International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS)

5/19/2012: Happiness in China

If you're interested in finding out what has happened to life satisfaction in China, please see the article by my collaborators and me, China's life satisfaction, 1990-2010". It's open access on the PNAS website, published May 14, 2012.

5/16/2012: Reminder: CIC Webinar this Thursday!

Click here to learn more.

5/16/2012: Four Ways Happiness Can Hurt You

Can feeling good ever be bad? New research says yes?and points the way to a healthier, more balanced life.

Click here to read more.

5/16/2012: Journal of Happiness Studies Volume 13 Number 3

Journal of Happiness Studies Volume 13 Number 3 is now available on SpringerLink

5/16/2012: Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 5

Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 5 is now available on SpringerLink.

5/15/2012: Final Call for Registration. 'Measures of Subjective Well-being for Public Policy: Philosophical Perspectives', Leeds, July 13-15

THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR THE CONFERENCE IS 15TH JUNE, 2012.

Keynote Speakers:

• Richard Layard
• Valerie Tiberius
• Dan Haybron
• Peter Railton

For more information on conference topics and speakers, please visit the conference website: https://sites.google.com/site/wellbeingconference/

To register for the conference, please do so by going through the 'registration' page on the conference website.

The conference aims to bring together philosophers and non-philosophers - from psychologists and sociologists to economists and public policy practitioners - to discuss the philosophical foundations of the use of measures of subjective well-being in public policy. There are many philosophical issues involved in such a practice, which have so far been relatively unexplored. These include:

• How do measures of subjective well-being relate to philosophical accounts of happiness and well-being?
• Are subjective well-being measures valid and prudentially relevant, and are they intra- and inter-personally comparable?
• How do measures of subjective well-being relate to other measures of well-being, such as GDP?
• How can and should measures of subjective well-being be used to develop and evaluate policy?
• Do such measures lead towards a new kind of political utilitarianism?

These issues have been largely unexplored in part because of the lack of dialogue between philosophers and non-philosophers working on the role of subjective well-being in public policy. This conference seeks to bridge that gap, offering a unique opportunity to promote inter-disciplinary dialogue on how well-being research might best be applied to policy-making.

For any further information please contact: wellbeingconference2012@gmail.com

5/15/2012: Join the CIW Wikiprogress Online Discussion May 9-23

Please join the Wikiprogress online discussion May 9-May 23, 2012 on the topic of 'As part of Civil Society, how the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) is leading change'.

http://wikiprogress.org/index.php/Canadian_Index_of_Wellbeing_Online_Discussion

The Global Progress Research Network, Wikiprogress and the Canadian Index of Wellbeing invite you to participate in an online discussion which will open on 9 May. The discussion will be open until 23 May and will provide inputs to the 4th OECD World Forum in New Delhi, India in October of 2012. The title (and focus) of the World Forum will be "Measuring Well-Being for Development and Policy-Making".

Background
Over the last decade, organisations around the world have been developing new indicators of progress that look beyond GDP and economic growth in measuring wellbeing. To date, the progress discourse has focused on the development of new measures and methodologies to gauge wellbeing at the local, national and international levels. Today, a new conversation is taking place: now that we have newer and smarter measures of progress, how can they be applied to policy? One of the leading organisations in the progress movement, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), invites you to join this conversation and have your say in the next global phase of measuring what matters and in finding out how these indicators are going to be used at the policy level.

Ways to get involved ONLINE

1. Watch the 9:15 minute long video presentation of the Index by Dr. Bryan Smale.
2. Read the 3 leading questions.
3. Write your feedback, comments, answers to the question, thoughts on the video or overall thoughts on applying indicators to policy to be a part of the conversation using the Disqus facility at http://wikiprogress.org/index.php/Canadian_Index_of_Wellbeing_Online_Discussion

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW), located at the University of Waterloo, goes beyond narrow economic measures like GDP and provides Canada's only national index that measures wellbeing across a wide spectrum of domains. The work of CIW extends beyond Canada; both methods and models of the index have been used across the world by organisations developing more comprehensive measures of progress. As a leader in the "beyond GDP" movement, the CIW is promoting a dialogue of the future of measurement and the application of these indicators to policy.

5/12/2012: Call for Papers / Conference Announcement

Please inform all who might be interested that they are welcome to attend the forthcoming summer conference entitled The Positive Psychology of Flourishing Through Meaning and Purpose (July 26-29, 2012, Toronto). This is being hosted by the International Network on Personal Meaning.

5/07/2012: Special Issue of The Scientific World Journal: Mental health, recovery and the community

Researchers who have done original research or made a systematic review on the broad, topical subject of recovery among various mental health populations (e.g. persons with psychosis, substance use or personality disorders, but also forensic populations or persons with disabilities) are invited to submit their manuscript not later than September, 28th 2012. For more detailed information on the theme and potential topics, refer to the Call for Papers or the journal website.

5/06/2012: Social Indicators Research Volume 107 Number 2

Social Indicators Research Volume 107 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink

5/06/2012: Child Indicators Research Volume 5 Number 2

Child Indicators Research Volume 5 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink

5/04/2012: Applied Research in Quality of Life Volume 7 Number 24

Applied Research in Quality of Life Volume 7 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink.

5/1/2012: New Book Releases

NEW PRINT BOOK RELEASES

Behavioral Neurobiology of Aging
Book Series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, Vol. 10
Editor/s: Pardon, Marie-Christine; Bondi, Mark W.
http://www.springer.com/alert/urltracking.do?id=Lc37729M9fd4f0Sa845af6Pa62023a

Quality of Life and Mortality Among Children
Book Series: SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research
Jordan, Thomas E.
http://www.springer.com/alert/urltracking.do?id=Lc378c8M9fd4f0Sa845af6Pa63c6a9

The Biology of Happiness
Book Series: SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research
Grinde, Bjørn
http://www.springer.com/alert/urltracking.do?id=Lc37933M9fd4f0Sa845af6Pa63c6a6

NEW eBOOK RELEASES

Behavioral Neurobiology of Aging
Book Series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, Vol. 10
Editor/s: Pardon, Marie-Christine ; Bondi, Mark W.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-642-23874-1?sa_campaign=email/NBA

The Biology of Happiness
Book Series: SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research
Author/s: Grinde, Bjørn
http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-94-007-4392-2?sa_campaign=email/NBA

4/27/2012: Call for Papers - Consumer Behavior in Tourism Symposium 2012 (CBTS 2012)

Tourism and Quality of Life Research: Theories, Practices, Applications, and Challenges

December 10-13, 2012
Bruneck/Brunico, South Tyrol, Italy

Organized by the Competence Centre in Tourism Management and Tourism Economics (TOMTE) Free University of Bozen/Bolzano at Bruneck/Brunico

Supported by the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies

The goal of this conference is to provide a platform for scholars, practitioners, government agencies, educators and postgraduate students in tourism and allied fields to focus on tourism and quality of life (QOL) research issues both from theoretical and applied research perspectives. The conference also serves as a place to stimulate discussion, and exchange of ideas and challenges in the context of tourism and QOL research relationships at all levels: individual, family, community, and societal.

