Youths' well-being and subjectivity are strongly related to prevailing political, economic, and s... more Youths' well-being and subjectivity are strongly related to prevailing political, economic, and social conditions. Neoliberalism has extensively permeated societies worldwide, changing the way individuals, especially youth, make sense of their surroundings and themselves. There is thus an increasing need to investigate how youth subjectivities are influenced in contemporary societies that are under the influence of neoliberalism. Through an analysis of the future orientation of youth, we can investigate discourses that shape youth subjectivities. In this study, we perform a Foucauldian discourse analysis of the future orientation of youth — high school students, from two national contexts, Turkey and Norway — who were asked to write an essay on their personal futures. We investigate what dominant discourses are revealed in the youths' writings and how they may influence their subjectivities and well-being. We detail two frameworks of discourses, one pertaining to materialism and the other pertaining to education and career, that our participants drew upon in their writings. We relate these discourses to neoliberalism and discuss the extent to which youth constitute themselves as neoliberal subjects of their respective societies. We discuss how these discourses may also be related to their well-being in diverse ways.
Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at ex... more Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at examining usage patterns of core terminology related to well-being in Norwegian newspapers during the past two decades. Specifically, we investigated occurrence across time of 39 words describing well-being facets from four theoretical perspectives: affective approaches, cognitive or life satisfaction approaches, eudaimonic and humanistic approaches, and character strengths. Four major newspapers were selected in order to capture sociocultural and regional variation. Evidence of significant changes in usage frequency was detected for about half of the search terms. Affective words showed variable trends, while usage of words referring to satisfaction declined. The most notable magnitude of change concerned the increase in eudaimonic words related to mastery, motivation, and self-development. Findings suggest that core vocabulary of well-being belongs to a changeable field of linguistic practice. Implications for positive psychology are proposed.
A longitudinal analysis (1984–2005) of media language in Norway is presented, demonstrating how t... more A longitudinal analysis (1984–2005) of media language in Norway is presented, demonstrating how the current globalized capitalist market ideology is now permeating this long-established Scandinavian welfare state. This ideological shift carries powerful implications for community psychology, as traditional welfare state values of equal services based on a universalistic principle are set aside, and social and material inequalities are increasingly accepted. The methodology developed in the present study may serve as a ''barometer of community changes'', to borrow a metaphor used by Sarason (2000).
The need for increasing conceptual clarity within well-being research has been stressed by social... more The need for increasing conceptual clarity within well-being research has been stressed by social scientists as well as policymakers and international organizations. The present study aimed to identify and compare conceptual structures of the everyday terms happiness, a good life, and satisfaction, based on a semi-stratified sample of Norwegian adults. Findings indicate that these terms share certain conceptual similarities, as used in everyday Norwegian language. For each term, it was possible to identify an underlying structure of conceptual configuration, articulated into external life domain components and internal, psychological dimensions. Relationship themes were prominent among the external domains for all three terms. Findings indicated that in Norwegian participants' understanding, happiness and good life were highly inclusive of external life domains, whereas satisfaction primarily evoked associations to internal, psychological states and experiences. Latent class analyses highlighted differences among socio-demographic groups as concerns the degree to which different conceptualizations of the three terms were endorsed. Findings raise questions about the practice, relatively common in the applied social sciences, of treating happiness, good life and satisfaction as highly similar concepts, and the assumption that each term carries the same meaning for everyone.
Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at ex... more Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at examining usage patterns of core terminology related to well-being in Norwegian newspapers during the past two decades. Specifically, we investigated occurrence across time of 39 words describing well-being facets from four theoretical perspectives: affective approaches, cognitive or life satisfaction approaches, eudaimonic and humanistic approaches, and character strengths. Four major newspapers were selected in order to capture sociocultural and regional variation. Evidence of significant changes in usage frequency was detected for about half of the search terms. Affective words showed variable trends, while usage of words referring to satisfaction declined. The most notable magnitude of change concerned the increase in eudaimonic words related to mastery, motivation, and self-development. Findings suggest that core vocabulary of well-being belongs to a changeable field of linguistic practice. Implications for positive psychology are proposed.
The tasks, working situation, and professional role assigned to applied social scientists are ana... more The tasks, working situation, and professional role assigned to applied social scientists are analysed. The processes of basic and applied social research are systematically compared, and it is demonstrated how applied social research has to meet all the cnteria of traditional basic research as well as the specific criterion of social relevance. The problem of how to develop adequate critena
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 0031383820260301, Jul 7, 2006
Nafstad, H.E. 1982. Preschool Children: Inquiry into Interconnections between Social Class, Langu... more Nafstad, H.E. 1982. Preschool Children: Inquiry into Interconnections between Social Class, Language and Training Programs. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 26, 121‐139. Over the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the development and education of preschool children. Especially, there has been great interest in the linguistic and conceptual development of those categories of children who are most likely to become losers at school. Various attempts at reaching future school losers at an early stage to give them a better start in life ‐ for instance, by means of special preschool training programs — have not been unequivocally successful, however. The present article undertakes a critical examination of the basic premises underlying linguistic and conceptual training programs for preschool children. It is shown how widely used preschool programs are based on inadequate assumptions concerning language, language use and communication.
