Contemporary Approaches to the Quality of Life: from Objective Contexts to Subjective Ones

Objective. Quality of life is a category that develops in breadth, but not in depth. The objective of the paper is a brief systematic presentation of the approaches of three influential representatives of a field of interdisciplinary research of the quality of life, who contributed a lot to the shaping of this field and its development till our days, namely Alex Michalos, Joseph Sirgy and Ruut Veenhoven. Background. These three concepts of quality of life may be viewed as representing the main trend in quality of life research has evolved through the last three decades. The essential characteristics of this trend are, first of all, growing interdisciplinarity of both theoretical models and empirical research of the quality of life, increasing contribution of psychology to the understanding and investigating this area and progressing shift of the focus of research from objective living conditions to the subjective indicators of quality of life. Methodology. A transdisciplinary comparative analysis. Conclusions. These closely interconnected characteristics bridge quality of life studies focused on the specifics of different types of societies and cultures with the research of happiness and subjective well-being at an individual psychological level. The positive psychology currently defines today the main stream of understanding the quality of life in interdisciplinary research. This trend is expected to develop in direction increasing attention to the socio-psychological features of the personality, which determine its quality of life.

1. Zhuravlev A.L., Yurevich A.V. Kollektivnye smysly kak predposylka lichnogo schast'ya [Collective meanings as a premise for personal happiness]. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal = Psychological journal, 2014, no. 35(1), pp. 5–15. (In Russ.).
2. Zaichenko A.A., Eksakusto T.V. Lichnostnye osobennosti lyudei s raznym profilem sub"ektivnogo kachestva zhizni [Personality traits in individuals with different profiles of subjective life quality]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2014, no. 5(2), pp. 100–114. (In Russ.).
3. Zarakovskii G.M. Kachestvo zhizni naseleniya Rossii: psikhologicheskie sostavlyayushchie [Quality of life of the population in Russia: psychological components]. Moscow: Smysl, 2009. 319 p. (In Russ.).
4. Lebedeva A.A. Teoreticheskie podkhody i metodologicheskie problemy izucheniya kachestva zhizni v naukakh o cheloveke [Theoretical Approaches and Methodological Issues of Life Quality Research in Human Sciences]. Zhurnal Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki = Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics, 2012. Vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 3–19. (In Russ.).
5. Leontiev D.A. Kachestvo zhizni i blagopoluchie: ob"ektivnye, sub"ektivnye i sub"ektnye aspekty [Quality of Life and Well-Being: Objective, Subjective and Agentic Aspects]. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 2020, no. 41(6), pp. 86–95. DOI:10.31857/S020595920012592-7 (In Russ.).
6. Leontiev D.A. Schast'e i sub"ektivnoe blagopoluchie: k konstruirovaniyu ponyatiinogo polya [Happiness and Well-Being: Toward the Construction of the Conceptual Field]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskie i sotsial'nye peremeny = Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, 2020, no. 1, pp. 14–37. DOI:10.14515/monitoring.2020.1.02 (In Russ.).
7. Osin E.N., Leontiev D.A. Kratkie russkoyazychnye shkaly diagnostiki sub"ektivnogo blagopoluchiya: psikhometricheskie kharakteristiki i sravnitel'nyi analiz [Brief Russian-Language Instruments to Measure Subjective Well-Being]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskie i sotsial'nye peremeny = Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, 2020, no. 1, pp. 117–142. DOI:10.14515/monitoring.2020.1.06 (In Russ.).
8. Rasskazova E.I. Kachestvo zhizni kak mezhdistsiplinarnaya problema: teoreticheskie podkhody i diagnostika kachestva zhizni v psikhologii, sotsiologii i meditsine [Quality of life as an interdisciplinary problem: theoretical approaches and diagnostics of the quality of life in psychology, sociology and medicine]. Teoreticheskaya i eksperimental’naya psikhologiya = Theoretical and Experimental Psychology, 2012, no. 5(2), pp. 59–71. (In Russ.).
9. Savchenko T.N., Golovina G.M. Sub"ektivnoe kachestvo zhizni: podkhody, metody otsenki, prikladnye issledovaniya [Subjective quality of life. Approaches, assessment methods, applied research]. Moscow: Institute of Psychology of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2006. 170 p. (In Russ.).
