Scholarly record
PARADIGM-ORIENTED ANALYSIS OF WELLBEING
Abstract
The article delves into the problem of representation of various images (metaphors) of wellbeing which are constituted and reproduced in various academic disciplines. At the present time there are great numbers of scientific approaches and concepts of wellbeing which at times touch upon different aspects of mans life. These approaches often do not agree with each other. This article presents an attempt to construct an integral matrix of wellbeing theories which will provide for the review of various wellbeing concepts from the common standpoint. The conception of wellbeing is extremely complicated and it cannot be defined unequivocally and exactly, just through listing its qualities. We suppose that the conception of wellbeing reflects conceptions of what good life is in a given cultural and historical situation. These conceptions manifest themselves in form of certain images and metaphors that act as time-specific indications of good life within a given cultural system. The main methods of research are paradigm-oriented analysis and metaphor analysis. The examination of wellbeing conceptions is angled towards the metaphorical field through which the image of good life is described in these conceptions. In the course of the further analysis paradigmatic foundations of the selected images of good life are revealed. For the purpose of this article we discern four paradigms of scientific approach in social studies which determine basic metaphors of wellbeing the functionalist, radical-structuralist, radical-humanist and interpretative (Burrell and Morgan). For the functionalist paradigm the basic metaphor is the concept of order, for radical-structuralist power and dominance, for radical-humanist emancipation, for interpretative activity.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References14
McGillivray M., Clarke M. (eds.) Understanding human wellbeing, United Nations University Press, 2006.
Alexandrova A. A Philosophy for the Science of Wellbeing, 2017
Axelsson S., Gyllensten A.C., Dahlberg S., Holmberg S., Sahlgren M. Expressing happiness in different languages, EUENGAGE Text Analysis Workshop, 21-22 June 2016, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Available at: https://les.gu.se/digitalAssets/1584/1584761_expressing-happiness-in-different-languages--web-version.pdf
Burrell G., Morgan G. Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. Elements of the Sociology of Corporate Life, 1979.
Morgan G. Paradigms, metaphors and puzzle solving in organization theory, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 25, issue 4, pp. 605-622, 1980.
Human Development Report, 2016.
Diener E. Subjective Wellbeing: The Science of Happiness and a Proposal for a National Index, American Psychologist, vol. 55, issue 1, pp. 34-43, 2000.
Lyubomirsky S. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want, 2008.
Doyal L., Gough I. A Theory of Human Need, 1991.
Nussbaum M. Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach, 2011.
Connerley M. L., Wu J. (eds.) Handbook on Well- Being of Working Women, 2016.
Greco M., Stenner P. Happiness and the Art of Life: Diagnosing the psychopolitics of wellbeing, Health, Culture and Society, vol. 5, issue 1, pp. 1-19, 2013.
Atkinson S. Beyond Components of Wellbeing: The Effects of Relational and Situated Assemblage, Topoi, vol. 32, issue 2, pp. 137-144, 2013.
White S. C., Blackmore C. (eds.) Cultures of Wellbeing: Method, Place, Policy, 2016.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