Se una visione del mondo o ideologia contemporanea sta diventando predominante nel mondo si tratt... more Se una visione del mondo o ideologia contemporanea sta diventando predominante nel mondo si tratta del tardo capitalismo, che ricomprende in sé il neo-liberismo e l'ideologia del libero mercato. Questa visione del mondo valorizza la soddisfazione individuale e la società commerciale moderna. Essa è predominante negli Stati Uniti, nell'Unione Europea, in molti altri paesi in Asia e in America Latina e probabilmente anche in Africa. Tuttavia, vi sono differenze tra culture e società relativamente a modalità e livello di influenza di questa ideologia a rapida diffusione. Questo lavoro si propone di identificare ed esaminare ideologie e cambiamenti ideologici in Norvegia, paese scandinavo caratterizzato da una tradizione di welfare state.
Medical doctors, psychologists, engineers, teachers, researchers, and others have become importan... more Medical doctors, psychologists, engineers, teachers, researchers, and others have become important agents in our every day lives. This means that people in everyday life to an increasing degree depend on various professions as providers of development, for welfare and well-being and for mental and physical health. The well-being of the individual, as well as the positive functioning of society, are increasingly dependent on how these professions develop.
Page 1. The child's development environment: the nursery school as a welfare component Hilde... more Page 1. The child's development environment: the nursery school as a welfare component Hilde Eileen Nafstad, Norway The contention that the nursery school* does not occupy a natural place in the child's wel-fare situation ...
This article takes as critical point of departure the currently individualized nature of mainstre... more This article takes as critical point of departure the currently individualized nature of mainstream social psychology. It is argued that by using the concept of ideology, social psychology may be transformed into a more societal social psychology and thereby a discipline more relevant to individual, society and social life. Based on the interplay between language usage and ideology, moreover, a methodology for assessing ideological changes in society by identifying shifts in language usage in the public discourse (newspapers) is presented. Research conducted by this methodology, including comparative studies of how the globalized neoliberalism with its strong individualism merges with local ideologies in various societies around the world is then reviewed. Finally, analyses of a society's ideological reactions upon terrorism, is presented.
Youths' well-being and subjectivity are strongly related to prevailing political, economic, and s... more Youths' well-being and subjectivity are strongly related to prevailing political, economic, and social conditions. Neoliberalism has extensively permeated societies worldwide, changing the way individuals, especially youth, make sense of their surroundings and themselves. There is thus an increasing need to investigate how youth subjectivities are influenced in contemporary societies that are under the influence of neoliberalism. Through an analysis of the future orientation of youth, we can investigate discourses that shape youth subjectivities. In this study, we perform a Foucauldian discourse analysis of the future orientation of youth — high school students, from two national contexts, Turkey and Norway — who were asked to write an essay on their personal futures. We investigate what dominant discourses are revealed in the youths' writings and how they may influence their subjectivities and well-being. We detail two frameworks of discourses, one pertaining to materialism and the other pertaining to education and career, that our participants drew upon in their writings. We relate these discourses to neoliberalism and discuss the extent to which youth constitute themselves as neoliberal subjects of their respective societies. We discuss how these discourses may also be related to their well-being in diverse ways.
Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at ex... more Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at examining usage patterns of core terminology related to well-being in Norwegian newspapers during the past two decades. Specifically, we investigated occurrence across time of 39 words describing well-being facets from four theoretical perspectives: affective approaches, cognitive or life satisfaction approaches, eudaimonic and humanistic approaches, and character strengths. Four major newspapers were selected in order to capture sociocultural and regional variation. Evidence of significant changes in usage frequency was detected for about half of the search terms. Affective words showed variable trends, while usage of words referring to satisfaction declined. The most notable magnitude of change concerned the increase in eudaimonic words related to mastery, motivation, and self-development. Findings suggest that core vocabulary of well-being belongs to a changeable field of linguistic practice. Implications for positive psychology are proposed.
A longitudinal analysis (1984–2005) of media language in Norway is presented, demonstrating how t... more A longitudinal analysis (1984–2005) of media language in Norway is presented, demonstrating how the current globalized capitalist market ideology is now permeating this long-established Scandinavian welfare state. This ideological shift carries powerful implications for community psychology, as traditional welfare state values of equal services based on a universalistic principle are set aside, and social and material inequalities are increasingly accepted. The methodology developed in the present study may serve as a ''barometer of community changes'', to borrow a metaphor used by Sarason (2000).
