Environmental and Social Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Tehran. A Perception Study
Abstract
The study is focused on the topic of life satisfaction of citizens in Tehran (Iran). The objective of the current study was to identify the predictive environmental and social determinants of life satisfaction. To explain the statement of the problem and form the theoretical framework, related sociological and psychological views were used.
In the introduction the concept of life satisfaction is described and measurement of life satisfaction in various studies are summarized. In the empirical part a questionnaire survey is conducted that tries to determine life satisfaction of Tehran citizens (N = 385). The statistical population in this research was all citizens over the age of eighteen years in the city of Tehran and the research was conducted in 2017. Findings indicated that comparing the mean of variables shows that personal satisfaction and health status are higher than social satisfaction and justice. It is found that there is a high correlation between sense of security and life satisfaction. However, variables of sense of security and health status account for around 34% of the variations in life satisfaction. Findings of this research have important implications for making policies to improve subjective well-being through increasing the safety level and community planning.
References
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[2] Appleton, S. and Song, L. 2008. Life satisfaction in urban China: Components and determinants. World Development, 36(11): 2325-2340.
[3] Bjørnskov, C., Dreher, A. and Fischer, J.A. 2008. Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: Exploring different determinants across groups in society. Social Choice and Welfare, 30(1): 119-173.
[4] Bonaiuto, M., Aiello, A., Perugini, M., Bonnes, M. and Ercolani, A.P. 1999. Multidimensional perception of residential environment quality and neighbourhood attachment in the urban environment. Journal of environmental psychology, 19(4): 331-352.
[5] Bonini, A.N. 2008. Cross-national variation in individual life satisfaction: Effects of national wealth, human development, and environmental conditions. Social Indicators Research, 87(2): 223-236.
[6] Bowling, N.A., Eschleman, K.J. and Wang, Q. 2010. A meta‐analytic examination of the relationship between job satisfaction and subjective well‐being. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(4): 915-934.
[7] Bradburn, N.M. and Caplovitz, D. 1965. Reports on happiness. Aldine Publishing Company.
[8] Brockmann, H., Delhey, J., Welzel, C. and Yuan, H. 2009. The China puzzle: Falling happiness in a rising economy. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(4): 387-405.
[9] Cohen, B. 2006. Urbanization in developing countries: Current trends, future projections, and key challenges for sustainability. Technology in society, 28(1): 63-80.
[10] Cook, C.C. 1988. Components of neighborhood satisfaction: Responses from urban and suburban single-parent women. Environment and Behavior, 20(2): 115-149.
[11] Crafts, N.F. 1997. The Human Development Index and changes in standards of living: Some historical comparisons. European Review of Economic History, 1(3): 299-322.
[12] D’Acci, L. 2014. Monetary, subjective and quantitative approaches to assess urban quality of life and pleasantness in cities (hedonic price, willingness-to-pay, positional value, life satisfaction, isobenefit lines). Social Indicators Research, 115(2): 531-559.
[13] Das, D. 2008. Urban quality of life: A case study of Guwahati. Social Indicators Research, 88(2): 297-310.
[14] Dasgupta, P. and Weale, M. 1992. On measuring the quality of life. World development, 20(1): 119-131.
[15] Davis, J.C. and Henderson, J.V. 2003. Evidence on the political economy of the urbanization process. Journal of urban economics, 53(1): 98-125.
[16] Demakakos, P., Nunn, S. and Nazroo, J. 2006. 10. Loneliness, relative deprivation and life satisfaction. Retirement, health and relationships of the older population in England, 297.
[17] Diener, E. and Diener, M. 2009. Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. In Culture and well-being (pp. 71-91). Springer, Dordrecht.
[18] Diener, E. and Suh, E. 1997. Measuring quality of life: Economic, social, and subjective indicators. Social indicators research, 40(1): 189-216.
[19] Diener, E.D., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J. and Griffin, S. 1985. The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of personality assessment, 49(1): 71-75.
[20] Drori, G.S., Meyer, J.W. and Hwang, H. 2006. Globalization and organization: World society and organizational change. Oxford University Press.
[21] Easterlin, R.A. 2001. Income and happiness: Towards a unified theory. The economic journal, 111(473): 465-484.
[22] Gamst, F.C. 1991. Foundations of social theory. Anthropology of Work Review, 12(3): 19-25.
[23] Ghassemi, H., Harrison, G. and Mohammad, K. 2002. An accelerated nutrition transition in Iran. Public health nutrition, 5(1a): 149-155.
