Happiness and Suffering in the Life Story: An Inquiry into Conflicting Expectations Concerning the Association of Perceived Past with Present Subjective Well-Being in Old Age

The study examined whether positive or negative aspects of the life story were predominantly associated with present subjective well-being (SWB). Two samples (N?=?815 and 213; mean ages 75 and 73) rated past emotions (happiness and suffering) in positive and negative anchor periods (e.g., ??the happiest period,?? ??the most miserable period??) of their life stories. The indices of present SWB were present happiness, present suffering, and life satisfaction. Results indicated that when the past emotions were net of each other, past happiness was related to the positive indices, but not to the negative index, of present SWB whereas past suffering was related to the negative index, and only partially to the positive indices, of present SWB. Congruent emotions (happiness in positive periods, suffering in negative periods) were stronger than incongruent emotions (happiness in negative periods, suffering in positive periods), yet each had unique associations with present SWB. Finally, past happiness weakened the inverse relationship between past suffering and present SWB, yet it strengthened this relationship when past emotions were both incongruent (i.e., when happiness in negative periods was analyzed in conjunction with suffering in positive periods). In conclusion, rather than presenting predominance over each other, positive and negative ingredients in the life story maintain complementary and interactive associations with present SWB. In this context, the study points to the SWB-related implications of the interplay between paramount life experiences in the individual??s anchor periods and the emotions that the individual attributes to these periods.     

Measuring well-being: A comparison of subjective well-being and PERMA

We compared Seligman’s PERMA model of well-being with Diener’s model of subjective well-being (SWB) to determine if the newer PERMA captured a type of well-being unique from the older SWB. Participants were 517 adults who completed self-report measures of SWB, PERMA, and VIA character strengths. Results from four analytic techniques suggest the factor underlying PERMA is capturing the same type of well-being as SWB. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a latent correlation of r = 0.98 between SWB and PERMA. Exploratory structural equation modeling found two highly related factors (r = 0.85) that did not map onto PERMA and SWB. SWB and PERMA factors showed similar relationships with 24 character strengths (average correlation difference = 0.02). Latent profile analyses yielded subgroups of people who merely scored high, low, or mid-range on well-being indicators. Our findings suggest that while lower-order indicators SWB and PERMA have unique features, they converge onto a single well-being factor.     

Acculturation and Subjective well-being of Chinese Students in Australia

This study examined the relationships of two dimensions (host and co-national identification (HNI and CNI)), four modes (integration, separation, assimilation and marginalization) of acculturation to subjective well-being (SWB) of Chinese students in Australia. One hundred and fifty-seven Chinese overseas students completed a questionnaire including the acculturation index and the assessment of SWB. Analyses revealed that: (a) both strong HNI and CNI predicted enhanced SWB; (b) acculturation styles were also related to SWB and Chinese students who were integrated had significantly stronger SWB than their peers who were assimilated, separated or marginalized (c) there was no significant correlation between negative emotions and HNI or CNI. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Personal growth in adults' stories of life transitions

Abstract This study identified four themes of personal growth (integrative, intrinsic, agentic, and communal) in adults' stories of life transitions in careers and religions. Specific themes were expected to relate differentially to two forms of personality development (social-cognitive maturity and social-emotional well-being) and to transition satisfaction. Integrative themes correlated primarily with social-cognitive maturity (ego development; Loevinger, 1976), whereas intrinsic themes correlated primarily with social-emotional well-being. Agentic-growth themes correlated primarily with transition satisfaction, whereas communal-growth themes correlated primarily with global well-being. Themes of agentic and communal growth also differentiated the two types of transitions studied-changes in careers and changes in religions-in ways that both supported and contradicted traditional notions of those transitions. We discuss these findings in terms of narrative meaning making, the mature and happy person, and intentional self-development via life transitions.     

