The significance of the concept of happiness in social processes. Who is happy in Russia: riddles of sociology. What holds back optimistic expectations

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

FEDERAL STATE BUDGETEDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONHIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

"SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITYnamed after N.G. CHERNYSHEVSKY"

ToDepartment of Theory and History of Sociology

FINAL QUALIFICATION WORKSPECIALIST

on the topic:Happiness as a phenomenon of sociological analysis

Students: Titovskaya Oksana Alexandrovna

Scientific adviser: M.B. Arakcheeva

Saratov 2014

INTRODUCTION

SECTION I. HAPPINESS AS AN OBJECT OF SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

SECTION II. DETERMINANTS OF HAPPINESS (BY THE EXAMPLE OF A STUDY IN THE CITY OF SARATOV)

CONCLUSION

LIST OF USED SOURCES

APPS

Introduction

Almost any type of society in a particular historical period is characterized by a certain set and hierarchy of values that act as a way of social regulation and orientation. Values that are characteristic of a particular period of time in a particular culture also underlie people's ideas about happiness. According to their understanding of happiness, people build their entire life strategy, make plans, implement other values, such as family, children, work.

Happiness, in its ideal understanding, is the main goal of man , which contributes to the activation of all his vital forces, makes him reveal the physical and spiritual potential of the individual. The study of people's ideas about happiness as the highest value makes it possible to identify transforming moral imperatives that are relevant for a particular type of society.

Even in the Old Testament, in a fairly simple form accessible to ancient people, the following law was already formulated: “your future happiness, well-being (or even life) will depend on what you are doing in the present, whether or not you violate certain norms. Having violated the commandment of the Creator and having fallen under the influence of Satan, the first people forever lost their "innate" happiness and immortality. The study of social ideas about these imperatives allows us to reveal how the individual understanding of happiness by each person determines the existing social reality in modern society. It is important to note that the main components of the “happiness” category are life satisfaction, emotions and, most importantly, a set of values. The last component is directly related to the socialization of the individual and the development of society and culture. The knowledge that a person has and accumulates, those aspirations and desires, as well as the totality of possibilities - this determines happiness. The coincidence of desires and opportunities makes a person happy and satisfied with his life, and if the opposite is true, then this leads to the appearance of bad emotions and even deviant behavior. That is why the study of the problem of happiness is important today for both the individual, society and researchers.

Happiness is also a sociocultural phenomenon that combines many aspects of social reality, each of which is important both for an individual and for society as a whole. The relevance of the problem is determined by the special significance of the concept under study, as well as by the request from the society, due to both the natural desire of each person to be happy, and the need to improve social health and the quality of life of the population.

The purpose of the final qualifying work- to reveal the semantic content of the phenomenon of happiness and its determinants.

Subject of work- the main determinants of the phenomenon of happiness.

Research objectives:

1. Uncover scientific approaches to understanding happiness

2. Compare the psychological, philosophical and sociological understanding of the phenomenon of happiness

3. Highlight the main factors in the formation of happiness

Since the emergence of the category under study, the problem of human happiness has been considered first in philosophy, then in psychology, and last but not least in sociology. In domestic and foreign sociology, happiness has practically not been studied, there is no consensus on the content of this phenomenon and the mechanisms for the formation of individuals' ideas about happiness. It so happened due to the widespread opinion that the operationalization of this concept through specific indicators and indicators is impossible. Later, this judgment began to be questioned, which resulted in the first attempts at a sociological interpretation of this phenomenon.

Interpretation of the content of the phenomenon of happiness was carried out by representatives of various scientific disciplines. Researchers P.S. Gurevich, A.F. Losev, Yu.M. Lotman, K. Neshev, V. Tatarkevich, S.S. Khoruzhy 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. Vorkachev, I.S. Gavrilova, A.A. Zaliznyak, I.B. Levontina, S.S. Neretina, B.A. Rybakova, I.V. Sidorenko, A.D. Shmelev, M. Fasmer.

The last decade in the United States has been actively developing the scientific direction "positive psychology", the leading representatives of which are E. Diener, M. Csikszentmihalyi, M. Seligman. Within the framework of this direction, empirical studies have been carried out, the analysis of the results of which makes it possible to identify factors influencing a person's experience of a state of happiness. J. Argyle, D. Vaillant, D. Kahneman, D. Keltner, S. Murray, E. Rezeski, M. Finchman, S. Hazan, L. Harker, G. Howard made a great contribution to the study of the subject of research.

Among domestic scientists, the works of I.A. Dzhidaryan, E.L. Dubko, V.G. Ivanova, O.V. Mitina, E.L. Smirnova, E.P. Pavlova, V.F. Petrenko, B.I. Popova, V.L. Titov.

To measure happiness, the method of studying the value orientations of M. Rokeach, the “happiness scale” of M. Fordis, the “life satisfaction scale” of E. Diener, the “affective balance scale” of V. Brandburn, the “test of meaningful life orientations” of D. Crumbo and L Maholika based on the theory of the existential vacuum of V. Frankl, the methodology for measuring “happiness indices” (“OECD Better life index”, “Legatum prosperity index” (“Prosperity index”), “Gallup World Poll” ( "Gallup World Survey") and "The Happy Planet Index" ("Index of happiness on the planet").

Toretico-methodological base of qualification work are: structural functionalism, value approach, comparative analysis, as well as the principles of sociological analysis, which are developed in the works of Russian and foreign researchers in the field of sociology and social psychology, gravitating towards humanistic and cultural-analytical paradigms.

The empirical base is:

1) The author's research on the topic "Reflection of happiness in the minds of the residents of Saratov", conducted in July 2011, the purpose of which was to study the interpretation of happiness in public opinion. The sample type is quota-territorial, the ratio of men and women is 50% to 50%, the number of respondents is 200 people. Survey method: handout survey. Data analysis methods - descriptive and correlation analysis.

2) The author's study on the topic "Comparative analysis of the definition of happiness in psychology, sociology and philosophy", conducted in August-October 2013, the purpose of which was to identify differences and similarities in the understanding and definition of the category of happiness in such sciences as sociology, psychology and philosophy . Methods of data analysis - traditional internal analysis of documents.

3) VTsIOM research data

This topic has been repeatedly developed in the author's research, the results of which were presented at various conferences:

· annual scientific student conference "Social problems of the region through the eyes of students", Saratov,

· annual international conference of students, graduate students and young scientists "Lomonosov-2013", Moscow,

· annual all-Russian scientific and practical conference "Youth volunteering in Russia: history, experience, practice" (2012, 2013), St. Petersburg,

· scientific-practical conference of graduate and undergraduate students "Tribune of a young scientist: Actual problems of science through the eyes of youth", Murmansk (2012),

· "Days of student science" with the organization of the XIV scientific conference of students and graduate students in Samara (2013) and in others.

The final qualification work of a specialist consists of an Introduction, 2 sections, a Conclusion, a List of used sources and Applications. The amount of work is 60 pages.

happiness sociological philosophical psychological

ChapterI. Happiness as an object of sociological analysis

In order to most fully reveal the phenomenology of happiness and ideas about it, a detailed theoretical analysis should be carried out to determine the diversity of views of representatives of various sciences on the problem under study. Consideration of various aspects of the problem of happiness, including philosophical, psychological and sociological ones, from our point of view, will allow us to identify the content characteristics of this concept, to develop a conceptual scheme for its study. Let us first turn to the explanatory dictionary of V.I. Dahl, who defines happiness as fate, fate, part and fate, share. Accident, desired surprise, luck, success, arguing in business, prosperity, well-being, earthly bliss, desired daily life without grief, confusion, anxiety; peace and contentment, in general, everything desired, everything that calms and satisfies a person according to his convictions, tastes and habits.

In the explanatory dictionary S.I. Ozhegov's happiness is a feeling and a state of complete, supreme satisfaction, success, good luck. As you can see, in both dictionaries, the interpretation of happiness is almost identical.

However, the scientific understanding of the category of "happiness" has a wide range and includes a comprehensive, systemic solution to a number of religious, moral, ethical, psychological, socio-economic and philosophical aspects. The category of happiness is widely represented in various philosophical and religious teachings, from ancient times to the present day. The folklore traditions of almost all peoples contain different descriptions of happiness and are reflected in literature, art and are used in everyday speech as a category that reflects the highest degree of well-being, life satisfaction, the peak of positive emotional states, the peak of a person’s spiritual development.

The philosophical aspect of happiness at different times with different content and depth was considered by outstanding thinkers of the past, for example, Aristotle (1st and 10th books of the Nicomachean Ethics), L.A. Seneca (work "On a happy life"), A.M.S. Boethius (“Philosophical Consolation”), Augustine (“On a Happy Life”), Thomas Aquinas (“Treatise on Happiness”). G.V. Leibniz developed the optimistic doctrine of theodicy, Helvetius in the poem "Happiness" expounded the philosophy of rational egoism. L. Feuerbach in the work "Eudemonism" touched upon the problem of happiness through the emotional side of human communication. R. Descartes and turned to the phenomenon of happiness in the work "On Passions", J.S. Mill indirectly addressed this issue in his work "On Freedom".

Democritus believed that he who is content with a little is happy. Happiness is not in wealth, it is not in herds and gold, not in slaves and not in money. Happiness is in the soul. If the main thing for animals is their bodily nature, then for a person it is a spiritual warehouse.

