Glagow lecture 130411 (1)
- 1. Silent transformation of well-beingTimo Hämäläinen, Ph.D., Dos.Glasgow Centre for Population Health Seminar Series, 13th April 2011, Glasgow
- 2. AgendaOurold definition of well-being is outdated (”silenttransformation”)”Problem of choice” in everyday lifePressures on Sense of coherence and mentalwell-beingAccumulatingimpacts of short-term and selfishdecisionsLaw of requisitevariety & well-beingPolicyimplicationsWell-being and economiccompetitivenessarenotcontradictoryVision of a sustainablewell-beingsociety12/04/2011
- 3. ICT REVOLUTIONGLOBALIZATION OF MARKETS AND BUSINESS ACTIVITIESSPECIALIZATION OF MARKETS & VALUE-ADDING ACTIVITIESINCREASING KNOWLEDGE INTEN-SITY & NETWORK COOPERATIONBig picture: historical transformationHERE WE ARE!SOCIO-INSTITUTIONAL ADJUSTMENT- Everyday life - Shared cognitive frames- values and norms- laws, regulations- policy regime- public sector organization12.4.20113Source: Freeman & Perez (1988)
- 4. Instrumental discourse dominates Economy(crisis, globalization, com-petitiveness, efficiency, productivity, growth)Welfare state(public finances, reorganizing services, social security, equality)Everyday well-being??(welfare?, subjective well-being?, happiness?, good life?)Adapted from: Habermas (1987, Vol. 2)Lähde: Habermas (1987, Vol. 2)4
- 5. Key drivers of well-beinghavechangedENVIRONMENT Natural environment
- 7. Technologies
- 9. Demographics
- 10. Culture (values & norms, activities)
- 11. Institutions (laws & regulations)
- 12. Politics
- 13. Economy
- 14. Labor markets
- 15. MediaSUBJECTIVE WELL-BEINGMENTAL COHERENCEComprehensibility of life- Manageability of lifeEVERYDAY ACTIVITIES AND ROLES- WorkerConsumer
- 16. Family member
- 17. Relative
- 18. Friend
- 19. Hobbyist
- 20. CitizenMEANINGFULNESS Exceeding self-interest
- 21. Serving others
- 22. Higher purposeMASLOWIAN NEEDS Self-actualization
- 23. Self- and social- esteem
- 24. Love and belonging
- 25. Security
- 26. Physiological needs (thirst, hunger,…)RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES - Income & wealth- Knowledge & skills - Physical & mentalhealth - Social capital - Information- Time- Politicalpower- Naturalresources
- 27. From deprivation to ”Problem of choice”Increased:resources & capabilities (income, wealth, health, info, knowledge)satisfaction of basic (material) needsfreedoms (deregulation & normlessness)personal & resource mobilitymarket supply & marketing pressurehurry (time remains fixed: 24/7)uncertainty due to transformation and complexity Growing: problems in decision making (due to uncertainty, information overload, spillovers, normlessness)individualism
- 28. selfishness (due to normlessness)
- 29. conformomity to market and peer pressures
- 31. lack of loyalty in social relationships12/04/2011
- 32. Hectic life in affluent societyFRIENDFRIENDFAMILYMEMBERFAMILYMEMBEREMPLOYEE Task 1
- 33. Task 2
- 34. Task 3
- 35. etc.EMPLOYEE Task 1
- 36. Task 2
- 37. Task 3
- 39. Practices
- 40. Contexts
- 41. Cognitive frames
- 42. Languages
- 43. Norms Different: Purposes
- 44. Practices
- 45. Contexts
- 46. Cognitive frames
- 47. Languages
- 48. Norms +-+-CONSUMERRELATIVECONSUMERRELATIVE+-+-Synergies andconflictsSynergies andconflicts+-+-CITIZENCITIZENHOBBY 1HOBBY 1HOBBY 2HOBBY 2
- 49. ”Problem of choice” and higher needs Social relationships and social needs
- 51. Social esteem vs. individualism, selfishness, short-termism
- 52. Self-actualization (hurry), lack of loyalty
- 53. Purpose and meaning in life vs. individualism, selfishness, market pressures, specialization & complexity Mental coherence
- 54. Comprehensibility vs. uncertainty, complexity, decision
- 55. Manageability making problems, short-termism (hurry), competing loyalties12/04/2011
- 56. Antonovsky’s sense of coherence (SOC)Increasing uncertainty& complexityComprehensibility Problemof choiceManageability Subjectivewell-being,QoL, mentalhealthSense ofcoherenceIndividualism,normlessness,selfishness,consumerism,materialism &instrumentalismMeaningfulness Source: Aaron Antonovsky;Monica Eriksson & Bengt LindströmSources: Aaron Antonovsky (1987); Lindström & Erickson (2005)
