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on Economics of Happiness |
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Issue of 2015‒03‒27
nine papers chosen by |
| By: | Neriman Çelik (Selcuk University) |
| Abstract: | Cyberloafing can be described as, people are using various internet sites such as news sites, sites with sexual content, shopping, vacation planning, computer games and job search for their personnel reasons while working in the workplace during the working hours of their duties. Job satisfaction of employee’s means that it is the difference between the employees perceives from the work and the working environment and what they expect to. If this difference is small then it will leave a positive impact on employee’s commitment to the organization and the individual's work. Thus, this contentment will result that the employees are happy to belong to the organization and he or she will be effective and efficient. This study is designed to measure cyberloafing and the level of job satisfaction of the academic staff at the university. In this study we also aim to measure the staff’s job satisfaction effects on the cyberloafing. |
| Keywords: | Cyberloafing, Job Satisfaction, Employee |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0201668&r=hap |
| By: | Anis Zakaria (University Putra of Malaysia); Zaidatul Syahirah Zainal Abidin (University Putra of Malaysia) |
| Abstract: | The knowledge and practice on healthy lifestyle is very important to determine a good growth and mental development for students at the tertiary level. It is well established that a healthy lifestyle is of benefit in the prevention of diseases such as cancer and promotion of well-being. Unhealthy nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use and the use of alcohol and illicit drugs are among identified lifestyle-related risk factors(The European health report, 2002). It is well established that a healthy lifestyle is of benefit in promotion of well-being (WHO 1990). Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours particularly poor dietary practices, physical inactivity and smoking are major risk factors for conditions like overweight, obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases (Damasceno 2006) Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify and explore level, types and barrier in practicing healthy lifestyle among the students under Bachelor of Home Science and Agriculture Science Education program. This quantitative and qualitative research used questionnaires and interview as research instrument. 259 students were involved as sample for quantitative data and five informant were selected for quantitative data. Results showed that there were no significant result between knowledge and practice and selected types of healthy life style were detected at highly known and practiced. The barrier of practicing healthy life identified among the students were time constraint, work burden, weak in time management and consciousness about healthy life style. Several suggestions were given to promote healthy lifestyle among the students to highlight and improve good mental development and grown to be taken action by the students and university. This study showed a poor practice of healthy lifestyle among university students. Therefore universities should emphasize a healthy lifestyle in all faculties as a required subject. |
| Keywords: | Healthy lifestyle,higher education students |
| JEL: | I19 I29 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0100729&r=hap |
| By: | Abdullah Sürücü (Necmettin Erbakan University Ahmet Kelesoglu Education Faculty) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study was to evaluate with respect to certain variables the life satisfaction levels of guidance teachers working at educational institutions. In this context, the study attempted to determine whether life satisfaction levels among guidance teachers varied according to gender, the type of school/institution they worked at, and their length of service. The study was conducted according to a screening model. The study population consisted of guidance teachers working at educational institutions in Turkey. The study sample group consisted of 251 randomly-selected guidance teachers working at public and private schools, and in counseling and research centers. During the study; a personal information form, the Turkish translation by Simsek (2011) of the “Satisfaction with Life as a Whole†and the PWI-A Scale were used as data collection tools. The study data were gathered in an internet environment, and analyzed with the SPSS 16.0 package program. Data analysis demonstrated that guidance teachers generally had a high level of life satisfaction. The study results also showed that guidance teachers’ level of life satisfaction did not differ significantly with respect to gender, the type of school/institution they worked at (e.g. public school vs. private school), and their length of service. |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction, guidance teacher, Turkey. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0201638&r=hap |
| By: | Erkan Efilti (Necmettin Erbakan University) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to find out the burnout and job satisfaction levels of teachers working in the field of special education and compare them in terms of some variables. Following sub-purposes were examined in order to achieve these purposes. Is there a relationship between the burnout levels and job satisfaction of special education teachers? Is there a relationship between their burnout levels and their job satisfaction in terms of variables of professional working years, age and department? Data were obtained from a total of 79 primary school teachers for the mentally handicapped, including 40 women, 39 men, working in primary schools and rehabilitation centers in the province of Konya. A significant relationship between the job satisfaction and burnout levels of teachers was identified from this study. In this study, a significant difference was found between job satisfaction and burnout levels of teachers according to their age and working year levels. |
| Keywords: | Special education, burnout, job satisfaction |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0201394&r=hap |
| By: | Adrian Otoiu (The Academy Of Economic Studies); Emilia Titan (The Academy Of Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | There is considerable debate on the methods used to compute composite indicators of well-being. The fact that most of the weights of the principal sub-components of the composite indicators are equal, and that the determinants of well-being are, to a certain extent, correlated, makes the use of ranks of these sub-components in computing the country ranks of well-being indicators a valid approach. A comparison of the actual ranks with ranks computed as averages of the ranks of subcomponent indexes for three well-known indicators of well-being, Human Development Index, Legatum Prosperity Index, and Social Progress Index, shows that results are almost the same. This calls into question the use of weighted averages of actual values of sub-components, as very high values for a variable or sub-component increases a country’s relative rank, despite much lower performance on other sub-components. Our proposed approach will help achieve more robust/reliable rankings of countries and tackle the issues posed by extreme values or non-normal distributions of the sub-components variables used. |
| Keywords: | well-being indexes, composite indices, rank-based statistical methods, Human Development Index, Legatum Prosperity Index, Social Progress Index, precision, recall |
| JEL: | C14 I30 C40 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0802491&r=hap |