CBTS 2012 offers: 1) high quality scientific sessions with internationally peer-reviewed paper presentations, 2) highly renowned international keynote speakers, 3) a unique South Tyrolean experience.

Authors of contributions of the highest academic and scientific quality will be invited to submit full papers to be published in special issues of international academic journals in the field of quality-of-life research and tourism.

Journal coverage

Abstracts of all papers accepted and presented at the conference will appear in a book of abstract volume and there will be an edited book of selected papers. In addition, a selection of papers presented at the conference will be invited to be submitted to the following journals:

• Applied Research in Quality of Life (ARQOL)
• Tourism Analysis

Keynote speakers (tentative)

Ruhet Genc, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey
M. Joseph Sirgy, Virginia Tech, USA
Muzaffer Uysal, Virginia Tech, USA

Important Dates

Online abstract submission deadline (via http://pro.unibz.it/abstract/ ): May 31, 2012

Acceptance / Rejection feedback deadline: June 30 2012

Deadline for submitted revised abstracts: July 31, 2012

Early Registration deadline: September 15, 2012

Registration deadline for authors, co-authors and scientific committee members: October 31, 2012

Registration deadline for participants (non-authors, non-co-authors, not members of the scientific organizing committee): November 30, 2012

Submit your abstract now

http://pro.unibz.it/abstract/

4/25/2012: Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 4

Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 4 is now available on SpringerLink.

4/24/2012: interactive ranking

Dear colleagues,

This is to inform you about a further improvement of the information on our website. We have added the facility of interactive ranking, http://www.ssfindex.com/results-2010/interactive-ranking/. Now you can very easily rank all 151 countries by various criteria. Try for yourself.

We look forward to your suggestions and comments.

Best regards,

Geurt van de Kerk
Sustainable Society Foundation
www.ssfindex.com

4/23/2012: CFA: MANCEPT Workshop on Well-being and Public Policy

MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory - Ninth Annual Conference
Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), University of Manchester
5th - 7th September 2012

Workshop on Well-being and Public Policy: Call for Abstracts

David Cameron, in a recent speech on introducing national measures of well-being to inform public policy, claimed that the UK government is aiming to measure the progress of the nation, "not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving; not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life." In short, the UK government is looking to measure the nation's well-being in order to "help make a better life for people." Other governments and international organizations are also increasingly focusing upon well-being as a policy goal.

This workshop will focus on whether, and how, public policy can and should be informed, in some way, by considerations of the public's well-being. There will be up to 12 speakers in total, who will be invited to give a 30 minute presentation, followed by a discussion. Potential areas of interest include (but are not limited to):

• The role of well-being in public policy
• The limits of political utilitarianism
• Paternalism and well-being
• The implications of different theories of well-being for public policy
• The interaction between different measures of well-being and public policy

If you are interested to present during this workshop, please send to one or both of us an abstract of no more than 500 words with your full name and institutional affiliation before May 15th.

Convenors:
Sam Wren-Lewis (University of Leeds): samwrenlewis@gmail.com
Tim Taylor (visiting research fellow, University of Leeds): phltet@leeds.ac.uk

Further details about the conference available at http://manceptworkshops2012.wordpress.com/.

4/17/2012: Brookings Event Invitation - Improving the Well-Being of Children: Stories of Development Success (April 20)

Friday, April 20, 2012, 10:00 am - 11:30 am
The Brookings Institution, Somers Room, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC

Quality of life has improved greatly almost everywhere over the past century, even in places where per capita incomes have stayed relatively flat. While discussions often focus on the failings and shortcomings of development, progress made in human and social development must not be overlooked. Child-focused development policies in particular have been critical to the improved well-being of children worldwide.

Increased investment in people - especially children ? is critical to combating the impact that the economic crisis, rising food and fuel prices, and conflicts and natural disasters are having on the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable. This investment has a strong economic and development payoff and can help secure stability, growth, and prosperity long-term.

On April 20, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings will host the launch of Progress in Child Well-Being - Building on What Works, a report commissioned by UNICEF and Save the Children International and prepared by the Overseas Development Institute that aims to counter current skepticism over the impact of development assistance and its return on investment. The panel will discuss lessons learned about effective delivery of child-focused development assistance, as well as future challenges. After the discussion, participants will take audience questions.

Space is limited so please confirm your participation as soon as possible at cue@brookings.edu or 202-797-6251. Thank you. For more information, click here.

4/17/2012: The Biology of Happiness

"The Biology of Happiness" is now in print at Springer:
http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/well-being/book/978-94-007-4392-2

The book explains the biological rational for why we have the capacity of happiness, and suggests possible consequences of that knowledge in terms of improving quality of life. Thought it might be of interest for this list.

4/16/2012: World Happiness Report by the UN

Here is an announcement of the World Happiness Report released at the UN on April 2. Some may be interested.

4/14/2012: Journal of Happiness Studies Volume 13 Number 2

Journal of Happiness Studies Volume 13 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink.

4/14/2012: On-Line Availability of the Spring 2012 Issue of the International Productivity Monitor

The Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), a Canadian-based non-profit economic research organization, recently released the Spring 2012 issue of the International Productivity Monitor. Key findings from the articles are highlighted below.

• Lawrence Mishel from the Economic Policy Institute and Kar-Fai Gee from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards calculate that labour productivity growth outstripped real median wage growth in the United States by 1.46 percentage points per year (1.56 per cent versus 0.10 per cent) between 1973 and 2011. The most important source of this divergence was growing wage inequality, accounting for 41 per cent of the difference. The authors identify globalization and the declining bargaining power of workers as driving forces behind this alarming and disturbing disconnect between productivity and wages.
• Renaud Bourlès from Ecole Centrale Marseille and GREQAM-IDEP, Gilbert Cette from the Banque de France and Université de la Méditerranée and Anastasia Cozarenco from Université de la Méditerranée and GREQAM identify significant potential gains for OECD countries in terms of productivity and GDP from moving to the education attainment structure of the country with the highest level of educational attainment (Canada) and to the employment rate structure of the country (Denmark) with the highest total employment rate.
• Marcel Côté and Roger Miller from Secor put forward a new framework for understanding innovation that they call the six games of innovation. Innovative activity is broken down into six types or games based on the maturity of the market (emerging or mature) and the product architecture (stand alone, open system, and closed system). This framework provides much insight into how firms make strategic decisions related to their innovative activity.
• Michelle Alexopoulos and Jon Cohen from the University of Toronto show that beginning in the early 1970s a gap in the absolute number of computer titles held in Canadian and U.S. libraries emerged between the two countries. They see this as evidence of more limited development and use of computers technologies in Canada, which has contributed to the widening of the Canada-U.S. productivity gap since the early 1980s.
• Aled ab Iorwerth from Finance Canada discusses the recent OECD publication Towards Measuring the Volume Output of Education and Health Services: A Handbook which provides the state of the art on the measurement of education and health services. He recommends that the focus of attention be on the estimation of the value of production of these industries, not the well-being or social valuation arising from these services given the sensitivity of these valuations to different assumptions.

