Advances in Quality of Life Theory and Research: 4 (Social Indicators Research Series) - Tapa dura

The International Society for Quality of Life Studies held its first conference in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1997. Participants at the conference were allowed to submit their papers for the present volume. The submitted manuscripts went through a review and revision process, and the papers in this book represent the best articles from that process. Because the society sponsoring this volume is international in character, it is not sur­ prising that the 11 contributions are from 4 different countries: Canada (3), India (1), Netherlands (3), and the United States (4). Thus, the volume is cross-national in authorship, although we hope that future works can include more papers from additional nations. Ten of the eleven papers consider quality of life in terms of some aspect of subjective well-being. The book is broken into three sections: the first section presenting material on broad theories of subjective well­ being, the second section covering how work and income are related to subjective well-being, and the third section containing one chapter on health and one on political representation. I am proud to present these broad-ranging chapters on quality of life.

This volume is concerned with quality of life, and focuses on subjective well-being (people's own evaluations of their lives in terms of happiness and satisfaction). The first section focuses on theories of subjective well-being, and on testing these theories. The second section of the volume concentrates on how work, unemployment, and income influence subjective well-being. The third section of the book concerns two important institutions that have an impact on people's well-being - the health care and political systems.
Authors from diverse disciplines present their views and research concerning quality of life, and focus on subjective well-being (people's happiness and satisfaction). The chapters cover topics ranging from theories of happiness, and data bearing on these theories, to the organization of the political system. Income, work, health care, and leisure are considered as they influence well-being. The effects of temperament, people's values and goals, and life events are also treated. There is an international flavor to the volume, with authors from several nations and data gathered from diverse societies. The findings of the volume are relevant to academic researchers as well as to those working in applied areas who want to improve quality of life.