Handbook of Happiness Research in Latin America (International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life)

This handbook presents original happiness research from and about a region that shows unexpectedly high levels of happiness. Even when Latin American countries cannot be classified as high-income countries their population do enjoy, on average, high happiness levels. The handbook draws attention to some important factors that contribute to the happiness of people, such as: relational values, human relations, solidarity networks, the role of the family, and the availability and gratifying using of leisure time. In a world where happiness is acquiring greater relevance as a final social and personal aim both the academic community and the social-actors and policy-makers community would benefit from Happiness Research in Latin America Contents Contributors 1: Happiness, Research, and Latin America 1.1 Happiness 1.1.1 Happiness Is Important 1.1.2 Happiness Is an Ultimate Goal 1.1.3 Happiness Motivates Human Action 1.2 The Study of Happiness. The Old Traditions of Imputation and Presumption 1.2.1 The Imputation Tradition 1.2.2 The Presumption Tradition 1.3 The Scientific Study of Happiness. Happiness Research 1.3.1 Happiness Is a Life Experience of Being Well 1.3.2 The Epistemology of Happiness. Knowing Happiness 1.3.3 Measuring Happiness 1.4 Happiness in Latin America 1.4.1 The Region 1.4.2 Latin America Is a Happy Region. Is This a Paradox? 1.5 Happiness Research in Latin America 1.5.1 Researching Happiness in Latin America 1.5.2 The Contributions in the Handbook 1.6 Reconsideration of the Wealth of Nations Bibliography Part I: The Relevance of Latin American Happiness 2: The Singularity of Latin American Patterns of Happiness 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Traditional View of Social Progress and Political Emergence of Subjective Indicators 2.3 Inconsistency Comes into Play: The Curious Levels of Happiness in Latin America 2.4 Explaining ``Inconsistency ́ ́ I: Individual Determinants of Happiness in Latin America 2.5 Explaining ``Inconsistency ́ ́ II: The Impact of Social Relations 2.6 Overview: Consistency in the Indicators and Political Challenges Bibliography 3: The Social Psychology of Latin American Happiness 3.1 Latin American Happiness 3.2 Roots of Latin American Happiness: Small Traditional Villages 3.3 From Andean Tradition to Modernity: Peri-urban Pueblos 3.4 A Rural to Peri-urban Amazonian Corridor: Differences and Similarities with the Andes 3.5 Shantytowns: From Bucolic Happiness to Urban-Marginal Stress 3.6 Urban Latin American Happiness Structure 3.6.1 Optimistic Adaptation 3.6.2 A Good Place to Live 3.6.3 Home 3.7 Conclusions: Latin American Happiness Processes 3.7.1 Family and Social Relations 3.7.2 Latin America: An Imperfect Place to Live, the Happy Adventure Park 3.7.3 Optimistic Adaptation as a Key Feature of Latin American Happiness Adaptation 3.7.4 Origins and Final Conclusions of Latin American Happiness Bibliography 4: The Relevance of Happiness: Choosing Between Development Paths in Latin America 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Happiness Provides New Relevant Information 4.2.1 Standard Economic Theory: Income and Well-Being 4.2.2 The Limitations of Income as a Proxy for Well-Being. Findings from Happiness Research 4.2.2.1 Persons Are Socially Immersed 4.2.2.2 People May Raise Their Aspirations and Change Their Evaluation Norms 4.2.2.3 People May Easily Adapt to the New Consumption Goods 4.2.2.4 Bias Towards Economic Goods. No Consideration of Relational Goods 4.2.2.5 Not All Needs Are Material. Human Beings Do Also Have Psychological Needs 4.2.2.6 There Is More to Life than