Concepto de Felicidad en Adultos de Sectores Populares

Abstract

There is relatively little research about the meaning of happiness, since studies measure it psychometrically (etic), and its meaning for the people remains opaque. The objective here is to identify what the concept of happiness is for low-income class people (emic) from popular Chilean sectors. By using the qualitative method, an interview with open questions about the meaning of happiness was applied to a sample of 141 adults of both genders, within the age range 24 to 88, from the city of Molina (Chile). Their answers were analyzed with the program NVivo, graphically represented through CmpasTools. For this sample, happiness can be understood through four axes of meaning: well-being, emotions, to be, and to have, and all these essentially represented as tranquility, joy, and, more globally as well-being, produced as a consequence of, or associated with, the obtainment of some basic satisfiers. Keywords: happiness, concepts, low income families Conceito de Felicidade em Adultos de Baixa RendaResumo: Há escassa pesquisa sobre o significado da felicidade, já que boa parte dos estudos são psicométricos, permanecendo na opacidade seu significado para as pessoas. Este artigo teve por objetivo identificar o conceito de felicidade (emic) de pessoas de baixa renda do Chile. Usando o método qualitativo foi aplicada uma entrevista com perguntas abertas acerca dos significados da felicidade a uma amostra de 141 adultos de ambos os sexos, de 24 a 88 anos de idade, da cidade de Molina (Chile). As respostas foram analisadas por meio do programa NVivo e para sua representação gráfica utilizou-se CmpasTools. A felicidade pode ser entendida através de quatro eixos de significado: bem-estar, emoções, ser, e ter, sendo essencialmente representada como tranquilidade, alegria e bem-estar geral, produzida como consequência ou associada a satisfações básicas. Palavras-chave: felicidade, conceitos, pessoas de baixa renda Concepto de Felicidad en Adultos de Sectores PopularesResumen: Existe escasa investigación acerca del significado de la felicidad, ya que los estudios la miden psicométricamente (etic), permaneciendo en la opacidad su significado para las personas. El objetivo aquí es identificar cuál es el concepto de felicidad que tienen personas (emic) de sectores populares chilenos, de bajos ingresos. Utilizando método cualitativo fue aplicada una entrevista con preguntas abiertas acerca del significado de felicidad a una muestra de 141 adultos de ambos sexos, de 24 a 88 años de edad, de la comuna de Molina (Chile). Sus respuestas fueron analizadas con el programa NVivo y representadas gráficamente mediante CmpasTools. Para esta muestra la felicidad puede ser entendida mediante cuatro ejes de significado: bienestar, emociones, estar, y tener, siendo esencialmente representada como tranquilidad y alegría y más globalmente bienestar, producida como consecuencia de -o asociado a -la obtención de ciertos satisfactores básicos.Palabras clave: felicidad, conceptos, personas de bajos ingresos

The diverging patterns of life satisfaction between families: A latent profile analysis in dual-earner parents with adolescents

“…These findings may be supported by a previous study suggesting that social capital can trump material well-being in terms of importance for life satisfaction in Latin American individuals (Ateca-Amestoy, Aguilar, & Moro-Egido, 2013). Moreover, in a sample of low-income Chilean adults, Hernández, Muñoz, and Moyano-Díaz (2017) found that social relationships, particularly family, were part of the meaning of happiness, the affective component of subjective well-being; a material dimension, "to have", was also present in this meaning, but it referred to having the basic life elements, such as work, health, and family. In this study, only Profile 5, with a higher proportion of families belonging to the high and upper-middle SES, aligned with the expectation of higher well-being in general and in the food and family domains, but this was found only in the parents, not in their children.…”

“…Besides accounting for the family-oriented aspects of Latin American culture to explain a lack of relation between SES and life satisfaction, the confounding effect of SES itself should be assessed in future research. As Hernández et al (2017) showed, low-income and high-income individuals may report similar levels of happiness, but define it from a different position in the hierarchy of needs (i.e. "basic life elements" for low-income individuals, and self-realization for high-income ones).…”

Psychological well-being and their relationship with different referents and sources of happiness in Chile

“…A study conducted with Mexicans showed that people with a low income and educational level generally shared more collectivist values (Wink, 1997), agreeing more with Stoicism and Tranquility (Rojas, 2005). This data converges with results from other studies showing that in Chile the working class has a more realistic vision of what they consider as happiness (Hernández et al, 2017).…”

“…It is also confirmed that the higher the educational level, the higher the agreement was with the referent Fulfillment, which is akin to eudaimonia (well-being as personal growth) (Ryff et al, 2003). Results support the first two hypotheses that people with a higher educational level, income, and occupational status share more of a eudemonistic vision about well-being and less of a calm acceptance about life (Hernández et al, 2017). In turn, those people with a lower educational level and of a working-class status share a more collectivistic vision about happiness like calmness and self-control (Tsai & Park, 2014).…”

“…This feature of Latin American culture suggests that this referent of happiness (Affiliation) is of high validity in our culture (Rojas, 2018;Fernández et al, 2000;Triandis et al, 1984). Previous studies for the Chilean population show that in both middle-class (Moyano-Díaz et al, 2018) and workingclass sectors (Hernández et al, 2017), family rises as a main factor for happiness (having family, maintaining harmonic relationships among members, family progress, etc.). It is expected that this referent will become associated with global or remembered happiness assessed by the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and well-being assessed by the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI).…”