On the many accounts of public happiness

Abstract

Economists of the HEIRS association for Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations promote a better understanding of the fundamental importance of sociality for people's happiness. The 2013 conference on "Public Happiness" did justice to this goal and provided an overview of stimulating new developments in the study of people's well-being. The special issue focuses on the one hand on social comparison processes that most naturally emerge if people form interpersonal connections. On the other hand, it contributes to the conceptualization of the many different accounts of public happiness. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.