Aristotle believed that virtue seems to be one happiness, prudence to another, a certain wisdom to another, and all this together or one thing in combination with pleasure or not without the participation of pleasure, there are also those that include external well-being in the concept of happiness .

Socrates said that happiness is pleasure without remorse. Empedocles believed that happiness occurs when like meets like. Heraclitus mentioned that a person’s happiness does not consist in a passion for bodily pleasures, in which case he would become like bulls saturating the stomach with grass, but in proceeding from the voice of reason, which allows a person to show natural behavior associated with understanding the laws of necessity (logos) . Moderation in meeting needs contributes to the development and improvement of human intellectual abilities.

In Rome, the word "happiness" meant the name of the goddess - Fortune. The word "Fortuna" itself had two more meanings - luck and fate. The goddess was depicted with a cornucopia, a wheel and a steering oar. That is, she personified divine grace, which can only be given to the worthy. Therefore, the perception of happiness as a category in the Roman Empire was purely practical. It was prosperity and the possibility of fulfilling desires.

The Italian Renaissance thinker Pietro Pomponazzi believed that it is natural for a person to strive for happiness and avoid unhappiness.

Blaise Pascal believed that all people strive for happiness - there are no exceptions to this rule. The methods are different for everyone, but the goal is the same. That is, happiness is the motive for any actions of any person, even the one who is going to hang himself, as the author thought.

Ludwig Feuerbach, argued that where there is no striving for happiness, there is no striving at all, and that the striving for happiness is the striving of strivings. According to him, the first duty of a person is to make himself happy. If you yourself are happy, - said L. Feuerbach, - then you will make others happy too. A happy person can only see happy people around him.

F. Bacon said that the form for casting happiness lies in us, but the metal from which it is cast, we must find outside of us.

Most often in philosophy, happiness is seen as an experience of satisfaction with life in general, a person's general reflective assessment of his past and present, or as the frequency and intensity of positive emotions.

A number of philosophers distinguish certain elements in the structure of happiness: well-being - life without grief, deprivation, illness, loss, injury; satisfaction of needs; contentment; speculative happiness without joys (due to this component, happiness seems subjective, indefinite, different); “assessment of life as a whole” from the positions of humanly significant and mandatory; something that has a good educational effect on a person; own spiritual state, which requires great preparation and developed holistic perception. As a rule, authors link these elements to each other, and if one of them weakens, the emphasis shifts to the other.

1) fate, fate, fate, share; that is, to be happy at first was understood as “being under the grace of higher powers”;

2) chance, desired surprise, success in business; that is, to be happy can also mean that a person can be, as it were, an accomplice in his fate;

3) happiness - prosperity, well-being, peace and contentment; life without grief and worries - a more specific version, similar to "happiness for the poor."

Thus, it can be seen that the philosophical definitions of happiness imply various aspects of human existence: epistemological, ontological, axiological and ethical. . Despite the ambiguity in understanding the essence of happiness by philosophers of different times and directions, one can single out the universal idea that the desire for happiness is inherent in every person and is an integral part of his nature. Potentially, every person can be happy if he puts in some effort to achieve it. Depending on the chosen perspective, the semantic content of the content of the concept of happiness can change significantly. This is the peculiarity of the philosophical approach to understanding happiness.

Meanwhile, the psychological aspect of happiness is also important for us, which basically involves the analysis of a certain mental state of a person, which can be characterized by this term. Here you can talk about both a short-term state of experiencing joy, an extraordinary spiritual uplift, a feeling of flight, falling in love, an unprecedented surge of strength, and about the expectation of experiencing this state. A more detailed analysis of the psychological aspects of happiness should be considered separately.

The transformation of philosophical ideas about happiness into a psychological concept that can be studied empirically took a long time and was hardly reflected in various psychological directions.

In foreign psychology, to a greater extent, the study of the category of happiness is limited to the search and measurement of its quantitative equivalent in various scales and scores. At the same time, the main empirical question is the question: “Who can be considered happy?”.

M. Argyle wrote: “It is quite fair to ask the question: “To what extent is the feeling of happiness or satisfaction a property of the personality itself?” For example, people suffering from depression are in a depressed, depressed state most of the time or do not come out of this state at all. In healthy people, the state or mood usually changes depending on the specific situation. And again the question arises: is happiness the property of a “happy nature” or is it derived from a sufficient number of pleasant situations and sensations. Top-down theorists believe that everything depends on the person himself, that is, happy people interpret and evaluate life situations more positively, and a simple summation of pleasant events is not a reliable indicator of happiness.

Quite common in psychology is the idea of happiness as a “pure” pleasure, as an experience of “solid bliss”. Such an understanding is incorrect and leads, on the one hand, to a distortion, perversion of life goals, and, on the other hand, to pessimistic conclusions. The first is expressed in the fact that some people, in the pursuit of happiness, seek to get away from overcoming all life's difficulties, from anxieties and worries. As a result, while struggling with sadness, they also struggle with joy. The fate of these individuals becomes an almost constant feeling of boredom, as an expression of severe emotional starvation. Sometimes overprotective parents doom their children to such a fate.

One of the most important components of happiness, according to a number of researchers, is the satisfaction of a person in various spheres of his life. So, M.D. Karetko points out that happiness is satisfaction with one's own being. The author identifies two types of such satisfaction, taking it as the equivalent of happiness:

1. Satisfaction on the occasion of specific life events - episodic happiness as a result of good luck, success and, in general, any achievement of the desired.

2. Satisfaction as a background characteristic of relatively long periods of life, a general feeling of the degree of “happiness” in life.

M.D. Karetko believes that satisfaction of the first kind is the result of satisfying a specifically updated need.

Satisfaction of the second kind is an integral characteristic of the extent to which the satisfaction of this actualized need (for example, to drink wine) does not contradict the ability to satisfy other needs (to maintain good relations with the family and high self-esteem). The contradiction will immediately make itself felt by internal tension.

Meanwhile, a number of Russian psychologists are also trying to explain the essence of the category of happiness. So, E.A. Petrova believes that "Happiness is when you are understood and accepted." A situationally produced impression causes an experience of satisfaction, and the achievement of the necessary image as a whole makes a person happy. The subject of psychological research, according to the author, should be the contribution to the phenomenology of happiness of the measure of the adequacy / inadequacy of the image:

1) the image of I;

2) the social role of the subject of communication;

3) communication situations;

4) the meaning of life.

Another psychologist A.N. Leontiev views happiness differently. Meaningfulness of life is a common name (obtained at the level of phenomenological description) for a number of specific psychological states that are directly identifiable in consciousness in the corresponding series of experiences from pleasure to a feeling of “justification of existence”, which, according to A.N. Leontiev, "the meaning and happiness of life". "Impossibility" also has its own positive phenomenology, the name of which is meaninglessness, and the specific states are despair, hopelessness, unrealizability, inevitability. To combine the recognition of the pursuit of happiness with the provision on a special strategy for its implementation is the idea of A.N. Leontiev. However, the mere setting of “some kind of goal” does not automatically make a person happy. No wonder the classics of world literature showed us many human types with great potential inclinations, whose goal of enrichment and its furious pursuit led not to happiness, but to complete spiritual collapse.

So, the Russian researcher B.I. Dodonov believes that suffering, that is, the experience of certain negative emotions, is by no means the opposite of happiness as a feeling. Moreover, the latter is unthinkable without suffering, just as unthinkable is the pleasure of food without a feeling of hunger, the enjoyment of rest without fatigue. The happiness of an artist is made up not only of the joys, but also of the pains of creativity.

Happiness - according to B.I. Dodonova - in its integrative psychological expression - is an emotion, but an emotion that evaluates facts not from the standpoint of private needs, but from the point of view of how much a person manages to fulfill himself.

B.I. Dodonov believes that true happiness requires from a person such self-fulfillment, in which he realizes all his human potentials. And this cannot be done by locking oneself in the narrow world of personal well-being, separating one's "self-fulfillment" from the struggle for the realization of the lofty ideals of mankind.

Happiness, as follows from the works of B.I. Dodonov, there are not only qualitative, but also quantitative parameters. He identifies happiness with an emotion, with a "multicolor experience", since it is associated with an assessment of a person's self-fulfillment in various areas of his life and activity. Being a combination of different experiences, the emotion of happiness, however, of course, is not a simple sum of them. As the author points out, happiness is not at all a simple complex of any experiences, even if they are successfully combined with each other. Inevitably, including various emotional assessments, including negative ones, it is at the same time a general positive assessment by a person of the course of his life that integrates them.

In order to achieve happiness, the objective meaning of the activity and its personal meaning should not diverge from each other. If this activity is aimed at creating certain values, then it is these values that should be the main motive for the activity of the subject. Another necessary condition for achieving happiness is the enjoyment of its very process, according to B.I. Dodonov.

Another domestic psychologist A.N. Luke notes that one should distinguish between a happy life and happiness as a mental state. as well as satisfaction with life or its individual areas. A happy state of mind by its nature cannot be long-term. The author points out that love, marriage, the birth of children, scientific or sports success, even a well-organized and spent holiday can be the cause of happiness. The ability to feel uplifted on the occasion of a holiday, that is, on a predetermined day, regardless of whether something joyful happened, deserves attention and study. The restructuring of feelings takes time and is easier to do within the usual framework of rite and ritual. The festivity itself is of necessity short, and such preparation makes it possible to experience the minutes and hours of ascent more vividly and fully.