the Standard of Living 4.3 The Pursuit of Development 4.3.1 The Relevant Questions About Pursuing Development 4.3.2 Income-Based Development in Latin America 4.3.3 Happiness-Based Development in Latin America 4.4 The Contribution of Happiness Research to Development Studies Bibliography 5: Trends and Challenges for the Research of Happiness in Latin America 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Method 5.2.1 Population and Sample 5.2.2 Instruments 5.2.3 Procedure 5.3 Results 5.3.1 Happiness Contributions in Latin America 5.3.2 The Concept of Happiness and Its Approach 5.3.2.1 From Philosophy and Theology to the Psychology of Happiness 5.3.2.2 The Essay Genre of Happiness 5.3.2.3 Happiness in Economics 5.3.2.4 The Concept of Happiness and Some Counter-Stances 5.3.3 The Methods and Happiness as a Variable 5.3.3.1 About the Research Design and the Instruments 5.3.3.2 Contributions to Instrumentation in Psychology and Economics 5.3.4 About the ``Emic ́ ́ Studies on Happiness and Others Studies 5.4 As a Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Part II: Human Relations and Happiness in Latin America 6: The Importance of Relational Goods for Happiness: Evidence from Manizales, Colombia 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Theoretical and Empirical Background 6.3 Subjective Well-Being in Manizales 6.4 Relational Goods in Manizales 6.4.1 Relations Within the Immediate Family 6.4.2 Other Social Relationships 6.4.3 Social Support 6.4.4 Interaction at Work 6.4.5 Relational Leisure 6.4.6 Social Participation 6.4.7 Political Participation 6.5 Relational Goods and Subjective Well-Being in Manizales 6.5.1 Relations Within the Immediate Family 6.5.2 Other Social Relationships 6.5.3 Social Support 6.5.4 Interaction at Work 6.5.5 Relational Leisure 6.5.6 Social Participation 6.5.7 Political Participation 6.5.8 Impact of Relational Goods on Happiness 6.6 Conclusions and Policy Implications Appendix Bibliography 7: ``Like the Zompopito ́ ́: Social Relationships in Happiness Among Rural and Indigenous Women in Nicaragua 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Methodological Approach to Life Histories 7.2.1 Collaborative Work: Continuous Contrast of Visions 7.2.2 The Conversation 7.2.3 Analysis and Presentation of Results 7.2.4 Necessary Notes on Positionality 7.3 What the Histories Tell Us About Happiness 7.3.1 Happiness and Poverty 7.3.2 The Context and the Main Macrosocial Events that Shape the Histories 7.3.3 Relationships in the Family 7.3.4 The State, Community and Women: Ambivalent Institutional Relations 7.4 Conclusion Bibliography 8: Aging, Family Relations and Well-Being in Chile 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Conception of Well-Being and Its Measurement 8.3 Family Relations, Social Support and Elderly Well-Being 8.4 Individual Dimensions Explaining Well-Being Among the Elderly 8.5 Results About Variables Associated to Elderly Well-Being 8.6 Conclusions and Discussion Appendix Variables Included in the Regression Analysis Bibliography 9: Happiness and Social Capital: Evidence from Latin American Countries 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Background 9.3 Empirical Model 9.3.1 Social Networks Hypothesis 9.3.2 Social Trust Hypothesis 9.3.3 Social Norms Hypothesis 9.4 Data 9.4.1 Life Satisfaction 9.4.2 Social Networks 9.4.3 Social Trust 9.4.4 Social Norms 9.4.5 Variables Related to Socio-economic and Demographic Characteristics 9.5 Empirical Results 9.5.1 Social Capital Variables 9.5.2 Demographic and Socio-economic Variables 9.6 Conclusions Appendix Bibliography 10: From the Individual to the Romantic Relationship: In Search of Happiness 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Two Main Types of Happiness 10.3 Definitions of Happiness 10.4 How Does Culture Impact Our Experience of Happiness? 