This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ringen, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Well-being, Measurement, and Preferences

Department of Applied Study and Social Research, University of Oxford, England

Non-welfarist approaches to well-being are often criticized for ignoring personal pref erences and suffering from a dictatorial logic. This paper argues that welfarist approaches do not have a special quality of preference neutrality and that non-welfarist/non dictatorial approaches to well-being and interpersonal comparison are possible. Utility is a function not of goods and preferences, but of goods and tastes, and the latter are decomposed into expectations and preferences. A theory of well-being based on choice is recommended. Choice is defined as a function of personal resources and arena options. A typology of measurement approaches is developed. Indirect measurement is . recommended above direct measurement. Implications are discussed for income, social indicators, and capabilities in the measurement of well-being.

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 38, No. 1, 3-15 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/000169939503800102


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Pavis, G. Hubbard, and S. Platt Young People in Rural Areas: Socially Excluded or Not? Work Employment Society, June 1, 2001; 15(2): 291 - 309. [Abstract] [PDF]