A.N. Luke believes that there is a feeling of happiness without a special reason - from the fullness of life, health, talent, good attitude of others. “... Even serfs and slaves knew rare moments of happiness,” the author points out.

According to A.N. Luke, the highest joy is given to a person by overcoming difficulty; the greater the difficulty, the more complete the feeling of happiness. But, according to the author, this is the destiny of only strong, spiritually rich natures.

So, as we see, there is a methodological problem of breeding the concepts of satisfaction and happiness. Satisfaction is understood in psychology as an emotional experience of well-being associated with the satisfaction of certain needs, the absence of frustrating circumstances and cognitive contradictions in the reflection of one's own being. Thus, subjective well-being is an important indicator of a person's experience of a state of happiness. In this regard, we consider it necessary to consider the signs and criteria of the subjective well-being of the individual, which is the object of study by sociologists.

Analyzing the criteria of a happy personality, sociologists, along with psychologists, have always assigned an important role to mental balance and the associated harmony of the organization of the psyche and its adaptive capabilities, the adequacy of subjective perception of reflected objects, phenomena and circumstances, the correspondence of mental reactions to the intensity of external stimuli, the orderliness and causation of mental phenomena. , critical self-assessment and assessment of surrounding circumstances, the ability to adequately change behavior in accordance with changes in the environment and its organization in accordance with accepted moral and ethical standards, a sense of attachment and responsibility in relation to loved ones, the ability to draw up and implement one's life plan.

Abroad, representatives of sociology interpret this concept as well-being in the broadest sense. Well-being is a multifactorial construct representing a complex interplay of cultural, social, psychological, physical, economic and spiritual factors. This complex product is the result of the influence of genetic predisposition, environment and characteristics of individual development. Such a formulation of well-being is most consistent with the definition of health, fixed in the preamble of the Charter of the World Health Organization (1948): "Health is not only the absence of any diseases and defects, but also a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being." Then the question is to define the concept of well-being, which was considered in psychology in the context of the study of happiness, subjective well-being, life satisfaction and quality of life.

In various sociological studies devoted to the study of optimal well-being, the problem of the subjective well-being of the individual, which initially included the concepts of happiness, life satisfaction, positive emotionality, psychological health, and fortitude, became central to this area. One of the first was the study of N.M. Bradburn, who found that the scales of negative and positive affect are essentially unrelated to each other, while showing independent correlations with the scale of general well-being. Subsequently, the understanding of happiness, defined as a balance between positive and negative affect, became widespread.

At the first stage of the study of subjective well-being, the following description of a happy person was obtained: young, healthy, well-educated, well-paid, extroverted, optimistic, carefree, religious, married person with high self-esteem, fighting spirit, modest aspirations, any gender and level of intelligence. Therefore, it was proposed to speak not about the real level of well-being, but to use the term "declared" or "recognized" happiness.

Such an orientation of researchers of subjective well-being is associated with the fundamental position that it is evaluated exclusively by the individual himself from the standpoint of his values and goals. Since the latter are always individual, there cannot be a universal structure of well-being for all, and the only thing that remains is to study the factors that influence this feeling of happiness and satisfaction. In this context, it is preferable to use the term “health-related quality of life”, synonyms for which are the concepts of subjective health and functional status.

Most of the works devoted to the study of the quality of life contain a description of those areas of life that researchers usually focus on: physical, psychological and social.

1. The somatic dimension includes the side effects of sports and/or treatment.

2. The psychological dimension is the degree of a person's well-being, defined in terms of discomfort and distress.

3. Psychosocial reflects the so-called psychosocial stressors, which include both serious, dramatic (loss of a job, divorce, death of a loved one) and everyday (they are described as "skirmishes" - annoying, frustrating environmental demands that characterize everyday interaction with her) stressful situations and events.

So, E. Skriptunova and A. Morozov, studying the ideas of young people about happiness in 2002, revealed that the statements of young people about what it means to be happy for them are quite traditional. A third of the respondents include in this concept a description of a good family. Every fifth aspires to material well-being and friendship. One in six mentions the characteristics of work and love. Only 10% mentioned the state of mind and only 3% included social issues and the well-being of the country in the concept of happiness. In the hierarchy of spheres of life, family and marriage in achieving happiness were only in 7th place.

Work in the hierarchy of spheres of life came in first place (along with communication with peers), but only 17% of respondents included the characteristics of work in the concept of “happiness”. Only 3% of the respondents included social issues in the concept of “happiness”. 11% of the young people surveyed were unable to define what happiness means to them.

Thus, various empirical studies show that people's ideas about a happy life largely lie in the value plane, in a kind of combination of terminal and instrumental values, so the problem of value regulation of social behavior should be considered separately. Also, in the field of view of sociologists, such a category as well-being deserves special attention: material, psychological, social.

In order to identify differences and similarities in the understanding and definition of the category of happiness in such sciences as sociology, psychology and philosophy, in August-September 2013, an author's study was conducted on the topic "Comparative analysis of the definition of happiness in psychology, sociology and philosophy". Research tools: a method of traditional internal analysis of documents.

The object of the study was public scientific, journalistic and monographic literature in three scientific areas. The subject of the study was the similarities and differences in approaches to the definition of happiness in sociology, psychology and philosophy. The objectives of the study included:

1. Highlight the content of the definition of happiness in each of the three scientific areas

2. Identify similarities in the interpretation of happiness in each of the three sciences

3. Identify differences in the interpretation of happiness in each of the sciences under consideration

The results of this study showed that in sociology the main ways to achieve happiness are: the achievement of values (mainly material), the satisfaction of needs (also predominantly material), the realization of one's potential, personal interests. Also, the source of happiness can be family and health.

As for the sociological aspects and nature of happiness, the following can be noted: the feeling of happiness is not constant, it depends on sources and on various subjective factors (gender, age, social status, income, education, etc.). At the same time, happiness is characterized as the highest limited experience. In the sphere of values, happiness stands above the rest, as a meta-value.

Happiness for many researchers in the field of sociology acts as a synonym for subjective well-being, a state of satisfaction with all aspects of life. Therefore, it is considered in sociology more often as a short-term feeling in a specific period of time. An important interest for a sociologist is the study of exactly the factors that influence the presence or absence of a feeling of happiness in a particular period of time or in a particular society (See Appendix No. 1).

Happiness from a psychological point of view is extremely subjective, depends on the type of person, his psychological structure and is perceived as the result of his personal achievements in the form of a certain emotional state (each person has his own set of emotions and experiences).

As the main aspect of happiness, one can single out the emotional color, the psychological make-up of the personality. And, most often, psychologists characterize happiness as an emotional state of a person, which can be both long-term and short-term.

Here, an important aspect is also the fact that for the individual, his own assessment of a happy state, an assessment of his capabilities to achieve this state, is important. That is, happiness is considered by psychology from the position of an individual personality and its internal features and qualities (See Appendix No. 2).

Philosophy is extremely ambiguous in its approach to the definition of happiness, it mixes sociological and psychological approaches. He names both material well-being and personal development, the realization of its potential, etc. as the main ways to happiness. As a rule, even if the source of happiness is material well-being, then only the minimum necessary for life. But the analysis of aspects of happiness made it possible to distinguish differences in approaches to happiness: happiness appears in philosophy as the highest good in the form of balance of the soul, as the main achievement in human life, the meaning of existence. And, most often, happiness manifests itself as a complex of experiences (joy, pleasure, etc.). The main thing for philosophers is a person's view of happiness, namely, the presence of a person's faith in achieving happiness. The spiritual component of happiness clearly prevails in the philosophical approach.

It is important to note that, according to philosophers, happiness is achieved at the end of a person's life path, and sometimes even after death. Thus, we can say that a happy person will leave behind completed deeds and a good memory, perhaps without realizing that he was happy (See Appendix No. 3).

As a similarity of all three scientific approaches to the definition of happiness, one can name the interweaving of all these approaches with each other. So, the ways and sources of happiness in all approaches are similar to each other, only some sources prevail, and in philosophy many factors, both from sociology and psychology, act as sources.

If we talk about the differences between the definitions in each of the sciences, then it should be noted that the predominant source of happiness in sociology is the material wealth of a healthy person in the family circle. From the point of view of psychologists, a person can become happy if the result of his personal achievements appears in the form of a certain emotional state. In philosophy, as noted earlier, such a source can be anything, as well as a mixture of several sources. The difference here is the amount of each source (the minimum for life).

In addition, all 3 areas characterize the time frame of the feeling of happiness in different ways: sociologists focus on the inconstancy and limitation of the feeling of happiness, psychologists - both on its duration and on its short duration (one of the two), while philosophy considers happiness to be achievable, as a rule , only at the end of life.

Sociology pays great attention to the factors that influence happiness. Psychologists are interested in a personal approach, i.e. the influence of the individual on the feeling of happiness (assessment, individual qualities, emotional coloring, etc.). Philosophy considers happiness from the position of the inner spiritual world.

The difference in approaches to the definition of happiness can be represented as a generalized definition for each of the considered sciences:

1. Sociology: Happiness is a limited experience as a result of the satisfaction of needs, also characterized as subjective well-being and general satisfaction with life, depending mainly on material wealth.

