Happiness in a time of rapid social change

Bernik, Ivan (author), Hlebec, Valentina (author)

In the paper we focus on some aspects of the distribution of happiness in Slovenia between 2000 and 2009, which can be characterised as a period of the gradual consolidation of major political and economic transformations. We hypothesise that, due to the gradual rise in economic prosperity and political stability in Slovenia, there was an increase in the level of happiness. Nevertheless, we also expect that due to the new social cleavages generated by the countryʼs post-socialist transformation this period was characterised by a growing gap between the least and the most happy. We further expect that the social composition of the least and most happy parts of the Slovenian population changed considerably over the course of time. Yet none of these hypotheses are confirmed by our data. There were some oscillations in both the average level of happiness and the gap between the least and the most happy but no clear trends of change. There was also no change in the social composition of the most and the least happy. The data indicate that in Slovenia in the period under study the dynamic of happiness was largely unaffected by the outcomes of the countryʼs post-socialist transformation.

• Language: English
• Keywords: družba, Družbena blaginja, Družbene spremembe, Happiness, Postsocialism, Postsocializem, Social change, Social welfare, Sreča
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publisher: Fakulteta za sociologijo, politične vede in novinarstvo v Ljubljani
• Year: 2012
• Number of pages: Str. 453-470, 600
• Numbering: Letn. 49, št. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-78557
• UDC: 17.023.34:316.42(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 31363165
• Publication date in RUL: 30.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

V članku obravnavamo nekatere vidike družbene porazdelitve subjektivne blaginje (občutki sreče) med leti 2000-2009, ki jih lahko opredelimo kot obdobje postopne utrditve postsocialističnih političnih in ekonomskih sprememb v Sloveniji ter krepitve relativnega blagostanja in stabilnosti. Domnevamo, da so se v tem obdobju občutki sreče v povprečju povečali, vendar pa so se zaradi porajanja novih družbenih razcepov hkrati tudi povečale razlike med najmanj in najbolj srečnimi glede na specifične demografske skupine (spol, izobrazba, religioznost, organizacija intimnega življenja). Analiza ne potrjuje nobene od teh domnev. Za analizirano obdobje so značilna le manjša nihanja v povprečni stopnji sreče in v razmerju med najbolj in najmanj srečnimi. Prav tako v tem času ni bilo opaznejših sprememb v družbeni sestavi najbolj in najmanj srečnih. To kaže, da v analiziranem obdobju spreminjanje strukture slovenske družbe ni vplivalo na občutke sreče.

• Keywords: družba