Introduction to the issue: Happiness and social wellbeing

In recent decades, the public and scientific arenas have been pervaded by discourse concerning ‘life satisfaction’, ‘well-being’, and ‘quality of life’, yet mainly from a person-centred and de-contextualized perspective. Particularly since the ‘60s, psychology and social sciences have shifted focus from the study of psychological distress to human flourishing (Jahoda, 1958), thereby introducing new concepts such as ‘flourishing’, ‘thriving’, and ‘prospering’ (Seligman, 2011; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). At the same time, the disciplines have seen the promotion of good practices aimed at fostering internal resources, social relationships, goal achievement (Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Singer 2008; Seligman 2002, 2011), enjoyment in specific life domains such as work, marriage, and leisure time (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999), and changing dysfunctional cognitive and motivational processes by engaging in happiness-increasing activities (Lyubomirsky, 2007; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). However, these developments show that there is still widespread incapacity to consider well-being and life satisfaction as socially constructed products. The most direct result of this is a deeply rooted understanding of happiness and well-being more as a subjective state, which is the end product of personal efforts, rather than as socially mediated outcome of person-environment transactions. Overly individualistic approaches tend to overlook broader elements that are paramount to the pursuit and maintenance of a good life. Among these, the following aspects should figure prominently: the presence/absence of conditions of justice and fairness, the role of power and liberation for the promotion of well-being, the relevance of environmental and contextual circumstances, the importance of values as well as social ethics, and a broad understanding of how neoliberalism, capitalism, globalization and market-driven economic approaches impact on people’s quality of life (Nelson & Prilleltensky, 2010). In the light of this, the purpose of the present issue is to report contributions on happiness and well-being that are consistent with the Community and Critical Psychology ethos as well as related scholarship, both within and outside of psychology. Its ‘fil rouge’ is the understanding of happiness and well-being in their contextual and social determinants (i.e. democracy, justice, and social responsibility, and access to resources); concepts such as justice and fairness, grassroots engagement, social change, empowerment, relational values, and social capital are all relevant to the exploration of happiness and well-being from an alternative viewpoint. Consistent with Isaac Prilleltensky’s ecological vision, well-being is understood as “a positive state of affairs brought about by the simultaneous and balanced satisfaction of diverse objective and subjective needs of individuals, relationships, organizations and communities” (Prilleltensky, 2012, p. 12). Thus, from a critical perspective, we argue that well-being is a multi-faceted and complex construct linked to manifold levels of analysis. Moreover, we should bear in mind that whenever the power of individual efforts crowds out the role of external circumstances, and the effect of contextual factors is overlooked, the risk of “blaming the victim” for failing to achieve a happy life is likely to loom quite large (Ryan, 1971; Held, 2004). Given these premises, this thematic issue aims to address a number of questions, among which are: Why do we need to promote happiness and well-being beyond the individual level? Is it possible to promote happiness and well-being in a capitalistic, market-driven and globalized world? What kind of values can best underpin the pursuit of a good life?