The table of contents of the issue, with links to the articles is provided below.

International Productivity Monitor

Number 23, Spring 2012

Productivity researchers may also be interested in the articles contained in the Fall 2011 issue of the International Productivity Monitor.

Number 22, Fall 2011

4/12/2012: Social Indicators Research Volume 107 Number 1

Social Indicators Research Volume 107 Number 1 is now available on SpringerLink.

4/12/2012: Social Indicators Research Volume 106 Number 3

Social Indicators Research Volume 106 Number 3 is now available on SpringerLink.

4/10/2012: Spring Webinars and Conference Registration

Registration for the CIC IMPACT SUMMIT is now open. Click here to learn more.

4/10/2012: Training this Thursday.

Follow this link to sign up for a free one-hour webinar I am giving this Thursday at 1pm USA EST on my evidence-based positive psychology assessment and intervention program, that is, the Quality of Life Inventory and Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching:
http://psychcorp.pearsonassessments.com/pai/ca/training/webinars/QOLIWebinar.htm

Pearson Assessments is sponsoring the training.

4/09/2012: Philosophy and the Science of Happiness Conference and Essay Contest

May I draw your attention to the following program, put together by a team of truly amazing philosophy students at George Mason University:

Philosophy and Science of Happiness Conference and Essay Contest
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (Saturday April 14, 2012)
Schedule: http://philosophy.gmu.edu/conference/schedule-of-events
Free and open to the public.

Notice that the event immediately follows the George Mason University Living and Leading with Resilience Conference (Friday April 13, 2012).

4/05/2012: Social Determinants, Health Equity and Human Development

A refreshing and useful resource for understanding the multidimensional aspects linking social determinants to health equity and development. The book is written for researchers, students, public health practitioners, health decision makers, health economists, epidemiologists, sociologists, demographers and general public audience with interest in health equity and development. The nine chapters presented are clear and comprehensive, reinforced by several diagrams and real examples illustrating inequity in health. The book is Illustrated with 45 tables and figures, and contain 355 recent references to the literature.

For more information, click here.

4/02/2012: Gross national happiness? Government wants to measure your well-being

By Jackie Farwell, BDN Staff
Posted March 30, 2012, at 8:47 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Of all the phrases bestowed to us by the Founding Fathers, few come up more than "pursuit of happiness." Yet who knows where the nation really stands on that score?

Now an answer may be forthcoming. Amid a wave of research on the subject, the federal government is seeking ways to measure what some have called gross national happiness.

To read the entire article, click the following link: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/30/health/gross-national-happiness-government-wants-to-measure-your-well-being/

4/02/2012: New Springer Book

Happiness Across Cultures
Book Series: Science Across Cultures: History and Practice, Vol. 6
Editor/s: Selin, Helaine; Davey, Gareth
http://www.springer.com/new+%26+forthcoming+titles+%28default%29/book/978-94-007-2699-4?cm_mmc=NBA-_-Apr-12_WEST_10333143-_-product-_-978-94-007-2699-4

3/30/2012: XI ISQOLS CONFERENCE, VENICE, NOVEMBER 1 - 4, 2012- Call for Papers

XI ISQOLS CONFERENCE, VENICE, NOVEMBER 1 - 4, 2012

Click here to see the conference promotional flyer. Instructions for submitting papers has been included below. For more information visit the official conference website.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

Authors are invited to submit abstract in this section. A message from the organization will confirm the abstract receipt and will forward the abstract to the appropriate Track Chair/s.

Steps:

1. Download the form: click here
2. Fill and save the form (please, name the file with submitter's name)
3. Send the file to isqols2012@aiquav.it (deadline June 3, 2012), by including on the message object the track number.

For references, please use Springer standards

Track chairs/co-chairs will decide if each proposal can be

• accepted for presentation or
• redirected to another track or
• accepted for poster session (opportunity for young researchers' proposals only) or
• rejected

ACCEPTED PROPOSALS

The authors will receive the acceptance letter by July 30, 2012.

IMPORTANT

Each accepted proposal must have 1 dedicated registration with full payment received by the deadline for the proposal to be included in the conference programme.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW TRACKS

3/22/2012: Latest Article Alert from Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice

Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice

Article alert

The following new articles have just been published in Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice:
Research
The Role of Passion in Sustainable Psychological Well-Being
Vallerand RJ
Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice 2012, 2:1 (21 March 2012)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

For articles which have only just been published, you will see a 'provisional PDF' corresponding to the accepted manuscript. A fully formatted PDF and full text (HTML) version will be made available soon.

3/21/2012: ISQOLS/SPRINGER Book Publishing

The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) and Springer Publishers provide QOL scholars book publishing opportunities in the form of:

• Authored and/or edited books (Social Indicators Research Book Series)-typically around 300 printed pages,
• Edited handbooks (Handbook of Quality-of-Life Research Book Series)-typically around 800 printed pages,
• Edited books related to best practices (Best Practices in Quality-of-Life Research)-typically around 250 printed pages, and
• Edited books related to best practices in community QOL indicators (Community QOL Indicators Best Practices Book Series)-typically around 250 printed pages, and
• Authored mini-books (SpringerBriefs)-typically around 100 pages.

Further the work of ISQOLS
Not only do we want to tell about some of the fabulous projects currently in progress by many ISQOLS members (and other QOL researchers), but also, we want to inspire more of you to contribute toward the further growth and dissemination of our work.

Why you should contribute?
Contributing to one of the book series either as an editor or as an author is not just about publishing your work in a high quality well-marketed publication outlet, rather, in taking on or contributing to any of the below series you are helping to support your ISQOLS community by further extending the reach of well-being knowledge across multiple arenas (i.e., academic, government and public policy decision makers), industry, and so on.

What you can contribute?
You can submit a proposal to be an editor of a volume within one of the outlined series, and/or you can author a volume.

NB: If you have an idea for a volume that is not shown below, just contact the series editor for that respective series to discuss your ideas with them.

Are the submissions peer-reviewed?
Yes, all submissions are peer-reviewed in the usual way to ensure that all published work meets ISQOLS's usual high standards.

What to do next?
Please read the remainder of this piece which describes our achievements to date as well as highlights what book series are available for you to choose from, and then, decide how and to which you'd personally like to contribute, and then contact the relevant person to share your ideas with them. They'll be waiting to hear from you.

Thank you for continuing to help the QOL research community grow.

For descriptions of these book publishing opportunities click here. The same descriptions are also available under the publications section of ISQOLS website, and Springer Website.

3/13/2012: Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 3

Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 3 is now available on SpringerLink

3/13/2012:

Dear QOL Researchers:

Professor Carol Graham, and ISQOLS member and fellow, strikes again in the news. Read about it in the in the Economists (Economist Intelligence Unit). She addresses a number of interesting and thought-provoking issues in relation to national indicators of happiness.