2. Psychology: Happiness is an emotional state characterized by subjectivity and personal assessment of this state.

3. Philosophy: Happiness is the highest good, which is the main meaning of human life.

Thus, happiness for many researchers in the field of sociology acts as a synonym for subjective well-being, a state of satisfaction with all aspects of life. Therefore, it is considered in sociology more often as a short-term feeling in a specific period of time. Also, from the point of view of sociology, the feeling of happiness is limited, depending on the source and on various subjective factors (gender, age, social status, income, education, etc.).

ChapterII. determinants of happiness(on the example of research in the city of Saratov)

As noted earlier, from a sociological point of view, "happiness" is considered as a state of a person that corresponds to the greatest internal satisfaction with the conditions of his existence; fullness and consciousness of life; fulfillment of their human purpose. None of the sciences has yet been able to visually present generalized data on this topic. Only sociology has been able to identify the factors that influence happiness and give an almost complete picture of the nature of this category. But to date, the determinants of happiness have not been studied enough, which leads to the need to study this topic.

First, we need to define what we mean by determinants. Human behavior remains a mystery to even the most seasoned psychologists. None of them can predict it accurately enough: the reaction in a given situation will be determined by many factors. We can only be sure of one thing - human behavior is very complex, that is, structurally complex, and it is explained by many factors. To understand it at least after what has already happened, psychologists use the concept of “determinants”. That means determining factors.

In modern psychology, there are three types of factors: hereditary, cultural and social. Hereditary factors associated with the characteristics of the brain are also called "physiological determinants". These are unique traits for each individual person, which determine how high the anxiety threshold is, how concentrated and conservative a person is, or, on the contrary, scattered and impulsive.

Cultural determinants of behavior are factors such as rituals, traditions and norms. A French feminist and a woman brought up according to the canons of Muslim morality will behave differently in the same situation (for example, her husband's betrayal). Psychological determinants, related to the category of cultural, can change under the influence of a changed situation, for example, when changing their place of residence, traditional peoples begin to imitate Western ones in their way of life.

Social determinants are the impact of the microenvironment on a person. Their difference from cultural ones lies in the greater momentary and everyday influences. Academician Pavlov called the result of such influences conditioned reflexes. It is these determinants of behavior that are easiest to change. However, even social adaptations are sometimes difficult. The more complex the psyche of a person, the more difficult it is to change his or her determinants. This is an axiom from systems theory. So what is more important - nature or environment? Even using the method of studying separated twins does not always shed light on this problem, since, fortunately, there are not many examples of such families. It must be remembered that human behavior cannot be completely reduced to three types of determinants. It is much more complex due to the fact that it is flexible and changeable. It cannot be predicted by the "given" - "result" model, at least - complex forms, such as learning, love, religious practices. “Given” is constantly changing: a person receives new information or previously forgotten information “emerges” from his memory. But what exactly will come to mind to this or that person is impossible to predict. That is why it is so difficult to deal with predictions in scientific research.

In order to proceed to the consideration of the determinants of happiness, one should turn to the structure of the category of happiness and highlight the main factors of happiness. Thus, the following can be distinguished as structural elements of the phenomenon of happiness:

1) the emotional component, which is associated with the feelings and sensations that an individual experiences in the course of life;

3) the value component, determines the value orientation of the actions of the individual, and also draws attention to the idea of happiness as a value.

There is also an approach to the analysis of the structure of happiness, which is based on the consideration of the conditions for the possibility of the latter: an analysis of internal and external factors. Internal factors include beauty, luck, health, material well-being, social stability, favorite work, having friends, support and love of loved ones.

External factors include mental health, common sense, goodwill and positive emotional orientation - altruistic, communicative, aesthetic, cognitive, etc.

The internal conditions of happiness include the psychological type of personality, the development of the emotional sphere, the ability to adequately assess one's individual capabilities. Philosophers from ancient times have emphasized the importance of the internal factors of human existence and their relative independence from external conditions.

M. Argyle in his book "The Psychology of Happiness" offers a socio-psychological analysis of happiness, the factors of which act both as sources, as conditions, and as areas of life satisfaction, and sometimes as characteristics of the subject himself. These factors are socioculturally determined. The author also focuses on the degree of involvement of the individual in the system of socio-economic relations and interprets it as an indicator of happiness.

The system of social connections;

material well-being;

Education;

Social status;

Some socio-demographic characteristics of a person that can be measured and show a statistically significant relationship with life satisfaction.

M. Argyle in his works also talks about three aspects of happiness:

satisfaction and its various areas;

positive emotions;

distress, including anxiety and depression.

The overall satisfaction factor can be divided into the following components: satisfaction in specific areas (eg, work, marriage, health, self-importance, competence, self-expression). The well-being dimensions also emphasize the emotional side of happiness: a feeling of high spirits and other positive emotions that are commonly referred to as describing one's good mood over a period of time. The third important value is psychological distress, which is associated with satisfaction inversely. The measured value here is based on ideas about unhappiness, depression and irritation, the degree of anxiety and anxiety. Particular attention should be paid to such a component as health, which is in close connection with others and is both the cause and effect of these quantities.

In achieving happiness, the dominant role is given to interpersonal relationships and social ties, which include:

Love and marriage;

Fulfillment of the social role of the parent;

Relatives and the specifics of relationships with them;

Relationships at work

Depending on the extent to which these indicators of the individual's involvement in the system of social ties are represented in the system of the individual's life activity, and how adequate they are, one can also speak about the degree of happiness of the individual.

Happiness, as well as mental and physical health, increases in the presence of certain social connections of the individual; with their loss and under the influence of other stressful situations, a state of depression sets in. These important results are stable and significant.

As an example, a married woman who has a job and children is less prone to depression, because, caring maybe not so much about her husband as about children, she simply has neither time nor strength for despondency in relation to herself, and thanks to her maternal instinct, she is tuned to a constructive solution to emerging problems.

Mental disorders are provoked by severe stress and poor social support. As well as what is in the work, a varied and relatively complex work is desirable for "creative natures", while stable work will be preferable to others.

Concerning such an important factor of personal happiness as work, M. Argyle analyzes the impact of work as an area of employment for an individual and a source of material well-being based on a number of indicators, among which the individual's happiness is influenced by:

Wage;

Employees;

Management;

Opportunities for promotion;

Attitude towards the company (organization).

One of the significant indicators is internal job satisfaction, which includes the degree of success in work, achievements, recognition and career advancement.

As for motivation, it should be noted that motivation is higher with a free choice of a task and with competence. Success contributes to obtaining greater satisfaction from the task and provides motivation for its continuation [Argyle M. Psychology of happiness. P.70]. That is why for people with a high need for success, competence, the ability to take effective action is so significant; this, in turn, increases the joy of the process of activity and enhances the inclusion of the task.

In many studies, one of the most important social components of job satisfaction is the factor of interpersonal relationships. This factor can be both a stimulating source and a prerequisite for dissatisfaction due to emerging disagreements. And the factor of job satisfaction is of particular importance, as it has a direct impact on life satisfaction.

Another factor of happiness associated with human work is a functional motive - an incentive to activity, in which the process of activity itself brings emotional satisfaction, and not the result achieved by it (in the form of consumption of an object or its creation). The development of the notion that activity can be pleasurable in itself can be traced back to antiquity. In Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" such activity is regarded as a sign of a happy, or blissful, person, and the urge to such activity is considered as the urge to life, because. life is understood as a kind of activity. In didactic psychology of the 19th century, functional needs were associated with the naturally conditioned need to train organs, whether it be a physical organ (body-functional needs), or psychological qualities (mental-functional needs), such as vision, hearing, speech, emotions, will, etc. (W. Jerusalem. Psychology textbook.). In the psychology of the 20th century, research covered various types of functional motives. Thus, the study of children's play led to the understanding of play behavior as having the goal of the very implementation of the activity, and not the practical result (V. Stern, K. Buhler, A.N. Leontiev). R. Woodworth in 1947 drew the attention of researchers to the existence of such a need as the need for perception, which led to experimental work on orienting activity (D. Berline, G. Harlow) and a phenomenological description of the emotion of interest (K. Izard). In studies of intrusive motivation, one can also find an analysis of the subjective feeling of “joyful absorption in life”, in which the individual, as it were, completely dissolves in the object to which his activity is directed, and forgets about the existence of his own Self (M. Wertheimer, A. Maslow, etc.) .

In the typological analysis of functional motives, there are:

Bodily-functional motives, oriented to one's own bodily organization, associated with satisfaction from the discharge of physical tension and motor activity ("muscular joy") and having, first of all, a biological basis,

Subject-functional motives (or subject interests) oriented to the surrounding world, which include objectified needs in the game, in communication and emotional experience, in cognition, in artistic creativity and in which ideas, fantasy and, ultimately, play a dominant role. , social factors.

Another important component in assessing life satisfaction is leisure, the forms of its organization, and the specifics of a person's social leisure. The role of leisure as a source of satisfaction is explained by the fact that it gives scope for activities related to intrinsic motivation, helps to obtain satisfaction from communication, and strengthens a sense of identity.

With regard to psychological factors specifically, based on many studies, a stable relationship is assumed with a high degree of probability between such a personality type as an extrovert and a sense of happiness. Extraversion is known to correlate with positive emotional state and contentment, but not with negative emotional state. According to the researchers, individuals who are engaged in “feeling seeking” (which correlates well with extraversion) most often experience feelings of joy. Sociability and the breadth of social contacts is associated with happiness.

...

