Abstract
Quality-of-life studies have a 50-year history and inherited the tradition of the “social indicators” movement, born in the United States during the sixties and involving scholars and researchers, supported by the public administration and interested in gathering and analysing data aimed at studying non-economic components of societal wellbeing. The idea of quantifying “symptoms” (indicators) of living conditions has been launched by Italian statistician and criminologist, Alfredo Niceforo, who has been recognised as the pioneer of social-indicators concept. Moreover, with his book on Les indices numérique de la civilisation et du progrès, he may be considered the originator of an approach of comprehensive welfare and quality of life measurement as it is the concern of modern social indicators and quality of life.
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Some common social factors may contribute to the presence of prejudice and discrimination: (i) socialization, related to the role of family and the media (television, movies, and advertising) in perpetuating demeaning images and stereotypes about different groups, such as ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, the disabled, and the elderly; (ii) conforming behaviours, related to the fear of losing social support in case of rejection of prejudices and the pressure that families, friends, and associates could cultivated in this sense; (iii) economic benefits, related to competition that people could perceive coming from particular groups, especially during times of economic and social stress; (iv) ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to evaluate others' cultures by one's own cultural norms and values and includes a suspicion of outsiders;.(v) group closure, related to the process whereby groups keep clear boundaries between themselves and others; (vi) conflict theory, according to which, privileged groups are interested in seeing that no competition for resources arises from minority groups, in order to hold onto their distinctive social status, power, and possessions,. As a result, members of underprivileged groups may retaliate with violence in an attempt to improve their circumstances.
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Sabbadini, L.L., Maggino, F. Quality of Life in Italian Official Surveys. Soc Indic Res 135, 1043–1055 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1766-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1766-2