- 57. Sense of coherence, mental health and well-being “The [empirical] evidence shows that SOC is strongly and negatively related to anxiety, burnout, demoralization, depression and hopelessness, and positively with hardiness, mastery, optimism, self-esteem, good perceived health, quality of life and well-being.” Source: Bengt Lindstrom & Monica Eriksson (2005): “The Salutogenic Perspective and Mental Health”, in Promoting Mental Health, WHO)
- 58. Growing mental pressures and demands of working lifePressures on sense ofcoherenceHealth Illness grey areaDemands ofworking life
- 59. Sicknesspensionsdue to depression in Finland, 1983–2006 (privatesector) Number3 5003 0002 5002 0001 5001 000500083 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 Source: Finnish centre for pensions
- 60. Key problems in decision makingShort-termismSelfishness12/04/2011
- 61. 1. Short-termismPeople tend to be myopic in their decision making. Instant gratification and procrastination win over long-term interests (Ainslie 1992; Steel 2011).
- 62. People have particular problems in assessing the well-being impacts of their decisions if: - their impacts extend long into the future, and/or - if their living environments are undergoing major changes (Kahneman & Thaler 2006).People have more alternatives and choice than ever: - resources, capabilities, freedoms and mobility have grown - behavioral norms and regulation has become less stringent - market supply (for instant gratifications) has increasedBut time is still a fixed resource (24/7).
- 63. Crowding of life’s activities; growing hurry, short-termism and procrastination; decreasing commitment and loyalty (”grass greener on the other side…?”).12.4.201115
- 64. Weight of new army servicemen in Finland (kg)Source: Santtila et al., Finnish armed forces12.4.2011
- 65. Cooper test results of new army servicemen, 1975 - 2006Source: Santtila et al., Finnish armed forces
- 66. 18
- 67. 2. SelfishnessStregthening of individualism as a value. Emergence of post-modern splintered culture and the decay of common cultural norms.
- 68. Growing difficulties in understanding the full consequences of one’s actions due to increasing specialization and complexity.
- 69. Market ideology that legitimizes short-term and selfish choices. The ”invisible hand” is assumed to take care of the common good. Selfishness in Finnish traffic12/04/2011SELFISH DRIVING HABITSNEGLECT OF TRAFFIC RULESAUTUMN-91AUTUMN-95AUTUMN-99AUTUMN-03AUTUMN -09
- 70. Why do short-termism and selfishness decrease well-being? Individual decisions often involve small negative externalities (or spillovers), which are not noticed, but which accumulate into big problems:over time, when the individual repeats the same decisions and behaviors
- 71. in large groups, when numerous people make similar decisionsShort-term and selfish behavior has accumulating effects on well-beingUnhealthy eating habits and inadequate physical excercise obesity and related illnesses (e.g. diabetes 2)
- 72. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs abuse dependencies, illnesses and death
- 74. High investments in career building or favorite hobbies social relationships and child raising suffer, work related mental illnesses increase
- 75. Postponement of having children childlessness, greying of population
- 76. Increasing tourism to far-off countries, more driving with cars growing environmental problems22
- 77. Accumulating impacts of individual decisions in the long-term and in large groups12.4.201123Environmental,childdevelopment, social relationshipproblemsLife managementproblems(Kahneman, Giddens)Long-termTrafficjams, litter-ing, status compe-tition, etc. (Hirsch, Schelling)Hedonistic instant gratificationdominatesShort-termOne’s own well-beingOthers’well-being
- 78. How could we improve well-being?FRIENDFRIENDFAMILYMEMBERFAMILYMEMBEREMPLOYEE Task 1
- 79. Task 2
- 80. Task 3
- 81. etc.EMPLOYEE Task 1
- 82. Task 2
- 83. Task 3
- 85. Practices
- 86. Contexts
- 87. Cognitive frames
- 88. Languages
- 89. Norms Different: Purposes
- 90. Practices
- 91. Contexts
- 92. Cognitive frames
- 93. Languages
- 94. Norms +-+-CONSUMERRELATIVECONSUMERRELATIVE+-+-Synergies andconflictsSynergies andconflicts+-+-CITIZENCITIZENHOBBY 1HOBBY 1HOBBY 2HOBBY 2
- 95. Stafford Beer: Viable System ModelOrganizational environments are increasingly dynamic and complex. Hierarchical organizations are too slow and inflexible to cope with this.
