Stigma, marginalization and psychosocial well-being of orphans in Rwanda: exploring the mediation role of social support.

Stigma and marginalization are one of the major challenges orphans face in their daily lives, particularly in developing countries, but little is known about their impacts on mental health. This study examines how orphan-related characteristics, stigma and marginalization are associated with psychosocial well-being. It further analyses the role of social support in mediating between stigma and marginalization and mental health, indicated by emotional well-being and mental distress. The participants in this study were 430 Rwandan orphans who were 10-25 years of age, and of whom 179 were females and 251 were males. Results showed that high levels of stigma and marginalization were associated with a lower level of emotional well-being and higher levels of mental distress. A mediation analysis indicated that low level of social support due to stigma and marginalization contributed significantly to low level of emotional well-being. Once stigma, marginalization and social support were fully accounted for, AIDS orphans exhibited higher levels of mental distress than those who were orphaned by genocide or other causes. Future interventions designed to reduce stigma and marginalization for orphans and actions that facilitate social support can significantly improve emotional well-being and reduce mental distress among orphans.

Are we bad winners? Public understandings of the United Nations' World Happiness Report among Finnish digital media and their readers.

In this research, we investigate the public understanding of the World Happiness Report within the context of its highest-ranking country: Finland. We analyse how two actors, Finnish online media and their readers, understood the publication as well as the concept being measured: happiness. Digital media adopted an ambivalent stance towards both the World Happiness Report ('sports victory' vs 'societal problems') and the concept of happiness ('reticence to define happiness' vs 'secrets of Finnish happiness'). Readers agreeing with the World Happiness Report define Finland as an 'almost utopia' while readers disagreeing with the World Happiness Report, in addition to presenting a reversed image of Finland ('almost dystopia'), further justify their distrust towards the World Happiness Report by attacking the publication, its authors and the participants (Finns). Both actors carefully construct their understanding of happiness to fit their arguments aimed at the glorification/scandalization of the World Happiness Report.

Ethical and unethical food. Social representations among Finnish, Danish and Italian students.

The consumption of ethical food is an area of major growth. The aim of the current study was to identify ethical concerns regarding food. University students (N=403) from Finland, Denmark and Italy completed a word association task, in which the given stimulus words were "ethical food" and "unethical food". The data was first analysed qualitatively. Next, the most relevant, core categories were identified based on the frequency, rank and contextual stability. The results indicated that fourteen categories reflect the content and nature of ethical thinking with respect to food. The identified categories were required/prohibited food, natural/unnatural, local/global, healthy/unhealthy, equality/inequality, good animal welfare/poor animal welfare, rules and descriptions. In all countries, the core categories emerging from the stimulus word "ethical food" were the required food and the natural, while the core category identified from the stimulus word "unethical food" was the prohibited food. The most prevalent differences between the countries concerned the role of health, country of origin and the descriptions. In conclusion, various ethical aspects are considered when food is evaluated in ethical terms, but the relevance of these aspects differ, even in the European context.

Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Currencies? Representations of Happiness and Unhappiness among Finnish Women.

This paper presents results from a study exploring representations of "happiness" and "unhappiness." Word associations with these concepts were produced by 16-18 and 29-34-year-old women from Finland, the country that the United Nation's World Happiness Report has ranked the "happiest" in the world. Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis show that participants in both age groups share three clusters of words associated with "happiness": Tangible happiness, Affective happiness and Serene happiness. We noted more differences in the associations with "unhappiness," for which the two groups share only two clusters: Loss and Everyday problems. A distinct third cluster, Affective unhappiness, emerged for the younger women, whereas older women's associations are further differentiated into a more complex structure, including two more clusters: Dejection and Apprehension. Additionally, CA shows that in both age groups, self-reported happiness levels do not discriminate which words are associated with happiness and unhappiness. Finally, qualitative content analysis of a questionnaire item investigating how to reach complete happiness suggested that there are three recurring answer types: happiness can be improved through external changes, internal changes, or not at all because complete/permanent happiness does not exist. The study provides a methodological design which, unlike most happiness studies, allows participants the freedom to bring up the meaning of happiness and unhappiness. Thus, the study constitutes a contribution to a more nuanced understanding of happiness.

Human and peoples' rights: social representations among Cameroonian students.

Social representations of human and peoples' rights were studied among Cameroonian university students (N = 666) with a questionnaire based on the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and Duties. The respondents were asked how important and how well realized they regarded the 39 human and peoples' rights to be. A 13-factor model provided the best fit with Cameroonian students' perceptions of human and peoples' rights. Taken as a whole, our results are in line with previous quantitative studies on human rights, confirming structural similarity but also country-specific variation in the aggregation of specific rights. Moreover, our data showed that Cameroonian students value human and peoples' rights highly (M = 6.18), whereas their fulfillment is not regarded as highly (M = 5.09). Same law for all, equality and freedom, and right to work and living were highly appreciated but lowly realized rights. Higher than average in importance and realization were right to education and self-fulfillment, right to marriage and property, peoples' social and political basic rights and right to life and safety. Low in importance and realization were peoples' right to their country's natural resources and independence, right to meetings, and right to express opinion. Women appreciated the rights more than men and thought of their rights as better realized compared to men. We suggest that when women say that their rights are better fulfilled than men do, it is in comparison with the older generation, who are still very dependent on men. Nowadays, thanks to education and urbanization, young women have wider choices or opportunities for marriage and jobs. Men may feel frustrated in the context of political liberalization because the freedoms are more theoretical than fulfilled; the economic crises and cultural changes have hindered their economic domination and their prerogatives.