Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Satisfacción de vida en Costa Rica: Un enfoque de dominios de vida

2012; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/lar.2012.0019

1542-4278

Mariano Rojas, Maikol Elizondo-Lara,

Employment and Welfare Studies

Costa Rica es un pais que de manera sistematica ha mostrado altos niveles de satisfaccion de vida a pesar de que su ingreso per capita no es alto. Datos recientes de la encuesta Gallup del 2008, la cual se hace en mas de 140 paises del planeta, muestran que los costarricenses tienen la satisfaccion de vida mas alta del mundo. Esta investigacion sigue un enfoque de dominios de vida para entender la satisfaccion de vida de los costarricenses y plantea que la satisfaccion de vida es el resultado de la satisfaccion personal en cada una de las diferentes facetas o areas concretas donde se ejerce como ser humano. La investigacion muestra que el ingreso, aunque estadisticamente significante, no es determinante de la satisfaccion economica, y que la satisfaccion economica no determina la satisfaccion de vida. La investigacion concluye que para los costarricenses el nivel de vida es solo uno de los aspectos que influyen en su satisfaccion de vida; por ello, su satisfaccion de vida es muy alta a pesar de que su ingreso per capita es comparativamente bajo. Abstract: Costa Ricans have high life-satisfaction levels, even though their per capita income is not high. This result shows up systematically in most polls. For example, a 2008 Gallup Poll shows that Costa Ricans have the highest life satisfaction in the world of 143 countries in which the survey was implemented. Why does a country with mid-level per capita income have the highest life satisfaction in the world? This article follows a domains-of-life approach to understand the high life satisfaction of Costa Ricans. The approach states that life satisfaction emerges from satisfaction in different domains of life in which people act as human beings. The article shows that income, though statistically significant, does not determine economic satisfaction. Furthermore, economic satisfaction does not determine life satisfaction. The article shows that the standard of living is just one of many aspects affecting Costa Rican’s life satisfaction. Costa Ricans obtain life satisfaction from other noneconomic domains, such as in their availability and use of free time and in their interpersonal relations. Hence, it is possible for Costa Ricans to attain high life satisfaction levels with a midrange per capita income.