Age and Gender Differences in Adaptation and Subjective Well-being of Older Adults Residing in Monastic Religious Communities

The purpose of this study was to explore age and gender differences in the adaptation and well-being of older adults residing in Catholic monasteries. Participants included 235 members, age 64 and older, from the Order of St. Benedict. 2 (Age) × 2 (Gender) analyses of variance were computed to determine significant differences. Young-old persons reported greater friendship, coping behaviors, and personal growth, however, old-old individuals reported greater engagement in religious coping and greater depression. In addition, women reported greater coping behaviors, life satisfaction, and personal growth, but men reported greater depression. The results have implications on how pastoral care providers and counselors can improve quality of life among older adults living in contemplative religious settings.     

老年人社会适应性与主观幸福感的结构关系

该研究通过编制适应老年人的社会适应性与主观幸福感问卷,探讨了老年人社会适应性与主观幸福感的结构关系。结果表明,问卷具有良好的结构效度和内部一致性信度,人际交往适应性和角色转换适应性对主观幸福感各维度具有显著的预测价值,生活自理适应性对积极情感具有显著预测作用,但预测力不如人际交往适应性和角色转换适应性,而社会整体变化适应性对主观幸福感不存在预测的价值。地区差异对老年人社会适应性和主观幸福感结构预测关系存在显著的调节效应。     

Hope for the Future and Avoidance of the Present: Associations with Well-being in Older Adults

Positive psychology and third wave cognitive behavioral therapy approaches have seldom been applied to older adults. This study therefore examined whether two concepts drawn from these areas, hope for the future and avoidance in the present, were associated with well-being in a sample of 259 older adults (65–94 years). Hope was measured as a stable trait. Experiential avoidance was measured as avoidance of present internal and external events. Respondents also completed two well-being measures: hedonic (positive and negative affect) and eudeimonic (meaning in life). Path analyses showed that high hope was significantly associated with high positive affect, and high meaning in life; and high experiential avoidance was associated with high negative affect and low meaning in life. This was also true when both (hope and avoidance) were taken into account, along with sociodemographic variables and perceived health. Many of the pathways between hope and well-being, and between experiential avoidance and well-being appear to be bidirectional. However the path from hope to positive affect was stronger than that from positive affect to hope. Further research is needed to clarify each of these points. Both hope for the future and lack of avoidance in the present are important for well-being in older adulthood and interventions targeting these processes may enhance positive aging and contribute to a sense of having a meaningful life.     

Chinese Tourist Vacation Satisfaction and Subjective Well-being

While the effects of vacation on tourists have been frequently discussed in the Western context, research endeavors to understand such effects in a non-Western context are rather limited. The current study aimed at investigating Chinese tourists’ subjective well-being and its potential changes associated with vacation experiences. The survey of 302 Chinese tourists confirmed the positive effect of satisfaction with service aspects of travel/tourism phases on satisfaction with travel/tourism services, the positive effect of trip reflections and satisfaction with travel/tourism services on satisfaction with travel experiences, and the direct positive effect of satisfaction with travel experiences on travelers’ SWB. This study further explored the corresponding roles of travel duration and frequency. The results suggested a moderating effect of vacation duration on the link between tourist satisfaction and SWB; vacation frequency did not have such an effect. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings were discussed, followed by recommendations for future research.     

主观幸福感测量研究

主观幸福感回溯式自陈报告测量存在一定的不足,在此基础上研究者们发展了关注时间因素的即时测量方法,如经验取样法(ESM),生态瞬时评定法(EMA),日重现法(DRM),U指数(The U-Index)等.从传统测量走向多样化测量大大提高了主观幸福感测量的生态效度,同时也为国民幸福指数的构建与评估提供了一定参考.     

Spirituality and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors: Stress Counter-balancing Effects on the Well-being of Older Adults