10. Skripkina T.P., Nekhorosheva I.V. Otlichiya v osnovnykh pokazatelyakh sub"ektivnogo kachestva zhizni mezhdu lyud'mi s raznoi nravstvennoi napravlennost'yu [Differences in Basic Parameters of Subjective Quality of Life in People with Different Moral Orientations]. Sotsial’naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2013, no. 2, pp. 50–58. (In Russ.).
11. Shchekotin E.V. Katastrofy povsednevnosti: predstavlenie o kachestve zhizni v obshchestve riska [Quality of life in a turbulent society: disaster and state of emergency from the point of view of sociology of everyday life]. Novosibirsk: NGASU (Sibstrin), 2014. 152 p. (In Russ.).
12. Arndt J. The Quality of Life Challenge to Marketing. In Reynolds F.D., Barksdale H.C. (Eds.). Marketing and the Quality of Life. Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1978, pp. 1–10.
13. Bakker A., Burger M., van Haren P., Oerlemans W., Veenhoven R. Raise of Happiness Following Raised Awareness of How Happy One Feels: A Follow-Up of Repeated Users of the Happiness Indicator Website. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 2020, no. 5, pp. 153–187. DOI:10.1007/s41042-020-00032-w
14. Buettner D., Nelson T., Veenhoven R. Ways to Greater Happiness: A Delphi Study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2020, no. 21, pp. 2789–2806. DOI:10.1007/s10902-019-00199-3
15. Diener E., Pavot W., Sandvik E. Happiness is the frequency, not intensity of positive and negative affect. In Strack F. et al. (Eds.). Subjective wellbeing. London: Pergamon, 1991, pp. 213–231. DOI:10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_10
16. Geerling D.M., Diener E. Effect size strengths in subjective well-being research. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2020, no. 15, pp. 167–185.
17. Huebner E.S. Quality of Life and Personality Development: A Reply to Land and Michalos. Social Indicators Research, 2018. Issue 3. Vol. 135, pp. 1021–1025. DOI:10.1007/s11205-017-1560-1
18. Land K.C., Michalos A.C. Fifty Years After the Social Indicators Movement: Has the Promise Been Fulfilled? An Assessment an Agenda for the Future. Social Indicators Research, 2018, no. 135(3), pp. 835–868. DOI:10.1007/s11205-017-1571-y
19. McAdams D.P. The art and science of personality development. New York: Guilford Press, 2015.
20. Meadow H.L., Mentzer J.T., Rahtz D.R., Sirgy M.J. A Life Satisfaction Measure Based on Judgment Theory. Social Indicators Research, 1992. Vol 26, no. 1, pp. 23–59. DOI:10.1007/BF00 10.1007/BF00303824303824
21. Michalos A.C. Global report on student well-being: Vol.1. Life satisfaction and happiness. New York: Springer, 1991. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4612-3098-4_1
22. Michalos A.C. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer Netherlands, 2014. DOI:10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5 Available at: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400707528 (Accessed 01.08.2022).
23. Michalos A.C., Hatch P.M. Good Societies, Financial Inequality and Secrecy, and a Good Life: From Aristotle to Piketty. Applied Research Quality Life, 2020, no. 15, pp. 1005–1054. DOI:10.1007/s11482-019-09717-0
24. Michalos A.C. Identifying the Horse, the Cart and Their Proper Order in Sustainable Development. In Michalos A.C. (ed.). Development of Quality of Life Theory and Its Instruments: The Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos. Springer International Publishing. AG, 2017, pp. 175–184. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-51149-8
25. Michalos A.C. Connecting the Quality of Life Theory to Health, Well-Being and Education. The Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos. University of Northern British Columbia. Prince George, BC. Canada, 2017. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-51161-0
26. Noll H.H. Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research: Background, Achievements and Current Trends. In Genov N. (ed.). Advances in Sociological Knowledge. Wiesbaden, 2004. DOI:10.1007/978-3-663-09215-5_7
27. Ryff C.D., Singer B. The Contours of Positive Human Health. Psychological Inquiry, 1998. no. 9(1), pp. 1–28. DOI:10.1207/s15327965pli0901_1
