Person-Based Interpersonal Relations and Happiness in Latin America

Interpersonal relationships contribute to people’s happiness; however, their relevance for happiness may depend on the specificities of people’s interactions. This chapter studies a specific kind of interpersonal relationship: Person-based interpersonal relationships. These relationships are frequent in Latin America, and they emphasize the recognition of others’ personhood. Person-based interpersonal relationships imply close, warm, genuine, and enduring relationships that contribute to people’s happiness. This chapter develops the concept of person-based interpersonal relationships, and it shows that they are very relevant in explaining people’s happiness in Latin America. The empirical evidence relies on representative surveys implemented in three Latin American countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico.