The ontological turn in social sciences has revealed the anthropocentrism of earlier literature, but the role of interspecies relations in well-being ideals remains less explored. We examine the role of interspecies relations in well-being conceptions. The study is conducted among Indigenous communities to capture alternative human realities to those mainly reflected in the academic well-being literature. The study asks: what are the perspectives of selected Indian Indigenous communities on interspecies relations and well-being, and what is the role of the interspecies relations in their well-being and happiness conceptions? The research was conducted qualitatively using an immersive study technique, participatory observation and interviews, in eight villages in Central India. The material was analysed by participatory analysis and qualitative coding. The respondents form an ‘interspecies community’ with most of the nonhumans: the respondents had familial, reciprocal and caring relations with nonhumans, and perceived both the humans and nonhumans to similarly depend on a shared ecology. Such caring relations that relate to a sense of connection, and the well-being of the local humans and nonhumans were seen as important for human happiness. The caring relations towards the nonhumans, and sense of interdependency with the interspecies community tie the well-being of nonhumans to the local well-being conceptions. The local perspectives emphasize and respect the well-being of the nonhumans more than the predominant academic well-being conceptions.

社会科学的本体论转向揭示了早期文献的人类中心主义，但物种间关系在幸福理想中的作用仍然很少被探索。我们研究了物种间关系在幸福感概念中的作用。该研究在原住民社区中进行，以捕捉主要反映在学术福祉文献中的另类人类现实。该研究提出了以下问题：选定的印度土著社区对物种间关系和福祉的看法是什么，物种间关系在他们的福祉和幸福概念中的作用是什么？该研究是在印度中部的八个村庄使用沉浸式研究技术、参与式观察和访谈定性进行的。通过参与式分析和定性编码对材料进行分析。受访者与大多数非人类形成了一个“物种间社区”：受访者与非人类有家庭、互惠和关怀的关系，并认为人类和非人类都同样依赖于一个共同的生态。这种与联系感以及当地人类和非人类福祉相关的关怀关系被视为对人类幸福很重要。对非人类的关怀关系，以及与物种间社区的相互依存感，将非人类的福祉与当地的福祉概念联系起来。地方观点比主流的学术幸福概念更强调和尊重非人类的福祉。