Happiness index

What is happiness - everyone understands in their own way. Here is how happiness is understood by the Eurobarometer: “Index of happiness: contains information about the dispersion of two variables: the subjective assessment of personal happiness, and the subjective assessment of life satisfaction. Scale: 1 - the lowest level of happiness, 7 - the highest level "

But of course we won't say that.

“It makes no sense to ask ordinary people a question: evaluate the degree of completeness of your being on a 10-point scale,” said Viktor Vakhshtain, director of the RANEPA Center for Sociological Research. – In addition, we decided not to include funny questions from the classic Eurobarometer in our questionnaire, such as “Are you happier today than yesterday?.. Happy than last week?” We just asked if the respondent is happy, how satisfied he is with his life.”

In 2014, 6,028 Russians from various regions of the Russian Federation answered the question about their own happiness. All survey participants were selected so that their age, occupation, place of residence reflect the population structure of the region of Russia in which they live, and the type of this region in terms of its socio-economic development.

“The ruble is falling, and the dynamics of the optimism of the population is increasing,” the researchers summed up. – This was already the case in 2014, and this is typical for 2015 as well. Recently received data from the new Eurobarometer confirm this. In 2015, Russians are less satisfied with their lives, the political and economic situation in the country, if we compare the results obtained with 2014. They began to more adequately assess their financial capabilities and future difficulties. However, the level of happiness among those surveyed remains consistently high.”

Let us add that the biggest optimists in Russia live in the villages. At first glance, all this seems incredible.

Easterlin paradox

In 1974, Professor Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California discovered and described what the world of sociology would call the Easterlin paradox.

“In simple terms, the paradox is this: ... the average level of happiness in the country does not grow with the growth of the economy ... - explains Richard Easterlin himself in one of his latest articles. But, he asks, if economic growth is not a guarantee of increased life satisfaction, then what is?

No one has yet answered the last question of the professor.

Otherwise, numerous studies conducted over forty years in different countries rather confirm his correctness.

Richard Layard, a professor at the London School of Economics, an expert on unemployment and one of the researchers of the "economy of happiness", notes in his book "Lessons of Happiness" that Europeans and North Americans have more than doubled their incomes over the past half century, but the inhabitants of these countries have not become happier. . (Richard Layard Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. London: Penguin 2005).

The level of happiness experienced by each individual does not increase with an increase in GDP.

Having gained a level of income, expressed in specific amounts of earnings for each state, a person no longer feels as happy as at a time when his income was growing. Economists and sociologists delicately note that when a certain “saturation point” is passed, adaptation to the material benefits received occurs. If a person continues to enjoy life at the same time, this is his personal achievement. This means that he is happy despite his material wealth, but thanks to the values learned from childhood, education, upbringing, family circle.

Many researchers have been fascinated by calculating that fatal amount of income that extinguishes the human ability to experience happiness.

Some call the amount of 10-15 thousand dollars (Richard Layard, professor at the London School of Economics in the book “Lessons of Happiness” (Richard Layard Happiness: Lessons from a New Science.London: Penguin2005). D others - amounts from 30 to 33 thousand dollars for European countries and slightly lower, from 26 thousand dollars, for non-European countries. ( Proto, E. and Rustichini, A. "Life Satisfaction, Household Income and Personality Traits" University of Warwick, 2012).

Recent studies show that the Easterlin Paradox is valid not only for developed societies, but also for emerging economies.

Other sociologists go on to argue that there is a direct connection between the possession of material goods and happiness. A wealthy person living in a rich state, in their opinion, is always happy. A resident of a poor state who does not have high incomes is always unhappy. He may imagine that he is happy, but he deceives himself. Dot.

“If people make a lot of money, they can be happy,” explains sociologist Ed Diener and his colleagues, who analyzed Gallup World Poll data from 2005 to 2011 for 135 countries. “But if these people are constantly frustrated because they have to earn even more, income growth will not make them happy.”

In a society where a significant part of the citizens have reached the “saturation point” in their earnings, there comes, according to the apt expression of the researchers, “the great averaging of happiness”

In a society where a significant part of citizens has reached the "saturation point" in their earnings, there comes, according to the apt expression of researchers, "the great averaging of happiness." (The Great Happiness Moderation), as Andrew Clark, Sarah Flash, and Claudia Senik of the Paris School of Economics called their article (2012) the Easterlin paradox in different countries.

This does not mean that happiness in such a society becomes less, it just feels differently. Life becomes less bright: the feeling of general well-being, as it were, is “smeared on a plate”.

Russia is still far from the “great averaging of happiness”. So what makes Russians happy?

Decreased income - increased optimism

“It is interesting that in Russia the level of happiness is not related to the level of education and the presence of a family, as is the case in the United States. There, people with a high level of education, who are in a strong marriage, usually call themselves happy, ”said Viktor Vakhshtain, director of the RANEPA Center for Sociological Research at the presentation of the 2014 Eurobarometer results at the Higher School of Economics.

In 2014, household incomes in Russia decreased by 10%. At the same time, the indicator of economic optimism increased by 10%. Despite the difficulties, more and more Russians believe in themselves, in their country, and that life will soon get better.

The researchers found that the optimistic outlook on life for residents of different regions of Russia is only partly associated with a subjective sense of material well-being.

If a particular social group begins to feel richer (for example, their material well-being has increased by 10% over a certain period), then the level of optimism that the same group demonstrates increases disproportionately - by about 7%.

Whether a person is happy or not - in Russia does not depend on the level of his income.

The highest index of economic optimism (over 60%) is shown by the Republic of Dagestan, with its low indicators of the standard of living of the population. In second place in Russia in terms of the completeness of the feeling of happiness is the depressive Leningrad region.

On the contrary, the lowest “happiness index” was recorded in Central Russia, in the rather prosperous Yaroslavl region (less than 30% of respondents told sociologists that they were happy). Another "unlucky" subject of the Federation with a similar result is the Sverdlovsk Region.

Readers will want to ask: in what part of the ranking is Moscow? In terms of happiness - in third place ... from the bottom. Judging by the testimony of the Eurobarometer, the capital of our Motherland is one of the most unhappy cities in Russia. In any case, subjectively.

Friends and moving

The feeling of well-being of the majority of survey participants does not depend on how much money they have in their accounts, but on how many friends and acquaintances they have made. Sociologists call this social capital. It is this capital that modern Russians are happy to increase.

If the number of social connections of a Russian in 2014 increased by 10%, then his “happiness index” jumped by 14%!

Since 2012, when Eurobarometer first came to Russia, the average number of close friends Russians have (sociologists refer to as “strong ties”) has doubled. The number of diverse acquaintances is also growing (in sociology they are called “weak ties”).

It is this capital that reinforces, in the opinion of the residents of the regions of Russia, self-confidence and optimism, including economic optimism.
Sociologists asked themselves the question: what was more significant for Russians in 2014: having true friends who would go through fire and water for you, or making numerous (sometimes superficial) acquaintances? And isn't this related to the development of social networks that support the feeling of "acquaintance growth"?

According to American psychologists, strong friendship and strong family ties provide a person with a sense of assurance (assurance). It is these contacts that guarantee a person support in an emergency.

People who have “strong connections” are sure that they will be able to receive support (including financial support) from friends and relatives at any time. As it turned out, one of the sources of the inexhaustible economic optimism of Russians is the ability to borrow money from friends.

To the question: “How much money (in rubles) can you collect among your friends in three days?”, the residents of the poor Republic of Dagestan fearlessly answered: 800 thousand rubles.

In an emergency, residents of Tatarstan could also receive a similar amount from relatives and friends (although this republic is much richer than Dagestan).

Much less - up to 400 thousand rubles - could be collected in three days among their friends by residents of the Leningrad Region, Moscow and the Krasnodar Territory. But this amount is impressive!

True, sociologists note at the same time that the presence of “strong ties” is fraught with losses: the more close friends a person has, the more often people have to lend money to friends, rather than borrow them ...

In any case, superficial, but more numerous and varied acquaintances and contacts made in different places and with different people (the so-called “weak ties”) are more important for Russians today.

This choice is fully confirmed by the famous thesis of the American sociologist Mark Granovetter (Mark Granovetter), Professor of the Department of Sociology, School of Arts and Sciences at Stanford University, expressed by him in the article "The Strength of Weak Ties" (The Strength of Weak Ties, 1973). Granovetter was the first to explain why "weak ties" - not friends and relatives, but friends and casual acquaintances - are of decisive importance for a person in many circumstances of his life.

These “weak ties” provide people with a strong sense of security and reduce some economic risks in their minds.

A variety of contacts and acquaintances gives people confidence that they will be able to find themselves in new conditions in the labor market.

Sociologists who hold the Eurobarometer in Russia believe that by increasing and diversifying the circle of their acquaintances, Russians, as it were, "insure" their working future.

“Since 2012, there has been a progressive growth in the social capital of the population in Russia,” says Viktor Vakhshtein. – The main source of growth is “weak ties”. They are associated with strategies for successful job search. The number of “strong ties” among Russians is growing much more slowly, but also noticeably.”

Sociologists have found that frequent moving from place to place increases, in the eyes of each person, the amount of his social capital. They called this a development of the "Granovetter Paradox". The greatest number of acquaintances (“weak ties”) are those who have lived in one place for no more than 10 years.

Such people feel more confident; they believe that they can always find a job no worse than the one they have now. But those who have lived in one place for more than 25 years feel uncomfortable when looking for a new job. Yes, and they demonstrate economic optimism much less frequently.

