Notes
1 See: Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language: in 4 volumes / ed. D. Ushakova. M., 1996. T. 2. P. 204.
2 See: Sociology: encyclopedia. M., 2003. P. 968.
3 See: Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. T. 2. P. 204
4 See: Anikin L.S. Formation of local government in Russian Federation: Experience of sociological research. Saratov, 1997. P. 118.
udk 316.346.32-053.6(316.473)
evolution of the sociological interpretation of happiness
n. V. Kachur
Saratov State University E-mail: [email protected]
5 See: Federal State Statistics Service for the Saratov Region: [official. website]. URL: www.srtv. gks.ru (date of access: 08/05/2013).
6 See: Ministry of Employment, Labor and Migration of the Saratov Region: [official. website]. URL: www.mintrud. saratov.gov.ru (date of access: 08/03/2013).
7 See: Federal State Statistics Service for Saratov: [official. website]. URL: www.srtv.gks.ru (date of access: 08/05/2013).
The article clarifies the evolution of social ideas about happiness, conducts a comparative analysis of sociological, philosophical, ethical, psychological, theoretical and methodological approaches to the scientific interpretation of happiness and proposes a sociological definition of happiness. Key words: happiness, social sciences, sociology of emotions, sociological interpretation of happiness.
The Evolution of the sociological Interpretation of Happiness
This article clarifies the evolution of social attitudes about happiness, comparative analysis of sociological, philosophical, ethical, psychological theoretical and methodological approaches to scientific interpretation of happiness and offers the sociological definition of happiness.
Key words: happiness, social science, sociology of emotions, sociological interpretation of happiness.
Happiness is a question that has long troubled humanity, starting from ancient Greek philosophers. However, it was only in 1973 that the category “happiness” appeared for the first time in the subject index of major reference publications. The trajectory of development of psychological approaches to happiness is similar to the trajectory of development of philosophical views on it1, which note that happiness is situational and changeable; its boundaries are blurred2. “This is the motivating motive for the actions of all people, including suicides,” concludes B. Pascal3.
The word “happiness” owes its appearance to bread. In ancient times, bread or loaf was baked on the occasion of the birth of a child. It was divided into parts for all family members and guests. The newborn was also given a portion of it. From that moment on, he lived with a “part” of the good, that is, happiness4. Other researchers deduce the origin of this term from the words “part”, “fate”, “participant”,
“involvement”, “communion”, “luck”. “Luck” in Russian also has several meanings - it is success, a desired opportunity, an unexpectedly successful outcome of a business, as well as sudden happiness, although the early meaning of this word was submission, compliance with fate. That is, the words “luck” and “happiness” have become synonymous over time (“luck has struck”) and mean being under the auspices of certain higher powers. The prefix “s” in the word “happiness” means connection with something, being together, participating in something. Thus, it turns out that the concept of “happiness” in this context can be understood as a connection with a certain part, with one’s own share, that is, an awareness of one’s destiny, one’s place and purpose. In this understanding, it also has a connotation of the influence of a happy fate and social involvement, integration, solidarity with one’s loved ones. But there is also a third option: happiness - prosperity, prosperity, peace and contentment; life without grief and worries5. Thus, social ideas about happiness have evolved from a sign of fate in the direction of individualism, a high degree of satisfaction with life and its benefits. However, the contradictory, personal, and sometimes irrational perception of happiness made its scientific consideration from the point of view of sociology impossible.
In sociological science, the concept of “happiness” initially appeared in the first works on emotions as a scientific category that explains social phenomena. Interest in emotions arose mainly within the framework of subjectivist sociology of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Thus, in Gustave Le Bon’s work “The Crowd” the main emphasis was placed on pathological manifestations of negative emotions that had destructive consequences6. Happy people don't unite. Despite all the limitations of this approach, its merit is
© Kachur N.V., 2013
What happened was that the authors openly raised the question of the role of emotions in social processes and the need for their sociological study. M. Weber identified the affective type, that is, an action caused by the affects or emotional state of the individual7. The use of the category of emotions, including happiness, to explain social processes and relationships is also found in the works of F. Giddings, W. McDougall F. Tonnies, P. A. Sorokin8. Marxism, having come up with the idea of the struggle for happiness for all humanity, nevertheless, has a negative attitude towards man’s desire for personal happiness, divorced from public goals, seeing egoism in this.
E. Durkheim, without directly addressing the analysis of personal happiness, touches on this topic in different contexts. Discussing the emotions of suicide, he considers the connection that exists between the social conditions of life and certain feelings of individuals and their actions9. By analyzing the causes of the emergence of religions, Durkheim tries to determine how the social is constructed through the emotional, through the concept of solidarity10. In other words, he defines the social as the cause of emotionally charged experiences. Durkheim considers emotions in the diversity of their manifestations, acting as a constructive form of social reality, when the happiness of some people affects the happiness of others. There is - within certain limits - solidarity between the happiness of people. However, individual happiness is subjective and cannot be studied sociologically.
G. Simmel took a different position and argued that happiness as an emotion requires serious sociological analysis11. He distinguished two possible perspectives for studying emotions, including happiness. The first includes social relationships that produce specific (secondary) emotions as reactions of the individual to emerging disagreements between evaluative structures and social stimuli or to satisfaction with them. G. Simmel defined the second perspective with the concept of “primary emotions,” by which he understood constructive forms of feelings that divide social reality into what is important and what is unimportant for the individual in interaction with other people. Thus, according to G. Simmel, happiness as an experience inherent in an individual, woven into the fabric of social interaction, becomes a supra-individual, social phenomenon and requires sociological analysis.
The first questionnaire survey identifying the sources of happiness was conducted by the American researcher J.B. Watson at the beginning of the twentieth century.12 In subsequent works, scientists increasingly use happiness as a sociological category. In the early 1940s. E. L. Thorndike compiled a list of social and other factors of satisfaction
life and feeling of happiness. The problem of happiness becomes the subject of analysis in the sociocultural tradition (D. Murphy, N. Welsh, Sun Light, D. Chopra, L. Hay, Bhagavan Sri Rajneesh (Osho), M. Ivankhov, R. Bach, G. Shipov, V. Kaznacheev, A. Akimov, V. Tikhoplav, T. Tikhoplav). From the standpoint of studying the “quality of life”, the subjective world of the individual, the phenomenon of happiness is reflected in the theories of A. Maslow, G. Allport, E. Erikson, K. Rogers, I. Dzhidarian13, in the concept of “discipline of emotions” by N. Elias14.
N. Luhmann's structuralist studies prove not only the universality of such basic emotions as joy, surprise, satisfaction, happiness, but also their cultural variability. The same event in different cultures may have different meanings and lead to the emergence and expression of a variety of emotions, including happiness. Each culture has its own pictorial rules for its expression. What all cultures have in common is that happiness is expressed non-verbally and is structured in language15. Developing the ideas of interactionism, A. Hochschild argues that emotions of happiness have social meaning and become symbols that are widely recognized and used by individuals to manage themselves and express themselves in social interaction16. In the concept of habitus by P. Bourdieu, emotional standards of happiness, learned in the process of socialization, are included in the structure of habitus17.
