Quality of life (QoL) is affected by issues specific to illness trajectory and thus, may differ, and potentially take on different meanings, at different stages in the cancer process. A widely used measure of QoL is the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36; Ware 1993); therefore, support for its appropriateness in a given population is imperative. The…

This paper seeks to analyze the influence of the weather on a person's self-reported life satisfaction. On a theoretical level, it is claimed that "nice" weather can improve the affective well-being of a person. Given this, it is argued that affects can, in turn, have an impact on that person's general assessment of his or her life. In…

Using data from surveys on "social quality survey questionnaires", carried out by the Asian Consortium for Social Quality between 2009 and 2011, this study investigates the causes of social exclusion in six Asian societies. About 6,460 questionnaires were completed and the analysis of the data reveals the features and the causes of…

Empirical analyses of the determinants of life satisfaction routinely include the number of children as one of the socio demographic controls, without explicitly considering that, for a given household income, more children imply a lower level of income per family member. The variable "number of children" then often attracts a negative…

This paper proposes how to select a methodology to target multidimensionally poor households, and how to update that targeting exercise periodically. We present this methodology in the context of discussions regarding the selection of a targeting methodology in India. In 1992, 1997, and 2002 the Indian government identified households that are…

Data from the China General Social Survey are used in order to investigate the factors that are related to the subjective well-being of Chinese urban residents. Factors predicting higher subjective well-being include female gender, high-income class, marriage, employment, fashionable consumption, less sense of relative deprivation, and party…

Bernheim's ACSA, a less conventional measure of subjective well-being originally developed for use in a clinical setting, was applied to a sample of black South African township dwellers (n = 1,020) in the Eastern Cape Province. The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment is an experiential self-anchoring scale with concrete anchors (Bernheim in…

A notable way that social change affects personal quality of life would rely on the person's experience with social change. This experience may influence societal quality of life and quality of work life, which may in turn affect personal quality of life. Additionally, the experience of social change is possibly less detrimental to personal…

In this paper we use data from a population survey on quality of life dimensions conducted in Uruguay to analyze the self reported well-being among workers and non workers. Along with the literature, we find that the probability of being happy is greater for workers than non-workers. Specifically, we find evidence that workers tend to be more…

It is known that characteristics of individuals explain only a part of the variations in Subjective Well-Being (SWB) between people. The country of origin of an individual accounts for a significant part of these differences. We study what drives the variations in SWB between countries after taking individual characteristics into account. We base…

This study examines the integration of immigrants via their satisfaction with life in the new country. While most studies on immigrant integration have focused on objective integration parameters such as education, occupation and salary (e.g., Borjas in "Friends or strangers: the impact of immigrants on the US economy." Basic Books, New…

Based on individual-level data from 2008 Afro-barometer survey, this study explores the relationship between religion (religious affiliation and religious importance) and trust (interpersonal and institutional) among Ghanaians. Employing hierarchical multiple regression technique, our analyses reveal a positive relationship between religious…

In this paper, we perform a latent class factor analysis of a panel that involves two waves of data from an annual survey of living conditions in Sweden that were gathered in the years 1994-1995 and 2002-2003. We follow the same 3,149 individuals over both waves, describing them by sex, age group, family type, nationality background, education…

This paper reports a study designed to further validate a measure of quality of college life (QCL) of university students (Sirgy, Grzeskowiak, Rahtz, "Soc Indic Res" 80(2), 343-360, 2007). Two studies were conducted: a replication study and an extension study. The replication study involved surveys of 10 different college campuses in different…

It is commonly assumed that better living standards will boost subjective well-being. The post-apartheid South African government subscribes to this idea; its social policies aim to provide "a better life for all". Since the coming of democracy in 1994, the state has built over 3 million houses and supplied electricity and clean water to…