Psychology of Child Well-Being

Abstract

This chapter addresses child well-being from a psychological point of view. In doing so, we need to remember that psychology is not one single discipline but distributed among children in different countries (Wold) and ask whether such measurements are valid and what influence them across cultures and countries (Trommsdorff). We continue by – on a broad base – to single out what affects the experience of well-being generally and among children and adolescents particularly. The issues covered are evolution (Grinde), genes (Nes), cognition (Thimm and Wang), personality (Torgersen and Waaktaar), family (Bowes and Bekkhus), transfer of values between parents and child (Headey, Muffels and Wagner), play (Borge), peer relations (Borge), kindergarten (Zachrisson and Lekhal), and school (Barry). We end the chapter by presenting five ways to practically enhance happiness in everyday life (Nes and Marks) and by guiding you through the world’s largest database on happiness – the World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven).