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3.3 Subjective well-being Mati Heidmets Besides the external and easy-to-measure indicators (life span, income, education level, etc.), researchers of development have started to focus on people’s subjective worlds, their attitudes towards themselves and their surroundings. It is true that the growth of wealth, or the reduction of inequality, acquire a sense and a meaning only when they are reflected in the feelings of those who acquire the wealth, or experience the (in)equality -- and this shapes their attitudes to the events. A rich, smart, but unhappy, person is definitely a more problematic member of society than one who has not acquired a higher education, whose wallet is thin, but who is still happy and enjoys life just like it is. People’s attitudes toward themselves and their lives have started to be characterised, using the concept of subjective well-being. According to Robert Putnam, this should be the most important variable in social sciences: “... the ultimate ‘dependent variable’ in social science should be human well-being, and in particular, well-being as defined by the individual him- or herself, or ‘subjective well-being.’” (Helliwell, Putnam, 2004, 1435). According to the definition offer by the most famous researcher in this field, University of Illinois professor Edward Diener, “... subjective well-being consists of emotional and cognitive components. Emotional well-being is reflected in frequent experiences of pleasant emotions and infrequent experiences of unpleasant emotions. The cognitive component of subjective well-being refers to a global evaluation of one’s life, often assessed as life satisfaction.” (Toy, Diener, 2008). When speaking about subjective well-being, we are speaking about the satisfaction that a person feels regarding his or her own life, as well as the proportion of positive emotions the person has about everyday life. The latter can be defined as happiness. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), which functions as a European Union agency differentiates the Europeans’ quality of life into life satisfaction, on the one hand, and happiness, on the other, and also attempts to measure them both: “... life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole after taking all life circumstances into consideration – in a way it can be viewed as a person’s measure of their success in life. Happiness is a state of mind, incorporating both the existence of positive emotions and the absence of negative emotions. … Life experiences and objective circumstances, particularly negative experiences, such as unemployment, deprivation, illness and family breakdown can all have a significant impact on life satisfaction, while happiness is also influenced by an existing predisposition through personality. (Eurofound, 2012, 18). In the research on subjective well-being (SWB), of these two viewpoints, discretionary-based life satisfaction is used more than emotion-based happiness, and this is also true of sociology, psychology and development studies. Together with general satisfaction, various aspects of satisfaction are now also measured – job satisfaction, housing satisfaction, marriage/marital satisfaction, and consumer/client satisfaction (Spector, 1997). Studies indicate that people who are satisfied with life, and have a positive attitude, are more constructive, more interested in social affairs and more loyal to the authorities. Constant dissatisfaction, on the other hand, results in conflict, opposition and ignorance. Both researchers and the public had stuck positive labels on satisfaction – a satisfied citizen, worker, client, and voter is better than an unsatisfied one. Actions and objectives that help to increase satisfaction are welcomed. Based thereon, shifts in life satisfaction, as well as subjective well-being as a whole, have become an important yardstick, which helps to assess societal changes. If SWB increases, we are on the right path; if it decreases, things are going wrong. In the international debates related to development, people’s assessments and subjective preferences are gaining importance. The OECD motto is: “Better policies for better lives.” The UK Office for National Statistics has started to measure national well-being. Bhutan has even established the promotion of Gross National Happiness as a national objective. In 2011, with its Resolution 65/309, the UN also issued a corresponding challenge to its Member States to work out additional measures, based on which the spread of well-being and happiness could be assessed, and to plan national policies based thereon. (The Happy ...2012, 5). 3.3.1 Measures of subjective well-being The reliable measuring of subjective well-being, and the comparison of the nations-states based thereon, is a complicated undertaking, since individual particularities and the broader cultural context come into play (Diener, 2009). The uniform yardsticks, for this field, are still developing, and in addition to satisfaction and happiness, which were already mentioned, several other viewpoints are used for subjective assessment – people’s assessment of the “goodness” of their lives is examined, along with optimism about the future, the sense of security, etc. As a rule, well-being is not treated as a black-and-white construction (satisfied or not satisfied, happy or unhappy), but as a multifaceted attitude toward oneself and one’s surroundings. 122 Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013
Table 3.3.1 Experienced Well-Being 2011/12. Ladder step above 7 (19) Ladder steps from 6 to 7 (28) Ladder steps from 5 to 6 (48) Ladder steps from 4 to 5 (38) Ladder steps below 4(15) Great Britain, Belgium 6,9 Slovakia, Peru, Poland, Malaysia, Algeria 5,9 Namibia, Azerbaijan, Laos 4,9 Afghanistan, Yemen, Cambodia 3,9 Argentina 6,8 Malta, Bolivia, Libya, Ecuador, Italy, Lithuania 5,8 Palestine, Nigeria, Bosnia, Zimbabwe 4,8 Haiti, Senegal, Burundi, Mali, Nepal 3,8 Germany, Trinidad, El Salvador 6,7 Paraguay, Kazakhstan, Jordan, Guatemala, Belarus 5,7 South Africa, Hungary, India, Mozambique 4,7 Chad, Benin 3,7 Norway 7,7 Uruguay, France, Venezuela, Kuwait, Qatar 6,6 Kosovo, Russia, Hong Kong 5,6 Ghana, Tunisia 4,6 Botswana, Central African Republic 3,6 Sweden, Iceland 7,6 Chile, Singapore, Colombia 6,5 Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Albania 5,5 Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Tajikistan 4,5 Syria 3,3 Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland 7,5 Saudi, Arabia 6,4 Cuba, Nicaragua, Estonia, Dominican Republic 5,4 Sudan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar 4,4 Togo 2,8 Israel, Finland, Canada, Austria 7,4 Czech Republic, Spain, Thailand 6,3 Zambia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Turkey 5,3 Georgia, Kenya, Armenia 4,3 Panama, New Zealand, Costa Rica, United Arab 7,2 Jamaica, Cyprus 6,2 Romania, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Serbia 5,2 Macedonia, Liberia, Bulgaria, Angola, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka 4,2 Mexico, Luxembourg 7,1 Taiwan, Slovenia 6,1 Ukraine, Latvia, Greece, Pakistan 5,1 Niger, Egypt, Sierra Leone 4,1 Ireland, Brazil, USA 7,0 Uzbekistan, South Korea, Moldavia, Croatia, Japan 6.0 Bangladesh, Morocco, China, Honduras, Mongolia, Philippines, Portugal 5,0 Congo 4,0 Source: Gallup World Poll 2012, https://worldview.gallup.com/, HPI Report 2012 Probably the largest measurer of subjective well-being is the U.S. research company Gallup. The Gallup World Poll has mapped the subjective attitude of the world’s peoples toward their lives for years and asks the respondents to imagine themselves being on a ladder, the top of which marks the best possible life for the person, and the bottom the worst. Gallup’s question is formulated as follows: “Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time, assuming that the higher the step the better you feel about your life, and the lower the step the worse you feel about it? Which step comes closest to the way you feel?” Table 3.3.1 shows the average assessments of the people in various states related to their position on Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013 123