[24] Graham, C. 2008. Happiness and health: Lessons—and questions—for public policy. Health affairs, 27(1): 72-87.
[25] Helliwell, J.F. 2003. How's life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic modelling, 20(2): 331-360.
[26] Helliwell, J.F. 2008. Life satisfaction and quality of development (No. w14507). National Bureau of Economic Research.
[27] Inglehart, R. and Abramson, P.R. 1994. Economic security and value change. American political science review, 88(2): 336-354.
[28] Inglehart, R. 1990. Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton University Press.
[29] Inglehart, R. 1998. Modernisierung und Postmodernisierung. Kultureller, wirtschaftlicher und politischer Wandel in, 43: 11-53.
[30] Inglehart, R. 2000. Globalization and postmodern values. Washington Quarterly, 23(1): 215-228.
[31] Jaafar, M. and Hasan, N.L. 2017. The determinants of housing satisfaction level: A study on residential development project by Penang Development Corporation (PDC). Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 3(2).
[32] Jang, L. and Paton, D. 2014. A Study on Community Satisfaction with the Community Empowerment Project in post-Morakot Permanent Housing Communities.
[33] Kasarda, J.D. and Crenshaw, E.M. 1991. Third world urbanization: Dimensions, theories, and determinants. Annual Review of Sociology, 17(1): 467-501.
[34] Keyes, C.L., Shmotkin, D. and Ryff, C.D. 2002. Optimizing well-being: the empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of personality and social psychology, 82(6): 1007.
[35] Kousha, M. and Mohseni, N. 2000. Are Iranians happy? A comparative study between Iran and the United States. Social Indicators Research, 52(3): 259-289.
[36] Marans, R.W. 2015. Quality of urban life & environmental sustainability studies: Future linkage opportunities. Habitat International, 45: 47-52.
[37] Marsden, P.V. ed. 2012. Social trends in American life: Findings from the general social survey since 1972. Princeton University Press.
[38] Martikainen, L. 2009. The many faces of life satisfaction among Finnish young adults’. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(6): 721.
[39] Maslow, A.H. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological review, 50(4): 370.
[40] Maslow, A.H. 1954. Personality and motivation. Harlow, England: Longman, 1, p.987.
[41] Merton, R.K. 1968. Social theory and social structure. Simon and Schuster.
[42] Misztal, B. 2013. Trust in modern societies: The search for the bases of social order. John Wiley & Sons.
[43] Ojeda, L. and Piña-Watson, B. 2013. Day laborers’ life satisfaction: The role of familismo, spirituality, work, health, and discrimination. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 19(3): 270.
[44] Owen, A.L., Videras, J. and Willemsen, C. 2008. Democracy, participation, and life satisfaction. Social science quarterly, 89(4): 987-1005.
[45] Palmore, E. and Luikart, C. 1972. Health and social factors related to life satisfaction. Journal of health and social behavior, pp.68-80.
[46] Parsons, T. 1963. On the concept of political power. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 107(3): 232-262.
[47] Parsons, T. 1980. Social systems and the evolution of action theory.
[48] Pavot, W. 2014. Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), an Overview. In Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 5659-5661). Springer Netherlands.
[49] Peterson, C., Park, N. and Seligman, M.E. 2013. Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. In the exploration of happiness (pp. 161-173). Springer Netherlands.
[50] Schalock, R.L. 1996. Reconsidering the conceptualization and measurement of quality of life. Quality of life, 1(9): 123-139.
[51] Scott, A.J. and Storper, M. 2015. The nature of cities: the scope and limits of urban theory. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 39(1): 1-15.
[52] Stanton, E.A. 2007. The human development index: A history.
[53] Van de Walle, S. 2017. Trust in public administration and public services. Trust at Risk: Implications for EU, p.118.
[54] Van Kamp, I., Leidelmeijer, K., Marsman, G. and De Hollander, A. 2003. Urban environmental quality and human well-being: towards a conceptual framework and demarcation of concepts; a literature study. Landscape and urban planning, 65(1): 5-18.
[55] Whoqol Group, 1995. The World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): position paper from the World Health Organization. Social science & medicine, 41(10): 1403-1409.
Published
2018-02-23
How to Cite
KAZEMI, Mohammad et al.
Environmental and Social Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Tehran. A Perception Study.
Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 8, n. 7, p. 1325-1333, feb. 2018.
ISSN 2068-7729.
Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/1765>. Date accessed: 26 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.v8.7(23).01.
Section
Article
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.