10.5 Measurement HSCP of Happiness Emotional Expression in Mexico 10.6 Do I Have the Personal Resources to Experience Happiness? 10.6.1 Emotional Perception: Research in Mexico 10.6.2 Emotional Expression: Research in Mexico 10.6.3 Emotional Understanding: Some Research in Mexico 10.7 What Emotional Regulation Strategies Do I Use When a Situation Which Causes Happiness Presents Itself? 10.8 Couple Relationships: Searching for Happiness in Company 10.9 Conclusions Bibliography 11: The Role of Relational Goods in the Relationship Between Illnesses and Satisfaction in Latin America 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Subjective Well-Being and Personal Health 11.2.1 The Focus of Subjective Well-Being 11.2.2 The Impact of Health Problems on Subjective Well-Being 11.2.3 Relational Goods as a Filter in the Relationship Between Health Problems and Health Satisfaction 11.3 The Survey 11.4 The Role of Relational Goods in the Disease-Satisfaction Relationship 11.4.1 The Econometric Model 11.4.2 Results 11.5 Discussion Appendix Bibliography Part III: Material Conditions and Happiness in Latin America 12: How the Economy Affects Happiness. Empirical Findings from Argentina 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Criteria to Measure Happiness 12.3 Happiness Research in Argentina 12.3.1 Comparisons of Happiness and Welfare 12.3.2 Economics and Happiness 12.3.3 Consumption of Recreation and Happiness 12.3.4 Leisure, Beliefs and Causes of Happiness 12.3.5 Happiness, Income Intensity and Changes 12.3.6 Economic Situation and Happiness 12.4 Conclusions Bibliography 13: Relative Income and Job Satisfaction in Chile 13.1 Introduction 13.2 A Brief Review of the Literature 13.3 Relative Income and Job Satisfaction 13.4 Data and Results 13.4.1 Information 13.4.2 Regression Analysis 13.4.3 Marginal Effects 13.4.4 Subjective Well-Being and Economic Growth 13.5 Conclusions Bibliography 14: Food-Deprivation and Subjective Well-Being in Latin America 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Theoretical Framework 14.2.1 Hunger and Subjective Well-Being 14.2.2 Is It Possible to Have High Well-Being in Hunger? 14.3 Dataset, Variables and Hypothesis 14.4 Estimation Strategy and Results 14.4.1 The Impact of Hunger on Subjective Well-Being 14.4.2 What Factors Mitigate the Impact of Hunger in People ́s Well-Being? 14.5 Final Discussion Bibliography 15: Threats to Happiness: How Lower Middle Class Households Deal with Insecurity and Precariousness 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Novel Conditions of Socio-economic Well-Being in the Middle and Lower-Middle Strata: Precariousness 15.3 Research Question, Design, Methods and Data 15.4 Chile and Costa Rica ́s Welfare Regimes and Their Opportunity Structures 15.5 Results 15.5.1 Array of Opportunity Structures Available for Well-Being in Different Life Domains 15.5.2 General Well-Being 15.5.3 Threats to and Protection of Well-Being: Domain-Specific Patterns 15.5.3.1 Income and Work 15.5.3.2 Care 15.5.3.3 Health and Education 15.5.3.4 Housing 15.6 Summary and Conclusions Bibliography 16: Income, Sex, Pills and Relationships: An Empirical Study for Argentina 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Stylized Facts 16.3 Determinants of Happiness, the Econometric Approach 16.4 The Easterlin ́s Hypothesis 16.5 Other Determinants of Life Satisfaction 16.6 Discussion and Conclusions Bibliography 17: Using Life Satisfaction Data to Identify Urban Problems, Prioritize Local Public Expenditures and Monitor the Quality of U... 