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ESTONIAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2
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Table of Contents 1 Human Capital /
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Dear Reader Since the moment when E
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1Human Capital Estonian Human Devel
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the HDI’s content has also been h
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Figure 1.1.1 The human development
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Figure 1.1.7 The income sub-index:
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The results of the Princeton Projec
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the hypothetical generation. The to
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Figure 1.2.3 Life expectancy. Eston
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Table 1.2.2 also presents the most
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The new trends that are appearing i
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Figure 1.2.8 Components of populati
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New features were introduced into E
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Initiation of Voluntary Birth Contr
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Table 1.3.1 Best-known educational
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(OECD 2012b). Therefore a certain r
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The reciprocal dependence of the pr
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Figure 1.3.8 Percentage of students
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Table 1.3.4 The quality of educatio
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1.4 Health Raul-Allan Kiivet Change
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Table 1.4.1 Usage of prescription m
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allude to the fact that approximate
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promote healthy lifestyles among th
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Figure 1.5.1 The World Values Surve
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Table 1.5.2 Estonia’s participati
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Figure 1.5.3 The percentage of the
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Figure 1.5.5 Percentage of the Esto
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The fact that Estonia’s position
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Summary Mati Heidmets The global vi
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2People and Society Estonian Human
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Table 2.1.1 Structure of the Bertel
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tioning market economies (15 states
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2.2 Freedom and democracy Martin M
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Table 2.2.1 Democracy indicators Po
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Page 85 and 86: 2.5 Corruption Jüri Saar In accord
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Page 93 and 94: References 1. Ahven, A. & Tabur, L.
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Page 103 and 104: Table 2.9.1 The positions of Estoni
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Page 107 and 108: 3Welfare and the Quality of Life Es
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Page 111 and 112: Figure 3.1.5 Public social spending
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Page 115 and 116: References 1. Aidukaite, J. (2006).
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Page 131 and 132: 3.4 Quality of life Anu Toots 3.4.1
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Page 141 and 142: 3.5 Environment dimension of well-b
Page 143 and 144: Figure 3.5.1.b Estonia’s position
Page 145 and 146: 3.5.4 Energy intensity The energy i
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Page 149 and 150: perceive themselves as worse off th
Page 151 and 152: 4The Economy Estonian Human Develop
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Page 155 and 156: Figure 4.1.3 Components of economic
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Page 159 and 160: References 1. Acemoglu, D.; Robinso
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Page 167 and 168: 4.3 Labour market Reelika Leetmaa,
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Page 171 and 172: • Expenditures for active labour
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4.4 Productivity and the economic s
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labour costs at the company level r
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Table 4.4.4 Comparison of the produ
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Figure 4.4.1 Annual average increas
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4.5 Innovation Erik Terk, Katrin M
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Table 4.5.2 Comparison of innovatio
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Table 4.5.4 Comparison of the indic
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in order to make the R&D potential
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It is characteristic of the South K
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mechanisms for increasing their sta
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Globalisation and Policy Patterns 5
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When Estonia regained its independe
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5.2 The impacts of globalisation an
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Table 5.2.2 Support of the differen
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5.3 Development policies Erik Terk,
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• C -the “Estonia-centred” su
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Figure 5.4.1 Support for the possib
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Summary Erik Terk Estonia is part o
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ehavioural patterns. Therefore, it
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EDR 2012/2013 authors Clemens Buche
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EDR 2012/2013 authors Alari Purju i
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Editor-in-Chief: Mati Heidmets Prod
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