PhD defence R. (Renaud) Gaucher

Dissertation in short:

Our goal with this dissertation was to improve the quality of the research being done on the definition and measurement of well-being. In Chapter 2, we ask the question: What is really important for us as an individual? This question allows us to develop an indicator based on ultimate goals, the indicator of a happy, long and sustainable life. This indicator is a negative utilitarianist indicator, it means that more weight is given to the people who suffer and those who die prematurely. In chapter 3, we describe a new content analysis technique. This technique is used to analyse the facial validity of 246 items taken from 12 questionnaires. The technique can also be used to improve the development of new questionnaires on quality of work life and related concepts. In chapter 4, we discuss a new scale, the Well-Being at Work Scale, that allows us to bring together hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives and to adapt them to the work setting. In chapter 5, we discuss a new indicator that bridges well-being at work and well-being in general, the difference in mood at work and home. This indicator is calculated using a Day Reconstruction Method (DRM). It allows us to give a new perspective on well-being at work by taking into account well-being outside work. In chapter 6, we discuss the adaptation of the DRM to the work setting. We called this adaptation the Work Day Reconstruction Method (W-DRM).