Guest editors
Florian Kohlbacher, German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Tokyo, Japan & Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, P.R. China
Clemens Tesch-Römer, German Centre of Gerontology (DZA), Germany
Michael Eid, Free University of Berlin, Germany
Demographic change has emerged as a powerful trend affecting a large number of countries around the world. Populations are ageing, and in some cases shrinking. This has tremendous economic, social, individual and organizational consequences (Drucker, Citation2002; Dychtwald & Flower, Citation1990; Magnus, Citation2009). This special issue is devoted to the question how these changes affect the well-being of individuals taking into account the role social policies play in this context.
In recent years, there has been a lively debate on the relationship between societal welfare and subjective well-being (Alex Linley, Joseph, Harrington, & Wood, Citation2006; Diener, Lucas, Schimmack, & Helliwell, Citation2009; Stiglitz, Sen & Fitoussi, Citation2009; Veenhoven, Citation2006). Societal welfare can be described not only in terms of objective societal wealth (e.g. economic production, income and wealth, welfare state infrastructure), but also in terms of subjective wellbeing, referring to the mean level and distribution of life satisfaction and happiness in a society. The study of people’s well-being and happiness has highly relevant implications for individuals and societies (Coulmas, Citation2009; Layard, Citation2011). Also in gerontology, the subjective well-being of older people is one of the most studied areas (Berenbaum, Chow, Schoenleber, & Flores, 2013; Carstensen, Citation2009; George, Citation2010). Despite the growing importance of the older age group in the population, and the global scale of the demographic shift, the topic of social policies and well-being in later life has not yet received sufficient attention, however. Understanding older people and ageing societies via academic, empirical research will help policy makers and opinion leaders to deal with the individual needs of both younger and older people in ageing societies and in designing the appropriate environments to enhance their well-being. Such an understanding will also help to follow Boudiny’s (Citation2013) recent call to turn ‘active ageing’ from an empty rhetoric to an effective policy tool.
The vast majority of the research on ageing societies on the one hand, and well-being on the other, has been conducted in North America and Europe. But other nations also merit closer attention. Moreover, comparative research will help to better understand societal and cultural conditions of aging (Tesch-Römer & von Kondratowitz, Citation2006) and well-being (Wierzbicka, Citation2009). Take the case of China and Japan for example: The Japanese society has grown old after becoming rich and has already established a wide variety of social policies (Coulmas, Citation2007; Coulmas, Conrad, Schad-Seifert, & Vogt, Citation2008; Muramatsu & Akiyama, Citation2011), while China is growing old before becoming a rich nation (Peng, Citation2011; Zeng, Citation2009; Zhang, Guo, & Zheng, Citation2012) and has to adapt and develop its social policies in this process.
This special issue adopts a cross-national perspective and thus seeks contributions from a variety of countries with ageing populations. Comparative studies are particularly welcome, but research focusing on one particular nation is also within the scope of this special issue.
Overall, this special issue will be open to multidisciplinary approaches and researchers who work on the well-being of older people. Theoretical and empirical papers are invited to this special issue which are devoted to the topic of social policies and well-being in later life in ageing societies.
Timeline
1 October 2014: Proposals due
1 December 2014: Acceptances sent to authors
31 March 2015: Draft manuscript due
1 June 2015: Comments sent to authors
1 October 2015: Revised manuscripts due
1 December 2015: Decisions/comments sent to authors
1 March 2016: Final manuscripts due.
Submissions
Please send proposals to Florian Kohlbacher ([email protected]) with the subject line “Journal of Positive Psychology.” No proposals will be formally accepted until the deadline, so early submissions will not receive an earlier decision.
References
- Alex Linley, P., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 3–16.
- Berenbaum, H., Chow, P. I., Schoenleber, M., & Flores Jr., L. E. (2013). Pleasurable emotions, age, and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 140–143.
- Boudiny, K. (2013). ‘Active ageing’: From empty rhetoric to effective policy tool. Ageing and Society, 33, 1077–1098.
- Carstensen, L. L. (2009). A long bright future. Happiness, health, and financial security in an age of increased longevity. New York, NY: Public Affairs.
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- Coulmas, F. (2009). Die illusion vom Glück: Japan und der Westen. Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
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- Tesch-Römer, C., & von Kondratowitz, H.-J. (2006). Comparative ageing research: A flourishing field in need of theoretical cultivation. European Journal of Ageing, 3, 155–167.
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