The article can be downloaded here.

3/12/2012: Social Indicators Research Volume 106 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink

Social Indicators Research Volume 106 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink.

3/1/2012: Chilled out - A poll contradicts what we thought we knew about income and happiness
Feb 25th 2012 | from the print edition
The Economist (http://www.economist.com/node/21548213)

DESPITE global economic gloom, the world is a happier place than it was before the financial crisis began. That is the counterintuitive conclusion of a poll of 19,000 adults in 24 countries by Ipsos, a research company. Some 77% of respondents now describe themselves as happy, up three points on 2007, the last year before the crisis. Fully 22% (up from 20%) describe themselves as very happy?a more important measure, says Ipsos?s John Wright, since whenever three-quarters of people agree on anything, "you need to pay attention to intensity in the results."

All such polls come with a health warning. The level of happiness is self-reported?and the term means different things to different people. The Ipsos poll, measuring degrees of happiness, is not strictly comparable with those that ask about "well-being" (such as Gallup) or "life satisfaction" (the World Values survey), so it is hard to test the validity of the conclusions against other efforts. The margin of error is wide, at plus or minus 3.1 points for most countries. Still, Ipsos has been doing its survey regularly for five years and the figures have proved fairly stable during that time, not wildly volatile which they would have been if they had been flaky.

Two conclusions emerge. Large, fast-growing emerging markets do not share rich industrialised countries' pessimism. The already large "very happy" cohort rose 16 points in Turkey, ten points in Mexico and five points in India. Even rich-country pessimism is uneven. The share of "very happy" people rose six points in?of all places?Japan, defying tsunami and nuclear accidents. But growth amid global misery does not explain everything: the biggest falls in happiness also occurred in large emerging markets, in Indonesia, Brazil and?a perennial miseryguts?Russia.

The second conclusion challenges the received notions of mankind?s moods. A tenet of political science is that happiness levels rise with wealth and then plateau, usually when a country?s national income per head reaches around $25,000 a year. "The richer a country gets," argued Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in "The Spirit Level", an influential book of 2009, "the less getting still richer adds to the population's happiness." Many on the left have concluded that pursuing further economic growth is pointless. Even right-wing politicians such as Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, have set up projects to study "gross national happiness".

But the Ipsos study shows the highest levels of self-reported happiness not in rich countries, as one would expect, but in poor and middle-income ones, notably Indonesia, India and Mexico. In rich countries, happiness scores range from above-average?28% of Australians and Americans say they are very happy?to far below the mean. The figures for Italy and Spain were 13% and 11% (Greece was not in the sample). Most Europeans are gloomier than the world average. So levels of income are, if anything, inversely related to felicity. Perceived happiness depends on a lot more than material welfare.

2/29/2012: Data Sources and Use from Google Earth Pro

Dear QOL researchers,

Google Earth Pro includes Nielsen demographic data, is anybody familiar with it? The demographic data is available down to the Census Block for the year of 2011. There are also five year projections by Census Block for the year 2016. Does anybody know anything about how the data is collected as it doesn't align with ACS or Census. If you use ACS 1-year estimates, you won?t be able to get census block data.

Also included in Google Earth Pro is Daily Traffic Counts for streets. The data comes from MPSI, Market Planning Solutions, Inc.. Does anybody know about licensing restrictions and whether it would be okay to use either the Nielsen population estimates or MPSI traffic data on a community indicators website?

This is the site where I'd upload the data- http://www.commfound.org/nonprof/trends/2011-boulder-county-trends-indicator-map.

Thank you for the help!

-Max Taffet

Max Taffet
Program Research Associate
The Community Foundation Boulder County
1123 Spruce St.
Boulder, CO 80302
303-442-0436
max@commfound.org
www.commfound.org

2/28/2012: Research on the quality of life in Mexico

Even though things haven't been perfect lately in Mexico, Mexicans still feel they are a very happy crowd. In this program, we explore concepts about happiness and offer a few ideas to increase our level of happiness. Among those, we suggest to take life as it comes and get the best of it, live a balanced life, cultivate personal relationships, try to engage on meaningful activities, avoid comparisons, take care of your physical health, look for those activities that generate pleasures and gratifications, get enough money to cover the essentials but at the same time, be sure not to adopt a materialistic attitude, and don't worry for those small things that aren?t relevant. The participants are members of the University of Monterrey?s Center of Well Being Studies and come from different disciplines: Alejandro Tapia (psychology), Jose de Jesus Garcia Vega (economics), and Reto Felix (marketing).

"Buscando la Felicidad" con la opinión de Catedráticos de la UDEM Multimedios TV/Reportaje Especial "Buscando la Felicidad"
http://www.newsclip.com.mx/clientes/udem/archivos/radioytv/domingo12feb/20120212_udem_buscandolafelicidad.wmv

2/28/2012: Leo Bormans book on The World Book of Happiness

The book by Leo Bormans on The World Book of Happiness is receiving worldwide attention by the news media. There are many excerpts from a bunch of QOL scholars in this book. Here is link to one of the articles in English.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2090271/12-secrets-happy-Using-research-100-world-experts-new-book-shows-look-bright-side.html

2/27/2012: Community Indicators Consortium 2012 International Conference
Washington, D.C., November 15-16, 2012

The CIC IMPACT SUMMIT will be a highly interactive conference that brings together indicators practitioners, think tank analysts, academics, funders, and data providers to share their work and ideas, explore the trends moving our communities, work to bridge the distance between facts and perceptions, and connect with colleagues new and old.

Since your organization works toward many of the same goals that we do, we are asking for your help in distributing this notice to your members and constituencies. More information about the conference is available at communityindicators.net/conference2012.

To publicize the conference, we plan to place ads in related journals and publications. If your organization has a publication that could be a good fit, please contact us at ed@communityindicators.net with information about rates and deadlines.

2/26/2012: Diener Posting

Dear QOL researchers,

Here is a link to an article addressing the phenomenal accomplishments of one of our QOL research gurus, Ed Diener. This is fascinating!!!!

http://spsptalks.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/are-nobel-laureates-smarter-than-distinguished-psychologists/

2/22/2012: Community Indicators Consortium 2012 Webinar Series: Indicators in Depth

REMINDER: Webinar this Thursday, February 23, 2 pm EST Craig Helmstetter & Jennifer Franklin, Wilder Research Register now!

2/22/2012: Applied Research in Quality of Life Volume 7 Number 1

View the table of contents alert for Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 2 here

2/22/2012: Volume 5 Number 1 of Child Indicators Research is now available on SpringerLink

View the table of contents alert for Child Indicators Research Volume 5 Number 1 here

2/13/2012: Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 2 is now available on SpringerLink

View the table of contents alert for Quality of Life Research Volume 21 Number 2 here

2/11/2012: Henle Conference on Happiness and Well-Being

I am pleased to announce that the Department of Philosophy at Saint Louis University will be hosting the Henle Conference on Happiness and Well-Being on March 30-31, 2012. A tentative schedule can be found at the conference website.

