IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i21p9268-d441640.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ethics and Happiness at Work in the Spanish Financial Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Sonia Castellanos-Redondo

    (Intellectual Capital Research Group, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Plaza de la Universidad, 1, 02071 Albacete, Spain)

  • Domingo Nevado-Peña

    (Intellectual Capital Research Group, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ronda de Toledo, s/n, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain)

  • Benito Yañez-Araque

    (Applied Intelligent Systems Research Group, Department of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Av. Carlos III, s/n, 45071 Toledo, Spain)

Abstract

Happiness at work requires a good working environment, which undoubtedly improves productivity. In this sphere, the concept is closely related to job satisfaction, which is one of the main factors determining individual happiness, along with home ownership, security, and a healthy environment. Innovative policies to improve corporate well-being—organizational ethics—improve the image of the company, and help transfer the concept of ‘happy management’ to all stakeholders. In addition, remote working, which has become essential for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, poses a key issue in terms of human resource management that needs to be taken into account. Using a survey of working-age Spanish citizens, we established a measure of organizational ethics based on the possible discrepancy between citizens’ personal happiness and their happiness at work. The analysis focused on one of the essential economic sectors in the face of the pandemic, the financial sector. These workers demand organizational ethics with clear values in social responsibility and training, going beyond the achievement of a socially acceptable income. A comparative linear model is also used to test the relationships between a number of conditioning variables and organizational ethics. Citizens’/workers’ priorities are found to shift towards quality of life with a healthy environment, rather than sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Sonia Castellanos-Redondo & Domingo Nevado-Peña & Benito Yañez-Araque, 2020. "Ethics and Happiness at Work in the Spanish Financial Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9268-:d:441640
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9268/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9268/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruut Veenhoven, 1991. "Is happiness relative?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-34, February.
    2. Alexandru Avram & Marco Benvenuto & Costin Daniel Avram & Ginevra Gravili, 2019. "Assuring SME’s Sustainable Competitiveness in the Digital Era: A Labor Policy between Guaranteed Minimum Wage and ICT Skill Mismatch," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Tadashi Yagi & Kunio Urakawa & Katsuhiko Yonezaki, 2016. "Happiness and Employment Status," Creative Economy, in: Toshiaki Tachibanaki (ed.), Advances in Happiness Research, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 139-162, Springer.
    5. Lamberton, Geoffrey, 2015. "Accounting and happiness," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 16-30.
    6. Issam Mf Saltaji, 2013. "Corporate Governance Relation With Corporate Sustainability," Internal Auditing and Risk Management, Athenaeum University of Bucharest, vol. 30(1), pages 145-156, June.
    7. Yew-Kwang Ng, 2003. "From preference to happiness: Towards a more complete welfare economics," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 20(2), pages 307-350, March.
    8. repec:ath:journl:tome:30:v:2:y:2013:i:30:p:130-141 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Cristina Bernini & Alessandro Tampieri, 2019. "Happiness in Italian cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(11), pages 1614-1624, November.
    10. Víctor-Raúl López-Ruiz & José-Luis Alfaro-Navarro & Domingo Nevado-Peña, 2019. "An Intellectual Capital Approach to Citizens’ Quality of Life in Sustainable Cities: A Focus on Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-16, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rafael Ravina-Ripoll & Rafael Robina-Ramírez, 2023. "Are rural accommodation employees able to aspire to transcendent happiness in their work? An exploratory model," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Grzegorz Ignatowski & Łukasz Sułkowski & Bartłomiej Stopczyński, 2021. "Risk of Increased Acceptance for Organizational Nepotism and Cronyism during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-35, March.
    3. Ingi Runar Edvardsson & Susanne Durst, 2021. "Human Resource Management in Crisis Situations: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2013-035 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Kehl, Konstantin & Stahlschmidt, Stephan, 2013. "A new perspective on the economic valuation of informal care: The well-being approach revisited," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2013-035, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    3. Castro, Damaris & Bleys, Brent, 2023. "Do people think they have enough? A subjective income sufficiency assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    4. Ceema Namazie & Peter Sanfey, 2001. "Happiness and Transition: the Case of Kyrgyzstan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 392-405, October.
    5. Brand-Correa, Lina I. & Steinberger, Julia K., 2017. "A Framework for Decoupling Human Need Satisfaction From Energy Use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 43-52.
    6. Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi & Knight, John, 2007. "Community, comparisons and subjective well-being in a divided society," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 69-90, September.
    7. de la Croix, David, 1998. "Growth and the relativity of satisfaction," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 105-125, September.
    8. Konow, James & Earley, Joseph, 2008. "The Hedonistic Paradox: Is homo economicus happier," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 1-33, February.
    9. Umakrishnan Kollamparambil, 2021. "Socio-Economic Inequality of Wellbeing: A Comparison of Switzerland and South Africa," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 555-574, February.
    10. Adrian de la Garza & Giovanni Mastrobuoni & Atsushi Sannabe & Katsunori Yamada, 2010. "The Relative Utility Hypothesis With and Without Self-reported Reference Wages," ISER Discussion Paper 0798, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    11. Luigino Bruni & Luca Stanca, 2006. "Income Aspirations, Television and Happiness: Evidence from the World Values Survey," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 209-225, May.
    12. Stefan Gruber & Gregor Sand, 2022. "Does Migration Pay Off in Later Life? Income and Subjective Well-Being of Older Migrants in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 969-988, April.
    13. Francis Heylighen & Jan Bernheim, 2000. "Global Progress I: Empirical Evidence for ongoing Increase in Quality-of-life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 323-349, September.
    14. Chun-Hung Lin & Suchandra Lahiri & Ching-Po Hsu, 2014. "Happiness and Regional Segmentation: Does Space Matter?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 57-83, February.
    15. Haiyang Lu & Peishan Tong & Rong Zhu, 2020. "Longitudinal Evidence on Social Trust and Happiness in China: Causal Effects and Mechanisms," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1841-1858, June.
    16. Sarinda Taengnoi, 2014. "Economic man and social woman: Determinants of immigrants' life satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1530-1549.
    17. Johannes Vatter, 2012. "Well-Being in Germany: What Explains the Regional Variation?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 435, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    18. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    19. Sugata Marjit & Lei Yang, 2015. "Accumulation with Malnutrition - The Role of Status Seeking Behavior," Discussion Papers Series 544, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    20. Kiwoong Park, 2021. "Does Relative Deprivation in School During Adolescence Get Under the Skin? A Causal Mediation Analysis from the Life Course Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 285-312, February.
    21. repec:sus:susphd:1316 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Cristina Bernini & Alessandro Tampieri, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Urbanization on the Composition of Happiness," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(3), pages 639-657, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9268-:d:441640. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.