New aspects in the analysis of happiness are highlighted by R. Collins, demonstrating a synthetic approach that combines macrosociology (social system, conflict and stratification) and the microlevel of emotions, including happiness. In his opinion, emotions should be brought into the central issues of sociology, since it is solidarity and the desire for happiness that unites society into a single whole, and the energy of mobilization of group emotions determines conflict. If we can explain the conditions that make people feel these types of emotions, we will have a major part of the basis of realist sociological theory... taking into account dynamics18. T. Kemper believes that power and status constitute a network of social relationships that underlies all social interactions, providing a person with more or less emotional resources for feeling happiness or lack thereof. One actor agrees to the status of another through actions that recognize
its value. As a reward he receives satisfaction,
feeling of happiness.
In modern sociological discourse, works are increasingly appearing that analyze emotions not in general, but by considering the contribution of their specific varieties (shame, envy, pride, etc.) to the development of social relations20. M. Argyle, on the contrary, shifts the emphasis to the analysis of happiness factors. Moreover, the factors you
They also act as sources, and as conditions, and as areas of life satisfaction, and sometimes as characteristics of the subject himself - a set of personal traits of an individual’s life that can be defined, measured and show a statistically significant connection with life satisfaction. Argyll understands happiness as the state of experiencing satisfaction with life as a whole, a person's overall reflective assessment of his past and present, as well as the frequency and intensity positive emotions. This view has historical roots in the tradition of ancient eudaimonism. It shows the dependence of happiness on social connections, the main significance of which is the social network support provided to an individual by close people, on the availability of interesting, varied work, the nature of leisure, health, communication, as well as status, level of education and material well-being21.
M. Seligman derived his formula for happiness22: happiness = individual range + external circumstances+ volitional control, where the individual range is a genetically predetermined level of happiness that remains relatively stable throughout life and to which we return soon after most significant events in our lives. The individual range determines happiness by approximately 50%, external life circumstances (family, children, religion, daily activities) - by 10%. Volitional control - factors amenable to volitional control, that is, conscious, intentional and effortful actions that a person can choose for himself (determine happiness by 40%).
In pre-revolutionary Russia, ideas about happiness are presented in the works of N. V. Shelgunov, N. Chernyshevsky, L. Tolstoy, V. Nesmelov, P. Florensky, S. Frank, I. Ilyin, L. I. Petrazhitsky, B. Vysheslavtsev . In the XIX - early XX centuries. In Russian religious thought, intense criticism of the idea of happiness as the main basis and explanatory principle of human life developed. V. Solovyov argued that the concept of happiness (as well as the concepts of benefit and pleasure) does not have a moral nature. The principle of the pursuit of happiness is meaningless: absolutely contradictory teachings are derived from it; happiness is equivalent to the cessation of all aspirations and ignorance of good and evil. For the same reason, the idea of happiness cannot serve as an explanation of human life, and man’s idea of organizing his life on earth according to the principle of happiness is false. V. Rozanov, N. Berdyaev, A. Vvedensky and other philosophers contrasted the principle of striving for happiness with the principle of striving for meaning as a focus on something valuable in the world. They considered happiness as a subjective experience, but no longer closed in on itself, but an experience
generated by the discovery and realization of meaning through actions in the world. In other words, happiness was perceived as an emotional state and it was in this capacity that it was studied by psychology and then by sociology.
In Russian sociology of recent decades, the emotion of fear23 asocial individualism and mysticism24, contradictions in the emotional sphere25 in politics26 have received the greatest coverage. The confrontation between the emotional and rational is associated with general trends social development, which is a process of increasing rationality, displacing emotions and a sense of happiness from life27. Nevertheless, the problems of happiness are addressed to one degree or another in works addressing the sociology of personality, emotions, identity28, since social identity, being one of the structural characteristics of society, is empirically determined through the individual’s feelings of belonging to any community, his uniqueness, confidence in yourself and the degree to which you feel happy.
The problem of happiness was developed by R. M. Aidinyan, V. N. Bazhin, M. V. Bakhtin, M. B. Berkinblit, A. D. Goiko, Yu. Dzhumbaev, E. Dinner, E. P. Ilyin, O. E. Kosheleva, P. A. Landesman, O. D. Laptenok, E. A. Mishutina, V. G. Nemirovsky, A. V. Petrovsky, V. O. Tatarkevich, V. Terekhovich and others. 29 In their works, old and new approaches to understanding happiness coexist through the prism of the meaning of life, social consciousness, social and individual subjectivity of the individual. Thus, in the studies of L.K. Grishanov, K. Muzdybaev, Yu.P. Petrov, happiness is associated with approval of the worker’s activities by his comrades, the team, and therefore society as a whole. B. N. Popov, E. A. Paradise point to the internal relationship between the meaning of life and happiness. V. G. Nemirovsky believes that the main condition for achieving human happiness is the presence of a goal in a person’s life. The more significant the goal achieved for a person, the sharper sensation happiness.
Happiness is often considered as the highest emotional state of joy, a feeling of ecstasy from the acquisition of an object, satisfied strong desire, enthusiastic (deep)
satisfaction that the goal has been achieved. In other cases, the concept of happiness is linked to a person’s moral life31, his moral consciousness, the completeness and meaningfulness of life, the greatest internal satisfaction with the conditions of his life, or the awareness of the perfect good32.
This ambiguity is due to how the purpose and meaning of human life is interpreted33. But the prevailing definition of happiness in Russian philosophy and ethics as a moral category reduces its understanding to the moral satisfaction of the individual. Important
Scientific department
The main point in the presented understanding of happiness is its definition as a result of activity. Happiness involves conscious creative or purposeful activity, since it is such activity that gives a person the deepest feeling
satisfaction34.
In other words, happiness is an emotion, a feeling (of contentment, short-term joy, satisfaction with life and its conditions), an integral state (positive self-esteem life path). In addition, happiness is a sensory-emotional form of the ideal, but unlike it, it does not mean the aspirations of the individual, but the fulfillment of these aspirations. The concept of happiness not only characterizes a certain specific situation or subjective state of a person, but also expresses an idea of what all life should be like, what exactly is bliss for him. Therefore, this concept also has a normative and value-based nature35. Thus, there are at least four basic meanings of happiness: happy is, firstly, the one who is accompanied by a happy fate; secondly, the one who has known the most intense joys; thirdly, the one who possessed the highest goods or, in any case, a positive balance of life; and fourthly, one who is satisfied with life. This polysemy is a source of confusion, because all concepts denoted by one word tend to interpenetrate in the mind and form one concept of uncertain content that does not correspond exactly to any of the four meanings36.