2/10/2012: Happiness Is The Ultimate Economic Indicator

Increased economic growth doesn?t necessarily lead to more fulfillment. So why do we consider GDP to be the most important factor? In an excerpt from The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, Richard Heinberg argues it?s time to start paying more attention to national happiness instead.

2/4/2012: Social Indicators Research, Vol. 106, Issue 1

Social Indicators Research. Volume 106 Number 1 is now available on SpringerLink

2/1/2012: New Book from IAP - Coping and Prevention

Edited by Ana Maria Rossi, International Stress Management Association
Pamela L. Perrewé, Florida State University
James A. Meurs, University of Mississippi

Buy Online at http://infoagepub.com/products/Coping-and-Prevention Paperback 978-1-61735-701-5 Web Price: $39.09 Hardcover 978-1-61735-702-2 Web Price: $73.09 eBookISBN: 978-1-61735-703-9

Special Sale Price of $34.50 per book (paperback) within the U.S. ($39.50 rest of the world) Free Shipping if you call and place your order by February 29th. 1-866-754-9125

A volume in the series: Stress and Quality of Working Life Series Editors: Ana Maria Rossi, International Stress Management Association; Pamela L. Perrewé, Florida State University and James Campbell Quick, The University of Texas at Arlington

1/27/2012: Wellbeing and Public Policy Conference. Wellington, New Zealand 13-15 June 2012

Members of the editorial board of the International Journal of Wellbeing based in Wellington, New Zealand (Victoria University of Wellington and the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand) are hosting an international conference on Wellbeing and Public Policy in Wellington in June this year.

Keynote speakers include:
Andrew Clark, Paris School of Economics, France.
Robert Cummins, Deakin University, Australia.
Paul Frijters, The University of Queensland, Australia.
Robert MacCulloch, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Delegates from the Australian Treasury and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have also expressed interest in attending.

We particularly keen to engage with an international audience of scholars and invite you to read and pass on this attached bulletin.

Email: wellbeingandpublicpolicy@gmail.com
Conference website: http://www.wellbeingandpublicpolicy.org/index.html

1/27/2012: Well-being in Contemporary Society: International Conference on the Philosophy and Science of Well-being and their Practical Importance

Location:             University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
Date:                  July 26-27, 2012
Program Chair:    Philip Brey (University of Twente)

Organising committee:                
Johnny Hartz Søraker (University of Twente)
Pak-Hang Wong (University of Twente)
Jan-Willem van der Rijt (University of Amsterdam)
Jelle de Boer (University of Amsterdam)
Web site:            http://sites.google.com/site/wics2012/

Keynote Speakers:
Bruno S. Frey (Professor of Economics, University of Zurich)
Valerie Tiberius (Professor of Philosophy, University of Minnesota)
J. D. Trout (Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Loyola University Chicago)

Invited speakers (confirmed as of January 26):
Erik Angner (Philosophy, Economics and Public Policy, George Mason Univ.)
Ernst Bohlmeyer (Psychology, University of Twente)
Jo Littler (Media and Cultural Studies, Middlesex University)
Raffaele Rodogno (Philosophy, Aarhus University)
Eunkook M. Suh (Psychology, Yonsei University)
Miriam Teschl (Economics, University of Vienna)

About the Conference
In recent years, well-being has enjoyed a renaissance in philosophical discussions, as well as in fields like psychology, economics, development studies and sociology. Although these approaches share a common goal ? to better understand what well-being is and how it can be enhanced ? these developments have led to a great diversity in philosophical and scientific approaches to the analysis of well-being. Despite the increasing amount of research, most of the work on well-being is also performed at a highly abstract level. This is especially true in philosophy, but relatively little work has been devoted to the application of theories of well-being also in other fields, in particular when it comes to an understanding of life in contemporary society. Developments such as globalization, consumerism, and the rapid innovation and use of new and emerging technologies, all exert significant impact on the well-being of people living today, and we need a better understanding of their consequences for well-being.
Contemporary society requires that well-being researchers examine these problems ? and, if possible, propose solutions to address them. This international conference aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines, including, but not limited to, psychology, economics, sociology, philosophy and development studies, in order to examine the practical role of well-being in contemporary society.

Potential Topics
We are looking for contributions that examine the notion of well-being in the context of contemporary society. The conference particularly welcomes papers that employ a notion of well-being to address social, political and ethical issues in present-day society. Suggested topics for the workshop include, but are not limited to:

?             Theoretical developments and approaches in the philosophy and science of well-being in relation to contemporary society, culture and life.
?             Well-being in social and political philosophy and/or in policy studies
?             Positive psychology (and related research fields) and its practical applicability
?             New and emerging technologies and well-being
?             Intercultural and interpersonal comparisons of well-being
?             Reliability, validity and applicability of well-being measures
?             Other specific practical issues pertaining to well-being in contemporary society

The workshop will include both invited papers and an open call for papers. For the open call, we invite extended abstracts (1500-2000 words).  Please anonymise the abstract, and include title, name and address in the accompanying email. The abstract, and any questions you may have about the conference, should be sent to wics2012@utwente.nl. Your abstract should be submitted before February 15th 2012, and will be subject to blind peer review.
?
Publication
Following the conference we aim to publish the papers, subject to a blind review process, in either an edited volume or a special issue of a relevant journal. We did so successfully with our previous conference, Good Life In a Technological Age, from which select papers were published as a book in the prestigious Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society series, and will be available in February 2012.

Registration Fees (includes lunch, coffee breaks and conference materials)
Students, Early-bird (before May 1):       ?30
Students (after May 1): ?50
Regular, Early-bird (before May 1):          ?50
Regular (after May 1):    ?80,-
Optional Conference dinner (on July 26):              ?30,-

(we may be able to waive the registration fee under special circumstances. Please contact us at wics2012@utwente.nl if you would like to inquire about this)

Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline:                   February 15. 2012
Notification of Acceptance:                         March 1, 2012
Conference Dates:                                     July 26-27, 2012

1/25/2012: Happiness and the Good Life

Happiness and the Good Life has just been published by Oxford University Press. The book develops a conception of happiness as loving one?s life, valuing it in ways manifested by ample enjoyments and a robust sense of meaning. Taking account of work in positive psychology, the book explores how happiness interacts with other dimensions of good lives?in particular with moral decency and the virtues, authenticity, mental health, self-fulfillment, and meaningfulness. There are chapters on the moral significance of happiness, self-deception and illusion, suffering in happy lives, the paradoxes of happiness, philanthropy, love, work, and politics.

1/21/2012: 4th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge, and Policies

On behalf of the OECD and the Government of India, we are delighted to confirm the dates for the 4th OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge, and Policies.

The Forum will take place in New Delhi on 16-19 October 2012. More details can be found here.

