Well-Being and Cultures: Perspectives from Positive Psychology (Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology Book 3)

This anthology focuses on empirical studies comparing cultures in relation to central positive psychological topics. It contains selected papers from the 5th European Conference on Positive Psychology held in 2010 in Denmark. The book starts out with an introductory chapter that brings together the main ideas and findings within an integrative perspective, based on a broad theoretical framework encompassing interdisciplinary and methodological issues. It gives special emphasis to some open issues in the theory and assessment of culture-related dimensions, and to the potential of positive psychology in addressing them. The introductory chapter is followed by two chapters that examine theoretical approaches and instruments developed to assess happiness and well-being across cultures. Following that examination, five chapters are devoted to the relationship between well-being, cultures and values. The second half of the book prominently investigates well-being across cultures in the light of socio-economic factors. This book shows that positive psychology, now officially well into its second decade, is providing still finer-grained perspectives on the diversity of cultures along with insights about our shared human nature, uniting us for better or worse Front Matter....Pages i-vi Positive Psychology and Cross-Cultural Research....Pages 1-10 VIA Character Strengths: Research and Practice (The First 10 Years)....Pages 11-29 Addressing Current Challenges in Cross-Cultural Measurement of Well-Being: The Pemberton Happiness Index....Pages 31-49 Communal Values and Individualism in Our Era of Globalization: A Comparative Longitudinal Study of Three Different Societies....Pages 51-69 The Relation of Basic Psychological Needs, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Life Goals, and Collectivism with Subjective Well-Being: A Case in Macedonia....Pages 71-81 The Ubiquity of the Character Strengths in African Traditional Religion: A Thematic Analysis....Pages 83-102 Culture, Environmental Psychology, and Well-Being: An Emergent Theoretical Framework....Pages 103-116 Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being Across Nations: The Eudaemonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation....Pages 117-134 The Relationship of South African Consumers’ Living Standards and Demographic Variables with Their Life Satisfaction....Pages 135-159 Circumstances of Well-Being Among Czech College Students....Pages 161-170 Income Is Not Associated with Positive Affect, Life Satisfaction, and Subjective Happiness Among Japanese Workers....Pages 171-182 Relationships Between Self-Serving Attributional Bias and Subjective Well-Being Among Danish and Spanish Women....Pages 183-194 Optimistic Attributional Style and Parental Behaviour in the Educational Framework: A Cross-Cultural Perspective....Pages 195-217 Back Matter....Pages 219-221