Abstract
Most of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes are scattered in remote mountainous areas, and the aborigines are often regarded as vulnerable groups in need of assistance. This pathological image makes the aborigines often labelled as an unhappy group. Is it really so? This study adopts an empirical quantitative approach to explore the correlation between tribal capacity and happiness, and to provide relevant suggestions for promoting indigenous well-being accordingly. The survey tool of this study is the “tribal capacity” and “individual happiness” scales. The tribal capacity includes static (including 6 aspects) and dynamic (including 5 aspects) capacities, and happiness includes 4 aspects such as psychological well-being, health well-being, life satisfaction and spirituality. This study takes 4 ethnic groups with the largest population among the 16 indigenous groups as the objects, and 4 townships with the largest number of residents of each ethnic group as the research field. Indigenous people over age 20 from 5 tribes of each townships were interviewed, and a total of 491 valid questionnaires were completed. The results show that both tribal static and dynamic capacities have a significant and positive impact on individual happiness. The explanatory contribution of static capacity mainly comes from relational, financial, environmental and cultural aspects; dynamic capacity mainly comes from participation and mobilization aspects. After discussion and analysis, this study puts forward some suggestions such as introducing a “capacity-based” tribal development approach and creating a harmonious relationship between tribal people and groups, which can serve as a reference for tribal governance that promotes indigenous well-being.
Presenters
Yuan Shie HwangDistinguished Professor, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, National Chi-nan University, Nantou, Taiwan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
COMMUNITY CAPACITY, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, TRIBAL GOVERNANCE, HAPPINESS