The Forum website will be established shortly. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email: newdelhi2012@oecd.org

1/21/2012: CIC Webinar Series Dates

The dates for the January-March webinar series are as follows:
Jan 26, 2 pm EST: Siegel
Feb 2, 2 pm EST: Sirgy
Feb 16, 2 pm EST: Helmrich
Feb 23, 2 pm EST: Helmstetter / Egbert
Mar 8, 2 pm EST: Epstein
Mar 15, 2 pm EST: Wray

1/20/2012: Positive Psychology and Wellbeing Conference - Positive2012

The Australian Institute of Business Wellbeing is proud to present Positive2012 - the 3rd Australian Positive Psychology and Well Being Conference.

Positive2012 will run over four days from 22 to 25 March 2012 across venues in both Sydney and Wollongong (delegates can attend either venue or both).

Please see our downloadable brochure at http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@gsb/documents/doc/uow115714.pdf for further information.

1/17/2012: Recent Publication by Dr. Tomyn on Adolescents using the Personal Wellbeing Index (2)

Reference: Tomyn, A.J., Norrish, J.M., & Cummins, R.A. Online first 2011. Social Indicators Research. The Subjective Wellbeing of Indigenous Australian Adolescents: Validating the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children.

Abstract
By almost all measures of objective life quality, Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged relative to the general population. However, no measures of their Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) have been published. This paper presents the first such data, normreferenced to the general Australian population. A total of 519 Indigenous adolescents, aged between 12 and 19 years, were administered the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children, which measures SWB. This scale is a parallel form of the Personal Wellbeing- Adult. The PWI-SC exhibited adequate psychometric properties. Moreover, consistent with SWB Homeostasis theory, participants? mean SWB was within the Australian adult normative range. However, female SWB was lower than males. These results suggest that Indigenous adolescents are resilient.

Keywords: Subjective wellbeing; Indigenous Australians; Adolescents; Personal Wellbeing Index.

1/17/2012: Recent Publication by Dr. Tomyn on Adolescents using the Personal Wellbeing Index (1)

Reference: Tomyn, A.J., Fuller Tyszkiewicz, M.D., & Cummins. R.A. The Personal Wellbeing Index: Psychometric equivalence for Adults and School Children. Online first 2011. Social Indicators Research. DOI 10.1007/s11205-011-9964-9.

Abstract
Despite the wealth of accumulated research evaluating subjective wellbeing (SWB) in children and adults, the validity of scores from parallel forms of SWB measures for each age group has yet to be empirically tested. This study examines the psychometric equivalence of the child and adult forms of the personal wellbeing index (PWI) using multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis. The child sample comprised 1,029 Victorian high-school students (aged 11?20) sampled across three independent studies. The adult sample comprised 1,965 Australian adults drawn from the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. The results demonstrated strict factorial invariance between both versions, suggesting that the PWI measures the same underlying construct in adolescent and adult populations. These findings provide support for quantitative comparisons between adult and adolescent SWB data as valid.

Keywords: Personal Wellbeing Index; Psychometric equivalence; Adolescents; Adults; Confirmatory factor analysis

1/13/2012: Graciela´s Book Springerbrief

Springer Publishers has launched a new publication outlet for monograph-size books (i.e., small books) in QOL research called SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality-of-Life Research.

SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality-of-Life Research are concise summaries of cutting-edge research and practical applications across the field of well-being and quality of life research. These compact refereed monographs are under the editorial supervision of an international Advisory Board*. Volumes are 50 to 125 pages (approximately 20,000- 70,000 words), with a clear focus. The series covers a range of content from professional to academic such as: snapshots of hot and/or emerging topics, in-depth case studies, and timely reports of state-of-the art analytical techniques. To know more about SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and QOL Research, click here.

Graciela Tonon (Pofessor at Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora in Argentina) and one of our fine ISQOLS colleagues, has just published a very interesting study on "Young People's QOL and Construction of Citizenship" based on her research in Argentina. Attached is a description of her SpringerBrief. Many of you who are interested in issues of youth and QOL may be also interested in reading her work in Argentina.

1/9/2012: Social Indicators Research Volume 105 Number 3

Social Indicators Research Volume 105 Number 3 is now available on SpringerLink

1/5/2012: Examining the Association Between Body Mass Index and Weight Related Quality of Life in Black and White Women

Tiffany L. Cox, Jamy D. Ard, T. Mark Beasley, Jose R. Fernandez, Virginia J. Howard, Ronnete L. Kolotkin, Ross D. Crosby and Olivia Affuso

Applied Research in Quality of Life, online at http://www.springerlink.com/content/aq544nkn449r5201/

Abstract
Obesity not only increases risk for morbidity/mortality, but also impacts the quality of life of obese individuals. In the United States, black women have the highest prevalence of obesity of any other group with approximately 80% of black women over age 20 having a body mass index (BMI)???25 kg/m2. We aimed to examine the association between BMI and quality of life in this high risk population compared to this association in white women, using the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL)-Lite questionnaire. Data from 172 black women (mean BMI?=?35.7; age?=?40.5) and 171 white women (mean BMI?=?35.5; age?=?40.4) were collected between 2000 and 2010 analyzed in 2010. The mean IWQOL-Lite total score was 81.6 for black women compared to 66.9 for white women, a statistically significant difference. Hierarchical linear regression models revealed a significant BMI-by-race interaction indicating that the relationship between BMI and IWQOL-Lite score was moderated by race. Our findings suggest notable differences in weight-related quality of life in black and white women. At similar BMIs, black women consistently reported better quality of life than white women on all IWQOL-Lite subscales. The greatest difference in IWQOL-Lite scores between black and white women was seen in the self-esteem subscale. Additional research is needed to understand how to incorporate the weight perspectives of black women into weight management messages and interventions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/obesity-less-of-a-stigma-for-black-women-than-white-women_n_1135343.html
http://jezebel.com/5866066/shaming-black-women-wont-encourage-them-to-lose-weight
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_119669.html
http://www.essence.com/2011/12/13/real-talk-is-your-high-self-esteem-stopping-you-from-losing-weight/
http://news.yahoo.com/obesity-less-harmful-self-esteem-black-women-study-190412553.html
http://www.blackwomenshealth.org/news/2011/12/13/womens-health-news-internal/obesity-less-harmful-to-self-esteem-in-black-women-study/
http://www.examiner.com/science-news-in-birmingham/self-esteem-higher-for-black-obese-women
http://newstonight.net/content/black-vs-white-who-can-take-being-fat-better
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-overweight-stigma-african-american-women.html
http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2011/12/being_overweigh.php
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/psychology/2011120718410047.html
http://www.eurasiareview.com/07122011-being-overweight-not-such-a-stigma-for-african-american-women/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238834.php
http://fastfatloss.herulambang.net/?p=199
http://www.health.am/ab/more/being-overweight-not-such-a-stigma/
http://justaskawoman.com/wsnty/?p=2041
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20111208/African-American-women-are-less-psychologically-affected-by-being-overweight.aspx
http://tri-statedefenderonline.com/articlelive/articles/7016/1/Fat-and-happy-black-women-less-bothered-than-white-women-says-study/Page1.html
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=115245&CultureCode=en
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/s-bon120711.php

12/24/2011: Measuring Progress on the Way to a Sustainable Society

Dear colleagues,

On request of visitors of our website www.ssfindex.com, we have made some improvements on the site, particularly on the homepage. The spider web on the homepage shows you at a glance how your country is doing on its way to a sustainable society. Just choose your country and see for yourself the scores of each of the 24 indicators. Together, the indicators offer you a realistic picture of the level of sustainability of your country.

