The Ethical Interest of Frankenstein; Or,the Modern Prometheus: A Literature Review 200 Years After Its Publication

Science and Engineering Ethics - Two hundred years after it was first published, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus remains relevant. This novel has endured because of its...     

Water Access and Subjective Well-Being: The Case of Sucre,Bolivia

In this paper we study the influence of residential water access on subjective well-being. The data come from original field work that includes 535 households in Sucre, Bolivia, a city with deficits in the water service. We relate two subjective well-being measures, satisfaction with life and satisfaction with the water domain, to water access variables. It could be the case that the effect of water access variables in subjective well-being could be spurious. That is, water access variables could be capturing shortfalls in other basic needs, such as a lack of income. In order to avoid spurious conclusions, we include socioeconomic variables such as income and place of residence in the regression as control variables. In addition, people might adapt to having poor access to water. The significance of the coefficients of the water variables could lead us to conclude that people do not adapt, but non significance means we cannot reject this possibility. In the econometric regressions, water variables such as water cuts, water quality and access quality, when added to the control variables, increase goodness-to-fit affecting both subjective well-being measures. Our results permit to assess the importance of key elements of access to water in the region under study by relating them to subjective well-being and reveal that water access influences subjective well-being beyond adaptation and other socioeconomic characteristics. Taking this into consideration, we propose that well-being studies in developing countries should consider water access aspects.     

Do Pro-environmental Behaviors and Awareness Contribute to Improve Subjective Well-being?

In this paper, we study the influence of both environmental awareness and behaviors on subjective well-being (SWB). By using ordered logit techniques in a sample from Granada, a city in southern Spain, we find that concern about the environment and voluntary work actions to preserve it are relevant for SWB. When both are combined, namely when a person is concerned and volunteers, the influence on SWB is greater. These results introduce the SWB dimension in the knowledge-concern-action paradox, which states that even if the individual is concerned about the environment, this concern does not always translate into personal action to preserve it. Actions such as habits related to water saving inside the household are not significant in explaining SWB, but using devices that save water increases it. In summary, our results suggest that actions and awareness have either a positive or no significant influence on SWB, but never a negative influence.     

Positive Psychology Factors as Predictors of Latina/o College Students’ Psychological Grit

Latina/o college students (N = 130) provided perceptions of psychological grit, presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, life satisfaction, and mindfulness. Hope and mindfulness were significant predictors of psychological grit. A discussion regarding the importance of these findings and implications for counselors are presented. Un grupo de estudiantes universitarios latinos (N = 130) aportó sus percepciones de perseverancia psicológica, presencia de sentido en la vida, búsqueda de sentido en la vida, esperanza, satisfacción vital y atención plena. Se presenta una discusión sobre la importancia de estos hallazgos y sus implicaciones para los consejeros.     

Economic Poverty and Happiness in Rural Ecuador: the Importance of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Buen Vivir</Emphasis> (Living Well)

This research paper addresses the endemic dimensions of having or not having a good life using a concept of poverty based on self-reported subjective well-being. We build a subjective well-being poverty (SWBP) line and compare it with two income poverty (IP) lines. The endemic dimension comes from rural Ecuador and the indigenous happiness idea of Buen Vivir (Living Well), which has been the focus of growing attention in the scientific and the political arena. Discrepancies between SWBP and IP are deeply explored building models that explain SWBP with IP, as well as control variables and Buen Vivir related variables. We show that income poor households are more likely to be poor in terms of their reported subjective well-being. However, households that grow their own food and are in an indigenous community are less likely to report to be subjective well-being poor. The results suggest that low SWBP values in contrast with high IP may be explained by idiosyncratic components of the Buen Vivir philosophy. The components of the Buen Vivir ethos related to SWBP give rise to the idea of building multidimensional concepts of poverty based on what ethnic people consider to be good or bad for their specific way of life. In a general context, our study raises the importance of considering poverty and its dimensions taking into account the endemic factors of specific groups of people and cultures. That is, to take into account what is important for their lives.     

Effects of perceived parental school support and family communication on delinquent behaviors in latinos and white non-latinos

The authors examined the roles of perceived parental school support and family communication in the context of delinquent behaviors in Mexican American and White non-Latino adolescents. Family communication was defined as the degree to which adolescents endorsed that they communicated with their parents about a variety of topics. The Parental School Support scale was administered to assess adolescents' perceptions of parental support for academic pursuits. Data analysis included the relationship between these variables and their predictive relationship to delinquency, and the relationship to gender and ethnicity. Results demonstrated that adolescents' perceptions of family communication and parental school support were related to the likelihood of committing delinquent acts. There were no significant differences in gender or ethnicity in perceived levels of family communication and parental school support.