Development of national indicators of Quality of Life

The purpose of the proposed research is to establish a system of continuous measurement of the quality of life in Croatia. However, since Croatia does not have a system for measuring the quality of life in the way most developed countries of the world do, it is necessary to define a set of indicators that refer to certain aspects of the quality of life and create appropriate instruments. Research and definition of quality of life indicators would enable systematic periodic measurements, and their main purpose is the comparison of different social groups, comparison over time and comparison with other countries. Since in Croatia we do not have the so-called “reference point” with which we would compare ourselves, it is high time to start such research. Croatian society is going through numerous changes, but it does not have reliable insights into how necessary these changes are, and especially not how useful they are for the general quality of life. Specifically, the first goal of this project would be the determination and adaptation of instruments for examining the overall quality of life. Within the first objective, relevant sociodemographic and psychological variables would be additionally determined, which would provide an answer about the predictors of quality of life. The second goal of this research would be to examine the quality of life and individual satisfaction in Croatian society, what factors influence it and whether they exist and what they are regional differences in the examined areas of quality of life. On the basis of available data from various European and other countries, it would be investigated at which level of quality of life Croatian society is compared to other countries. And finally, based on the results of the longitudinal research, they would examine whether there are existing changes in the cognitive and affective component of the subjective quality of life. Additionally, they would examine which regulatory strategies individuals use to regulate positive and negative affective states, their connection with various indicators of quality of life, and whether there are cultural differences in the regulation of affective states between Croatian and American students.