28. Sirgy M.J. Integrative Models of Wellbeing. In Sirgy M.J. (Ed.). The Psychology of Quality of Life. Wellbeing and Positive Mental Health. Social Indicators Research Series, 2021, no. 83, pp. 681–710. Springer, Cham. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-71888-6_29
29. Sirgy M.J. Materialism and Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research, 1998, no. 43, pp. 227–260. DOI:10.1023/A:1006820429653
30. Sirgy M.J. Handbook of Quality-of-Life Research: An Ethical Marketing Perspective. Springer, Dordrecht, 2001. DOI:10.1007/978-94-015-9837-8
31. Sirgy M.J. Philosophical Foundations, Definitions, and Measures of Wellbeing. In Sirgy M.J. (ed.). The Psychology of Quality of Life. Wellbeing and Positive Mental Health. Social Indicators Research Series, 2021, no. 83, pp. 5–35. Springer, Cham. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-71888-6_1
32. Sirgy M.J. Positive balance: a hierarchical perspective of positive mental health. Quality of Life Research, 2019, no. 28(7), pp. 1921–1930. DOI:10.1007/s11136-019-02145-5
33. Sirgy M.J. The Psychology of Quality of Life: Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, and Eudaimonia (2-nd ed.). Springer Netherlands, 2012. DOI:10.1007/978-94-007-4405-9
34. Sirgy M.J. The Theory of Positive Balance in Brief. In Sirgy M.J. (ed.). Positive Balance. Social Indicators Research Series. Springer, Cham, 2020, pp. 1–24. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-40289-1
35. Sirgy M.J., Michalos A.C., Ferriss A.L., Easterlin R.A., Patrick D., Pavot W. The quality-of-life (QOL) research movement: Past, present, and future. Social Indicators Research, 2006, no. 76(3), pp. 343– DOI:10.1007/s11205-005-2877-8
36. Sirgy M.J., Rahtz D., Lee D.-J. Community quality-of-life indicators: Best cases. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004. DOI:10.1007/978-1-4020-2202-9
37. Sirgy M.J., Samli A.C., Meadow H.L. The Interface between Quality of Life and Marketing: A Theoretical Framework. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 1982, no. 1(1), pp. 69–84. DOI:10.1177/074391568200100106
38. Tsai M.C. Social Indicators Movement and Human Agency: Comment on Land and Michalos. Social Indicators Research, 2018, no. 135(3), pp. 991–999. DOI:10.1007/s11205-017-1553-0
39. Veenhoven R. Quality-of-life research. In Bryant C.D., Peck D.L. (eds.). 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook. Vol. 2. Thousands Oaks, CA, USA: Sage, 2007, pp. 54–62. DOI:10.4135/9781412939645.n64
40. Veenhoven R. World database of happiness: Tool for dealing with the ‘Data-Deluge’. Psychological Topics, 2009, no. 18(2), pp. 221–246.
41. Veenhoven R. World database of happiness: Continuous register of research on subjective enjoyment of life. Rotterdam: Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2010. Available at: http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl (Accessed 01.08.2020).
42. Veenhoven R. Happiness, Also Known as “Life Satisfaction” and “Subjective Well-Being”. In Land K.C. et al. (eds.). Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life. Research. Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2012, pp. 63–77. DOI:10.1007/978-94-007-2421-1_9
43. Veenhoven R. Co-development of Happiness Research: Addition to “Fifty Years After the Social Indicator Movement”. Social Indicators Research, 2018, no. 135(3), pp. 1001–1007. DOI:10.1007/s11205-017-1554-z
44. Veenhoven R. Are the Russians as Unhappy as they say they are? Journal of Happiness Studies, 2001, no. 2, pp. 111–136. DOI:10.1023/A:1011587828593
45. Veenhoven R. Pioneer in Subjective Quality of Life Research: Willem Saris. Applied Research Quality Life, 2021, no. 16, pp. 1395–1397. DOI:10.1007/s11482-021-09949-z
46. Yu G.B., Lee D.J., Sirgy M.J. et al. Household Income, Satisfaction with Standard of Living, and Subjective Well-Being. The Moderating Role of Happiness Materialism. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 2019, no. 2, pp. 1–22. DOI:10.1007/s10902-019-00202-x
47. Zumbo B.D., Alex C. Michalos: Pioneer of Quality of Life and Social Indicators Research. Applied Research Quality Life, 2014, no. 9(2), pp. 457–459. DOI:10.1007/s11482-013-9293-z