The impact of life role salience on life satisfaction

The authors examined the relationships among life role salience, role strain, coping efficacy, and life satisfaction for adults (N = 125) who combine multiple life roles. Causal modeling procedures were used to test hypotheses based on D. E. Super's (1980, 1990) life‐span, life‐space theory and the social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 2000). They hypothesized that high role salience would be related to high levels of role strain and that coping efficacy would mediate the impact of role strain on participants' life satisfaction. Results indicated that the proposed model fit the data for the present sample.     

Equity and marital satisfaction over the family life cycle

Marital satisfaction and perceptions of global marital equity were assessed in a sample of 373 Australian husbands and wives drawn from four phases of the family life cycle: preparenthood, childrearing, launching, and the empty nest. For wives only, satisfaction levels across successive phases described the U-shaped curve predicted from previous research. Sex differences emerged in perceptions of marital equity: During childrearing and the empty nest, more wives than husbands experienced equity; and in all phases except preparenthood, inequitable marriages were more likely to produce overbenefit for husbands and underbenefit for wives. For the sample as a whole, and for the preparenthood and childrearing groups individually, marital satisfaction was predicted both by the relative level of benefit a respondent gained from marriage, and by how closely the balance of exchange in the marriage matched strict equity. During launching, however, relative benefit eclipsed strict adherence to the rule of equity as a predictor of satisfaction, whereas during the empty nest phase, strict equity eclipsed relative benefit. Possible explanations for these life-cycle variations are discussed.     

The impact of life events on job satisfaction

Employing fixed effects regression techniques on longitudinal data, we investigate how life events affect employees' job satisfaction. Unlike previous work–life research, exploring mostly contemporaneous correlations, we look for evidence of adaptation in the years following major life events. We find evidence of adaptation following the first marriage event, but we find that the birth of the first child has a long-lasting impact on employees' job satisfaction. Our findings also suggest that there is a general boost in job satisfaction prior to first marriage and to a lesser extent prior to the birth of the first child, consistent with evidence of anticipation. Accordingly, our study provides some of the first evidence on the dynamic effect of non-work related factors on job satisfaction and it introduces a novel methodology and a new perspective for investigating the dynamic interaction between the work and life domains.     

The impact of a near-death experience on family relationships

This study explores the influence that a near-death experience (NDE) had on the family relationships of eleven NDErs, based on in-depth interviews. I detail the changes in relationships with extensive quotes providing data on family interactions. Analysis of the adjustments of NDErs within their family relationships reveals that while some families cope well and are positively influenced by an NDE, others may encounter difficulty and cease to function as they previously did. The transformation that NDErs themselves undergo, as well as the attitudes of others toward the NDE and the NDEr, are instrumental in altering NDErs' family relationships.This paper was excerpted and adapted from his seniors honors thesis.     

Self-efficacy and its relationship with satisfaction with life and happiness among university students

This study set out to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and satisfaction with life and happiness among university students in South Africa. The sample comprised 334 students (female = 222, male = 112, black = 96%, mean age = 23 years). The students completed a general self-efficacy scale, the satisfaction with life scale and the subjective happiness scale. Data were analysed utilising regression approaches to predict students’ satisfaction with life and happiness from self-efficacy. The results revealed higher self-efficacy scores to predict both higher satisfaction with life and happiness in both males and females. Self-efficacy seems to facilitate both satisfaction with life and happiness in general.     

Self-reported experience of bullying of students who stutter: relations with life satisfaction, life orientation, and self-esteem

Self-reported self-esteem, life orientation, satisfaction with life, and bullying were examined in relation to victimization experiences among 54 students who stuttered and 54 students who did not stutter. Those who stuttered reported greater, i.e., clinically significant, victimization (44.4%) than students who did not stutter (9.2%). Significant differences were found between means for self-esteem and life orientation, with students who stuttered reporting lower self-esteem and less optimistic life orientation than those who did not stutter. In both groups of students, high victimization scores had statistically significant negative correlations with optimistic life orientation, high self-esteem, and high satisfaction with life scores. Given the increased likelihood of students who stuttered being bullied, the negative relation of adjustment variables and bullying, and the potentially negative long-term effects of bullying, increased vigilance and early intervention are discussed.     

A family system perspective on custody and adoption

This paper will define the conceptual models of an internalized family image and an external psychological family as derived from psychoanalytic and family therapy studies, and relate these models to several issues impinging on custody, adoption, and foster care. Several suggestions based on these models and illustrated by clinical material will be presented which, if applied by families, and mental health, social, and legal authorities, can facilitate the creation of a psychological family, or at least an ambiance imbued with the concepts of a psychological family, for use in the construction of a family image by unrooted children.Dr. Sonne is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College; Visiting Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Hahnemann Medical College; Emeritus Director Clinical School, Family Institute of Philadelphia; Senior Attending, Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital.     

Religious belief and its association with life satisfaction of adolescents in Hong Kong

The present study seeks to understand the association of adolescents’ religious belief with life satisfaction in Hong Kong. Data of 5,812 adolescents’ key demographic information and life satisfaction were gathered through stratified sampling in order to reflect four distinctive adolescent groups in Hong Kong: Hong Kong Mainstream Chinese Students (HKMCS), Non-Chinese Speaking South and south-east Asian Students (NCS), Chinese Immigrant Students (CIS) and Cross-Boundary Students (CBS) from Mainland China. The Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS) was used to explore life satisfaction of the four student groups. Results indicate that there were significantly different levels of life satisfaction across the four groups. Key demographic variables were significantly but dissimilarly associated with different groups of students’ life satisfaction. Religious belief was substantially important for the life satisfaction of NCS in particular. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed.     

Using the family life cycle with later life families

The development of a family clinic for later life families within an Old Age Psychiatry service is briefly described. An extended life cycle model has been found useful in understanding and working with such families and is also described, together with two cases which illustrate the practical application of the model.     

