Abstract
The development of mankind can be regarded as an ongoing struggle for a better quality of life and greater wellbeing. However – as far as we can see – there is always the drawback of different forms of negative wellbeing such as various worries and pain. A global view of the world’s people shows they partly enjoy life and partly suffer; many do both at the same time. It seems each age is characterized by a specific pattern of gratifying and satisfying traits, but also by a typical burden of worries and pain. It is inevitable in a globalized world that people share worldwide worries more than they did before. The bright side of life is always complemented by a dark side and worries and pain are excluded only in the idea of paradise. Common experience is that everyday disturbances as well as natural catastrophes and political disorganization are ongoing causes of worries and pain. Avoiding negative wellbeing and increasing positive wellbeing, together with expectations of a good future, are important contributors to the comprehensive wellbeing of people.
For friendly support to elaborate this article I want to say thank you to Jennifer Gulyas and Ruth Hasberg.
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Notes
- 1.
In the available global materials I could not find measures of the depth and strength of worries and pain. It could be that the perceived depth and strength of worries and pain differs between different countries and population groups.
- 2.
The questions reflecting positive feelings are:
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Pleased about having accomplished something?
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That things were going your way?
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Proud because someone complimented you on something you had done?
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Particularly excited or interested in something?
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On top of the world?
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- 3.
The number of countries included and the representation of the continental countries:
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Nine from Africa, distribution from the North to the South with big gaps in between;
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Fifteen from Asia, including China and Russia, some of South East Asia but not India;
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Twenty from Europe, only small countries are missing, mostly from the Baltic;
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Eleven from America, including all big countries of the North, the Middle and the South;
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Two from Australia; namely Australia and New Zealand but not Oceania (not the Arctic and not Antarctica).
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This is not an exact representation of the world, its countries and its population, but it is the best representation which we can get today.
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Glatzer, W. (2015). Worries and Pain – The Dark Side of Quality of Life. In: Glatzer, W., Camfield, L., Møller, V., Rojas, M. (eds) Global Handbook of Quality of Life. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6_40
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