ISQOLS News

2023 ISQOLS Prize for the Best Dissertation on Quality-of-Life, Well-being, and Happiness

The International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) calls for nominations for the “2023 ISQOLS Prize for the Best Dissertation on Quality-of-Life, Well-being, and Happiness.” The deadline for nominations is January 31st, 2023.

The aim of the prize is to promote the activity of young researchers working on quality-of-life, happiness, and well-being issues. All dissertations that have been successfully defended during the two calendar years prior to the award deadline are eligible for consideration.

ISQOLS awards the best dissertation with a lump sum of $1,500 USD, one-year free membership to ISQOLS, one-year free access to the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life Studies, and free registration to the 21st ISQOLS conference that will be held in August 2023 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

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ISQOLS 2023 Conference

Call for Abstracts for Papers and Posters: *extension* deadline February 15

The 21st Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies

August 21st – August 25th / Rotterdam, the Netherlands

The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) is holding its 21st conference in the thriving city of Rotterdam, home of the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization (EHERO) and the World Database of Happiness. The theme of the conference is “Towards a People-First Economy and Society: A World to Win”. Confirmed keynote speakers are Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (Oxford University), Jan Delhey (Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg), Barbara Fredrickson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Amanda Janoo (Wellbeing Alliance), and Ruut Veenhoven (Erasmus University Rotterdam).

Call for Abstracts for Workshops, Special Sessions, Papers and Posters

Call for Abstracts for Papers and Posters: *extension* deadline February 15

Learn more:

2023 Conference Rotterdam

ISQOLS 2022 End of year summary:

2022 ISQOLS End of year summary.pdf

Farewell letter from ISQOLS 2021-22 President, Carol Graham

Please read here: 

ISQOLS Farewell from President Carol Graham.pdf

Is it possible that policy affects our sleep?

Dr. Lihi Lahat

One of the most important things for well-being is sleep. Not having enough sleep has repercussions on health, memory, abilities, and mood. Health organizations, such as the United States National Sleep Foundation and the CDC, suggest a range between seven and nine hours of sleep is appropriate for adults, and while it may change by age group and by country, we had surprising findings for Israelis. In a survey we conducted, adult Israelis reported a low number of sleep hours (mean 6.6) and asked for an average of one hour more to sleep, more than any other uses of time. This was a surprising finding: we assumed Israelis, as a very friendly and family-oriented society, would ask for more leisure time and more time to spend with family.  The findings showed long hours of care and paid work dramatically affected the level of sleep. We argue these findings can be better understood if we take into account not just social norms, but also official policies, such as work hours or care assistance. In fact, we suggest policies may hinder sleep, a side effect that policymakers might not consider.   

A study recently published in Policy Studies (with Professor Itai Sened) presents our findings on sleep hours and desired sleep hours and reflects on the findings in light of the Israeli policy context. The Israeli case is interesting -   Israelis have a high number of children, the highest in the OECD, with 3.1 children per woman, and policies that encourage the inclusion of different populations in the workforce. However, the investment in care services for children and older populations is underdeveloped. The combination of a high number of children with a high number of work hours and underdeveloped care services leads to a high burden, especially for parents of small children. In Israel (and likely elsewhere), the dual care-work burden affects sleep and well-being. 

Our work calls for policymakers to be more aware of the cumulative side effects of policies. For example, school hours, quality of care services, and regulations on work hours should be taken into consideration together, not as separate policies. A more holistic policy perspective might lead to better sleep and well-being not just in the Israeli case but in other countries with a dual work-care burden.

To cite this article: Lihi Lahat & Itai Sened (2022): The politics and policies of sleep? Empirical findings and the policy context. Policy Studies. DOI:10.1080/01442872.2022.2057460

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01442872.2022.2057460

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lihi_Lahat

Lihi Lahat Ph.D. is a senior lecturer in the Department of Administration & Public Policy at Sapir Academic College and an Affiliate Associate Professor, Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies, Concordia University, Montreal. Her papers have been published in Policy Sciences, Social Policy & Administration, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Journal of Management and Governance, Review of Public Personnel Administration, and Poverty & Public Policy.

Changes in Subjective Well-Being are not Related to Income Growth

Recent research conducted by Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California and Kelsey J. O’Connor of STATEC Research (Luxembourg) challenges traditional economic policy targets, confirming previous findings that changes in subjective well-being are not related to income growth in the long-run.

The new results, published in the Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, are based on the most extensive relevant data sets, including the Gallup World Poll with more than 120 relevant countries. Even in the relatively less affluent countries, economic growth does not lead to greater subjective well-being. China serves as a notable example – from 1990 to 2018, the country experienced largely unprecedented economic growth but little to no increase in subjective well-being.

The authors address common criticisms. One of the more persistent is based on fluctuations in GDP per capita and subjective well-being. It is true that they are positively related in the short-run, especially when GDP per capita falls in times of recession; however, in longer periods characterized by both recessions and expansions, the impact of economic growth is reduced to nil.

How did wealthier countries get to be better off if economic growth does not lastingly increase well-being? They got a head start implementing the insights from social science – insights such as monetary and fiscal policy to stabilize business cycles, and the social safety net. This implementation did not depend greatly on income however. Germany initiated social insurance in the 1880s when it had real GDP per capita of less than $4000 (in 2011 dollars). Likewise, Costa Rica (who reports subjective well-being among the highest in the world) implemented social policy at a similarly low level of real GDP per capita, approximately $3000 in the 1940s.

The present insights indicate policy makers should go beyond GDP to promote subjective well-being. Additional studies by the authors provide initial evidence supporting full employment and social safety net policies. We need more evidence generally, but know it is possible to promote subjective well-being. On average it has trended upward around the world in the past few decades.