Based on this, we can formulate a sociological definition of happiness as the dominant orientation of group and individual consciousness, which has social value, normative nature and is directly manifested in a high degree of individual satisfaction with his activities, conditions and way of life as a citizen, representative of a particular society, class, social group, in positive emotions of joy. This definition allows us to integrate different interpretations of happiness and define it social functions, necessary conditions, factors.
Notes
1 See: Gorbunova M. Yu., FiglinL. A. Emotions as an object of sociological research: bibliographic analysis // Socis. 2010. No. 6. P. 13-14.
2 See: TatarkevichV. About happiness and perfection of man / comp. and lane from Polish L. V. Konovalova; preface and general ed. prof. L. M. Arkhangelsky. M., 1981. URL: www.vusnet.ru\biblio (date of access: 05/25/2013).
3 Quoted by: Pascal B. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
4 See: Ilyin E. P. Emotions and feelings. St. Petersburg, 2002. P. 56.
5 See: Briling E. E., Trebina T. M. Understanding happiness in philosophy. 2005. URL: http://www.psi.lib.ru/filosof/briling/schaste1.htm (access date: 05/25/2013).
6 See: LebonG. Crowd // New time. 1998. No. 3. P. 98; It's him. Psychology of crowds // Psychology of crowds. M., 1998. pp. 222-225.
7 See: WeberM. Selected works. M., 1990.
8 See: Gorbunova M. Yu., Figlin L. A. Decree. op. pp. 13-22.
9 See: Durkheim E. Suicide: A Sociological Study. M., 1994.
10 See: Durkheim E. Sociology. Its subject, method, purpose. M., 1995.
11 See: Simmel G. Selected: in 2 volumes. M., 1996.
12 See: History of sociology in Western Europe and the USA: textbook for universities / rep. ed. G. V. Osipov. M., 2001. P. 61.
13 See: Tatarkevich V. Decree. op.
14 See: Elias N. On the process of civilization: in 2 vols. M.; St. Petersburg, 2001.
15 See: Luhmann N. Social systems. Feature article general theory. St. Petersburg, 2007.
16 For more details, see: Gorbunova M. Yu., Figlin L. A. Decree. op. C. 17.
17 See: Bourdieu P. Beginnings. M., 1994.
18 See: Collins R. Sociology of Philosophies. Global theory of intellectual change. Novosibirsk, 2002. P. 69.
19 Quoted. by: Gorbunova M. Yu., Figlin L.A. Decree. op. C. 18.
20 For more details, see: Gorbunova M. Yu., Figlin L. A. Decree. op. pp. 18; Kahneman D., Tversky A. Rational choice, values and frames // Psychological Journal. 2003. T. 24, No. 3. P. 31-42; ShekG. Envy: a theory of social behavior. M., 2008.
21 See: Argyll M. Psychology of Happiness. St. Petersburg, 2008. pp. 15-24.
22 See: Seligman M. In Search of Happiness. How to enjoy life every day. M., 2010. P. 74-112.
23 See: Yadov V. A. Structure and incentive impulses of socially anxious consciousness // Sociological Journal. 1997. No. 3. P. 77-91; Shubkin V. N., Ivanova V. A. Fears, anxieties, the ability to resist them // Russia - a transforming society / ed. V. A. Yazova. M., 2001. S. 348-358; Vitkovskaya M.I. Theoretical and methodological problems of studying fear in sociology // Vestn. RUDN University 2003. No. 4-5. pp. 86-91; Shubkin V.N., Ivanova V.A. Fears and anxieties of Russians. St. Petersburg, 2004; What are Russians afraid of? : information analyte bulletin / Institute of Sociology RAS. M., 2008; Russia at a new turning point: fears and anxieties / ed. M.K. Gorshkova, R. Krumma, V.V. Petukhova. M., 2009.
24 See: Catastrophic consciousness in modern world at the end of the 20th century / ed. V. Shlapentokha. M., 1999.
25 See: ToshchenkoZh. T. Paradoxical man. M., 2008.
26 See: UrnovM. Yu. Emotions in political behavior. M., 2008.
27 See: Breslav G.M. Psychology of emotions. M., 2006. P. 93.
See: Simonova O. A. Current trends in modern sociology: the discovery of emotionality // Modern sociology - modern Russia: collection. Art. VI Int. scientific-practical conf. in memory of A. O. Krysh-tanovsky / scientific. ed.: A. B. Goffman, G. V. Gradoselskaya, I. F. Devyatko, D. Kh. Ibragimova, I. M. Kozina, L. Ya. Kosals, V. A. Mansurov, V. G. Nikolaev, O. A. Oberemko, N. E. Pokrovsky, Yu. N. Tolstova, A. Yu. Chepurenko, E. R. Yarskaya-Smirnova. M., 2012. pp. 411-423. See: Aydinyan R.M. Treatise on happiness. St. Petersburg, 2008; Bakhtin M.V. Eternal landmarks of happiness. Full composition of writings. M., 2001-2003. T. 1; Berkinblit M. B., Petrovsky A. V. Fantasy and reality. M., 1996; Vorkachev S. G. The concept of happiness in Russian linguistic consciousness: experience of linguocultural analysis. Krasnodar, 2002; Dzhulebaev Yu. The problem of happiness in Maxist-Leninist ethics: abstract. dis. ...cand. Philosopher Sci. Tashkent, 1964; Dinner E. Let's talk and happiness. M., 2003; Ilyin E.P. Emotions and feelings.
St. Petersburg, 2002; Kosheleva O. E. Angles of “happiness” in Russia XVII-XVIII centuries // Casus. Individual and unique in history. 2002. Issue. 4. pp. 108-118; Mi-shutina E. A. Philosophy of happiness // Social philosophy. 2009. N° 4. P. 23; Petrovsky A. V. Psychology and time. St. Petersburg, 2007; Tatarkevich V. O. Decree. op. See: Understanding Happiness. Based on materials from the website of the psychological center Prosvet. URL: http://www.vprosvet. ru (date of access: 06/15/2013). See: Guseinov A. A., Apresyan R. G. Ethics. M., 1998. P. 295; Popov L. A. Ethics. Lecture course. M., 1998. P. 77. See: Terekhovich V. Formula of meaning. A study of opinions about the meaning of human existence. St. Petersburg, 2012. See: Dictionary of Ethics / ed. I. S. Kona. M., 1975. P. 303.
See: Tatarkevich V. Decree. op. See: Dictionary of Ethics. P. 303. See: Tatarkevich V. Decree. op.
UDC 316.485.26
Features of the study of modern terrorism in domestic sociology
And. V. Voronin
Saratov State University E-mail: [email protected]
The article is devoted to the study of the main features of the study of modern terrorism in Russian sociology. attention is paid to a brief overview of the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet periods of the study of terrorism. Particular attention is paid to the prevention and search for the causes of terrorism, its relationship with globalization, crime, and social stratification.
