Well-Being and Cultures

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vi

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2. Positive Psychology and Cross-Cultural Research

   • Hans Henrik Knoop, Antonella Delle Fave

   Pages 1-10

3. VIA Character Strengths: Research and Practice (The First 10 Years)

   • Ryan M. Niemiec

   Pages 11-29

4. Addressing Current Challenges in Cross-Cultural Measurement of Well-Being: The Pemberton Happiness Index

   • Carmelo Vazquez, Gonzalo Hervas

   Pages 31-49

5. Communal Values and Individualism in Our Era of Globalization: A Comparative Longitudinal Study of Three Different Societies

   • Hilde Eileen Nafstad, Rolv Mikkel Blakar, Albert Botchway, Erlend Sand Bruer, Petra Filkukova, Kim Rand-Hendriksen

   Pages 51-69

6. The Relation of Basic Psychological Needs, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Life Goals, and Collectivism with Subjective Well-Being: A Case in Macedonia

   • Ognen Spasovski

   Pages 71-81

7. The Ubiquity of the Character Strengths in African Traditional Religion: A Thematic Analysis

   • Sahaya G. Selvam, Joanna Collicutt

   Pages 83-102

8. Culture, Environmental Psychology, and Well-Being: An Emergent Theoretical Framework

   • Nicola Rainisio, Paolo Inghilleri

   Pages 103-116

9. Religion, Spirituality, and Well-Being Across Nations: The Eudaemonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation

   • Antonella Delle Fave, Ingrid Brdar, Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Marie P. Wissing

   Pages 117-134

10. The Relationship of South African Consumers’ Living Standards and Demographic Variables with Their Life Satisfaction

    • Leona Ungerer

    Pages 135-159

11. Circumstances of Well-Being Among Czech College Students

    • Iva Šolcová, Vladimír Kebza

    Pages 161-170

12. Income Is Not Associated with Positive Affect, Life Satisfaction, and Subjective Happiness Among Japanese Workers

    • Yasumasa Otsuka, Masashi Hori, Junko Kawahito

    Pages 171-182

13. Relationships Between Self-Serving Attributional Bias and Subjective Well-Being Among Danish and Spanish Women

    • Pilar Sanjuán, Kristine Jensen de Lopez

    Pages 183-194

14. Optimistic Attributional Style and Parental Behaviour in the Educational Framework: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

    • Loredana Ruxandra Gherasim, Simona Butnaru, Alin Gavreliuc, Luminita Mihaela Iacob

    Pages 195-217

15. Back Matter

    Pages 219-221

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This anthology focuses on empirical studies comparing cultures in relation to central positive psychological topics. The book starts out with an introductory chapter that brings together the main ideas and findings within an integrative perspective, based on a broad theoretical framework encompassing interdisciplinary and methodological issues. It gives special emphasis to some open issues in the theory and assessment of culture-related dimensions, and to the potential of positive psychology in addressing them. The introductory chapter is followed by two chapters that examine theoretical approaches and instruments developed to assess happiness and well-being across cultures. Following that examination, five chapters are devoted to the relationship between well-being, cultures and values. The second half of the book prominently investigates well-being across cultures in the light of socio-economic factors. This book shows that positive psychology, now officially well into its second decade, is providing still finer-grained perspectives on the diversity of cultures along with insights about our shared human nature, uniting us for better or worse.​  

• Challenges in current cross-cultural research
• Colourful global society
• Positive Psychology and cross-cultural research
• Research on the VIA Classification
• The Pemberton Happiness Index
• VIA Inventory Character Strenghts

• , Department of Education, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

  Hans Henrik Knoop

• Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Luigi S, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy

  Antonella Delle Fave

Hans Henrik Knoop is Associate Professor of educational psychology and Director of the Positive Psychology Research Unit at the Danish School of Education, University of Aarhus, Denmark. His work is focused on learning and creativity in education and professional work, currently collaborating with more than 12.000 pupils and 2.000 teachers.

For more than a decade Hans Henrik Knoop has been involved in research cooperation with colleagues at Harvard University, Stanford University and at Claremont Graduate University in the GoodWork® Project and as researcher he has participated in development projects for LEGO (1998-2004), Danfoss Universe (2005-2010), SIS Akademi (2004-2008) and Royal Greenland Academy (2006), among others. In 2006-2007 contributed to the Danish DR2’s programs on talent development in schools, and he was the scholarly anchor of the Danish TV2’s reality documentary series “Plan B” (2006-2007) and “SKOLEN – verdensklasse på 100 dage” [The school – world class in 100 days] (2008) concerning efficient education. “Plan B” received international attention in being nominated for the prestigious television award Golden Rose of Montreux in 2007. From 2007-2010 he was Research Director at the Universe Research Lab in Denmark.  

Antonella Delle Fave, MD, specialist in clinical psychology, is professor of psychology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Milan. She is currently Treasurer and President-Elect of IPPA, President of the European Network of Positive Psychology and President of the Italian Society of Positive Psychology.

Dr. Delle Fave is author of numerous research publications, many of them on optimal living and positive health. Recently she helped create a new psychological measure, The Eudaimonic Happiness Inventory.

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