- 96. Need to decentralize power, but then achieving cohesion and synergy becomes a problem.
- 97. The Viable System Model offers a way of gaining both functional decentralization and cohesion of the whole.
- 98. Recursive structure: All living systems are composed of a series of sub-systems, each having self-organizing and self-regulatory characteristics.
- 99. Each viable system requires five elements: operations, coordination, control, intelligence and policy (direction, values, purpose).12/04/2011
- 100. Individual’s life as a Viable SystemThe everyday life of a human being is a system of subsystems in which different activities take place. Each activity adds value (well-being) and has its own goals, values, rules, languages, etc.The interdependencies and interfaces of each activity must be coordinated to operate synergistically. How well are our everyday activities coordinated?Is the whole system under our control? How does it affect our well-being as a whole? Can we manage our lives? (coordination & control= manageability!)Intelligence: Do we understand what’s going on in the world around us? Or, who we are? (= comprehensibility!) Policy: What’s the direction and purpose of our life? (= meaningfulness!)
- 101. Ashby (1958): Law of requisite varietyThe variety of the controller must be equal to that of the controlled.If the variety of disturbances (Vd) grows, old institutional responses/mechanisms (Vr) become inadequate in controlling them, and the variety (uncertainty) of outcomes (Vo) grows.Minimal value of Vo is Vd – VrGiven the variety of disturbances, the “goodness” or value of the outcome depends on the “capacity” (variety of responses) of the regulator (decision maker).Due to “limitation on ‘the capacity of Man’”, there is a limit to the variety (choice) that people can deal with.“Problem of choice” means an overwhelming variety of life options. Due to limited time and cognitive capacity, we cannot deal with this variety anymore. Life management problems!
- 102. Policy implications?The variety of living environments must be reduced to manageable proportions by (a) reducing variety or (b) increasingindividual capacity (viability).
- 103. Reducing variety and choice:
- 104. Being more selective in one’s commitments based on their compatibility and personal strengths (downshifting, flow activities, purpose, work & life bal.)
- 105. Outsourcing activities unimportant to well-being (“support economy”)
- 106. Coherent living environments (cocooning, retro fashion & brands, nature, human-centric technology, cultural norms & regulation, customized services, working life, media)
- 107. Mindfulness training, fundamentalism, traditional values
- 109. coordination & control (manageability): calendars, PDAs, peer support, close social relationships, health & rest
- 110. intelligence (comprehensibility): learning, new skills, meditation
- 111. policy (direction & purpose = meaningfulness): spiritualism, volunteering, serving others (or society) Transformational human being (O’Hara)?
- 112. Well-being and competitiveness are not contradictoryEconomic competitiveness and welfare (state) are often seen as contradictory: well-being = welfare state = high taxes & burdensome regulation poor competitiveness
- 113. However, the value-added of products and services depends on their contribution to everyday well-being.
- 114. Superior well-being knowledge supports the development of products and services with more value-added – and hence competitiveness.
- 115. In addition, it helps: (a) people to live betterlives; (b) publicsector to produceserviceswithmorevalue-added, (c) policymakers to providebetterpublicgoods and institutions (e.g. living environments)
- 116. An updated and sophisticatedunderstanding of well-beingprovides and overall vision for the development of a new and sustainablesocio-economicmodel.12/04/2011
- 117. Europe could lead in the road to a sustainable well-being societyEnvironmentEveryday well-being(subjective well-being, happiness, good life)Economy(value-added, compe-titiveness, efficiency, productivity, growth)Public sector(public value, efficiency, renewal capacity, social security, equality)EnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironmentAdapted from: Habermas (1987, Vol. 2)Lähde: Habermas (1987, Vol. 2)30