Key words: terrorism, state, globalization, poverty, violence, prevention.
Features of studying of Modern Terrorism in Domestic sociology
Article is devoted to research of the main features of studying of modern terrorism in the Russian sociology. The attention is paid to the short review of the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and Post-Soviet periods of studying of terrorism. The special attention is paid to prevention and search of the reasons of terrorism, its interrelation with globalization, crime, social stratification.
Key words: terrorism, state, globalization, poverty, violence, prevention.
Numerous studies currently being conducted and aimed at studying modern terrorism converge in the conclusion that the threat of terrorist acts, methods of influencing public consciousness, political power both on the scale of the Russian Federation and on a global scale remains
extremely spicy. But, despite many scientific studies and publications on this topic, modern terrorism is insufficiently studied. Consequently, there is a danger that counteraction to it is at a level that does not correspond to the threat.
The reason for the insufficient study of terrorism lies in its complexity, ambiguity and politicized approaches to the study, the absence of a clearly developed unified system of terms and conceptual apparatus and the development double standards in relation to such violence.
It is necessary to analyze the features of the study, the history of study and the achievements of domestic sociological science in this area with the aim of further effective research. In the course of writing this article, the main features of the study of terrorism were identified.
The first feature is the consensus among researchers that terrorism is a particularly complex phenomenon in general, and in particular its definition is difficult. The existence of a political context in the definition of terrorism by government officials is recognized different states and their associations. It is fair to say that terrorism manifests its differences depending on the historical and cultural development of this or that society. The phenomenon of modern terrorism is used
© Voronin I. V., 2013
The head of the department of sociology of the Siberian State University told the AiF-Krasnoyarsk correspondent about what worries ordinary residents of the metropolis most of all, what are the main issues facing our society federal university Dmitry Trufanov.
Be able to count
Ivan Vasiliev, correspondent for AiF-Krasnoyarsk: The media constantly refer to sociological studies on various topics. The phrase “sociologists say” serves as proof of a fact that is no longer accepted to argue with. But the authors of these studies often remain anonymous, an analogue of “British scientists” who are constantly researching and proving something. What does the research landscape in Russia actually look like?
Dmitry Trufanov: It is necessary to distinguish sociology as professional activity specialists with the appropriate level of qualifications from “sociology” as a marketing and PR tool.
To be sure of the reliability of the research results, it is advisable to ask questions about who, when and how these results were obtained. In Russia, the leading scientific center is the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Large and authoritative organizations are also VTsIOM, Levada Center, the Public Opinion Foundation, the Romir research holding and a number of others. Along with them, in each subject of the Russian Federation there are sociological centers that deal with regional issues.
Sociology as a science is quite young. What is the reason for its need for modern society? What problems does it help solve?
Its necessity is associated with the need for up-to-date information about the state of society, in what direction it is developing, how people’s social behavior is formed and carried out. Any managerial impact on society by government authorities gives rise to certain social consequences. For such influence to be productive and the consequences to be positive, decision makers must have complete and reliable information. For example, for several years we studied the population’s attitude towards the so-called anti-tobacco law. This made it possible to see how he worked. Sociology - essential tool obtain up-to-date information.
How accurate can sociologists' calculations be? After all, this is communication with people, which means errors are inevitable.
The accuracy of the conclusions depends on how professionally the research tools are used. You may come across a misconception that anyone without special education and experience can create a questionnaire, interview people and calculate the results. Alas, this is not true. There are strict rules that govern the process of theoretical development of research, design of methods for collecting information, and processing of the data obtained. Of course, there is an error in sociological research. But there are methods to reduce it to a minimum. Thus, in modern mass public opinion polls the error is within only 3-5%.
Don't believe your eyes
Have there ever been cases in your practice when the results of a study were completely surprising? That is, the real state of affairs in the minds of citizens turned out to be completely different from what was expected?
Our ideas about the world are not always correct and are often myths. For example, one may come across the opinion that today people in Russia are increasingly dissatisfied with the way their lives are shaping up and do not feel happy. VTsIOM polls indicate the opposite: the social well-being of Russians tends to improve. Or, for example, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in recent years we have encountered an interesting trend. Traditionally, the factor of nationality influences attitudes towards foreign labor migrants. So, at the present stage, multidirectional trends are observed. On the one hand, an increase in the level of tolerant attitude of Krasnoyarsk residents towards representatives of other nationalities and an improvement in the situation in interethnic relations, on the other hand, an increase in negative attitudes towards foreign labor migrants.
On what issues and socially important problems do studies among the population of the region show the greatest split?
In general, we do not detect trends towards a split in public opinion on key issues of social life at the present time. Of course, people have different opinions and points of view on certain problems, but in my opinion, there is no split in the exact sense of the word today. On the contrary, at the mass level we can talk about a tendency to strengthen social solidarity. In general, research shows that Krasnoyarsk residents are concerned about issues related to the implementation of their lives and plans for the future. These are issues of accessibility and cost of housing, quality of roads, accessibility and quality of medical care, employment and a number of others. Plus, recently the issue of ecology has become increasingly important. The environmental situation in the city does not suit many people. Moreover, the phenomenon of environmental migration is emerging in Krasnoyarsk, when residents of our city move for permanent residence to other regions due to unfavorable environmental conditions in Krasnoyarsk. Young people are more susceptible to this type of migration, which, if this trend deepens, can create significant risks for the development of the city and the region as a whole. They are associated with the erosion of human capital, when more and more people choose not Krasnoyarsk, but other cities and regions for their professional, family, and personal self-realization.
Hands on the pulse
How often do authorities commission sociological studies? An outside observer may get the feeling that they are doing this only for the elections.
They turn to sociological research regularly and on a wide range of issues. Although during the election period, of course, too. Almost all major areas are becoming objects of research. These are issues of ethnic and religious tolerance of residents, social well-being of various groups of the population, issues of healthcare and the quality of medical care, people’s attitudes towards various legislative initiatives, issues of culture, domestic tourism, organization of city life and a number of others.
A survey in Krasnoyarsk conducted in 2016 showed that 87% of city residents are completely or mostly satisfied with the way their lives are going. This does not mean that they have no desire to change anything in their life, city or region. But so far in our studies we have not asked them these questions. This is important and interesting topic, and I believe we will include it in future research projects.
-- [ Page 1 ] --
as a manuscript
Koroleva Maria Nikolaevna
HAPPINESS AS A SOCIO-CULTURAL PHENOMENON
(SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS)
Specialty 22.00.06 – Sociology of culture
candidate of sociological sciences
Moscow 2013
The work was carried out at the Department of Applied Sociology of the Faculty of Sociology of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Russian State Humanitarian University"
Scientific adviser: Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
Levicheva Valentina Fedorovna
Official opponents: Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor
Zubok Yulia Albertovna,
head Department of Youth Sociology
Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Candidate of Sociological Sciences
Kuleshova Anna Viktorovna,
scientific editor, head department of culture
journal "Sociological Research"
Lead organization: FSBEI HPE "Moscow State Pedagogical University"
The defense will take place on April 09, 2013. at 15.00 at a meeting of the Council for the defense of dissertations for the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences, for the scientific degree of Doctor of Sciences D.212.198.09, created on the basis of the Russian State Humanitarian University, at the address: 125993, GSP-3, Moscow, Miusskaya Square, no. 6, room. 206.