The goal of this study was to examine stress-ameliorating effects of religiosity, spirituality, and healthy lifestyle behaviors on the stressful relationship of chronic illness and the subjective physical well-being of 221 older adults. We also investigated whether the intervening variables functioned as coping behaviors and orientations or as adaptations in late life. Guided by the stress paradigm, path analysis was used to assess these relationships in a stress suppressor model and a distress deterrent model. No suppressor effects were found; however a number of distress deterrent relationships were detected. Spirituality, physical activities, and healthy diet all contributed to higher subjective physical well-being, as counter-balancing effects, in the distress deterrent model. The findings have implications for future research on the role of spirituality, religiosity and lifestyle behaviors on the well-being of chronically ill older adults. Findings also support the need for studying different dimensions of religiosity and spirituality in an effort to understand coping versus adaptation in behaviors and orientations. Gracie H. Boswell, Ph.D., M.Ed. (Case Western Reserve University) and (M. Ed.- Kent State University). She is a Carolina Program in Health and Aging Research Scientist at the Institute on Aging- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests have been social gerontology and quality of life, emphasizing religiosity/spirituality. Eva Kahana, Ph.D. (University of Chicago) is Pierce T. and Elizabeth D. Robson Professor of Humanities and Director of the Elderly Care Research Center- Case Western Reserve University. Her research concentration has been the sociology of aging (coping & stress and institutionalization). Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Ph.D. (Northwestern University) is Director- Center for Aging and Diversity, Institute on Aging, Professor- School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Administration at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests have been caregiving and minority health disparities.     

成人依恋、情绪调节与主观幸福感:重新评价和表达抑制的中介作用

通过对1163名大学生被试进行成人依恋关系、情绪调节策略的使用以及主观幸福感的测查,该研究从情绪调节这一新的视角,深入探讨了成人依恋对主观幸福感产生影响的可能机制。结果发现:重新评价策略的使用在依恋安全对主观幸福感影响中具有重要的中介作用;依恋回避直接影响个体的主观幸福感;表达抑制对主观幸福感影响不显著。这些结果表明重新评价策略的使用是成人依恋关系影响个体主观幸福感的一个重要途径。     

Prevention Activities for Older Adults: Social Structures and Personal Competencies That Maintain Useful Social Roles

A conceptual reorientation for providing responsive psychological services to older adults is presented, focusing on the need to develop prevention programs for older adults that encourage the maintenance of useful social roles. Changes in social structures that encourage more active social engagement are discussed, with examples drawn from housing options, part-time employment, and ways to develop more supportive social ties for older adults faced with network losses. Counselors and other mental health specialists can play a useful role in helping the public understand the social dilemmas faced by older adults and the value of their continued integration as useful citizens.     

Day Centers for Older Adults:

As a relatively new service concept which addresses the care of the frail older adult, Day Centers offer a rare opportunity for the partnership of local parishes and service agencies. In typical local parishes, there is a vast increase in the number of frail older adults as- well as the number of their care-giving families. Day Centers offer an opportunity for wholistic care for the older adults. By careful programing the needs of the whole person are addressed: social, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Care-giving families appreciate sharing their responsibility. Parishes have vast resources to offer Day Centers. Agencies have the expertise for program development and operations. With the partnership of parish and agency, resources are enhanced. Benefited are the older adults served, the parish, the agency and the community.     

中学生学习主观幸福感的影响因素及其教育建议

学习主观幸福感对中学生整体生活的满意程度和心理健康有着重要的影响。本文分析了影响中学生学习主观幸福感的主要因素：学习体验、归因倾向、学习成绩、自我效能感及社会支持,并在此基础上提出了针对学校、教师及家庭的教育建议。     

Physical Activity and Perceived Self‐Efficacy in Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of self‐efficacy in older adults, with physical activity, age, and sex as the predictor variables. Regression analyses revealed physical activity to be the only statistically significant predictor of self‐efficacy. These findings may be of interest to counselors who work with older people.     

Relationship Between Private Religious Activity and Physical Functioning in Older Adults

This study sought to further understand the relationship between physical functioning and use of private religious activity in older adults. Subjects were age 65 or older from urban and rural counties in North Carolina who participated in the Duke University Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (Duke/EPESE). A total of 3,851 subjects responded to a question that inquired about their use of prayer, meditation, or Bible reading in 1986. Their response was correlated to number of impairments in activities of daily living (ADLs) (n = 3,791). Subjects who indicated use of private religious activity either dailyor neverhad the greatest number of impairments. Those who prayed or meditated one time per weekhad the least number of impairments. This cross-sectional finding is explained in terms of both changes in private religious activity in response to increasing physical disability and changes in physical disability in response to private religious activity. Previous research has found that prayer is often used as an effective coping mechanism with various sicknesses and chronic conditions. Further studies are needed to examine older individuals' health over time and evaluate their use of private religious activity to see its impact over time on physical disability.     

Personal Income and Subjective Well-being: A Review

Conventional wisdom holds that money has little relevance to happiness. This review will demonstrate quite the opposite is true and will argue that case using the Homeostatic Theory of Subjective Well-Being (SWB). Homeostatic theory proposes that SWB is held within a narrow range determined by personality. Experience with the environment also impacts on this system but its influence is attenuated by two sets of buffers. The internal buffers comprise beliefs in perceived control, self-esteem, and optimism. The external buffers comprise resources, such as personal assistance, that ameliorate the impact of potentially negative events. This model predicts significantly different levels of SWB for people who are rich, people on average Western incomes, and people who are poor. Data are provided that support this prediction. It is concluded that money buys happiness to the extent that external resources permit optimal functioning of the SWB homeostatic system.     