The need for increasing conceptual clarity within well-being research has been stressed by social... more The need for increasing conceptual clarity within well-being research has been stressed by social scientists as well as policymakers and international organizations. The present study aimed to identify and compare conceptual structures of the everyday terms happiness, a good life, and satisfaction, based on a semi-stratified sample of Norwegian adults. Findings indicate that these terms share certain conceptual similarities, as used in everyday Norwegian language. For each term, it was possible to identify an underlying structure of conceptual configuration, articulated into external life domain components and internal, psychological dimensions. Relationship themes were prominent among the external domains for all three terms. Findings indicated that in Norwegian participants' understanding, happiness and good life were highly inclusive of external life domains, whereas satisfaction primarily evoked associations to internal, psychological states and experiences. Latent class analyses highlighted differences among socio-demographic groups as concerns the degree to which different conceptualizations of the three terms were endorsed. Findings raise questions about the practice, relatively common in the applied social sciences, of treating happiness, good life and satisfaction as highly similar concepts, and the assumption that each term carries the same meaning for everyone.
Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at ex... more Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at examining usage patterns of core terminology related to well-being in Norwegian newspapers during the past two decades. Specifically, we investigated occurrence across time of 39 words describing well-being facets from four theoretical perspectives: affective approaches, cognitive or life satisfaction approaches, eudaimonic and humanistic approaches, and character strengths. Four major newspapers were selected in order to capture sociocultural and regional variation. Evidence of significant changes in usage frequency was detected for about half of the search terms. Affective words showed variable trends, while usage of words referring to satisfaction declined. The most notable magnitude of change concerned the increase in eudaimonic words related to mastery, motivation, and self-development. Findings suggest that core vocabulary of well-being belongs to a changeable field of linguistic practice. Implications for positive psychology are proposed.
The tasks, working situation, and professional role assigned to applied social scientists are ana... more The tasks, working situation, and professional role assigned to applied social scientists are analysed. The processes of basic and applied social research are systematically compared, and it is demonstrated how applied social research has to meet all the cnteria of traditional basic research as well as the specific criterion of social relevance. The problem of how to develop adequate critena
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 0031383820260301, Jul 7, 2006
Nafstad, H.E. 1982. Preschool Children: Inquiry into Interconnections between Social Class, Langu... more Nafstad, H.E. 1982. Preschool Children: Inquiry into Interconnections between Social Class, Language and Training Programs. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 26, 121‐139. Over the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the development and education of preschool children. Especially, there has been great interest in the linguistic and conceptual development of those categories of children who are most likely to become losers at school. Various attempts at reaching future school losers at an early stage to give them a better start in life ‐ for instance, by means of special preschool training programs — have not been unequivocally successful, however. The present article undertakes a critical examination of the basic premises underlying linguistic and conceptual training programs for preschool children. It is shown how widely used preschool programs are based on inadequate assumptions concerning language, language use and communication.
Se una visione del mondo o ideologia contemporanea sta diventando predominante nel mondo si tratt... more Se una visione del mondo o ideologia contemporanea sta diventando predominante nel mondo si tratta del tardo capitalismo, che ricomprende in sé il neo-liberismo e l'ideologia del libero mercato. Questa visione del mondo valorizza la soddisfazione individuale e la società commerciale moderna. Essa è predominante negli Stati Uniti, nell'Unione Europea, in molti altri paesi in Asia e in America Latina e probabilmente anche in Africa. Tuttavia, vi sono differenze tra culture e società relativamente a modalità e livello di influenza di questa ideologia a rapida diffusione. Questo lavoro si propone di identificare ed esaminare ideologie e cambiamenti ideologici in Norvegia, paese scandinavo caratterizzato da una tradizione di welfare state.
Medical doctors, psychologists, engineers, teachers, researchers, and others have become importan... more Medical doctors, psychologists, engineers, teachers, researchers, and others have become important agents in our every day lives. This means that people in everyday life to an increasing degree depend on various professions as providers of development, for welfare and well-being and for mental and physical health. The well-being of the individual, as well as the positive functioning of society, are increasingly dependent on how these professions develop.
Page 1. The child's development environment: the nursery school as a welfare component Hilde... more Page 1. The child's development environment: the nursery school as a welfare component Hilde Eileen Nafstad, Norway The contention that the nursery school* does not occupy a natural place in the child's wel-fare situation ...
This article takes as critical point of departure the currently individualized nature of mainstre... more This article takes as critical point of departure the currently individualized nature of mainstream social psychology. It is argued that by using the concept of ideology, social psychology may be transformed into a more societal social psychology and thereby a discipline more relevant to individual, society and social life. Based on the interplay between language usage and ideology, moreover, a methodology for assessing ideological changes in society by identifying shifts in language usage in the public discourse (newspapers) is presented. Research conducted by this methodology, including comparative studies of how the globalized neoliberalism with its strong individualism merges with local ideologies in various societies around the world is then reviewed. Finally, analyses of a society's ideological reactions upon terrorism, is presented.
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