The dissertation can be found in the scientific library of the Russian State University for the Humanities at the address: 125993, GSP-3, Moscow, Miusskaya Square, 6.
Scientific secretary of the dissertation council Bulanova M.B.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK
Relevance of the research topic. Any society in a specific historical period is characterized by a certain set and hierarchy of values, which act as a method of social regulation. They reflect those socially recognized criteria of behavior and morality by a given society and/or social group, on the basis of which more specific and specialized requirements of normative control, corresponding public institutions and the purposeful actions of people themselves - both individual and collective - are developed. The assimilation of these criteria by an individual (internalization of values) constitutes a necessary basis for the formation of personality and the maintenance of social order in society. Values characteristic of a particular period of time of a particular culture underlie people's ideas about happiness. People build their entire life strategy according to their understanding of happiness.
Studying people's ideas about happiness as a terminal value allows us to identify transforming moral imperatives that are relevant for our society. One of the promising paradigms in modern sociology is social constructivism, according to which people exist in a world generated by their typical actions, into which they attach a single meaning and themselves construct social reality. The application of the theory of social representations makes it possible to reveal how each person’s individual understanding of happiness determines the existing social reality.
Happiness, in its ideal understanding, is the main goal of a person, which contributes to the activation of all his vital forces, forces him to reveal the physical and spiritual potential of the individual.
On the one hand, society has implicit ideas about happiness; this concept is widely used in everyday communications, fiction and popular science literature. On the other hand, this concept is not reflected in sociological dictionaries, and the content of the social phenomena that it unites is not sufficiently disclosed in the research of this science.
Happiness is a sociocultural phenomenon that unites many aspects of social reality, each of which is important both for the individual and for society as a whole. Currently, a powerful intellectual movement is being formed in the world associated with attempts to study happiness using scientific methods. The relevance of the problem is determined by the special significance of the concept under study, as well as by the demand from society, due to both the natural desire of every person to be happy and the need to improve the social health and quality of life of the population.
In Russian sociology, happiness has practically not been studied; there is no consensus on the content of this phenomenon and the mechanisms of formation of individuals’ ideas about happiness. It so happened due to the prevalence of the opinion that the operationalization of this concept through specific indicators and indicators is impossible. Later, this judgment began to be questioned, resulting in the first attempts at a sociological interpretation of this phenomenon.
The degree of scientific development of the problem. Representatives of various scientific disciplines have been involved in the interpretation of the content of the phenomenon of happiness. Researchers P.S. Gurevich, A.F. Losev, Yu.M. Lotman, K. Neshev, V. Tatarkevich, S.S. Khoruzhiy paid attention to the socio-philosophical characteristics of the phenomenon of happiness.
Happiness from the point of view of sociolinguistics is revealed in the works of S.G. Vorkacheva, I.S. Gavrilova, A.A. Zaliznyak, I.B. Levontina, S.S. Neretina, B.A. Rybakova, I.V. Sidorenko, A.D. Shmeleva, M. Vasmera.
Over the past decade, the scientific field has been actively developing in the United States. positive psychology", the leading representatives of which are E. Diener, M. Csikszentmihalyi, M. Seligman. Within the framework of this area, empirical research has been carried out, the analysis of the results of which allows us to identify factors influencing a person’s experience of happiness. J. Argyle, D. Vaillant, D. Kahneman, D. Keltner, S. Murray, E. Rezeski, M. Finchman, S. Khazan, L. Harker, G. Howard contributed greatly to the subject matter.
One of the significant factors that determines an individual’s perception of himself as a happy person is developed “social intelligence” as the ability to adequately manage and plan one’s behavior, and to correctly understand the assessment of one’s own actions by people around him. The idea of social intelligence (F. Vernon, J. Guilford, O. V. Luneva, A. I. Savenkov, M. Sullivan, E. Thorndike, D. V. Ushakov, M. Hendrix) is closely related to the concepts emotional intelligence, which were developed by G. Eysenck, R. Baron, D. Goleman, D.V. Lucin, D. Mayer, P. Salloway.
In the context of socio-economic research, happiness is often associated with the concept of “quality of life”, which was studied by I.V. Bestuzhev-Lada, D. Bell, D. Gabor, J. Galbraith, L.A. Krivonosova, O. Toffler and others.
Russian economists S.M. Guriev and E.V. Zhuravskaya consider happiness through the prism of life satisfaction and material needs, but the phenomenon of happiness is not limited to these indicators.
Many researchers pay attention to the fact that indicators of the level of happiness in different countries weakly correlate with indicators of the level of GDP (R. Ammons, J. Horwitz, etc.). In 2006, the UN General Assembly proposed to evaluate the development of a state not only by measuring GDP, but also to take into account “The Happy Planet Index”; later other indices appeared: “OECD Better life index” (“ Better Life Index"), "Legatum prosperity index" ("Prosperity Index").
From a sociological point of view, the use of the theory of social representations reveals methodological possibilities in the study of such a multi-valued phenomenon as happiness. The author of this theory is the French sociologist and social psychologist S. Moscovici. The development of this concept was influenced by the works of one of the main representatives of the French sociological school, E. Durkheim, in particular, the very concept of “collective representations,” as well as the role theory of T. Parsons, the phenomenology of A. Schutz, the principles of social construction of reality by P. Berger and T. Luckman, interactionist ideas of G. Mead and G. Bloomer, the structure of M. Smith's attitude, M. Weber's concepts of social behavior.
Such modern researchers as W. Wagner, D. Deutscher, V. Duaz and T.P. Emelyanov believe that the study of social representations can be called an independent direction due to the fact that several new trends have emerged within the framework of this concept. The mentioned authors substantiate the possibilities of its use in the study of various social phenomena.
Among domestic scientists, the works of I.A. are devoted to the analysis of the content of the phenomenon of happiness. Dzhidaryan, E.L. Dubko, V.G. Ivanova, O.V. Mitina, E.L. Smirnova, E.P. Pavlova, V.F. Petrenko, B.I. Popova, V.L. Titova.
To measure happiness, the method of studying value orientations of M. Rokeach, the “happiness scale” of M. Fordis, the “life satisfaction scale” of E. Diener, the “affective balance scale” of W. Brandburn, the “test of life-meaning orientations” of D. Crumbo and L can be used. . Maholika based on the theory of existential vacuum of W. Frankl, methods of measuring “happiness indices” (“OECD Better life index”, “Legatum prosperity index”, “Gallup World Poll” ( Gallup World Survey and The Happy Planet Index.