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Two Ways of Valuing Public Goods 17.2.1 The Hedonic Price Approach 17.2.2 The Life Satisfaction Approach to Value Public Goods 17.2.3 The Relationship Between the Hedonic and Life Satisfaction Approaches 17.3 Statistical and Econometric Issues to Implement the Methodology 17.3.1 Data Requirements 17.3.2 Estimation of Hedonic Price Equation 17.3.3 Estimation of Life Satisfaction Equation 17.4 The Methodology in Practice 17.4.1 The Case of Manizales, Colombia 17.4.2 A Summary of the Application of the Methodology to Other Cities 17.5 Using the Results in Urban Policy Decisions and Monitoring Bibliography Part IV: Social Factors and Happiness in Latin America 18: Sociopolitical Dimensions of Subjective Wellbeing: The Case of Two Mexican Cities 18.1 Introduction 18.2 The Research 18.3 Dimensions of Bonding and Interaction 18.3.1 Social Cohesion 18.4 Social Capital 18.4.1 Social Capital: Generalizable Bonds? 18.4.2 Participation in Civic-Voluntary Associations 18.4.3 Cooperation 18.4.4 Relational Goods 18.4.5 Trust in the Family 18.4.6 Sociability with Friends 18.5 Civic-Political Relationships 18.5.1 Electoral Participation 18.5.2 Interest in the Country ́s Political Issues 18.5.3 Respect to Rights 18.6 Quality of Life: Habitability 18.7 Individual Adscription Variables: Socio-demographic 18.8 Findings and Future Research Appendix Bibliography 19: Does Migration Cause Unhappiness or Does Unhappiness Cause Migration? Some Initial Evidence from Latin America 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Background: Literature on Happiness, Income and Migration 19.3 Data and Methods 19.3.1 Data 19.3.2 Data: Stage 2 19.3.3 Methods 19.3.4 Methods: Stage 2 19.4 Findings 19.4.1 Descriptive Statistics 19.4.2 Regression Analysis 19.4.3 Second Stage Research in Progress: Initial Results 19.5 Conclusions Bibliography 20: Socioeconomic Disparities in Subjective Well-being in Colombia 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Socio-economic Status and Subjective Well-Being 20.3 Methods 20.4 Measures 20.4.1 Subjective Well-Being 20.4.2 Socioeconomic Status Indicators 20.4.3 Covariates 20.4.4 Analysis Plan 20.5 Results 20.5.1 Subjective Well-Being by Socioeconomic Status in Colombia 20.5.2 Disparities in Subjective Well-Being by Education 20.5.3 Disparities in Subjective Well-Being by Income 20.5.4 Disparities in Subjective Well-Being by Employment Status 20.6 Discussion 20.6.1 Summary of Findings 20.6.2 Study Limitations and Strenghts 20.6.3 Research Implications 20.7 Conclusions Bibliography 21: Individual and Social Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being: Evidence Across Latin-American Countries 21.1 Introduction 21.2 Background 21.2.1 Data and Variables 21.2.1.1 Data 21.2.2 Variables 21.2.2.1 Dimensions of Individual Satisfaction: Presenting Alternative Approaches to Subjective Well-Being 21.2.2.2 Micro-dimensions of Self-Assessment 21.2.2.3 Macro-dimensions of Self-Assessment 21.2.3 Explanatory Variables 21.2.3.1 Objective Variables: Foundations of the Lives of Individuals or Society Abilities 21.2.3.2 Family Conditions 21.2.3.3 Other Interpersonal Conditions 21.2.4 Objective Variables: Objective Results 21.2.4.1 Material Conditions of Life 21.2.4.2 Relative Conditions of Life 21.3 Opinion Variables: Attitudes 21.3.1 In Regard to Individual Him/Herself 21.3.2 In Regard to the Situation of the Society 21.4 The Model 21.5 The Empirical Results 21.6 Conclusions and Future Lines for Research Bibliography 22: Psychological and Social Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Mexico: Poverty, Class Identification and Social Mobility 22.1 Introduction 22.2 What Do We Mean by Well-Being? 