Risk assessment of unclean cooking energy usage from the perspective of subjective wellbeing: The mediating role of perceived physical and mental health.

Although outdoor air pollution has been associated with adverse health outcomes and decreased subjective welfare, there has been a lack of research investigating the potential risks associated with indoor unclean cooking energy usage from the perspective of subjective wellbeing. This paper systematically assesses the risks of unclean cooking fuel usage from the novel perspective of subjective welfare and examines the mediating role of perceived physical and mental health applying a large-scale nationally representative dataset. Analytical results demonstrate that the usage of unclean cooking energy has significantly negative impacts on subjective wellbeing, and this finding has been confirmed through various robustness tests. The mechanism behind this impact is that unclean cooking fuel usage reduces people's perceived physical and mental health status, which in turn decreases their subjective wellness. Furthermore, the negative consequences of using unclean cooking energy on subjective wellbeing are particularly pronounced among certain demographic groups, including older, lower educated, married individuals as well as those with lower economic status, uncovered by medical insurance and having less social capital. Findings of this study highlight the risks linked to unclean cooking energy usage, as evidenced in the negative impact on perceived health and subjective wellbeing. In light of the increasing focus on improving indoor environment as well as enhancing people's health and wellbeing, results of this paper emphasize the significance of promoting access to cleaner and healthier energy.

Individuals' Assessments of Their Own Wellbeing, Subjective Welfare, and Good Life: Four Exploratory Studies.

This paper reports on four exploratory online studies of how wellbeing and welfare are valued and perceived from a subjective, individual perspective. Study 1 (n = 707) compares individuals' subjective ratings and correlations of the importance of the three wellbeing dimensions happiness, meaning in life, and a psychologically rich life, as well as their welfare. Study 2 (n = 679) factor-analyses the same four (five-item) wellbeing and subjective welfare constructs. Study 3 (n = 710) gauges how individuals' global assessments of the three dimensions of wellbeing and of subjective welfare contribute to their assessments of living a good life, using stepwise regression analysis. Study 4 (n = 663) replicates the stepwise regression analysis with global measures of relative, rather than absolute, wellbeing and subjective welfare.

Internet Use, Life Satisfaction, and Subjective Well-Being Among the Elderly: Evidence From 2017 China General Social Survey.

Purpose: The research objectives of this study are to test the scientific propositions of whether Internet use promotes life satisfaction among the elderly, whether there is variability in the effect of Internet use on the well-being of the elderly, and through what channels Internet use affects the elderly's life satisfaction. Method: Using data from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this paper employed linear regression, ordered logit model, and the propensity score matching (PSM) approach to investigate the association of Internet use with life satisfaction among the elderly in China. Results: The results show that Internet use was significantly and negatively associated with the life satisfaction of the Chinese elderly. Further analysis on group heterogeneity demonstrates that the negative association was more prominent among the participants who were males, at a lower age, had lower income and education, non-agricultural registered, and relatively healthy. Finally, the mediating effect indicates that Internet use may affect life satisfaction among the elderly through the channel of reducing their perceptions of social justice. Conclusions: In order to avoid the negative effects of using the Internet, the following policy suggestions are put forward: Improve the elderly's attitudes toward Internet use; pay attention to the sense of fairness of the elderly to improve life satisfaction; guide the elderly to reduce the time of using the Internet.

The Natural Behavior Debate: Two Conceptions of Animal Welfare.

The performance of natural behavior is commonly used as a criterion in the determination of animal welfare. This is still true, despite many authors having demonstrated that it is not a necessary component of welfare - some natural behaviors may decrease welfare, while some unnatural behaviors increase it. Here I analyze why this idea persists, and what effects it may have. I argue that the disagreement underlying this debate on natural behavior is not one about which conditions affect welfare, but a deeper conceptual disagreement about what the state of welfare actually consists of. Those advocating natural behavior typically take a "teleological" view of welfare, in which naturalness is fundamental to welfare, while opponents to the criterion usually take a "subjective" welfare concept, in which welfare consists of the subjective experience of life by the animal. I argue that as natural functioning is neither necessary nor sufficient for understanding welfare, we should move away from the natural behavior criterion to an alternative such as behavioral preferences or enjoyment. This will have effects in the way we understand and measure welfare, and particularly in how we provide for the welfare of animals in a captive setting.

Validez y confiabilidad del índice de satisfacción vital (LSI-A) de Neugarten, Havighurst & Tobin en una muestra de adultos y adultos mayores en Chile / Validity and reliability of the Neugarten, Havighurst & Tobin's life satisfaction índex (LSI-A), in a sample of adults and older adults in Chile

Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en la estimación de la confiabilidad y la validez del índice de Satisfacción Vital (LSI-A) de Neugarten, Havighurst & Tobin (1961,1996). La muestra estuvo constituida por 473 adultos de 30 a 75 años (hombres y mujeres) de la Región Metropolitana de Santiago de Chile, distribuidos en tres niveles de ingreso, tres grupos de edad y tres niveles de escolaridad. Se estimó la validez de contenido, concurrente y de constructo del instrumento, definiendo 5 factores que explican el 50.62 por ciento de la varianza. La confiabilidad con alpha de Cronbach fue de 0.80 para la muestra completa, el índice varió entre 0.77 a 0.83 según edad, entre 0.77 y 0.81 según nivel educacional y entre 0.74 y 0.83 según nivel de ingreso; no se observaron variaciones según sexo (0.80).

The findings of a research aimed to estimate reliability and validity of The Life Satisfaction index (LSI-A) of Neugarten, Havighurst & Tobin (1961; 1996) are presented. The sample consisted of 473 adults from 30 to 75 years (male and female) from Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile, distributed into three levels of income, age groups and educational levels. The content, concurrent and construct validity of the instrument was estimated, defining five factors accounting for 50.62 percent of the variance. The reliability with Cronbach's alpha was 0.80 for the full sample, the index ranged between 0.77 to 0.83 depending on age, between 0.77 and 0.81 according to educational level and between 0.74 and 0.83 depending on income level, no changes were observed by sex (0.80).