This variety of research approaches allows us to assert that the study of happiness, the search for methods for measuring it and understanding this phenomenon as the social state of an individual are becoming an increasingly popular scientific trend.
Purpose of the dissertation research: to reveal the sociocultural content of the phenomenon of happiness, the conditions for its implementation and the significance of its study as a factor in increasing the social resources of the individual and society.
Object of study: sociocultural phenomenon of happiness.
Subject of study: sociocultural prerequisites and factors for the implementation of the phenomenon of happiness in society.
Research objectives:
- Reveal the socio-philosophical premises of the sociological understanding of happiness.
- Determine the sociocultural content of the concept of happiness in languages different nations and its significance for sociology.
- Identify the factors of happiness as a social resource of the individual.
- Compare the features of the conceptualization of happiness in various areas of empirical research.
During development theoretical and methodological foundations of dissertation research The concepts of quality of life of J. Galbraith, D. Bell, I.V. were taken into account. Bestuzhev-Lada, the theory of social representations of S. Moscovici, the theory of social reality of P. Berger and T. Luckmann, interactionism of G. Mead and G. Blumer, the idea of the dichotomy of the “remembering self” and the “experiencing self,” as well as measuring life satisfaction D Kahneman, concepts of social intelligence by E. Thorndike, J. Guilford, D. Goleman and D.W. Ushakova, positive psychology A. Maslow, M. Seligman, E. Diener, M. Csikszentmihalyi.
Empirical basis of the study:
- “What is happiness - and where do happy people live?”, All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), surveyed 1,600 people in 138 localities in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia, 2009.
- “What does happiness depend on?”, All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), surveyed 1,600 people in 138 localities in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia, 2012.
- Gallup World Poll, Gallup Media, a study of living standards in different countries. The study involved between 1000 and 2000 people (at most large countries) people in each of 146 countries, methods: questionnaire, telephone survey, interview (in developing countries), 2011.
- “Legatum prosperity index”, Legatum Institute, the study involved 1000 people in each of 110 countries, method: survey, 2011.
- “OECD Better Live Index”, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the study involved 1000 people in each of 34 countries, method: questionnaire, 2011.
- The Happy Planet Index, New Economics Foundation; the index was calculated based on data from the Gallup World Poll, UNDP Human Development Report and Edition of the Global Footprint Networks National Footprint accounts (178 countries in 2006, 143 countries in 2009, 149 countries in 2011 and 151 country in 2012)
- “World Happiness Report”, The Earth Institute Columbia University, 2012. Comparative analysis data from The Happy Planet Index, Gallup World Poll, Livequality Index and World Values Research.
- The results of the author’s study “Happiness and dreams in the ideas of metropolitan students,” conducted in 2011. 32 Moscow students of the humanities were surveyed; method: in-depth interview.
- The results of the author's study “Mechanisms for the implementation of the phenomenon of happiness among representatives of the Moscow “creative industry”, conducted in 2012. 30 respondents were interviewed using in-depth interviews.
The main research results to be defended, containing elements of novelty:
- An analysis of scientific works in which the sociocultural phenomenon of happiness appears made it possible to combine them into two groups: a) scientific disciplines within which happiness is an independent subject of analysis (philosophy, sociolinguistics); b) research approaches where happiness is considered in the context of related concepts, such as need, well-being, quality of life, pleasure, satisfaction, subjective well-being (mainly economic and socio-psychological scientific works). This division is quite conditional, but necessary for structuring sociological ideas about the subject of research.
- An attempt has been made to define “happiness” sociologically. The author of the dissertation believes that the “semantic core” of this concept includes a state of internal harmony of the individual, determined by objective and subjective factors of well-being, which allows the individual to develop, participate in full communication and, by performing socially useful actions, consolidate with other members of society.
The social value of happiness lies in the fact that the experience of this state contributes to the accumulation of various types of social resources by a person and involves him in the system of social interactions. In this case, happiness is proposed to be considered as a social resource of the individual and society as a whole.
- Based on the sociological interpretation of data from various humanitarian studies, the dissertation identifies the main factors that determine the state of happiness as a social resource of the individual. These factors can be divided into two groups. The first includes the individual “skills” of a person, thanks to the successful application of which he can feel happy, the second includes the features of social communications and infrastructure in which the individual is involved (more details in Section 3).
Identifying these factors opens up opportunities for increasing the level of happiness in society. It is necessary to develop the personal “skills” listed in the first group and create institutional conditions and an infrastructure of social communications that are favorable for the implementation of the factors of the second group.
- Modern sociological and economic studies present more than eighty indicators for measuring the phenomenon of happiness. Typically, most of them boil down to the study of “well-being” by measuring economic indicators. But none of the existing indices (for example, “OECD Better life index”, “Legatum prosperity index”, “Gallup World Poll” and “Gallup World Poll”) The Happy Planet Index" ("Happiness Index on the Planet"), officially recognized by the UN as an alternative to measuring the level of development of countries by calculating GDP) does not take into account the ethnocultural characteristics of the values of the countries included in the rating. Meanwhile, this aspect is extremely significant, since how people’s ideas about happiness cannot be formed outside of a cultural context, which means that the ranking of countries according to the indicators proposed when calculating indices cannot be fully considered consistent with the real ideas about the own happiness of the residents of the countries surveyed.
- Based on an understanding of modern approaches in the field of studying happiness, we can say that in the future, taking into account the identified indicators and factors of happiness, a complete revision of the foundations of the management sphere is possible. The quality of management can be improved by taking into account the priority desire of every member of society to be happy. The results of studies of “happiness indices” can be used for prognostic purposes to identify problems in the work of social institutions and their timely resolution.
- Despite the use of different indicators, Russia ranks in the middle in each of the “happiness ratings”, followed most often by developing South American countries on the list.
The dissertation substantiates the opinion that in modern Russian society among young people the main factor preventing them from feeling themselves happy man, is a lack of confidence in one’s own future, stable income, the ability to provide for a family and social guarantees, distrust of authorities and law enforcement agencies, as well as the lack of love relationships.
For the younger generation of people with higher education, the need to make a decision on the implementation of life strategies in Russia and the possibilities of emigration is currently urgent. Unlike student youth, representatives of the “creative industry” are characterized by strengthening faith in their own ability to improve the political, social and urban environment (changing the urban landscape, preserving historical heritage monuments, etc.), through the manifestation of various forms of creative and social activity.
Theoretical and practical significance of the work. Dissertation research allows you to expand the boundaries of the subject field of sociology, relying on a synthesis of research experience in sciences related to sociology.
