%0 Journal Article %A Vázquez Cabrera, José Juan %T Happiness among the garbage: differences in overall happiness among trash pickers in León (Nicaragua) %D 2013 %@ 1743-9779 %U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/26605 %X This paper analyzes various aspects related to overall happiness expressed by 99 people who make their living in the dumps of León (Nicaragua) - a group that is difficult to access, heavily stigmatized, and living in extreme poverty. We interviewed all the people living from the garbage in the city of León using a heteroapplied structured interview. In order to gather information on overall happiness, we used an instrument that combined illustrations with explanations by the interviewers. The results show that people in León who make their living by collecting rubbish state that they are happy, have optimistic expectations regarding their future, and show a lack of any relationship between overall happiness and income. The respondents appear to obtain their main sources of happiness in areas of their lives other than the economic and labour spheres, and mainly from areas related to their social and leisure activities. %K Happiness %K Trash pickers %K Poverty %K Latin America %K Social exclusion %K Social Activities %K Felicidad %K Recolectores de basura %K Pobreza %K América Latina %K Exclusión social %K Actividades sociales %K Psicología %K Sociología %K Psychology %K Sociology %~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala