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Latin-American Studies on Well-Being

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Positive Psychology in Latin America

Part of the book series: Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology ((CAPP,volume 10))

Abstract

This chapter aims to describe Latin-American studies on well-being from two different perspectives: the hedonic (life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions) and the eudaimonic (psychological well-being) traditions. An analysis of research articles published between 1998 and 2012 was conducted. The introduced key words were: happiness, life satisfaction and well-being and the search was limited by language of publication restricted to Spanish and Portuguese. Results were analyzed by country of origin, type of well-being study and the inclusion of cultural variables. Those studies focused on what people understood about psychological well-being and the meaning assigned to it are described. Additionally, research studies conducted in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Peru from an emic perspective are reviewed. In general terms, Latin American people perceived themselves as happy or very happy. However, as cross-cultural research is rarely conducted in the region and most studies on this topic have used an etic imposed approach, findings cannot be generalized.

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  1. National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alejandro Castro Solano

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  1. Alejandro Castro Solano
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  1. National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alejandro Castro Solano

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Castro Solano, A. (2014). Latin-American Studies on Well-Being. In: Castro Solano, A. (eds) Positive Psychology in Latin America. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9035-2_2

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