Main lectures

 

 

The dance of light and shadow in multicultural well-being

Marié P. Wissing

 

This presentation will share some findings, challenges and thoughts on opportunities in multicultural well-being research in South Africa highlighting how the dance of shadow and sun, the negative and the positive, in our history and diverse contexts contributes to an understanding of the light. Reference will be made to the dappled light of South Africa’s truth and reconciliation process in which strengths were shown amidst the pain and the opportunity for post-traumatic growth and creating harmony highlighted.  In the multicultural South African context various webs of significant meanings exist manifesting in regions, historical time phases, socioeconomic diversities and relatively collectivist versus individualist orientations, casting shadows or intensifying the light on bio-psychosocial health and in relational processes as the core defining future in manifestation of well-being.  The focus in this presentation will specifically be on relational well-being, its empirical manifestations, theoretical perspectives linked, challenges in measurement and evaluation, and challenges and opportunities for further research.  Great lacunae exist in the measurement and understanding of cultural positivity and multicultural well-being.

 

 

 

The social contextualization of life goals and its implications for well-being

Igrid Brdar

 

When discussing ways towards happy and meaningful life, people usually talk about their life goals and wishes for the future. Life goals can be classified based on their content into intrinsic goals (such as personal growth and affiliation) and extrinsic goals (like wealth and fame). Placing more importance on intrinsic goals contributes to happiness, whereas striving for extrinsic goals is associated with lower well-being. Extrinsic goals are assumed to be strongly shaped by culture, while intrinsic goals are assumed to emerge from natural growth tendencies. Life aspirations partly reflect the cultural and economic systems in which people live. According to Inglehart's theory of post-materialism, people pursue various goals in a hierarchical order: people strive for freedom and autonomy only after they meet survival needs. In scarce times, materialistic goals have priority over post-materialistic goals, focused on self-expression and quality of life. Different kinds of threats prompt the shift from intrinsic towards extrinsic goals (mostly materialistic). There was a sharp decline in happiness in Eastern Europe during the first years of the transition to market-based economy. Economic changes not only increased unemployment, social inequalities and corruption, but also generated social and political changes. Research from Croatia and other, less rich countries has shown that extrinsic aspirations are positively related to well-being. Financial success in these countries is related with attaining security and independence, not only with achieving materialistic status. In poorer countries, financial success is closer to safety/health goals and farther from hedonism than in wealthier countries.