The author has conducted a series of studies of different social groups, revealing the mechanisms of perception of happiness, comparison of oneself with others, individuals’ understanding of the context of their own experience and making plans for the future. These empirical data do not pretend to be representative; however, they are a new attempt for Russian sociology to understand the processes of forming ideas about the happiness of different social groups, their life strategies, and identifying necessary changes in society and its culture. All this will allow us to further develop more adequate research tools in this area, and subsequent studies of happiness will improve the quality of management in society and, as a result, society as a whole will become happier.
This section contains materials from various sociological organizations, public opinion polls, and scientific research that indirectly or directly relate to the main topic of our site - Happiness. Or if not happiness, then at least subjective well-being and satisfaction with life, both personal and social. And although everyone, without exception, wants happiness, there is disappointingly little research in this area, although, perhaps, we simply missed much of what is published. We would be grateful if you let us know about interesting research in this area. Write
- 2017-03-21 The results of the annual study of life satisfaction of the population in various countries of the world, conducted under the auspices of the UN, have been published. Uzbekistan took the highest position in the ranking among exUSSR countries
- 2017-03-20 Today, March 20, is the International Day of Happiness. It was celebrated for the first time in 2014. The holiday was established by the UN General Assembly a year ago - June 28, 2012. The General Assembly resolution noted that governments of UN member countries are recommended to celebrate the holiday “in an appropriate manner, including through educational and awareness-raising programs.”
- 2017-03-15 Outwardly attractive people are more likely to find a partner, but their relationships more often end in breakup. This conclusion was reached by researchers from Harvard University.
- 2017-03-10 The monitoring agency NewsEffector, together with the Regional Research Foundation "Regions of Russia", conducted another study "The Happiness Index of Russian Cities". As in previous years, the purpose of the study was to try to understand where the happiest people live in Russia.
- 2017-02-09 According to the results of a survey conducted by Gallup International/WIN together with the Romir agency in 2016, 56% of Russian residents called themselves happy. On average in the world, according to Gallup, 68% of people feel happy.
- 2017-02-07 Psychologists from Toronto University conducted a study to find out how sex and harmony in a couple are connected.
- 2017-01-25 Psychologists at Beijing University conducted a study on how belief in free will can affect the level of happiness in the Chinese people. They conducted a survey among Chinese teenagers that linked their belief in free will and their level of happiness. The study showed that 85% of survey participants believed in free will and there was a positive correlation between this belief and the level of happiness.
- 2017-01-24 A study by American psychologists showed five main factors influencing psychological well-being.
- 2016-12-05 An all-Russian survey organized by VTsIOM in November 2016 showed that the number of happy residents of Russia decreased by 2% compared to April of the same year.
- 2016-11-20 Brand Analytics agency presented the results of another study of the emotional state of Russian users. The eighth study showed a slight decrease in the "Love Index"
- 2016-10-18 Men whose childhood was spent in an atmosphere of family warmth and love in a happy family have more stable family ties as they get older. This result was obtained in a study that began in 1938.
- 2016-10-14 More often it is not old people who feel unhappy, but people in the prime of physical and spiritual strength, aged 35-44 years. It is among them that the most disappointed and dissatisfied with life in Switzerland, sociologists have found
- 2016-08-20 Psychologists from Harvard University have developed an automatic algorithm for determining depression among Instagram users based on the photos they post. The accuracy of the algorithm is 70%
- 2016-07-01 Psychologists from University College London have improved the formula for happiness, which they developed in 2014. The study authors believe this could be useful for measuring empathy, which is needed to understand various social disorders, such as indifference to the suffering of others.
- 2016-05-14 British scientists from the University of Kent have proven that drinking alcohol makes us happy, but unfortunately, this cannot last long. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Social Science & Medicine.
- 2016-05-06 The Dalai Lama together with psychologist Paul Ekman (consultant of the popular television series “Lie to Me”) launched the “Atlas of Emotions” website. The purpose of creating the site was to help people find peace and happiness, increase the amount of good and reduce evil. 750,000 USD was spent on the development of the site from the personal funds of the Dalai Lama
- 2016-05-01 Selfishness reduces the level of happiness. These results were obtained by psychologists from the University of California during an experiment they conducted, the meaning of which was to receive a reward during a game in which opponents were deceived.
- 2016-04-30 An international team of researchers analyzed the genomes of 298,420 people and discovered genetic variants that may influence our feelings of life satisfaction, depression and neuroticism
- 2016-04-16 According to the latest VTsIOM survey, the vast majority of Russians (83 percent) considered themselves happy, despite the ongoing financial and economic crisis.
- 2016-02-10 The UK Office for National Statistics published the results of a study on the influence of religiosity on subjective feelings of well-being in life. Once again, sociologists have concluded that religion makes a person happier.
- 2016-01-27 Russia took 30th place in the global happiness ranking compiled according to the results of the annual Gallup International survey. The survey involved 66 thousand respondents from 68 countries.
- 2015-12-11 Subjective feelings of happiness do not prolong life, scientists at the University of Oxford came to this unexpected conclusion based on a study of a large-scale study that lasted ten years.
- 2015-11-09 Refusal to use social networks can increase the level of life satisfaction, according to a study by psychologists from the Copenhagen center Denmark's Happiness Research
- 2015-10-02 On the eve of the International Day of Older Persons, the Izvestia newspaper reported that almost half of Russian pensioners consider themselves happy. It is possible that this is due to information about the inevitable increase in the retirement age in the near future.
- 2015-09-29 The UK Office for National Statistics has published a study that shows a direct correlation between happiness and money.
- 2015-09-28 The authors of a new study believe that there is a specific variation of a gene that predisposes people to depression after difficult life events, such as childhood abuse, the same gene can also increase happiness levels in the absence of bad events in a person's life.
- 2015-07-08 A study by a group of German and American sociologists showed that the level of happiness of parents begins to increase shortly before the birth of a child and decreases after the first year of his life. The older the parents are, the more happiness they experience.
- 2015-07-07 The Foundation for Assistance to Urban Development "Urban Projects of Ilya Varlamov and Maxim Katz" has opened a survey that will allow us to find out how the characteristics of the living environment can affect the level of happiness of Moscow residents.
- 2015-06-17 British psychologists conducted a study on how the idea of happiness has changed over 75 years. The source of information was the responses of newspaper readers who responded to the editor’s request to talk about what happiness was back in 1938. Years later, newspaper scientists asked the newspaper to publish the same text.
- 2015-06-09 The sociological company Brand Analytics published the results of the fifth annual study of the emotional state of 25 million Russian social network users. The leaders of the rating were the Republic of Mari-El and the Leningrad Region, followed by Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.
- 2015-04-28 The World Happiness Index 2015 has been published. Russia ranks 64th out of 158. The index was introduced in July 2011 at the UN General Assembly as a tool for developing solutions in the field of sustainable development of countries around the world
- 2015-04-22 The “happiness level” in Russia again reached a record level of 64 points and was equal to April last year. 80% of respondents to a survey conducted by VTsIOM feel happy.