Take your time to find more interesting information on the site. And use the coming holidays to make a Sustainability Tour. Take a free ride.

We wish you nice holidays and a Happy New Year.

Kind regards,

Geurt van de Kerk
Sustainable Society Foundation

12/23/2011: XI ISQOLS Conference

Due to currently unsolvable problems, the XI ISQOLS conference will NOT take place in Lisbon in June 2012.

The conference will be held at a later date, most likely fall 2012. We will keep you informed about the new dates and location due to time.

We are deeply sorry for any inconvenience that our decision could cause.

12/22/2011: To ISQOLS members and to the QOL research community at large

12/21/2011: Hell Explained by a Chemistry Student (a Christmas uplift shared from Alex Michalos to the QOL research community)

The following is an actual question given on University of Washington chemistry mid term.

...

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over...

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting, 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

12/21/2011: Yahoo Finance Interview

Those of you who might be interested in issues material well-being in relation to QOL, you might also be interested in the book, Shiny Objects, authored by Professor James Roberts (QOL researcher) from Baylor University (USA). Here is a link to an interview with Yahoo Finance discussing rampant consumerism, material well-being, and QOL.

12/14/2011: Ed Diener receives the highest honor from APA

I am very pleased to inform you that Ed Diener, a former ISQOLS president and one of our true gurus in the area of subjective well-being research (actually the dean and the founding father of this field of study), has just won the American Psychology Association's Distinguished Scientist Award for lifetime contributions to scientific psychology (for 2012). This is the highest award in psychology.

Please join with me in congratulating Ed for this fine honor. This is not only an honor bestowed on him alone but also to the subjective well-being/happiness/QOL movement at large. Ed Diener's e-mail address is ediener@cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu.

12/12/2011: Call for Papers: Well-being in Contemporary Society
International Conference on the Philosophy and Science of Well-being and their Practical Importance

Location: University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands
Date: July 26-27, 2012

Program Chair:
Philip Brey (University of Twente)

Organising committee:
Johnny Hartz Søraker (University of Twente)
Pak-Hang Wong (University of Twente)
Jan-Willem van der Rijt (University of Amsterdam)
Jelle de Boer (University of Amsterdam)

About the Conference
In recent years, well-being has enjoyed a renaissance in philosophical discussions, as well as in fields like psychology, economics, development studies and sociology. Although these approaches share a common goal - to better understand what well-being is and how it can be enhanced - these developments have led to a great diversity in philosophical and scientific approaches to the analysis of well-being. Despite the increasing amount of research, most of the work on well-being is also performed at a highly abstract level. This is especially true in philosophy, but relatively little work has been devoted to the application of theories of well-being also in other fields, in particular when it comes to an understanding of life in contemporary society. Developments such as globalization, consumerism, and the rapid innovation and use of new and emerging technologies, all exert significant impact on the well-being of people living today, and we need a better understanding of their consequences for well-being.

Contemporary society requires that well-being researchers examine these problems - and, if possible, propose solutions to address them. This international conference aims to bring together researchers from various disciplines, including, but not limited to, psychology, economics, sociology, philosophy and development studies, in order to examine the practical role of well-being in contemporary society.

Potential Topics
We are looking for contributions that examine the notion of well-being in the context of contemporary society. The conference particularly welcomes papers that employ a notion of well-being to address social, political and ethical issues in present-day society. Suggested topics for the workshop include, but are not limited to:

• Theoretical developments and approaches in the philosophy and science of well-being in relation to contemporary society, culture and life.
• Well-being in social and political philosophy and/or in policy studies
• Positive psychology (and related research fields) and its practical applicability
• New and emerging technologies and well-being
• Intercultural and interpersonal comparisons of well-being
• Reliability, validity and applicability of well-being measures
• Other specific practical issues pertaining to well-being in contemporary society

The workshop will include both invited papers and an open call for papers. For the open call, we invite extended abstracts (1500-2000 words). Please anonymise the abstract, and include title, name and address in the accompanying email. The abstract, and any questions you may have about the conference, should be sent to wics2012@utwente.nl. Your abstract should be submitted before February 15th 2012, and will be subject to blind peer review.

Publication
Following the conference we aim to publish the papers, subject to a blind review process, in either an edited volume or a special issue of a relevant journal. We did so successfully with our previous conference, Good Life In a Technological Age, from which select papers were published as book in the prestigious Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society series, and will be available in February 2012.

Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline: February 15. 2012
Notification of Acceptance: March 1, 2012
Conference Dates: July 26-27, 2012

12/09/2011: New Video on Materialism

Below are two video clips about materialism and QOL that are directly related to some of the good works of Jim Roberts (Professor of Marketing at Baylor University) and Tim Kasser (Professor of Psychology at Knox College). Both are QOL researchers par excellence and members of the greater QOL research community. The Roberts video is about his recent book, Shiny Objects. This is an interview on the CBS Early Show (in the U.S.) that took place a couple of days ago. Jim did a great job speaking about materialism and QOL and is certainly a great ambassador of the QOL research community. Tim Kasser?s video is based on his book, the High Price of Materialism, that was published a few years ago. Kasser's book is also an excellent read. The animated video production simplifies the message to the lay audience. Tim is also an ISQOLS Fellow and also is a great ambassador of the QOL research community at large.

The video link to Roberts' interview on CBS is http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7390635n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Here is his contact information if you wish to communicate with him.
Dr. James A. Roberts (Jim)
Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing
Baylor University One Bear Place, #8007 Waco, TX 76798-8007 254.710.4952 (Phone) Shiny Objects Blog: http://blogs.baylor.edu/jim_roberts/ Shiny Obects available November 8th, 2011

The link to Kasser's video on YouTube is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw

In case you would like to communicate with Tim, his contact information is:
Kasser, Tim: Box K-83; Department of Psychology; Knox College; Galesburg IL 61401; tkasser@knox.edu

12/08/2011: Being overweight not such a stigma for African American women
Black women are less psychologically affected by being overweight than white women
New York / Heidelberg, 7 December 2011

While all obese women are less satisfied with the weight-related quality of their lives than women of 'normal' weight, black women report a higher quality of life than white women of the same weight. In addition, black women appear to be more concerned about the physical limitations resulting from their obesity, than by the potential psychological consequences of being overweight or obese. These findings by Dr. Tiffany L. Cox, and her team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute in Fargo, ND, and Obesity and Quality of Life Consulting in Durham, NC, are published online in Springer's journal Applied Research in Quality of Life.

