Quality of Life

Much of the human experience has striven for happiness and the satisfactions of life. Well-being and satisfaction with family, job, leisure, and other domains of life characterize the quality of life (QOL). QOL developments such as measurement and research findings will be explored to show the rise of this interdisciplinary topic. Satisfaction comes from many sources, one being the idea of survival.

Survival of the species constitutes a domain of the QOL, according to R. Mukherjee, who canvassed the writings of W. I. Thomas, R. S. Lind, L. L. Thurstone, A. H. Maslow, and others in order to identify our cardinal valuations. A cardinal value of humankind is survival. Seeing one's heritage, genes, and traditions passed on to the succeeding generations before death provides gratification and fulfillment. Suicide ends the life of some, but the greatest threats to life are man-made and natural disasters. During the 20th century, 250 formally declared wars led to the demise of more than 100 million people. Genocide, pogrom, religious conflicts, and political hostility took at least 145 million lives during the 20th century. These losses affected the QOL of at least an additional 500 million. Man-made disasters have claimed the lives of thousands in the form of automobile, ship, aircraft and train accidents, explosions, mine disasters, nuclear accidents, and fires over the past 10 years. Man's adaptation to the fruits of the Industrial Revolution has come at a cost to survival.

Natural disasters also led to loss of life, crushing the QOL of thousands. In the 10 years ending 2006, earthquakes caused more than 339,000 deaths worldwide. During the same period, floods and tidal waves took more than 273,000 lives, affecting the QOL of many thousands of family members left behind. Other natural disasters have brought death to tens of thousands, including storms, hurricanes, typhoons, blizzards, and volcanic eruptions. We have not yet learned to avoid nature's fury.

Evolution of Quality-of-Life Measures

In the 1960s, the gross domestic product (GDP) was looked upon as a general but unsatisfactory index of the well-being of society. Social indicators were expected to provide more sensitive indices. They have done so. In the 1970s, scholars worldwide began to contrive better indices of well-being. Marketing scholars saw QOL measures as reflections of success in distributing goods and services to satisfy needs. Psychologists developed measures of subjective well-being. Economists and sociologists employed ecological measures of aspects of QOL to reflect the status of regions or social systems. Scholars worldwide began to survey populations and identify population categories that evidenced better or worse QOL. However, only Bhutan, in Asia, with a population slightly over 1 million, has substituted QOL measures for the economic GDP.

Conceptualization and Application of QOL Measures

Three approaches to measurement have evolved. Sensitive to health conditions, scientists studying effects of medical interventions have developed extensive protocols for QOL of people with specific health conditions or therapy needs. Psychologists, concerned with mental health and other mental conditions, have focused upon subjective well-being, measured by questionnaire items that allow the respondent to express happiness and life satisfaction. Finally, economists, sociologists, geographers, and others rely upon both survey findings and reported data combined to compare the QOL of cities, regions, and nationstates. These efforts have resulted in an understanding of segments of the population that are better or worse off and that should receive various services to improve their well-being.

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