22.3 Poverty and Subjective Well-Being in Mexico 22.4 Analysis 22.4.1 Description of Analysed Samples 22.4.2 Subjective Well-Being and Class Identification 22.4.3 Subjective Well-Being and Attributes of Poverty 22.4.4 Subjective Well-Being and Expectations of Social Mobility and Progress 22.4.5 Subjective Well-Being and Extreme Poverty 22.4.6 Predictors of Subjective Well-Being 22.5 Conclusions Bibliography 23: Happiness Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean 23.1 Introduction 23.2 Methodology 23.2.1 Utility and Happiness 23.2.2 Calibration 23.2.3 Ordinality and Cardinality 23.3 Data 23.4 Results 23.5 Conclusions Appendix Bibliography 24: Does the Chilean Pension Model Influence Life Satisfaction? A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis 24.1 Introduction 24.2 Literature Review 24.2.1 Effects of Pension Policy Individualization: Risk, Choice, and Returns 24.2.2 Effects of Pension Policy Redistribution: Poverty and Inequality 24.2.3 Moderating Effects of Country Characteristics: Cultural, Economic, and Policy Context 24.2.3.1 Cultural and Economic Context 24.2.3.2 Welfare Expenditures on Social Security 24.2.4 Research Hypotheses 24.3 Methodology 24.3.1 Data and Sample 24.3.2 Dependent Variable 24.3.3 Independent Variables 24.3.4 Moderating Variables 24.3.4.1 Traditional Versus Secular-Rational Culture 24.3.4.2 Affluent Economic Structure 24.3.4.3 Government Expenditure on Social Security 24.3.5 Control Variables 24.4 Analytic Strategy 24.5 Results 24.6 Discussion 24.6.1 Theoretical Implications 24.6.2 Policy Implications 24.6.3 Limitations and Future Research Bibliography 25: Does Values Education Make a Difference on Well-Being? A Case Study of Primary Education in Chiapas 25.1 Introduction 25.1.1 The Research Questions 25.1.2 Child Centered Approach 25.1.3 Structure 25.2 Research Methodology 25.2.1 Situating the Research 25.2.2 Methodology 25.2.3 Limitations 25.3 Theoretical Framework 25.3.1 How Do Children Know and Learn 25.3.2 The School and Its Educative Functions 25.3.3 Values Education and Well-Being 25.4 The Instrument 25.4.1 Variables 25.4.2 Variables Construction 25.5 Data Analysis 25.5.1 Descriptive Statistics 25.5.2 Life Satisfaction vs. PWI 25.5.3 Econometric Analyses 25.6 Results 25.6.1 Do Values Matter for Children ́s Well-Being? The Case of Satisfaction with Specific Components 25.6.2 Do Values Matter for Children ́s Well-Being? The Case of Satisfaction with Life as a Whole 25.6.3 Satisfaction with Life as a Whole vs. Satisfaction with Specific Components 25.7 Discussion 25.7.1 Cultural Differences 25.7.2 Ego/Social Values 25.7.3 The Mexican Case 25.8 Final Considerations Appendix Bibliography 26: Happiness and Quality of Life in Mexico: Conceptual andGeographical Considerations 26.1 Introduction 26.2 Literature Review 26.2.1 Determinants of Happiness 26.2.2 Concepts of Well-Being 26.3 The Quality of Life Index for Mexico 26.4 Methodology 26.4.1 The Surveys 26.4.2 The Model 26.5 Results 26.5.1 Dependent Variable: Happiness 26.5.2 Dependent Variable: Quality of Life 26.5.3 Dependent Variable: Wishing to Spend the Rest of the Life on the City 26.6 Discussion 26.7 Conclusions Appendix Bibliography Part V: Health and Happiness in Latin America 27: The Determinants of Mental Health: Empirical Evidence from Chile 27.1 Introduction 27.2 Indicators of Social Progress and Health 27.3 Correlation Between Physical and Mental Health 27.4 Conclusions Bibliography 28: Pain, Emotions, and Social-Well-Being in Mexico 28.1 Introduction 28.2 Importance of Emotion Study 28.3 Components and Measurement of Emotions 28.3.1 Somatic Markers 28.3.2 Self-Report 28.4 Mexican Experience in the Study and Measurement of Emotion and Its Relationships with Well-Being and Illness Continuum 28.5 Learning from Traumas and Challenging Environments in Mexico 28.6 What Can We Do to Help People to Overcome Negative Outcomes? 