Gender and Conjugal Differences in Happiness

Abstract

The author examined conjugal congruence on 4 role experiences–spousal, parental, filial, worker–and on subjective well-being (SWB). According to purposive sampling strategy, 222 community adults (111 married couples) in Taiwan completed a research questionnaire. Conjugal congruence on role experiences was linked to conjugal congruence on SWB as well as personal well-being. Analyses showed that conjugal congruence on role experiences (except the worker role) and SWB was generally high. However, some conjugal discrepancies persisted: The husbands were more committed to the worker role, whereas the wives were more committed to the parental role. Furthermore, conjugal discrepancies in role experiences were related to conjugal discrepancies in SWB as well as to husbands' happiness.     

Gender and conjugal differences in happiness

The author examined conjugal congruence on 4 role experiences--spousal, parental, filial, worker--and on subjective well-being (SWB). According to purposive sampling strategy, 222 community adults (111 married couples) in Taiwan completed a research questionnaire. Conjugal congruence on role experiences was linked to conjugal congruence on SWB as well as personal well-being. Analyses showed that conjugal congruence on role experiences (except the worker role) and SWB was generally high. However, some conjugal discrepancies persisted: The husbands were more committed to the worker role, whereas the wives were more committed to the parental role. Furthermore, conjugal discrepancies in role experiences were related to conjugal discrepancies in SWB as well as to husbands' happiness.     

基于自我决定视角的动机结构与主观幸福感的关系*

从自我决定的视角,探讨了内隐和外显成就动机的不一致性对主观幸福感产生影响的可能机制。分别以成就动机量表和内隐联想测验作为成就动机的外显和内隐测量方式,同时采用自我决定量表和总体幸福感指数量表对303名大学生进行了施测。结果表明:（1）大学生内隐成就动机和外显成就动机没有显著相关;（2）外显成就动机与主观幸福感呈显著正相关,内隐成就动机调节了外显成就动机与主观幸福感的关系;（3）不一致性成就动机结构对主观幸福感有显著的负向预测,自我决定在不一致性成就动机结构对主观幸福感的预测效应中起着部分中介作用。     

Personality and the coherence of psychotherapy narratives

The stories people construct about themselves and their social worlds are key aspects of their identities [Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5, 100–122]. Whereas certain expected life experiences (e.g., leaving home, getting a job) may be relatively easy to narrate, more unexpected and difficult events, such as undergoing psychotherapy, may pose a challenge to successful narration. Yet it is especially important to successfully narrate one’s experience in psychotherapy in order to maintain the gains from treatment [Frank, J. D. (1961). Persuasion and healing: A comprehensive study of psychotherapy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; Spence, D. P. (1982). Narrative truth and historical truth: Meaning and interpretation in psychoanalysis. New York: W.W. Norton]. The present study collected psychotherapy narratives from 76 adult former clients and coded them for the fundamental story criterion of coherence [Baerger, D. R., & McAdams, D. P. (1999). Life story coherence and its relation to psychological well-being. Narrative Inquiry, 9, 69–96]. Former clients that were high in trait Openness to experience and those at higher stages of ego development told more coherent stories about therapy. The relationship between ego development and narrative coherence remained significant even when controlling for Openness. The findings suggest that high ego development may provide narrators with the kind of sophisticated frameworks for meaning-making that are especially well-suited for the important task of making good sense of psychotherapy.     

The Working for Wellness Program: RCT of an Employee Well-Being Intervention

This paper details the design and evaluation of a positive psychology-based employee well-being program. The effect of the program on well-being was evaluated using a mixed method design comprising of an RCT to assess outcome effectiveness, and participant feedback and facilitator field notes to assess process and impact effectiveness. Fifty government employees were randomly allocated to either an intervention or a control group (reduced to n = 23 for complete case analysis). The intervention group participated in the 6-week Working for Wellness Program and completed measures of subjective, psychological, affective and work-related well-being (SWB, PWB, AWB and WWB) at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and three and 6 month follow-ups. The control group completed the questionnaires only. As predicted, mixed ANOVAs revealed improvements in SWB and PWB for intervention group participants over time relative to control participants but these effects had reduced by time 4. There was a main effect of group on AWB in the predicted direction but no effect on WWB. Participant feedback indicated that the focus on strengths and group delivery were the most effective components of the program. Key issues were sample attrition and a lack of on-the-job support for change. Findings suggest employees can learn effective strategies for sustainably increasing their subjective and psychological well-being.     

