Healthy and Happy Amidst Covid-19? How is That Possible?
Healthy and Happy Amidst Covid-19? How is That Possible?

Summary/Abstract: Based on the latest empirical assessments of health and the feeling of happiness, gathered under the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP, 2021), the article offers a sociological reconstruction of the correlation between health and happiness. A particular feature here is that the empirical data was gathered amidst the COVID-19 pandemic – unprecedented in its nature and duration. The study demonstrates a direct ratio between the individual’s health condition and his/her feeling of happiness. Health is influenced by the age factor: as age advances, basic health indicators tend to deteriorate. The feeling of happiness is influenced primarily by a person’s age, type of employment, position in the system of relations of production, and material status. A sociological reading of the empirical data urges the observation that, living under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant share of adult Bulgarians are more inclined to define themselves as healthy and happy than under normal conditions, where people tend to share more moderate assessments in this respect.

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