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The happiness of sociality. Economics and eudaimonia: A necessary encounter

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  • Luigino Bruni

    (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, Luigino.bruni@unimib.it)

Abstract

The paper discusses some issues of the debate on happiness in economics. In particular it deals with the relationship between happiness and sociality. In fact, in contemporary ‘economics and happiness’ literature there is a new interest in interpersonal relationships thanks to the huge empirical evidence that genuine sociality is one of the heaviest components of self-reported happiness. At the same time, mainstream economics is badly equipped for studying genuine sociality, because it treats interpersonal interactions as elements to be taken into account in terms of externalities. The intuition originating the paper is the conviction that if research on happiness aims at taking into account non-instrumental interpersonal relations, i.e. ‘relational goods’, scholars will profit by a reconsideration or retrieving of the Aristotelian tradition of happiness as eudaimonia .

Suggested Citation

  • Luigino Bruni, 2010. "The happiness of sociality. Economics and eudaimonia: A necessary encounter," Rationality and Society, , vol. 22(4), pages 383-406, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:22:y:2010:i:4:p:383-406
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463110374500
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Corsi, Alessandro & Frontuto, Vito & Novelli, Silvia, 2022. "Relational goods and direct purchase from farmers: estimating the value of the relationship between consumers and producers," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(2), March.
    3. Gabriel Leite Mota, 2022. "Unsatisfying ordinalism: The breach through which happiness (re)entered economics," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 513-528, June.
    4. Christopher J. Boudreaux & Niklas Elert & Magnus Henrekson & David S. Lucas, 2022. "Entrepreneurial accessibility, eudaimonic well-being, and inequality," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1061-1079, October.
    5. Asya Bellia & Lorenzo Corsini, 2021. "Disability and happiness: the role of accessibility," Discussion Papers 2021/284, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    6. Paola Conigliaro, 2022. "Subjective Well-Being in Italian Regions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 751-781, June.
    7. Salvador del Saz Salazar & Luis Pérez y Pérez, 2021. "Exploring the Differential Effect of Life Satisfaction on Low and High-Cost Pro-Environmental Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Yiwan Ye & Xiaoling Shu, 2022. "Lonely in a Crowd: Cohort Size and Happiness in the United Kingdom," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2235-2257, June.
    9. Martino María Guadalupe & Müller Christian, 2018. "Reciprocity in the Civil Economy: a Critical Assessment," Journal for Markets and Ethics, Sciendo, vol. 6(1), pages 63-74, June.

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