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Harmony

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research

Synonyms

Balance; Coherence; Integration; Mutual understanding

Definition

The term harmony derives from the Greek word harmos, joint. It is used in different domains: In music, it refers to the combination of simultaneous musical notes in a chord. In the current language, it is used to describe a pleasant and coherent combination of elements in a whole – an object, a landscape, a living being, a person’s behavior, and a community. In psychology, harmony refers to a positive state of inner peace, calmness, and balance, as well as the feeling of being tuned with the world. In the social sciences, it is used to describe a pattern of relationships within a social group and between individuals and their social context.

Description

Historical Roots

Beyond philosophical and conceptual differences, in all cultural traditions harmony has been directly related to well-being, and it represents an indicator of a good quality of life, at both the individual and social levels. The ancient Western...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia Medico-Chirurgica e dei Trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Antonella Delle Fave

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  1. Antonella Delle Fave
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Correspondence to Antonella Delle Fave .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy

    Filomena Maggino

Section Editor information

  1. University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy

    Mariantonietta Fiore

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Delle Fave, A. (2021). Harmony. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_1231-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69909-7_1231-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69909-7

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