Looking back and looking ahead: adult age differences in consistency of diachronous ratings of subjective well-being

The goal of this study is to investigate the consistency of diachronous ratings of subjective well-being (SWB). A heterogeneous sample (25-74-year-olds; N = 3,596) provided ratings of their present SWB, reconstructed their SWB of 10 years ago, and anticipated their SWB 10 years from now. Developmental tasks and self-evaluative principles were used to predict age differences in diachronous consistency. As predicted, in young adulthood, past SWB was rated lower and future SWB higher than present SWB. In contrast, in later adulthood, the past was rated higher and the future lower than present SWB. Analyses of rank-order consistency demonstrated that in later adulthood both future and past SWB were more strongly related to present SWB than in young adulthood. Results show how models of self-evaluation play out at different points in the life span.     

Looking at the eyes of happiness: Positive emotions mediate the influence of life satisfaction on attention to happy faces

Despite significant advancements in the research of subjective well-being (SWB), little is known about its connection with basic cognitive processes. The present study explores the association between selective attention to emotional stimuli (i.e. emotional faces) and both the emotional and cognitive components of SWB (i.e. emotional well-being and satisfaction in life, respectively). Participants (N?=?83) were asked to freely watch a series of 84 pairs of emotional (happy, angry, or sad) and neutral faces from the Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces database. Eye-tracking methodology measured first fixations, number of fixations, and the time spent looking at emotional faces. Results showed that both the emotional and cognitive components of SWB were related to a general bias to attend to happy faces and avoid sad faces. Yet, bootstrapping analyses showed that positive emotions, rather than life satisfaction, were responsible for the positive information-processing bias. We discuss the potential functionality of these biases and their implications for research on positive emotions.     

Validity of a happiness Implicit Association Test as a measure of subjective well-being

The current study examined the validity of a happiness Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of SWB. One hundred and fifty participants (75 pairs of friends) completed a newly developed happiness IAT and a standard self-esteem IAT. Participants also made self and informant ratings of life satisfaction and happy and sad affect. The results revealed convergent validity among the explicit measures, and among the implicit measures. Explicit–implicit correlations were lower. Self-ratings (.88) and informant ratings (.78) were more highly related with a common SWB factor than the implicit measures (.31). This finding suggests that implicit measures of well-being and happiness assess a different construct that overlaps only modestly with SWB. As a result, these implicit measures have limited utility to control for response styles in self-ratings of SWB.     

Psychological Benefits of the “Maker” or Do-It-Yourself Movement in Young Adults: A Pathway Towards Subjective Well-Being

Over the past several decades, increasing numbers of people have become involved in the do-it-yourself (DIY) or “Maker” movement, i.e., creating a wide range of products from home improvement to self-service to crafts. Little is known about the psychological benefits of these actions; there is an assumption that involvement ultimately increases quality of life. We surveyed 465 college students to describe their participation in a variety of Maker undertakings ranging from domestic arts, arts and crafts, to DIY activities, and examined four potential mediators of the relationship between a Maker identity and SWB. We inquired about the time spent engaged in the activities, reasons for involvement, as well as the immediate and long-term benefits received from Making. We found that college students spent approximately 3 h a week involved in Maker activities and that they most often engaged in domestic arts (e.g., cooking, baking, and gardening). The most important reasons provided for involvement in Maker activities were mood-repair, socializing with friends, and the ability to “stay present-focused.” Having a Maker identity was associated with subjective well-being (SWB), primarily explained by high arousal (i.e., exciting or stimulating) during Maker activities, but not positive mood. Trait rumination and reduced self-focus, or quiet ego, were also related to SWB and suggest the importance of reduced self-focus in understanding the relationship between Making and SWB. Taken together, it appears that Maker identity may be a potential pathway towards SWB.     