| By: | Talita Greyling |
| Abstract: | The influx of asylum seekers and refugees from across Africa to democratic South Africa has increased significantly. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influence the ‘expected well-being’ of this unique group. ‘Expected well-being’ is an important determinant of both the decision to migrate and the choice of destination country. Therefore knowledge of this determinant informs refugee policies. The results show that only a few factors found in the literature to explain the ‘expected well-being’ of voluntary migrants also explain the ‘expected well-being’ of forced migrants. However, quite a number of factors found in the literature to explain the subjective well-being and well-being of refugees and asylum seekers also applied to explaining the ‘expected well-being’ of this group. These factors include: government assistance, culture, the time spent in South Africa, economic factors, crime, refugee status, the reasons for leaving their home countries and the number of people in the house. The findings of this study emphasise the differences between forced and voluntary migrants and highlights the factors that influences the ‘expected well-being’ of forced migrants. These factors in turn shed light on migration decisions and choice of destination countries. |
| Keywords: | Expected well-being, Johannesburg, Forced migrants, Refugees, Asylum seekers, South Africa, Well-being |
| JEL: | D6 F23 J11 O15 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:507&r=hap |
| By: | Hakan Mihci (Hacettepe University) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is twofold: The first concentrates on the very recent development performance of two country groups, namely Middle Eastern and North African countries, and the second focuses on Turkey in an attempt to determine the position of the country in the context of human development.To reach the above mentioned aims, very simple methods are followed: Descriptive statistical analysis is used and existing data is assessed in a comparative way to be more specific about the position of Turkey in her path of human development. The analysis period is restricted with the last five years. The main argument to be tested throughout the current study can be formulated in the following way: Although Westernization and secularization attempts of the country have prevailed since the establishment of the Republican period, recent human development outcome of the Turkish economy seems to coincide with those of Middle Eastern and North African countries where Arab and Islamic cultures dominate socio-economic life rather than highly developed European countries. To put differently, one may suggest that the development path of Turkey considerably deviates from the European trends not only in terms of economic performance but also with respect to societal, cultural and in particular with gender-based developments.An additional argument can be associated with the fact that certain resource-rich but relatively underdeveloped countries included in the sample of the current study provides us an appropriate ground to understand better the need to construct human development index in considering development level of the countries not via solely relying on the indicators biasing the material well-being of the countries such as absolute level of income or per capita GDP and ignoring the rest but also through concerning with the humanitarian aspect of development like looking at the achievements associated with education, healthcare, gender equality, social participation and so on. In the light of this preliminary information, the organization of the paper can be stated as follows: Next section reviews the origins and the emergence of the human development index. Third section deals with descriptive statistical analysis of the main human development indicators of the Middle Eastern and North African countries especially focusing on the position of Turkey, and final section evaluates the findings alongside with the main arguments of the paper. |
| Keywords: | Development, Human Development, Middle East, North Africa, Gender Equality, Turkey |
| JEL: | O10 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:0902724&r=hap |
| By: | Giovanis, Eleftherios; Ozdamar, Oznur |
| Abstract: | This study explores the effects of air pollution on self-reported health status. Moreover, this study explores the willingness to pay for improving the air quality in UK. The estimates are based on data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The effects of air pollution on individuals’ health status are estimated and their monetary value is calculated. In particular, two main air pollutants are examined; ground-level ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO). Moreover, various approaches are followed. The first approach refers to panel Fixed Effects regressions and specifically the Probit adapted Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) and the “Blow-Up and Cluster” (BUC) estimator. The second approach is the dynamic system Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM), while the last approach is the Generalized Ordered Probit with Random Effects model. The annual monetary values for ground level O3 range between £128-£149 for a drop of one unit, while the respective values for the CO range between £122-£141. In addition, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for avoiding an inpatient day in hospital for a one unit reduction in pollution is £29. In the case where the fee of £20 per stay, proposed by a former Health minister in UK, will be implemented then the MWTP ranges between £530-£570. Based on the elective (planned) and non-elective (unplanned) inpatient stay cost per day which is £2,749 and is £2,197 respectively a 5 and 4 unit respectively decrease in air pollutants will lead to a MWTP equal to the inpatient day cost. Lastly, depending on the health status of the individual the MWTP for the number of General Practitioners (GP) ranges between £10-£60. |
| Keywords: | Air pollution, Environmental valuation, Health Status, Life satisfaction approach |
| JEL: | I31 Q51 Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59988&r=hap |
| By: | Denis Gerstorf; Gizem Hülür; Johanna Drewelies; Peter Eibich; Sandra Duezel; Ilja Demuth; Paolo Ghisletta Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; Gert G. Wagner; Ulman Lindenberger |
| Abstract: | How socio-cultural contexts shape individual functioning is of prime interest for psychological inquiry. Secular increases favoring later-born cohorts in fluid intelligence measures are widely documented for young adults. In the current study, we quantify such trends in old age using data from highly comparable participants living in a narrowly defined geographical area and examine whether these trends generalize to quality of life indicators. To do so, we compared data obtained 20 years apart in the Berlin Aging Study (in 1990–93) and the Berlin Aging Study II (in 2013–14), applied a case-matched control design (per cohort, n = 161, Mage = 75), quantified sample selection using a nationally representative sample as the reference, and controlled for number of physical diseases. The later cohort performed better on the fluid intelligence measure (d = .85) and reported higher morale, less negative affect, and more positive affect (ds > .39) than the earlier cohort. We conclude that secular advances have resulted in better cognitive performance and perceived quality of life among older adults and discuss when and how advantages of later cohorts reach their limits. |
| Keywords: | Cohort, cognitive ability, well-being, sociocultural factors, individual differences |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp738&r=hap |