Technology and Older Adults: Factors Affecting the Adoption of Automatic Teller Machines

Although technology can benefit service providers, caregivers, and the elderly, its application in an aging society can bring special challenges. This study looked at older adults' adoption of one technology that is highly prevalent in modern society—the automatic teller machine (ATM). The findings indicated that users and nonusers differed in mechanical reasoning skills and in attitudes toward ATM technology. Older adults with higher mechanical reasoning skills were more likely to be ATM users. Nonusers had more negative attitudes toward ATMs, and, among non-users, those who had tried an ATM had more positive attitudes than those who had never tried one. The findings of this study are discussed in terms of factors that may affect the adoption of other technologies by older adults. Suggestions for increasing the acceptance of technologies by the elderly are also addressed.     

初中生感戴和主观幸福感的干预研究

该研究通过开设班级辅导和“列举恩惠”活动,采用不同的干预方式对初一年级学生进行感戴干预研究,考察不同感戴干预方式对主观幸福感的影响。结果显示：实验班1学生在感戴、生活满意度、积极情感方面的提高水平高于实验班2和控制班;实验班2学生在感戴、生活满意度、积极情感方面的提高水平高于控制班。因此得出结论：班级辅导和“列举恩惠”活动相结合的干预方式与仅采用“列举恩惠”活动的干预方式都可以提高学生感戴和主观幸福感,但是前者比后者的效果好。     

Debt and Subjective Well-being: The Other Side of the Income-Happiness Coin

To spur research on the topic of debt and its consequences, we conducted a systematic review to integrate the different conceptualizations of debt and to develop a conceptual model explaining mechanisms through which debt influences subjective well-being (SWB). Our conceptual model weaves two common themes from the prior literature: (a) a bottom-up spillover perspective where debt affects SWB via the financial domain (and possibly other life domains that are negatively affected through spillover); and (b) a resource perspective wherein debt is a strain on financial resources which, in turn, lowers SWB. Further, we review past empirical studies assessing the linkage between debt and SWB. A majority of associations (90 %), from 20 studies, revealed at least one significant negative effect between debt and SWB. Further, a random effects meta-analysis of seven studies showed a small relationship between debt and SWB (r = ?.07), although there also appear to be critical moderators such as levels of debt, source of debt, and overall financial resources. To test our conceptual model, we conduct a moderated mediation analysis of a large scale representative sample of college graduates with Internet access in the United States (N = 2781) to examine the effects of student loans on SWB. Debt and income accounted for 40 and 60 % of the predicted variance of life satisfaction, respectively. In addition, the bottom-up perspective and resource perspectives were supported. One critical limitation is that there are not many studies on debt and SWB. Future areas for research are discussed.     

基于六省会城市居民的主观幸福感研究

本研究在全国省会城市范围内取样,对中国城市居民主观幸福感量表的心理测量学特性进行了检验,并以此为线索对该量表进行了修订和完善,形成了由40个项目组成的中国城市居民主观幸福感量表(修订版);并将常模样组扩展到全国,取得了中国城市居民主观幸福感量表(修订版)的全国参考常模;同时,尝试对构成中国城市居民主观幸福感各个评价维度的权重进行考察,以使量表分数的合成更为科学.     

目标定向、自我效能感与主观幸福感的关系

以207名企业员工为研究对象,探讨了目标定向、自我效能感与主观幸福感的关系及自我效能感在目标定向和主观幸福感之间的中介作用。结果表明:学习目标定向、工作自我效能感和社交自我效能感均对主观幸福感有着显著的正向影响;主观幸福感对任务绩效有着显著的正向影响;同时,工作自我效能感在学习目标定向和主观幸福感之间起着完全中介作用。     

青年情绪智力与主观幸福感的关系

以444名青年为研究对象,采用Schutte编制的《情绪智力量表》、艾森克人格问卷和Diener等人编制的《国际大学调查》为研究工具,调查青年各群体的主观幸福感水平,并对情绪智力和主观幸福感的关系进行了研究。结果发现,青年不同群体之间存在显著的主观幸福感差异,本科生群体的主观幸福感水平最高;在控制了人口学变量和人格变量之后,情绪智力能独立预测主观幸福感各维度的变异。