The Satisfaction of Life in Romania (1990-2001). A comparative research on two sets of data Cover Image

Satisfacţia vieţii în România (1990-2001). O cercetare comparativă asupra a două serii de date
The Satisfaction of Life in Romania (1990-2001). A comparative research on two sets of data

Author(s): Sergiu Bălţătescu
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Institutul de Marketing si Sondaje - IMAS SA
Keywords: quality of life and living conditions in Romania;

Summary/Abstract: Beginning with 1990, systematic surveys on quality of life and living conditions were conducted in Romania. The research program „Diagnosis of Quality of Life”, introduced by the Romanian Institute for Quality of Life Research and the Public Opinion Barometer (financed by Open Society Foundation Romania), provided the researchers with a high amount of empirical data on life satisfaction. We made an attempt to integrate the both data series in order to assess the evolution of life satisfaction in the last twelve years. Transformed to a 0-11 scale, the results show a relative stability around the median of the scale, with a slight decreasing trend. The means of the two data series, very near between 1995 and 1998, abruptly diverge in 1999, a year of sharp decreasing of objective and subjective indicators, but also when the methodology of one of the surveys was changed. Drawing from an application of the divided self theory to the quality of life research (Bălţătescu, S., 1998), I tried to infere that the two measures capture different aspects of life satisfaction (of the individual vs. social self) clearly divergent in moments of very negative public mood.

  • Issue Year: 2000
  • Issue No: 3-4
  • Page Range: 63-76
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Romanian