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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Mariano Rojas  and
Maikol Elizondo-Lara
Mariano Rojas
Affiliation:
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede México y Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla
Maikol Elizondo-Lara
Affiliation:
Merck Corporation, México
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Resumen

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Costa Rica es un país que de manera sistemática ha mostrado altos niveles de satisfacción de vida a pesar de que su ingreso per cápita no es alto. Datos recientes de la encuesta Gallup del 2008, la cual se hace en más de 140 países del planeta, muestran que los costarricenses tienen la satisfacción de vida más alta del mundo. Esta investigación sigue un enfoque de dominios de vida para entender la satisfacción de vida de los costarricenses y plantea que la satisfacción de vida es el resultado de la satisfacción personal en cada una de las diferentes facetas o áreas concretas donde se ejerce como ser humano. La investigación muestra que el ingreso, aunque estadísticamente significante, no es determinante de la satisfacción económica, y que la satisfacción económica no determina la satisfacción de vida. La investigación concluye que para los costarricenses el nivel de vida es solo uno de los aspectos que influyen en su satisfacción de vida; por ello, su satisfacción de vida es muy alta a pesar de que su ingreso per cápita es comparativamente bajo.

Abstract

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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , 2012 , pp. 78 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

Este proyecto ha contado con el apoyo de una beca incondicionada de la Merck Company Foundation, brazo filantrópico de Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, Estados Unidos.

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