Perhaps this phenomenon is associated with a phenomenon that sociologists cannot yet explain. The more insecure a Russian feels, the fewer friends and acquaintances he has, the less he is ready to change anything in his life.

The higher the level of social optimism, the more residents of Russian regions are ready to give up everything, leave and start life from scratch.

People are ready to part with their beloved relatives and friends for the sake of the opportunity to see new faces, to make many new acquaintances. And with them - new perspectives and new work.

And here is the result. In 2014, 16% of respondents would like to leave Moscow, 17% from the Yaroslavl region, 21% from the Leningrad region, and 31% from the Tomsk region.

And from Dagestan, which demonstrates the highest level of social optimism in Russia - 39%.

Who is the happiest in Russia? The answer to this was unexpected.

In the USA, these are people with a high educational qualification who have a strong family.

And in Russia in 2014, the most mobile people called themselves the happiest. These are those who moved to a new place of residence during the year ...

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as a manuscript

Queen 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 Russian State University for the Humanities

Scientific adviser: Doctor of Philosophy, Professor

Levicheva Valentina Fedorovna

Official opponents: doctor of sociological sciences, professor

Yulia Albertovna Zubok,

head department of youth sociology

Institute for Socio-Political Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

candidate of sociological sciences

Kuleshova Anna Viktorovna,

scientific editor, department of culture

Journal of Sociological Research

Lead organization: FSBEI HPE "Moscow Pedagogical State 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 degree of candidate of science, for the degree of doctor of science D.212.198.09, created on the basis of the Russian State University for the Humanities, at the address: 125993, GSP-3, Moscow, Miusskaya Square, d 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 particular historical period is characterized by a certain set and hierarchy of values that act as a way 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 are deployed, the corresponding social institutions and the purposeful actions of people themselves - both individual and collective. The assimilation of these criteria by an individual (the internalization of values) is the necessary basis for the formation of personality and the maintenance of social order in society. The values that are characteristic of a particular period of time in a particular culture underlie people's ideas about happiness. According to their understanding of happiness, people build their entire life strategy.

The study of people's ideas about happiness as a terminal value allows us to identify transforming moral imperatives that are relevant to 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, in which they put a single meaning and construct social reality themselves. The application of the theory of social representations allows us to reveal how the individual understanding of happiness by each person 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, makes him reveal the physical and spiritual potential of the individual.

On the one hand, there are implicit ideas about happiness in society - 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 studies of this science.

Happiness is a sociocultural phenomenon that combines many aspects of social reality, each of which is important both for an individual and for society as a whole. At present, a powerful intellectual movement is being formed in the world, associated with attempts to study happiness by scientific methods. The relevance of the problem is determined by the special significance of the concept under study, as well as by the request from the society, due to both the natural desire of each person to be happy, and the need to improve social health and the quality of life of the population.

Happiness has not been practically studied in Russian sociology, 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 widespread opinion that the operationalization of this concept through specific indicators and indicators is impossible. Later, this judgment began to be questioned, which resulted in the first attempts at a sociological interpretation of this phenomenon.

The degree of scientific development of the problem. Interpretation of the content of the phenomenon of happiness was carried out by representatives of various scientific disciplines. Researchers P.S. Gurevich, A.F. Losev, Yu.M. Lotman, K. Neshev, V. Tatarkevich, S.S. Khoruzhy paid attention to the socio-philosophical characteristics of the phenomenon of happiness.

One of the significant factors that determine the individual's perception of himself as a happy person is a developed "social intelligence" as the ability to adequately manage his behavior and plan it, to correctly understand the assessment of his own actions by people around him. The idea of social intelligence (F. Vernon, J. Gilford, O. V. Luneva, A. I. Savenkov, M. Sullivan, E. Thorndike, D. V. Ushakov, M. Hendrix) is closely related to the concepts of emotional intelligence, which developed by G. Eysenck, R. Baron, D. Goleman, D.V. Lusin, D. Meyer, P. Sulloway.

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. Gaybor, 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 assess the development of the state not only by measuring GDP, but also to take into account the “Happiness Index” (“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 polysemantic 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 P. Berger and T. Lukman, interactionist ideas of G. Mead and G. Bloomer, attitude structure of M. Smith, concepts of social behavior of M. Weber.

Such modern researchers as W. Wagner, D. Deutscher, W. Duaz and T.P. Emelyanova believe that the study of social representations can be called an independent direction due to the fact that within the framework of this concept several new trends have been formed. The mentioned authors substantiate the possibilities of its application in the study of various social phenomena.

Among domestic scientists, the works of I.A. Dzhidaryan, E.L. Dubko, V.G. Ivanova, O.V. Mitina, E.L. Smirnova, E.P. Pavlova, V.F. Petrenko, B.I. Popova, V.L. Titov.

Such a variety of research approaches suggests that the study of happiness, the search for methods for measuring it and understanding this phenomenon as an individual's social state are becoming an increasingly popular scientific trend.

The purpose of the dissertation research: to reveal the socio-cultural 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: socio-cultural prerequisites and factors for the realization of the phenomenon of happiness in society.

Research objectives:

To reveal the socio-philosophical premises of the sociological understanding of happiness.
Determine the socio-cultural content of the concept of happiness in the languages of different peoples and its significance for sociology.
Highlight 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.

When developing theoretical and methodological foundations of dissertation research the concepts of the quality of life of J. Galbraith, D. Bell, I.V. Bestuzhev-Lada, the theory of social representations by S. Moscovici, the theory of social reality by P. Berger and T. Lukman, the attractionism of G. Mead and G. Bloomer, the idea of the dichotomy of "remembering I" and "experiencing I", as well as measuring life satisfaction D Kahneman, the concepts of social intelligence by E. Thorndike, J. Gilford, D. Goleman and D.V. Ushakova, positive psychology A. Maslow, M. Seligman, E. Diener, M. Csikszentmihalyi.

Empirical base of research:

"What is happiness - and where do happy people live?", All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), polled 1,600 people in 138 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia, 2009
“On what does happiness depend?”, All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), 1600 people were interviewed in 138 settlements in 46 regions, territories and republics of Russia, 2012
"Gallup World Poll", Gallup Media, a survey of living standards across countries. The study involved between 1000 and 2000 (in the largest countries) people in each of 146 countries, methods: questionnaire, telephone survey, interview (in developing countries), 2011.
Legatum prosperity index, Legatum Institute, 1000 people in each of 110 countries, method: questionnaire, 2011
OECD Better Live Index, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1,000 participants in each of 34 countries, method: questionnaire, 2011.
The Happy Planet Index, New Economics Foundation; the index was calculated based on data from the Global Gallup Survey, the UNDP Human Development Report and the 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 Univercity, 2012. Comparative analysis of data from The Happy Planet Index, Gallup World Poll, Livequality index and World Values Research.
The results of the author's research "Happiness and dream in the minds of student youth of the metropolis", conducted in 2011. 32 Moscow students of humanities faculties were surveyed; method: in-depth interview.
The results of the author's study "Mechanisms for the realization of the phenomenon of happiness among the representatives of the Moscow" creative industry ", conducted in 2012. 30 respondents were interviewed using the method of in-depth interviews.

The main results of the research submitted for defense, containing elements of novelty:

The analysis of scientific works, in which the sociocultural phenomenon of happiness appears, made it possible to combine them into two groups: a) scientific disciplines in 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). Such a division is rather arbitrary, but necessary for structuring sociological ideas about the subject of research.
An attempt of sociological definition of "happiness" is made. The author of the dissertation believes that the "semantic core" of this concept includes the state of inner harmony of the individual, determined by objective and subjective factors of well-being, which allows the individual to develop, participate in full communication and 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 kinds of social resources by a person and involves him in the system of social interactions. Happiness in this case 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 thesis highlights 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 the infrastructure in which the individual is involved (for more details, see Section 3).

The identification of 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 infrastructure of social communications that are favorable for the implementation of the factors of the second group.

In modern sociological and economic studies, more than eighty indicators for measuring the phenomenon of happiness are presented. As a rule, most of them come 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, 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 ethno-cultural characteristics of the values of the countries included in the rating. Meanwhile, it is this aspect that is extremely significant, since how the ideas of peoples about happiness cannot be formed outside the cultural context, which means that the ranking of countries according to the indicators proposed when calculating the indices cannot be fully considered to correspond to the real ideas about their own happiness of the inhabitants of the countries surveyed.
Based on the understanding of modern approaches to the study of 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 governance can be improved, taking into account the priority desire of each member of society to be happy. The results of research on “happiness indices” can be used for prognostic purposes to identify problems in the work of social institutions and solve them in a timely manner.
Despite the use of different indicators, in each of the "ratings of happiness" Russia occupies an average position, followed most often in the list by developing South American countries.

The dissertation substantiates the opinion that in modern Russian society among young people the main factor preventing the feeling of being a happy person is the lack of confidence in one's own future, a stable income, the ability to provide for a family and social guarantees, distrust of the 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 relevant. Unlike student youth, representatives of the "creative industry" are characterized by strengthening their 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 expanding the boundaries of the subject field of sociology, based on the synthesis of research experience related to sociology of sciences.

The author conducted a series of studies of different social groups, revealing the mechanisms of perception of happiness, comparing oneself with others, understanding by individuals of the context of their own experience and making plans for the future. These empirical data do not claim to be representative, however, they are a new attempt for Russian sociology to comprehend the processes of formation of ideas about the happiness of different social groups, their life strategies, identify the necessary changes in society and its culture. All this will allow further development of more adequate research tools in this area, and subsequent research on happiness will improve the quality of governance in society and, as a result, society as a whole will become happier.