The impact of frequent social Internet consumption: Increased procrastination and lower life satisfaction

Organizations are frequently turning to social Internet applications in an effort to form bonds with consumers. However, little research has addressed the impact of social Internet consumption on the individual. Two studies of regular social Internet consumers (i.e., users of Facebook and socially connected online games) examined the effects of prompted usage reduction or cessation upon participants. In both studies, participants benefitted on average during the reduction/cessation period, reporting increased life satisfaction and decreased procrastination. The Facebooker versus gamer factor had remarkably few effects (i.e., results generalized across these two groups). Implications are discussed for both consumers and organizations involved in social Internet activities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Authentic happiness theory supported by impact of religion on life satisfaction: A longitudinal analysis with data for Germany

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey, this paper assesses the relationship between life satisfaction and religious practice. It is shown that individuals who become more religious over time record long term gains in life satisfaction, while those who become less religious record long term losses. This result holds net of the effects of personality traits, and also in fixed effects panel models. The paper has significant implications for the current paradigm theory in SWB research, namely set-point theory. This theory holds that the long term SWB of adult individuals is stable, because SWB depends on personality traits and other stable genetic factors. New evidence in this paper about the effects of consciously chosen life goals, including religious ones, on SWB is hard to reconcile with set-point theory. It is more in line with authentic happiness theory.     

Loneliness and life satisfaction of boys with developmental coordination disorder: the impact of leisure participation and perceived freedom in leisure

A theoretical model linking motor ability with perceived freedom in leisure, participation in team sports, loneliness, and global life satisfaction was tested using linear confirmatory path analysis. Participants were 173 boys aged 10-13 years who filled in self-report questionnaires about perceived freedom in leisure, loneliness, and global life satisfaction. Parents of boys completed 7-day diaries and 12-month retrospective recall questionnaires about their son's leisure-time activity participation. Results of path analyses confirmed that the fit of the hypothetical model was consistent with predictions. The inferred direct pathways of influence between both total loneliness and global life satisfaction on motor ability were in the expected directions (i.e., inverse and positive relationships, respectively). Perceived Freedom in Leisure (PFL) and participation in team sports were two intermediate variables indirectly influencing these relationships. Although PFL was identified as a motivational process influencing participation levels in team sports it was noted that other psychological and environmental factors must also be considered when evaluating child-activity-environment fit for boys with developmental coordination disorder.     

Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: the full life versus the empty life

Different orientations to happiness and their association with life satisfaction were investigated with 845 adults responding to Internet surveys. We measured life satisfaction and the endorsement of three different ways to be happy through pleasure, through engagement, and through meaning. Each of these three orientations individually predicted life satisfaction. People simultaneously low on all three orientations reported especially low life satisfaction. These findings point the way toward a distinction between the full life and the empty life.     

Mental health in Swedish children living in joint physical custody and their parents' life satisfaction: A cross‐sectional study

This study compared the psychological symptoms of 129 children in joint physical custody with children in single care and nuclear families, using a nationally representative 2011 survey of 1,297 Swedish children aged between four and 18 years. The outcome measure was the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and its association with three dimensions of parental life satisfaction was investigated. Linear regression analyses showed higher SDQ‐scores for children in joint physical custody (B = 1.4, p < 0.001) and single care (B = 2.2, p < 0.001) than in nuclear families, after adjustment for socio‐demographic variables. The estimates decreased to 1.1 and 1.3, respectively, after being adjusted for parental life satisfaction ( p < 0.01). Our findings confirm previous research that showed lower symptom scores for children in nuclear families than children in single care and joint physical custody. Parental life satisfaction should be investigated further as a possible explanation of differences in symptom load between children in different living arrangements.     

The impact of illness on the family and the family's impact on illness

This paper discusses the influence that familial relationships can have on illness and the way in which illness can impact on the functioning of the family system. Developmental phases of illness, the family life cycle and chronic illness are all examined in relation to the family and it's functioning. The way in which health behaviours are adopted within families, and behavioural and genetic predispositions to illness are also discussed.     

Happiness and life satisfaction in Rwanda

This study investigated predictors of happiness and life satisfaction in Rwanda. Data from the World Values Survey and gathered from 3 030 Rwandese (age ranging 16 to 90 years, mean age = 34.2, SD = 12.7; females = 50.5%) were pooled for the analysis. For the comparison, international World Values Survey data were utilised. A fixed effects multilevel regression model was used to predict happiness and life satisfaction from gender, health, socio-economic, and some subjective measures. Males had greater self-rated happiness and life satisfaction scores than females. State of health and sense of freedom of choice predicted both happiness and life satisfaction. Valuing of friends, weekly religious attendance, and national pride positively predicted happiness, whereas household’s financial satisfaction, full-time employment, high-income group, being a student, and sense of trust predicted life satisfaction. This study suggests that health status, household’s financial satisfaction and emancipative values could maximise subjective well-being in Rwanda.     

Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations

This paper investigates the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction in 79 nations using World Values Survey data. Extant literature analyzes religiosity and life satisfaction at person level. But religiosity is an attribute of both, persons and societies. To solve methodological problems evident in previous work a random coefficient multilevel model is employed to account for the fact that individuals are nested within countries. This study shows that the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction is bimodal. Religious people tend to be either very satisfied or dissatisfied with life. The relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction is also two-dimensional. Forms of religiosity that promote social capital predict high life satisfaction. People have so called “need to belong” and religion helps to satisfy it. On the other hand, forms of religiosity that do not promote social capital do not predict high life satisfaction. Religiosity is also context-dependent. Religious people are happier in religious nations. In other words, it is not only religiosity per se that makes people happy, but rather a social setting it offers.