Beyond subjective well-being: A critical review of the stiglitz report approach to subjective perspectives on quality of life

Journal of International Development

Volumn 24, Issue 6, 2012, Pages 763-776

  White, Sarah C ^a   Gaines, Stanley O ^b   Jha, Shreya ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BATH   (United Kingdom)

^b BRUNEL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Development indicators; Happiness; Post MDG; Psychology; Stiglitz report; Subjective well being

Indexed keywords

DEVELOPMENT INDICATOR; PSYCHOLOGY; QUALITY OF LIFE; SOCIOECONOMIC INDICATOR;

INDIA; ZAMBIA;

EID: 84863994301     PISSN: 09541748     EISSN: 10991328     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/jid.2866     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Alkire S. 2002. Dimensions of human development. World Development 30(2): 181-205.
2. Biswas-Diener R, Diener E. 2001. Making the best of a bad situation: satisfaction in the slums of Calcutta. Social Indicators Research 55(3): 329-352.
3. Biswas-Diener R, Diener E. 2006. The subjective well-being of the homeless, and lessons for happiness. Social Indicators Research 76: 185-205.
4. Camfield L, Ruta. 2007. 'Translation is not enough': using the Global Person Generated Index (GPGI) to assess individual quality of life in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Ethiopia. Quality of Life Research 16(6): 1039-1051.
5. Camfield L, Crivello G, Woodhead M. 2009. Wellbeing research in developing countries: reviewing the role of qualitative methods. Social Indicators Research 90: 5-31.
6. Cantril H. 1965. The Pattern of Human Concerns. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ.
7. Clark DA. 2009. Adaptation, poverty and well-being: some issues and observations with special reference to the capability approach and development studies. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 10(1): 21-42.
8. Collard D. 2006. Research on well-being: some advice from Jeremy Bentham. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 36(3): 330-354.
9. Copestake J. 2008. Well-being and international development: what's new? Journal of International Development 20(5): 577-597.
10. Copestake J. 2011. Well-being in development: comparing global designs with local views in Peru. European Journal of Development Research 23(1): 94-110.
11. Deaton A. 2012. The financial crisis and the well-being of Americans. Oxford Economic Papers 64(1): 1-26.
12. Devine J, White SC. forthcoming. Religion, politics and the everyday moral order in Bangladesh. Journal of Contemporary Asia 43(1): in press.
13. Diener E. 1984. Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin 95(3): 542-575.
14. Diener E. 2000. The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist 55(1): 34-43.
15. Diener E, Suh E. 2000. Measuring subjective well-being to compare quality of life. In Culture and Subjective Well-being, Diener E, Suh E (eds). MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass. and London; 3-12.
16. Diener E, Emmons RA, Larsen RJ, Griffin S. 1985. The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49: 71-75.
17. Diener E, Sapyta J, Suh E. 1998. Subjective well-being is essential to well-being. Psychological Inquiry 9(1): 33-38.
18. Ehrenreich B. 2009. Smile or Die. How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World. Granta Publications: London.
19. Gallup. 2011. Understanding how Gallup uses the ladder of life. [Accessed on 9 October 2011].
20. Gasper D. 2010. 2010: understanding the diversity of conceptions of well-being and quality of life. Journal of Socio-Economics 39(3): 351-360.
21. Gough IR, McGregor JA (eds). 2007. Wellbeing in Developing Countries: New Approaches and Research Strategies. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
22. Graham C. 2011. 'Does more money make you happier? Why so much debate? Applied Research on Quality of Life 6: 219-239.
23. Hagerty MR, Cummins RA, Ferriss AL, Land K, Michalos AC, Peterson M, Sharpe A, Sirgy J, Vogel J. 2001. Quality of life indexes for national policy: review and agenda for research. Social Indicators Research 55(1): 1-96.
24. Haidt J. 2006. The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom to the Test of Modern Science. William Heinemann: London.
25. Hall S. 1992. The West and the rest: discourse and power. In Formations of Modernity, Hall S, Gieben B (eds). Open University: Oxford; 275-331.
26. Jimenez A (ed.). 2008. Culture and Well-Being. Anthropological Approaches to Freedom and Political Ethics. Pluto Press: London.
27. Layard R. 2003. Happiness: has social science a clue? Lionel Robbins Memorial Lectures 2002/3, March 2003, LSE.
28. Maggino F, Ruviglioni E. 2011. Preaching to the Choir: Are the Commission's recommendations already applied? Social Indicators Research 102: 131-156.
29. Marks N, Abdallah S, Simms A, Thompson S. 2006. The Happy Planet Index. New Economics Foundation: London.
30. Mathews G, Izquierdo C. 2008. Pursuits of Happiness: Well-being in Anthropological Perspective. Berghahn books: New York/Oxford.
31. McGillivray M (ed.). 2006. Poverty Inequality and Well-being. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.
32. McGillivray M. 2007. Human Well-being. Concept and Measurement. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.
33. McGregor JA, Sumner A. 2010. Beyond business as usual: what might 3-D wellbeing contribute to MDG momentum? IDS Bulletin 41(1): 104-112.
34. Michalos AC. 2011. What did Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi get right and what did they get wrong? Social Indicators Research 102: 17-129.
35. Miller JG. 2002. Bringing culture to basic psychological theory-beyond individualism and collectivism: comment on Oyserman et al. (2002). Psychological Bulletin 128(1): 97-109.
36. Noll H. 2011. The Stigliz-Sen-Fitoussi-report: old wine in new skins? Views from a social indicators perspective. Social Indicators Research 102: 111-116.
37. Ryan RM, Deci E. 2001. On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well being. Annual Review of Psychology 52: 141-166.
38. Ryff CD. 1989. Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 57: 1069-1081.
39. Ryff CD, Keyes CLM. 1995. The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69: 719-727.
40. Sointu E. 2005. The rise of an ideal: tracing changing discourses of well-being. The Sociological Review 53(2): 255-274.
41. Spivak GC. 1988. Can the subaltern speak? In Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, Nelson C, Grossberg L (eds). University of Illinois Press: Urbana, IL; 271-313.
42. Stevenson B, Wolfers J. 2008. Economic growth and subjective well-being: reassessing the easterlin paradox. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring.
43. Stiglitz J, Sen A, Fitoussi J-P. 2009. Report of the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress.
44. Thin N. 2012. Social Happiness. Research into Policy and Practice. Policy Press: Bristol.
45. Veenhoven R. 2000. The four qualities of life. Journal of Happiness Studies 1(1): 1-39.
46. Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. 1988. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(6): 1063-70.
47. White A. 2007. A global projection of subjective well-being: a challenge to positive psychology? Psychtalk 56: 17-20.
48. White SC. 2010. Analysing wellbeing. A framework for development policy and practice. Development in Practice 20(2): 158-172.
49. White SC, Devine J, Jha S. 2012a. 'The life a person lives.' Religion, wellbeing and development in India. Development in Practice.
50. White SC, Gaines SO, Jr, Jha S, Marshall N. 2012b. Wellbeing Pathways Report: India Round One. Available at.