A Life Devoted to Quality of Life: Festschrift in Honor of Alex C. Michalos (Social Indicators Research Series Book 60)

This Festschrift is published in honor of Alex C. Michalos, a great scholar and inspiration to many upcoming and famous academics and practitioners. The Festschrift celebrates his lifelong, outstanding scientific and cultural contribution to Quality of Life Research. It contains contributions written by the most prestigious and renowned scholars in the field of social indicators research and quality of life studies. Taken together, the contributions from scholars around the world reflect Michalos’ stance that even though there may be differences in individual scientific positions, the language in the field of quality of life has no limits and boundaries. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Children, Adolescents and Quality of Life: The Social Sciences Perspective Over Two Decades....Pages 3-21 Measuring Trends in Child Well-Being and Child Suffering in the United States, 1975–2013....Pages 23-41 The Role of Positive Youth Development and Family Functioning in Chinese Adolescent Well-Being: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence....Pages 43-58 Front Matter....Pages 59-59 The Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis: A Contribution to Understanding Life Quality....Pages 61-79 Do People Adapt to Poorer Health? Health and Health Satisfaction over the Life Cycle....Pages 81-92 Progress: Concept and Measurement....Pages 93-104 A Hierarchy of Unsatisfied Needs: A Subjective Well-Being Study....Pages 105-122 An Essay in Honors of Alex Michalos: Finding Community in Quality of Life....Pages 123-130 Towards a New Concept of Residential Well-Being Based on Bottom-Up Spillover and Need Hierarchy Theories....Pages 131-150 What We Have Learnt About Happiness....Pages 151-170 Front Matter....Pages 171-171 Global Change and Quality of Life Indicators....Pages 173-193 The Spread of Social Indicators- and Quality of Life-Research in Germany and Europe: An Overview in Honour of Alex Michalos....Pages 195-207 Challenges, Needs and Risks in Defining Wellbeing Indicators....Pages 209-233 Front Matter....Pages 235-235 Quality of Life Research in Asia....Pages 237-269 South African Perceptions of the Good Life Twenty Years into Democracy....Pages 271-295 Happiness and Sociability in a Nonrecursive Model: The US and Taiwan Compared....Pages 297-314 Front Matter....Pages 315-315 The Challenge of Teaching Quality-of-Life Theory and Research Methodology at the University: A View from South America....Pages 317-327