Edward Ponarin

Head of the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, Higher School of Economics

The material was provided by the Higher School of Economics following the results of the international conference of the World Association of Public Opinion Researchers WAPOR.

Why is it important for sociologists to measure happiness? What is he talking about?

The preamble to the US Constitution states that all people are born equal, free, and each of them has the right to pursue happiness. Initially, the wording was different: it was about the right of everyone to strive for wealth. But even then, in the 18th century, people understood that happiness is not only about money and happiness is more important than money, especially when you already have it. A person should have the right, for example, to do what he likes. Therefore, even if we proceed from economic considerations, happiness is a more basic category than income, since every person has the desire to be happy. This is what actually motivates people's behavior. Another thing is that in different conditions happiness can be understood in different ways. When you have nothing to eat, then the appearance of food is already happiness. When some basic issues are resolved, then a little more money or food in the refrigerator will not make you noticeably happier, happiness in this case is determined by other things. That is, it helps to better understand both the level of development of society and the motivation of people, and in this sense it is a more universal category than such fundamental economic indicators as income or GDP per capita.

Are differences in the understanding of happiness in different countries important to sociologists?

This must be kept in mind when countries are compared with each other, but at the same time it is a basic category, because a person wants to be happy all the time. According to economic theory, Homo economicus tries to maximize its income and minimize its costs. In fact, if you look at it more broadly, a person seeks to maximize his happiness. In wealthy societies, people sometimes choose jobs that don't pay as well to go about their business. There are downshifters who devote more time to their personal lives, friends, travel, rather than work. In this case, maximizing income does not equal maximizing happiness.

How do sociologists measure happiness?

There are different methods. For example, the diary method, when a research participant records his level of happiness daily on a scale set by the researcher, but it is complex and expensive. There are psychological methods, when the questionnaire contains a whole block of questions that go in a row. In sociology, especially in large studies where there are already so many questions in the questionnaire, it is not possible to devote so much time to measuring a single parameter. The World Values Survey and the European Values Study have two questions about happiness. One is a direct question of how happy a person is on a four-point scale, the other is how satisfied a person is with their life on a ten-point scale. These are slightly different questions. The level of happiness speaks more about the emotional state at the moment, while life satisfaction reflects a long-term and rational view.

How willing are people to answer these questions?

Quite willingly. For questions about income, for example, people respond with markedly less desire. So sociologists in particular have to come up with workarounds. Ask about what the respondent can buy or which group he/she belongs to. But even such questions are not as readily answered by people as questions about happiness. The question of happiness is quite simple, it does not hide any pitfalls.

How has the level of happiness in Russia changed over the past 30 years?

There are measurements for Russia in the World Values Survey since 1981. At that time, the study took place only in Tambov, but, as subsequent waves of the study showed, the answers of Tambov residents more or less reflect the general Russian mood. Since that first measurement, the level of happiness in Russia has steadily fallen. It began to fall especially sharply in the 1990s and reached a minimum in the middle of the decade. Somewhere since 2000, it began to rise and now it has almost reached the level of the early 80s. This is a significant fluctuation, which is consistent with how GDP per capita has changed, which is not surprising. A close correlation between economic and subjective well-being is observed almost everywhere, but in less affluent countries like Russia, it is closer. The population of our country consists of materialists, that is, those who put economic well-being and security at the forefront. They think about freedom of choice or interesting work in the second place, if we talk about the vast majority of the population. This is also true for our neighboring countries.

“From a rational and long-term point of view, people understand that life is not getting better, but emotionally they are still happy with the situation”

Is there anything unusual, anomalous in these data?

There are two interesting points worth mentioning. First, the level of happiness in Russia was falling even before the sharp change in GDP per capita. Even when the standard of living rose slightly in the late 1980s, the level of subjective well-being still declined. That is, people seemed to anticipate that something bad was waiting for them. There has been a very close relationship between subjective and economic well-being since then, but in the last couple of years, interesting things are happening again. This is probably a topic for future research, because right now we do not have reliable data to explain what exactly is happening, but there are assumptions.

With the onset of events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, relations between the West and Russia escalated, sanctions and counter-sanctions were introduced, which coincided with a period of falling oil prices. Accordingly, there was a devaluation of the ruble, the standard of living of the population fell, and the number of poor people increased. Surprisingly, against this background, subjective well-being continued to grow, that is, the percentage of happy people increased. Before that, it was clear that this was due to the restoration of economic well-being. In previous years, there was constant economic growth at the level of 7%. If this happens every year, then it affects the standard of living quite noticeably. In 2008, there was a crisis, but a conflict arose in South Ossetia, which was quickly resolved with the help of military force.

This contrasts with what happened in the 1990s. Not only did our GDP fall, but, if I may say so, a geopolitical retreat took place, and along with it, an ideological collapse. Communist ideology has been frustrating since the 1970s. Perhaps, by the way, that decrease in the level of happiness before the 90s, which I have already mentioned, is connected with this. Apparently, there was a feeling that the country was going somewhere wrong, that we made a mistake with our economic and political system. There was a high level of frustration. This was accompanied not only by a drop in the level of happiness, but also by a deterioration in demographic indicators - an increase in alcoholism, an increase in mortality, and a decrease in life expectancy. We have demographic data for a long period. This decline began quite a long time ago, in the mid-1960s. Back in the early 60s, in terms of life expectancy, we were only two years behind the United States, and three years behind France. At the end of the Soviet period, we lagged behind them by an average of 15 years.

After 2008, almost nothing happened with the standard of living, but rather unexpectedly, foreign policy changed. The Russian leadership began to propose a new agenda, which turned out to be quite popular among a significant part of the population. This compensated for the losses from the crisis, which were not very significant then. The level of happiness continued to rise. In the last two years, when the crisis hit hard on people's well-being, the level of happiness still grew. We explain this by the fact that even more people agreed with the agenda proposed by the Russian leadership: the restoration of the country's international prestige, a conservative ideology opposed to Western liberalism. They get the feeling that the country is moving in the right direction.

Do sociologists have forecasts for how long this can continue?

Sociology generally has poor predictive power because these events are influenced by too many factors that are difficult to account for in models. Suppose weather forecasters solve systems of hundreds of differential equations to predict the weather. A weather forecast is a prediction of the behavior of inanimate forces, and we have a large subjective factor, so it is still more difficult in sociology. It is not always possible to predict how a particular person will behave, even under similar circumstances. Since social events are made up of the behavior of thousands and millions of people, all this is quite complicated.

Obviously, it is impossible to endlessly ride on patriotism if there are no successes. Success can be either economic or geopolitical. In the field of geopolitics, it seems to be working so far: Trump won, Marine Le Pen or Francois Fillon in France, who also sympathizes with Russia, have high chances of being elected. After that, there will probably be some kind of cascade in Europe, and even if the economic situation is difficult, we can assume that a significant part of our population will be satisfied: here, we survived, turned the situation around, and were able to show Europe. You know, in May 1945, people were very happy, although there was nothing to eat, there was a catastrophe in the economy. Things were exchanged for food at the flea market. And the people were happy because such a colossal war had been won.

True, according to the latest measurements, there is a discrepancy in the answers to questions about happiness and satisfaction with life in general. Happiness levels go up and life satisfaction stagnates, although under normal conditions there is a very strong correlation between these two indicators. We have seen such a discrepancy since about 2008. That is, from a rational and long-term point of view, people understand that life is no longer improving, but emotionally they are still satisfied with the current situation. This is also quite interesting.

In general, if there is no success, then some changes can be expected. In 1914, everyone was a patriot. Mayakovsky climbed onto the Alexander Column and read poems about how our soldiers would twist footcloths from the underwear of German women, but after two years the enthusiasm subsided. It was hard with the economy, and there were no victories at the front either.

“We have the richest region in Moscow, but there are fewer happy people there than, say, in Cheboksary”

How similar is Russia in terms of the level of happiness to other post-Soviet countries? Are there differences within Russia itself?

Post-Soviet countries and, more broadly, post-communist countries such as Bulgaria, are in approximately the same position. The connection between wealth and happiness can be described by an equation and presented as a curve. At first, an increase in economic well-being raises the level of happiness very sharply, but after reaching some acceptable level, its effect becomes noticeably weaker. All post-communist countries, including Russia, are under this curve, which means that we can say that we are a little less happy. Latin America is above this curve. It turns out that each next peso or real brings more happiness than one might expect, while the ruble is less.

Our richest region is Moscow, but there are fewer happy people there than, say, in Cheboksary. People in Chuvashia are poorer, but everyone is in a roughly equal position. Just imagine an ordinary Muscovite, not very rich. Let it be a pensioner. He may know that people outside the Moscow Ring Road live worse than he does. He has surcharges, compensation. However, this is such a theoretical knowledge, he does not compare himself with them on a daily basis. He compares himself to those he sees in Moscow. There he sees people who drive impossibly expensive cars; sees behind glasses people who drink coffee at 300 rubles per cup or expensive cocktails. It somehow makes him feel bad. Although he has a decent standard of living compared to Cheboksary, he does not think about Cheboksary. He feels miserable. This is called social comparison.

What determines the level of happiness? Are there universal factors that make happiness grow everywhere?

No, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't exist. Happiness can be achieved in many ways. If you look at the ranking of countries by the level of happiness, then there will be, on the one hand, the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway), but on the other hand, Colombia and other Latin American countries will be at about the same level. If we return to the example with the curve, then Scandinavia lies on it, where people are equally rich and happy. Latin America is happier than one would theoretically expect. In addition to the level of wealth, there are other factors. Scandinavia, for example, has a very high level of equality. The Gini coefficient is small. The very culture of these countries is egalitarian, in which it is not customary to flaunt one's wealth. This does not mean that the same Norwegian cannot have a castle in France with a Ferrari in the garage, where he goes on vacation and has fun. But in his homeland he has a modest house and a modest car. His children go to regular school. Moreover, Finland, for example, leads the world in terms of the quality of school education. All this contributes to peace in society. There is stability there. The millionaire knows that the windows of his car will not be broken and the house will not be set on fire.

Latin America has rather tight social ties, which, incidentally, is not the case in Scandinavia. There is less anomie. They have a high level of religiosity, which also helps, especially in poor countries. There, she creates the feeling that everything is not so bad with you, because God helps those who behave righteously, and there is still a next life - a person has hope. Despite the high religiosity, there are few social prohibitions. Sexual life begins quite early, even sexual minorities are quite tolerant. This combination of features creates a special Latin American environment in which a person enjoys living, even if he cannot boast of wealth.

If you look at the post-Soviet countries, the situation there is sadder. In the 1990s, we went through a difficult, including psychological, period, suffered a geopolitical defeat, and found ourselves in third-rate positions in terms of politics. Even in the countries that have become part of the European Union, the economic situation is very difficult. The Bulgarian industry cannot compete with the European one. Even in agriculture, they are inferior to the EU. People again have the feeling that they made the wrong choice. They, unlike Latin America, have no religious nourishment. Apart from Poland, all post-communist states are not very religious. Even in Russia, where there seems to be a rise in interest in religion, the percentage of religious people is not very high. Chechnya and neighboring republics can be considered an exception. Pretty happy, by the way, republic. In general, we contrast unfavorably with Scandinavia, which receives happiness through wealth and equality, and with Latin America, with its close family and friendly ties and reliance on religion.

What are the challenges now facing sociologists studying happiness?

I think that the discrepancy between economic status and the level of happiness that I spoke about is the most interesting aspect of future research. We understand how to explain the strong correlation between the objective position and subjective assessments, but with the discrepancy it is still not entirely clear what to do. We see this both in the example of Latin America, and in the Russian experience in the late 80s, and according to the results of today's research. We can now assume something, but accurate reliable data and calculations are needed, but they are not yet available.

This section contains materials from various sociological organizations, public opinion polls, scientific research, which indirectly or directly relate to the main theme 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, research in this area is offensively small, although, perhaps, we simply missed much of what is being published. We would be grateful if you would 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. The highest position in the ranking of exUSSR countries was taken by Uzbekistan
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 resolution of the General Assembly noted that the governments of UN member countries are recommended to celebrate the holiday "in an appropriate way, including through educational and educational programs."
2017-03-15 Outwardly attractive people are more likely to find a mate, but their relationship often ends in a break. This conclusion was made by researchers from Harvard University.
2017-03-10 The monitoring agency NewsEffector together with the Regional Research Foundation "Regions of Russia" conducted another study "Index of Happiness of Russian Cities". As in previous years, sociologists tried to understand where the happiest people live in Russia.
2017-02-09 According to 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, the purpose of which was to find out how sex and harmony are connected in a couple.
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 affecting psychological well-being.
2016-12-05 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. Eighth Study Shows Slight Decrease in "Love Index"
2016-10-18 Men, whose childhood was spent in an atmosphere of family warmth and love of a happy family, closer to old age have more stable family ties. This result was obtained during the study, which began in 1938.
2016-10-14 It is not the elderly who feel most unhappy, but people in the prime of their physical and spiritual strength, aged 35-44. It is among them that the most disappointed and dissatisfied with life in Switzerland are found out by sociologists
2016-08-20 Psychologists from Harvard University have developed an automatic algorithm for determining depression for Instagram users based on the photos they post. Algorithm accuracy is 70%
2016-07-01 Psychologists from University College London have improved the formula of happiness, which they derived in 2014. The authors of the study believe that this may prove useful in measuring empathy, which is necessary for understanding various social disorders, such as indifference to the suffering of others.
2016-05-14 British scientists from the University of Kent proved 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 for the popular television series "Lie to Me"), launched the website "Atlas of Emotions". The goal 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. Such results were obtained by psychologists from the University of California, in the course of their experiment, the meaning of which was to receive rewards during a game in which deception of rivals was allowed.
2016-04-30 An international team of researchers analyzed the genomes of 298,420 people and found genetic variants that may affect our sense of life satisfaction, depression and neuroticism
2016-04-16 According to the latest VTsIOM poll, the vast majority of Russians (83 percent) admitted to being happy, despite the ongoing financial and economic crisis.
2016-02-10 Office for National Statistics UK published the results of a study of the influence of religiosity on the subjective sense of well-being. Once again, sociologists have concluded that religion makes a person happier.
2016-01-27 Russia ranked 30th in the global happiness ranking compiled by the annual Gallup International survey. The survey involved 66,000 respondents from 68 countries.
2015-12-11 Subjective happiness does not prolong life, University of Oxford scientists came to this unexpected conclusion based on a study of a large-scale study that lasted ten years.
2015-11-09 Avoiding social media use can increase life satisfaction, according to a study by psychologists from Denmark´s Happiness Research in Copenhagen
2015-10-02 On the eve of the International Day of the Elderly, 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 relationship between happiness and money.
2015-09-28 The authors of a new study believe that there is a certain variation of the gene that predisposes people to depression after difficult life situations, such as childhood abuse, the same gene can also increase the level of happiness 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 grow shortly before the birth of a child and decreases after the first year of his life. The older the parents, the more happy they experience.
2015-07-07 The Urban Development Foundation "Urban Projects of Ilya Varlamov and Maxim Katz" has launched a survey 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 in 75 years. The source of information was the responses of the readers of the newspaper who responded to the request of the editors to tell about what happiness is back in 1938. Years later, newspaper scholars asked the newspaper to publish the same text.
2015-06-09 Sociological company Brand Analytics has published the results of the fifth annual study of the emotional state of 25 million Russian social network users. The leaders of the rating are the Republic of Mari El and the Leningrad region, Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia close the rating
2015-04-28 The World Happiness Index 2015 has been published. Russia ranks 64 out of 158 in it. The index was introduced in July 2011 at the UN General Assembly as a tool for making decisions in the field of sustainable development of the countries of the world
2015-04-22 "The level of happiness" in Russia again reached a record level of 64 points and caught up with April last year. 80% of the respondents of the survey conducted by VTsIOM feel happy people.
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 poll of the SuperJob portal "How much money do you need for happiness?" showed that the crisis forced the Russians to moderate their dreams of high wages.
2015-02-08 Scientists from the Computational Story Lab have improved the toolkit for measuring "happiness". Their new study confirmed the hypothesis of social psychologists that a person is subconsciously oriented towards the perception and reproduction of exclusively positive messages.
2015-01-19 Brand Analytics has published data from the fourth study of the emotional state of social network users in the regions of Russia, conducted from December 8 to 21, 2014. The authors of the study argue that over the past six months, the emotional state of the inhabitants of Russia has improved.
2015-01-01 Patriarch Kirill held a New Year's prayer service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He shared with the few assembled parishioners and journalists his views on human happiness.
2014-12-24 Despite the growing economic crisis, in general, 76% of Russians consider themselves happy people. Ukrainians are not far behind them, in the 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 says that in different countries not only the level of well-being differs, but also the nature of its dependence on age. This refutes the universality of the U-shaped "happiness curve", which is written in most publications.
2014-11-19 The harm from an unhappy marriage is greater than the benefits from a happy one, American doctors came to this conclusion after studying the statistics of cardiovascular diseases as part of a nationwide health study.
2014-10-16 32% of Russians over 60 consider themselves happy people. On October 1, the International Day of the Elderly, the sociological service "Sreda" conducted a survey in which sociologists tried to find out what determines the happiness of older people.
2014-09-16 Experts from the University of East Anglia (UEA) have found that traveling to work by public transport is better than a private car for psychological well-being.
2014-09-01 What is the key to a happy marriage? According to a new report from the American National Marriage Project, the three main components are sexual abstinence, not living together before marriage, a sense of community and responsibility.
2014-08-12 PLoS ONE magazine published the first results of a large study of the happiness formula "Great Brain Experiment", in which more than 18 thousand people took part
2014-07-18 Specialists from the University of Warwick´s found a connection between international "happiness ratings" and the genetic characteristics of nations. The results indicated that some countries may have a genetic advantage in well-being rankings.
2014-07-13 The PNAS magazine published the results of a mass experiment on the manipulation of the emotional state of people, which Facebook conducted on its users. The media is discussing 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 social networks. The entire collected array of information was analyzed for the presence in it of words and phrases that speak of love and hate.
2014-04-30 VTsIOM published another annual study of the happiness of Russian residents. Three quarters of respondents (78%) feel happy. This is the highest figure in the past 25 years.
2014-04-22 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 very process of work, for 52% - the awareness of their own relevance and self-realization, for 43% - a high salary.