Doctoral Dissertation Research: New Markets for Motivation: Exploring Varieties of Success and Well-Being in Mauritius

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

In response to the practical pressures of a fast-growing population and the social pressures to keep up with global trends of modernization, Mauritius instituted a large-scale program in the late 1960s to diversify its mono-crop economy. The purpose of this plan was to provide more jobs for more people, and to ultimately increase the nation's wealth and economic productivity. The country has been successful in this attempt, and over the past forty years, GDP, quality of life, and opportunities for mobility in Mauritius have substantially increased. However, despite the language of economic and social equality in newly democratized Mauritius, class differences left over from the nation's history of colonialism, slavery, and indentured servitude continue to complicate levels of affluence, optimism, and ambition across social groups. This research explores how differences in perceived opportunity, ambition, and comparative appraisals of status affect levels of stress, anxiety, and depression across individuals of different social standing. The project incorporates interviewing and survey methods to find out how individuals appraise themselves and their achievements in relation to a culturally idealized lifestyle, and how these positive or negative self-appraisals have significant consequences on their health. The study tests a hypothesis that people tend to adjust their aspirations for success not only according to what they perceive to be feasible given practical constraints, but also according to their social identifications with other groups of people in Mauritius and the rest of the world, particularly those represented in the mass media. How well individuals can match the levels of affluence of those people with whom they identify at the local, national, and/or international level is hypothesized to affect their happiness and well-being. The broader impacts of this study include a tenable explanation for the widely-documented differences in well-being across socioeconomic strata, and an understanding of the effects of economic growth and modernization on individuals for future public health research and policy development.