Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society www.surv-perspect-integr-environ-soc.net 1993-3800 1993-3819 1 1 2008 10.5194/sapiens-1-11-2008 http://www.surv-perspect-integr-environ-soc.net/1/11/2008/ http://www.surv-perspect-integr-environ-soc.net/1/11/2008/sapiens-1-11-2008.html http://www.surv-perspect-integr-environ-soc.net/1/11/2008/sapiens-1-11-2008.pdf 11 15 2008-02-15 An integrative approach to quality of life measurement, research, and policy R. Costanza robert.costanza@uvm.edu B. Fisher S. Ali C. Beer L. Bond R. Boumans N. L. Danigelis J. Dickinson C. Elliott J. Farley D. Elliott Gayer L. MacDonald Glenn T. R. Hudspeth D. F. Mahoney L. McCahill B. McIntosh B. Reed S. Abu Turab Rizvi D. M. Rizzo T. Simpatico R. Snapp Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Rubenstein School of Environm. and Natural Resources, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Political Science, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Sociology, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Anthropology, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Community Dev. and Appl. Econ., Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Nursing, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of German and Russian, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA College of Medicine, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA School of Business Administration, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Physical Therapy, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Economics, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dept. of Computer Science, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA While Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse "objective" and "subjective" indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys and the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest. Drawing from multiple disciplines, we present an integrative definition of QOL that combines measures of human needs with subjective well-being or happiness. QOL is proposed as a multi-scale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements. We relate QOL to the opportunities that are provided to meet human needs in the forms of built, human, social and natural capital (in addition to time) and the policy options that are available to enhance these opportunities. Issues related to defining, measuring, and scaling these concepts are discussed, and a research agenda is elaborated. Policy implications include strategies for investing in opportunities to maximize QOL enhancement at the individual, community, and national scales. Azar, O. 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