It is well accepted that obesity does not only increase the risk of subsequent disease, disability and premature death, it also impacts the quality of life of obese individuals. In the United States, approximately 80 percent of black women over the age of 20 are overweight or obese (BMI* equal to or greater than 25).

Cox and colleagues examined the link between BMI and weight-related quality of life in a high-risk sample of obese women (172 black and 171 white) using data collected between 2000 and 2010. An obesity-specific quality of life questionnaire was used to examine five areas: physical function, self-esteem, sexual life, public distress and work.

The researchers found that for all women, as BMI rose, quality of life fell. However, there were notable differences in weight-related quality of life between black and white women. At similar BMIs, black women consistently scored higher on quality of life measures than white women, with self-esteem being particularly higher among black women.

The authors suggest that the relationship between weight and quality of life in black women may be partially explained by body image and social norms. Because black women are typically more accepting of larger body sizes, there may be less reporting of impaired quality of life in this group.

Dr. Cox comments: "The implications of this relationship between weight and quality of life in black women remain unclear. While the highest quality of life is desirable as an indicator of overall well-being, black women's perception of experiencing a high quality of life despite having a high BMI may also dampen motivation for attempting weight loss. Additional research is needed to understand the potentially bidirectional relationship between weight and quality of life in black women."

* Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of overweight and obesity. It is given as a ratio (weight in kg)/(height in m)2. A person with a BMI greater than 25 is overweight and greater than 30 is obese.

Reference
Cox TL et al (2011). Examining the association between body mass index and weight related quality of life in black and white women. Applied Research in Quality of Life. DOI 10.1007/s11482-011-9160-8

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.
Contact: Joan Robinson, Springer, tel +49-6221-487-8130, joan.robinson@springer.com

12/08/2011: How's Life?, a new OECD publication on well-being beyond GDP

How's Life?, a new OECD publication released in October, offers a comprehensive picture of what shapes people's lives in 40 countries worldwide. The report assesses 11 specific aspects of life ? ranging from income, jobs and housing to health, education and the environment ? as part of the OECD's ongoing effort to devise new measures for assessing well-being that go beyond GDP. How's Life? is part of the OECD's Better Life Initiative which was launched in May 2011 and seeks to engage citizens in the discussion of what matters most in their lives and what governments should do to improve well-being. Another element of the OECD Better Life Initiative is the Your Better Life Index, an interactive tool that allows people to compare countries' performances according to their own preferences (visit www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org).

12/02/2011: New Springer Books in Quality-of-Life Research

Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research
Editor/s: Land, Kenneth C.; Michalos, Alex C.; Sirgy, M. Joseph

Positive Relationships
Editor/s: Roffey, Sue

You may register here for Springer's email services providing you with info on the latest journals in your field.

11/19/2011: Call for abstracts on international "social indicators" and "world suffering", due Dec. 15, 2011

Conference: International Sociological Assoc. Forum, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 1-4, 2012

Session on World Suffering: Quality of life researchers have focused almost all of their attention on well-being rather than ill-being and happiness rather than unhappiness. Consequently, they have overlooked the wealth of data they have on indicators of suffering. This session solicits re-analysis of social indicator data focusing upon the low end of measures of well-being, quality of life, social progress, and happiness. Also of interest are studies that explicitly measure pain, despair, suffering, or social traumas from either a social or an individual framework. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence are of interest, particularly if they can be compared. Like quality of life and well-being, suffering is generally examined as an outcome or something to be explained by social dysfunctions like poverty. Consider also that suffering may serve as a precipitating cause of poverty, violence, health risks, and other social traumas. The justification for research on suffering is not just a matter of humanitarian concern, but of strategic planning for social and economic progress.

Session Organizer: Ron Anderson

For more information about other sessions on social indicators, the ISA Forum, and submission procedures, please use this link: http://www.isa-sociology.org/buenos-aires-2012/

Abstract Submission Procedure: Submit abstract up to 300 words at this site where you select "Research Committees", then RC55, and follow instructions.

11/18/2011: Open Letter to the European Commission on Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities research in the new FP, 2014-2020

Dear colleagues,

with this message we would like to invite you to sign an Open Letter addressed to the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation (www.eash.eu/openletter2011 ), alerting her to the vital insights that Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) contribute to address Europe's and the world's Grand Societal Challenges.

In view of legislative decisions to be taken on the next 100-Billion-worth EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020 (2014-2020), the letter stresses the necessity for a varied and strong research programme in the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH): it argues that neglecting such potential contributions as SSH research risks undermining the EU strategy to develop innovative, inclusive and sustainable societies. Yet, there still is a distinct danger of insufficient funding in Horizon 2020 for research areas such as cultural change, demography, education, the economy and globalisation, identity politics and social cohesion, and many others. For background information on these matters see: http://www.eash.eu/openletter2011.

The Open Letter initiative has grown out of deliberations among a number of European umbrella organisations in the area of SSH, and seeks to bring to the attention of the European Commission and national governments the concerns of the largest research community in Europe.

If you agree, that a substantial and independent SSH-centered research programme should be included in all future European Framework Programmes, we invite you to sign the Open Letter online at www.eash.eu/openletter2011. Please also kindly spread this invitation to sign in your institutions and among your networks.

First results of this initiative will be presented to Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn on 10 November 2011. We hope to be able to point to a high number of signatures as an expression of a groundswell of support and concern among SSH communities. The collection of signatures will, however, continue after this specific date, as the legislative decision process will last for longer.

Thank you in advance for signing and for supporting this initiative. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions: SSH-letter@net4society.eu.

On behalf of the Inter-agency Task Group on SSH.

Sir Roderick Floud (Chair ESF Standing Committee for the Social Sciences)
Professor Milena Zic-Fuchs (Chair ESF Standing Committee for the Humanities)

11/03/2011: The Practical Politics of Well-being

Yesterday Sir Gus O'Donnell, head of the UK civil service, addressed the All Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics, on the topic 'Wellbeing Statistics: How Will Whitehall Respond'.

He reported that this new data will influence and improve the policy making process and described some of the steps involved. How it does so, of course, will depend on ministerial priorities and so at the same time we published a pamphlet The Practical Politics of Well-being.

This pamphlet begins with an introduction arguing that whilst well-being knowledge can be used to drive positive, incremental changes, it also has the potential to be used to change the central dynamic of our society in a way that more and more people are calling for. There are then personal contributions from a Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative perspective:

• Michael Jacobs argues that the science of well-being provides reinforcement and opportunity for Labour, as well as a 'challenge which goes to the heart of the contemporary social democratic project'.
• Jo Swinson MP argues that well-being science bolsters some, yet challenges other, liberal principles, and that this implies a need to consider how well-being will sit alongside other key liberal values.
• Jonty Oliff-Cooper argues that whilst Conservative backing of the well-being agenda may at first seem strange, conservatives are indeed interested in how individual?s well-being can be maximised, and that well-being offers a possible route to turning conservative thinking into a practical guide for action.

If you are interested in finding our more about our work in the centre for well-being at nef, please visit the website: http://www.neweconomics.org/programmes/well-being.