“There is Nothing Good About this Work:” Identity and Unhappiness Among Nicaraguan Female Sex Workers

In a study of life satisfaction in Nicaragua, Cox (2012) found that female sex workers had dramatically low subjective well-being (SWB) relative to other marginalized groups in Nicaragua. Moreover, the SWB of these female sex workers was possibly the lowest recorded in the life satisfaction literature. A novel theory linking life satisfaction with life stories is proposed, and a method not heretofore used in SWB research is employed, the life story interview, in order to better understand the dramatic unhappiness of this sample. Seeing life satisfaction as an identity invoking process, the sample’s dramatically low life satisfaction judgments are framed within the larger context of narrative identity. Thematic analysis of the stories revealed a prototypical narrative arc: early family conflict, departure from home, a series of unsuccessful romantic relationships, birth of multiple children, dire economic crises, entry into sex work, and hope for a future exit from sex work. The life stories of these participants provided an identity and life course context to understand the dramatic unhappiness of this sample.     

Vicarious life stories: Examining relations to personal life stories and well-being

We examined relationships between vicarious life stories for mothers and distant others, personal life stories, and well-being. Participants described chapters in their mothers’ and personal life stories, self-rated chapters on emotional tone and meaning, and completed well-being measures. In Studies 3 and 4, participants described chapters for distant others. In Study 4, mothers’ personal life stories were collected. In Studies 2–4, chapters were coded for redemption, agency, and communion. Qualities of vicarious and personal life stories were positively related, except for ex-boy/girlfriends (Study 4). Vicarious life stories were less positive and were less consistently related to well-being than personal life stories. Vicarious life stories for mothers were positively related to both participants’ personal life stories and mothers’ personal life stories.     

Intrinsic and extrinsic work orientations as moderators of the effect of annual income on subjective well-being: a longitudinal study

Income is only weakly associated with both subjective well-being (SWB) and job satisfaction in the United States, a surprising finding in light of the importance placed on financial status in capitalistic societies. To explore this further, the authors examined intrinsic and extrinsic work orientations as potential moderators of the effects of financial compensation on SWB and job satisfaction. Master's of business administration students (N = 124) completed measures of work orientation and, 4 to 9 years later, reported their current salary, SWB, and job satisfaction. As predicted, individuals high in extrinsic orientation experienced higher SWB and job satisfaction to the degree that they earned more money, whereas those high in intrinsic orientation were lower on SWB at higher income levels. These findings are discussed in terms of the Values as Moderators Perspective of SWB and Cognitive Evaluation Theory.     

Religion and Subjective Well-Being: Western and Eastern Religious Groups Achieved Subjective Well-Being in Different Ways

Culture can moderate which variables most influence subjective well-being (SWB). Because religion can be conceptualized as culture, religious differences can be considered cultural differences. However, there have been few studies comparing how different religious groups evaluate SWB at any given time. This study is among the first to investigate this issue. The present study compared Buddhists, Taoists, Christians, and atheists. In addition to demographic items, 451 Chinese adults completed Chinese version of the Socially Oriented Cultural Conception of SWB Scale. Religious belief was distributed as follows: 10 % Christian, 20 % Buddhist, 25 % Taoist, and 43 % atheists. As predicted, the socially oriented cultural conception of SWB was found to be highest among Buddhists, followed in order by Taoists, atheists, and Christians. It was concluded that the various religious groups achieved SWB in different ways.     

Identifying gender differences in the independent effects of personality and psychological well-being on two broad affect components of subjective well-being

Subjective well-being (SWB) is defined in terms of positive and negative affect whilst psychological well-being (PWB) reflects self-referent attitudes of mastery and self-acceptance. Whilst both SWB and PWB are associated with personality, concurrent analysis is limited. This study (n = 679) reports on a teacher sample in which personality, SWB and PWB were measured. Results indicated moderate correlations between variables. Hierarchical regression controlled for personality and identified PWB as a significant predictor of SWB. Separate predictors of negative and positive affect support the need to assess both SWB affective components. As the most significant predictor of positive affect the inclusion of PWB is needed in future well-being research.