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Happy just because. A cross-cultural study on subjective wellbeing in three Indigenous societies
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 5, p e0251551 (2021), PLoS ONE, Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Reyes-Garcia, V, Gallois, S, Pyhala, A, Diaz-Reviriego, I, Fernandez-Llamazares, A, Galbraith, E, Miñarro, S & Napitupulu, L 2021, ' Happy just because. A cross-cultural study on subjective wellbeing in three Indigenous societies ', PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 5, e0251551 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251551
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M While cross-cultural research on subjective well-being and its multiple drivers is growing, the study of happiness among Indigenous peoples continues to be under-represented in the literature. In this work, we measure life satisfaction through open-ended questionnaires to explore levels and drivers of subjective well-being among 474 adults in three Indigenous societies across the tropics: the Tsimane' in Bolivian lowland Amazonia, the Baka in southeastern Cameroon, and the Punan in Indonesian Borneo. We found that life satisfaction levels in the three studied societies are slightly above neutral, suggesting that most people in the sample consider themselves as moderately happy. We also found that respondents provided explanations mostly when their satisfaction with life was negative, as if moderate happiness was the normal state and explanations were only needed when reporting a different life satisfaction level due to some exceptionally good or bad occurrence. Finally, we also found that issues related to health and-to a lesser extent-social life were the more prominent explanations for life satisfaction. Our research not only highlights the importance to understand, appreciate and respect Indigenous peoples' own perspectives and insights on subjective well-being, but also suggests that the greatest gains in subjective well-being might be achieved by alleviating the factors that tend to make people unhappy.
- Subjects :
- Male
Emotions
Culture
Social Sciences
050109 social psychology
Personal Satisfaction
Normal state
Sociology
Borneo
Medicine and Health Sciences
Psychology
Public and Occupational Health
Cameroon
Human Families
media_common
Multidisciplinary
5203 Global Development Studies
05 social sciences
SCIENCE
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
Indonesian
Ecosystems Research
Indigenous Populations
language
Income
Medicine
Female
HEALTH
Behavioral and Social Aspects of Health
Social psychology
Research Article
Adult
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Bolivia
LAND
media_common.quotation_subject
050105 experimental psychology
Indigenous
Population Groups
PEOPLE
Cross-Cultural Studies
Mental Health and Psychiatry
Cross-cultural
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
LIFE SATISFACTION
Demography
HAPPINESS
Life satisfaction
Biology and Life Sciences
language.human_language
Health Care
Indonesia
Anthropology
People and Places
Happiness
Quality of Life
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 5, p e0251551 (2021), PLoS ONE, Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Reyes-Garcia, V, Gallois, S, Pyhala, A, Diaz-Reviriego, I, Fernandez-Llamazares, A, Galbraith, E, Miñarro, S & Napitupulu, L 2021, ' Happy just because. A cross-cultural study on subjective wellbeing in three Indigenous societies ', PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 5, e0251551 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251551
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d3c6ac04c6abe8358ff17ff10853fadf