking at the current situation: The first is to place the blame on colonialism, modernity and the making of Africa and its communities, a capitalist society. Colonialism and modernity as political agendas severely altered the African way of life and promoted Western individualistic norms. The second way of looking at the current situation is to blame it on ourselves. Africans seem to have ignored the important values and principles handed down to us by our forefathers, which define who we are. In this chapter, we aim to show what well-being in contemporary Africa should look like. We contend that contemporary Africans have ignored the essential aspects found in the traditional African understanding of well-being. Thus, there is a need for contemporary Africans to reassess their values and perception of well-being if they are to properly address their current needs and reach their aspirations. We argue that these ignored factors of the African notion of well-being in the traditional social setting could be integrated into the dominating global discourse/Western notion. This could be done to develop a plausible notion of well-being that will suit contemporary African societies. (shrink)

This paper extends previous work of mine on a view of human well-being that is a hybrid of objective-list theories and desire theories. Though some of what I say traverses old ground, much of what I say is new – new, that is, not in terms of ultimate conclusions, but rather in terms of (a) routes toward these ultimate conclusions and (b) certain implications of these ultimate conclusions (e.g., implications concerning the measurement of well-being). There (...) are two different visions of what human beings are that I privilege and attempt to synthesize in this paper. One of these visions pushes us toward an objective-list theory. This vision is a broadly Aristotelian one according to which humans have various capacities that are central to their functioning well as the kinds of things they are, that is, as human beings. Though this broadly Aristotelian vision captures something necessary for well-being, it is, as it were, only half of the story. The other half of the story derives from a vision of human beings as unique individuals with different sets of intrinsic desires, and this desire-focused vision of humans is itself informed by Jacques Lacan and his view that each human self is constituted by a particular and dynamic chains-of-signifiers-plus-desire-flow structure. I start by briefly discussing mental state theories (section 1). Then I discuss objective-list theories at some length (sections 2-3), and, while doing this, I occasionally comment on pro-attitude theories (e.g., desire theories). After that, I present the hybrid theory of well-being that I favor and defend it against some objections (section 4). Lastly, I conclude the paper (section 5). (shrink)