Well being and hapiness: Conditions for a new conception of development?

Abstract

This study seeks to demonstrate the complexity involved with analysing wellbeing, beginning first with its own conceptualization and then a review of the different modes and ways that have been employed globally in order to try to measure it through the construction of various indices and social indicators. We will outline how subjective well-being has become an item of interest for the development of political science and to that end, we present some of the main evidence that has been found that shows its importance in diversespheres of the lives of people. There is little doubt that traditional indicators for measuring development and/or social progress remain insufficient for explaining the new paradoxes that exist between the subjective and objective factors of well-being. To bolster our argument, we propose a complex measurement scheme that allows for the concurrence of factorial analysis and relational systems that display an awareness that subjective well-being should be considered as a key element for a new conception of development and the progress of societies.