Transcript Quality of Life Siniša Zrinščak

Introduction to Sociology:
Quality of Life
Siniša Zrinščak
January 19, 2016
[email protected]
http://www.sinisazrinscak.com/
• Progress, satisfaction, desires… what do we need,
what do we want, how do we measure that?
• Unintended consequences of social progress!
Technology and humanity?
• And what is social progress at all?
Beyond BDP!
• The Beyond GDP initiative is about developing
indicators that are as clear and appealing as GDP, but
more inclusive of environmental and social aspects
of progress. Economic indicators such as GDP were
never designed to be comprehensive measures of
prosperity and well-being. We need adequate
indicators to address global challenges of the
21st century such as climate change, poverty,
resource depletion, health and quality of life.
• Source:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/beyond_gdp/back
ground_en.html
Change / social change
• Do people change? How and why? Individual and
social perspective?
• Change – uneven, acceptable, consequences…?
• Social change = any significant alteration,
modification, or transformation in the organization
and operation of social life
• Tipping points – situation in which a previously rare
event, response, or opinion becomes dramatically
more common. Something rare becomes a
commonplace
Sociology, theories…
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Change and sociology – Durkheim, Weber, Marx…
Modernization
R. Inglehart – theory of modernization
Traditional society – survival in a steady economy,
traditional religious and social values, traditional
authority
• Modern – economic gain, achievement, rational-legal
authority
• Post-modern – subjective well-being, postmaterialist
values, deemphasizing of authority
Source:
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/article_base_56
Values
• Change – triggered by economic development –
value change in accordance with social change
• Four axis:
• Traditional – secular-rational values
• Survival values – self-expression
• Examples of traditional values (# secular-rational):
• Religious beliefs; Euthanasia, suicide, abortion… are
never justified; Women should not earn more than
men; Family is very important….
• Examples of survival values (# self-expressive values):
• Men are better political leader than women; Do not
want to have foreigners, homosexual or HIV positive
persons as neighbours; Priority of state ownership
over economy; Leisure time and friends are not so
important…
• The impact of the GDP – all soceities with high GDP
are positionhed high on both dimensions
• BUT – GDp as just one of indicators
• More workforce in industrial sector = secular-rational
values
• More workforce in service sector = self-expressive
values
• + culture
Quality of Life
• 1. „level of living” (Swedish) – individual resources =
education, mental and physical, energy, social
relations, security + (out of individual control)
working conditions, housing, environmental
• 2. „quality of life”, „subjective well-being” (USA) –
individual needs = satisfaction, happiness … in family,
work, income…
• 3. integrated concept – subjective + objective
indicators
• Allardt – having, loving, being
• Having = income, property, employment, health,
education…
• Loving = social contacts and belonging
• Being = opportunities, participation, self-realisation,
work-life balance…
• All categories with both indicators!!!
Health
• Health – psychical, psychological, and social wellbeing
• Objective indicators, but also subjective (satisfaction
with one’s own health, but also problems in everyday
activities, access…)
• How to understand data?
• Alcohol consumption: no West-East divide, but some
differences (binge drinking, hard liquor - East)
• Obesity: no clear pattern
• Consumption of tobacco: East-West divide
• Diffusion model – innovations are accepted in
successive phases by different social groups,
distinguished as innovators, early adopters, early
majority, late majority and latecomers
• Gender and education differences in health risks =
diffusion model
• Men smoke more than women, but in AU, DK, UK, NL
– share of women above average; gender difference
highest in SE and EE, and negligible in IRL and UK
• Subjective health satisfaction – different meanings
for different people, but high reliability
• East-West = socio-economic development
• But, health satisfaction is not fully correspond to
health risks + influence of working conditions,
health-care system…
Time use
• Time – equal for all?
• Free disposition # time pressure. Is free time good
measure for quality (unemployed?)
• Discretionary time = use of time not determined by
economic, social or biological necessities
• Paid work time: East-West divide
• Time pressure: no clear pattern; working conditions
and content of work factors
• Paid work: influence of full time / part time + gender
differences
• Leisure time: no clear pattern (GER – the most) +
gender (women have less)
• Travel time: national specificities
• Household: gender + traditional patterns (IT, SP, LT,
LV)
• Discretionary time (greatest quality): in NL, GER # LT,
LV
• Gender differences: smallest in NL, UK, SW, DK, GER
# SLV, LT, H, RO