The article provides further support for and explanation of the often-debated Easterlin Paradox. First discovered by Richard Easterlin in 1974, the Easterlin Paradox consists in the findings that richer people (or countries) on average report higher subjective well-being than poorer ones, but over time this relationship vanishes, that is changes in subjective well-being are not related to income growth in the long run.

Social comparisons can explain the seemingly contradictory findings between the point-of-time and time series relationships. People benefit from comparing their incomes with those of the less fortunate (and the less fortunate report less subjective well-being when comparing their incomes to the wealthy), but over time, as incomes increase throughout the population, the incomes of one’s comparison group rises along with one’s own income, which vitiates the otherwise positive effect of own-income growth on subjective well-being.

The full research results are available in the publication:

Easterlin R.A., O’Connor K.J. (2021) The Easterlin Paradox. In: Zimmermann K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_184-1

A free working paper version is available from the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

 

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Richard Estes and Joe Sirgy would like to announce with great sadness the passing of Harry Halloran—a friend, colleague and philanthropist who contributed to the support of many ISQOLS activities. Acting in his capacity as President and Chairman of the Board of the American Refining Group, Harry allocated a large share of the organization’s profits to funding Halloran Philanthropies, a not-for-profit charity which continues to focus on building ethical leadership among emerging entrepreneurs, environmental protection through the use of non-fossil fuels, cultural renewal among indigenous peoples, and the advancement of worldwide quality of life through scholarship.

Consistent with these goals Harry supported original research and writing projects for a large number of the Society’s most seasoned scholars, supported many interim conferences as well as three of the Society’s international meetings.  The Society, in turn, acknowledged Harry’s varied contributions by awarding Halloran Philanthropies the 2016 Award for the Betterment of the Human Condition. Thank you Harry and may you Rest In Peace.

The UJ School of Economics and the Library invites you to a webinar titled: You’ll never walk alone: loneliness, religion and economics

ABSTRACT ¡ Happiness is an elusive entity and difficult to define, especially in time of uncertainty and change. Yet, loneliness, which can be thought as the opposite of happiness in many ways, is also a very particular condition and relates to a feeling that is very clearly connected to the current COVID-19 pandemic, which entailed isolation, lockdowns and social distancing. This study examines the change in feelings of loneliness in relation to the pandemic and in relation to local and individual cultural factors. Using data for the UK on regional (super output level) and individual level from the Office of National Statistics, I employ difference-in-differences approach to explore the role of local level of altruism and social capital as a pre-determinant of the experienced level of loneliness before and during the pandemic. Using a hierarchical model, I also explore the relationship of interpersonal differences in demographic characteristics and cultural attitudes (especially degree of religiosity) as predictors of the differences in the aggregate social experience of loneliness across space. The results show that controlling for objective socio-economic factors of the Mincer equation, loneliness associates significantly and negatively with mental health and positively with levels of religiosity of an individual. It is also in negative relationship with the local level of altruism and social capital. Places with low levels of altruism experience higher levels of loneliness both before and during the pandemic. These findings suggest that the religious narrative has the role of an alleviation of pain in the subjective utility function of people, but effectively and objectively places that are less altruistic experience greater loneliness with the corresponding greater mental health aftermaths.

PRESENTER ¡ Annie Tubadji – Swansea University, Wales, UK. FACILITATOR ¡ Prof Talita Greyling – Associate Professor, School of Economics, UJ. DATE ¡ 3 March 2022 TIME ¡ 11:00 (SAST) VENUE ¡ https://zoom.us/j/97359887583

Annie Tubadji is an Assistant Professor in Economics at Swansea University, the UK. She is a cultural economist studying cultural bias in economic choice and its implications for happiness, altruism and socio-economic development. Annie has been developing her unique research paradigm termed Culture Based Development (CBD) since 2007. In 2021, the Learned Society of Wales awarded Annie’s CBD paradigm with the Dillwyn Medal for Social Sciences. Earlier, the CBD Hypothesis was awarded the 2010 “Student Paper Award” by the Association for Institutional Thought (AFIT), Western Social Science Association meeting,

Talita Greyling is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. She specializes in well-being economics and quality of life studies and has a keen interest in fourth industrial revolution applications. She developed the initial “Happiness Index” using Big Data. Consequently, she partnered with Dr Stephanie Rossouw and established the Gross National Happiness.today Project (GNH.today), which continuously research and develop the index. The project received the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Innovation

UJ_SoE_YoullNeverWalkAlone_INVITE _3March2022 (1).pdf

Call for papers: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Cohesion across the Globe

Together with Mandi Larsen and Georgi Dragolov, ISQOLS member Jan Delhey organizes a special issue of the journal Frontiers in Sociology on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on social cohesion.

Contributors are encouraged to address the impact of the pandemic on aspects of social cohesion, such as:
- Social relations and loneliness;
- Trust in others;
- Attitudes towards diversity;
- Identification and feelings of connection to society;
- Institutional trust, particularly in political institutions;
- Inequality, exclusion and polarization;
- Solidarity and helpfulness;

- Civic and political engagement.

The editors particularly welcome original empirical contributions making use of quantitative data and, ideally, involving a comparative perspective. We seek to cover a broad range of countries, regions, and cultures, with a special interest in those that typically do not receive extensive attention in the literature (e.g., the Global South).

The timeline is as follows:

·        Abstract submission: 28 February 2022

• Manuscript submission: 31 May 2022

For more information, please visit:

https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/30077/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-social-cohesion-across-the-globe

https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/30077/the-covid-19-pandemic-and-social-cohesion-across-the-globe