- 2015-04-15 VTsIOM spoke about how Russian happiness has changed over 25 years.
- 2015-03-12 During a press conference on the most important aspects of maintaining mental health in times of crisis, psychiatrists discussed the problem of happiness. Media representatives were invited to continue discussing this problem within the walls of the hospital. Kashchenko.
- 2015-03-11 Another survey from the SuperJob portal “How much money do you need to be happy?” showed that the crisis forced Russians to moderate their dreams of high salaries.
- 2015-02-08 Scientists from Computational Story Lab have improved tools for measuring “happiness”. Their new study confirmed the hypothesis of social psychologists that a person is subconsciously focused on the perception and reproduction of exclusively positive messages.
- 2015-01-19 Brand Analytics published data from the fourth study of the emotional state of social network users in Russian regions, conducted from December 8 to December 21, 2014. The authors of the study claim that over the past six months the emotional state of Russian residents has improved.
- 2015-01-01 Patriarch Kirill held a New Year's prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He shared his views on human happiness with the few gathered parishioners and journalists.
- 2014-12-24 Despite the growing economic crisis, in general, 76% of Russian residents consider themselves happy people. Ukrainians are not far behind them; in conditions of war and growing economic problems, 72% are happy.
- 2014-11-21 The Lancet published a study on the subjective well-being of people around the world. The publication states that not only the level of well-being differs in different countries, but also the nature of its dependence on age. This refutes the universality of the U-shaped “happiness curve” that most publications describe.
- 2014-11-19 The harm from an unhappy marriage is greater than the benefit from a happy one, American doctors came to this conclusion after studying the statistics of cardiovascular diseases as part of a national health survey.
- 2014-10-16 32% of Russian residents over 60 years old consider themselves happy people. On October 1, International Day of Older People, the sociological service "Sreda" conducted a survey in which sociologists tried to find out what the happiness of older people depends on.
- 2014-09-16 Experts from the University of East Anglia (UEA) have found that for psychological well-being, commuting to work by public transport is preferable to using a private car.
- 2014-09-01 What is the key to a happy marriage? According to a new report from the US National Marriage Project, the three main components are sexual abstinence, non-cohabitation before marriage, and a sense of community and responsibility.
- 2014-08-12 The journal PLoS ONE published the first results of a large study of the formula for happiness “Great Brain Experiment”, in which more than 18 thousand people took part
- 2014-07-18 Experts from the University of Warwick´s have found a connection between international “happiness ratings” and the genetic characteristics of nations. The results showed that some countries may have a genetic advantage in well-being rankings.
- 2014-07-13 The journal PNAS published the results of a massive experiment on manipulating the emotional state of people that Facebook conducted on its users. There is a discussion in the media about the ethical side of the study.
- 2014-06-12 Analytical center Brand Analytics published a study “Love and Hate on the Map of Russia”. The center's specialists analyzed more than 400 million messages from 35 million authors in popular in social networks. The entire collected array of information was analyzed for the presence of words and phrases that speak of love and hate.
- 2014-04-30 VTsIOM published its next annual study of the happiness of Russian residents. Three quarters of respondents (78%) feel happy. This is the highest figure over the past 25 years.
- 2014-04-22 The recruiting portal HeadHunter.ru conducted a survey “Can work bring happiness to a person?” The results of the study showed that 38% of respondents feel happy at work. For 54% of them, the source of happiness is the work process itself, for 52% it is the awareness of their own relevance and self-realization, for 43% it is a high salary.
What a year have we lived through, Svetlana Gavrilovna? The Prime Minister announced that during the years of reforms he was the best in economic indicators? How did people perceive him?
With moderate optimism. 33 percent of respondents believe that 2003 was better for the country than 2002, and 11 percent thought it was worse. But this is “for the country”, and “for themselves” a slightly more pessimistic formula was derived: 35 percent believe that the year was better than the previous one, and 19 percent - worse.
It can hardly be said that people felt the economic growth that everyone talks so much about.
- And which of the last years we experienced did we perceive with the greatest optimism?
2001st. At the time, 42 percent said the year was better than the previous year. And after that, optimism sharply decreased and remained at approximately the same level.
- How do Russians look at the new year, 2004?
About the same as in 2003 - with cautious optimism: 39 percent of respondents said that the new year will be better than the previous one. But expectations that 2004 will be worse than the previous year have sharply decreased - only six percent of Russians think so. Not a bad ratio: 39 percent hope for the best, and only 6 percent expect things to get worse.
- What holds back optimistic expectations?
Judging by the polls, there is obvious poverty. The saddest thing is when working people of the most active ages turn out to be poor.
Our pessimists, by the way, are not afraid of hunger. They are depressed by the inability to make any long-term plans for the existence of their family related to education and improving living conditions. And the optimism of Russians lives more in hopes than in plans. If a person makes plans, he imagines some algorithms of action for their implementation: in a year my salary will be increased or I will take out a loan, buy a house, educate children. And hopes are associated with internal self-awareness, with the resistance of a healthy psyche: tired of living with the mood that “everything is bad” and “it will be even worse.”
- What deterioration do pessimists expect?
Negative expectations are associated with the housing and communal services reform; they are afraid that there will be no water, that prices will rise incredibly.
-Who are our optimists?
These are, as a rule, people of in-demand professions, self-confident, and not afraid to change jobs.
In Voronezh, at a focus group conducted by our sociologists, one woman, listening to conversations about how bad everything is, how difficult it is to find a job because of the age limit and what dark and dirty entrances we live in, just shrugged her shoulders, “I’m in a year "I changed three jobs and found what I needed. And I sweep the dirty stairs myself and screw in new light bulbs."
- The basis of Russian pessimism is poverty. What are the grounds for optimism other than one’s own dynamism?
Optimists are consoled by Russia's repayment of foreign debts, the strengthening ruble, and falling unemployment. Unlike Moscow intellectuals, who perceive the new composition of the State Duma almost as the end of civil society, the “man on the street” has the most optimistic expectations about it. For many, the more agreement between the Duma and the Government, the better. Less disagreement, less red tape.
- What else do people hope for?
With the solution of economic problems. With the consolidation of society. Social disintegration is perceived as a very serious problem.
In addition to ordinary citizens, you also interview experts, representatives of local elites, do their concerns and expectations differ?
They are concerned, for example, that the country has not yet announced a program of action for the President and the Government, and there are no long-term guidelines.
- What about doubling GDP?
Well, this is perceived as a slogan. Experts do not understand why GDP will double.
They are also concerned about housing and communal services problems, an outdated judicial system, serious shortcomings in the work of law enforcement agencies, bureaucratic restrictions, and poverty of local budgets.
- How many Russians have adapted to the new reality of life?
About 40 percent. This is a lot. They feel confident and just generate optimism.
- Which of the serious negative feelings recent years left the public mood?
The feeling of disaster has disappeared.