28.6.1 Autonomic Activity, Anxiety, Depression and Musculoskeletal Pain 28.6.2 Psychological Cost of Poverty in Mexico 28.7 Limitations and Future Perspectives 28.8 Conclusion Bibliography 29: The Impact of Economic Growth on the Prevalence of Health Problems in Latin America 29.1 Introduction 29.2 Theory and Literature Review 29.2.1 The Relationship Between Economic Variables and Health: Empirical Studies 29.2.2 Negative Consequences of Rapid Growth Dynamics 29.3 Survey and Data Description 29.3.1 Survey 29.3.2 Physical and Psychological Health 29.3.3 Economic Variables 29.3.4 Socio-Demographic Variables 29.3.5 Correlation Between Economic Growth and Health Between Population Groups 29.4 The Impact of Economic Growth on Health 29.4.1 The Econometric Model 29.4.2 Results 29.5 Discussion Appendix Bibliography Part VI: The Importance of Subjective Well-Being Indicators 30: The Distance Between Perception and Reality in the Social Domains of Life 30.1 Introduction 30.2 Health Perceptions 30.3 Job Satisfaction 30.3.1 The Value of Independence 30.3.2 Feeling Good at Work 30.4 Perception of Insecurity 30.5 Perceived Social Ranking 30.6 Conclusion Bibliography 31: A Perceived Human Development Index 31.1 Overview 31.2 Constructing a Perceived Human Development Index (PHDI) 31.2.1 Motivation 31.2.2 Conceptual Framework 31.2.3 Principal Components Analysis: Method 31.2.4 Empirical Strategy 31.3 Results of the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) 31.3.1 PCA Latin America: Mixing All Subjective Questions 31.3.2 PCA Latin America: Splitting Subjective Questions into Sector-Specific Ingredients 31.3.2.1 Income and Work Ingredients 31.3.2.2 Health and Education Ingredients 31.3.3 Perceived Human Development Indexes for LAC and the World Levels 31.4 The Formation of Perceptions on Human Development in Latin America 31.4.1 The Correlation Between Objective Income and the PHDI Components 31.4.2 The Life-Cycle Pattern of PHDI Components 31.5 The Formation of Perceptions on Human Development around the World 31.6 Life-Satisfaction and the Subjective Weights of the Human Development Components 31.6.1 Conceptualization of the Determinants of Life Satisfaction 31.6.2 Sector-Specific Weights of the HDI and Life Satisfaction 31.6.3 Sector-Specific Weights of the PHDI and Current Life Satisfaction 31.7 Conclusion 31.7.1 Overview 31.7.2 Main Results Appendix Bibliography 32: Life Satisfaction and Happiness in Mexico: Correlates and Redundancies 32.1 Introduction 32.2 Methodology 32.3 The Data 32.4 Results 32.4.1 Socio-Demographic 32.4.2 Personal Experiences 32.4.3 Abuse and Violence 32.4.4 Satisfaction with Family, Emotional and Social Life 32.4.5 Family Support and Frequency of Gatherings with Family and Friends 32.4.6 Personal Practices 32.5 Conclusions Appendices Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Bibliography 33: The Usefulness of Subjective Well-Being to Predict Electoral Results in Latin America 33.1 Voting and Subjective Well-Being 33.1.1 The Vote for the Incumbent or the Opposition 33.1.2 Subjective Well-Being 33.1.3 Research Question and Hypothesis 33.1.4 Sociodemographic Factors 33.2 Database Construction 33.3 Empirical Analysis 33.3.1 Influence of Subjective Well-Being on the Victory of Incumbent or Opposition 33.3.2 The Margin of Victory Of Incumbent/Opposition and Subjective Well-Being 33.3.2.1 Construction of the Margins of Victory 33.3.2.2 Empirical Analysis of Margins of Victory and Subjective Well-Being 33.3.3 Intraregional Effects 33.4 Conclusions Appendix Bibliography Author Bios