Good Governance and Happiness in Nations: Technical Quality Precedes Democracy and Quality Beats Size

Average happiness differs markedly across nations and there appears to be a system in these differences. This paper considers the role of quality of governance, and in particular the role of technical quality as opposed to democratic quality. A comparison of 127 nations in 2006 shows strong correlations between the quality of governance and average happiness of citizens. The correlation between technical quality and happiness is +0.75 and the correlation between democratic quality and happiness is +0.60. Technical quality correlates with happiness in rich and poor nations, while democratic quality only correlates with happiness in rich nations. The quality of governance appears to be more important for happiness than the size of governments: the relation between quality and happiness is independent of size, while the relation between size and happiness fully depends on quality. The correlation between technical quality and happiness appears to be independent of culture; it exists not only in western nations, but also in Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. This indicates that technically good governance is a universal condition for happiness, and not just a western ideology. Democratic quality adds substantially to the positive effects of technical quality once technical quality has reached some minimal level.     

Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Some Non-controversial Options for Governments

There are dramatic differences in average happiness across nations ranging from 3.24 in Togo to 8.00 in Denmark on a 0–10-points scale. These differences are an indication that collective conditions in nations are important for happiness. Can governments play a role in the creation of such conditions? This question is addressed in an analysis of average happiness in 131 nations in 2006. The following sub-questions are considered. (1) Is there a positive correlation between average happiness in nations and the quality or the size of governments? (2) Can we explain a positive correlation in terms of causality? (3) Can we specify causality by discerning direct and indirect effects? (4) What about governments and inequality in happiness? (5) What can governments do to increase happiness intentionally? The conclusion is that the technical quality of governments is an important cause for average happiness in nations, and this causality can be specified to some extent. Good governments also reduce inequality of happiness in nations eventually. The implication is that governments can increase average happiness, and in due time reduce inequality in happiness, and that they have some non-controversial options to do so on purpose.     

工作不安全感对员工心理与行为的影响

采用工作不安全感问卷,对不同企业的223名员工进行调查,探讨了工作不安全感中各维度对员工心理与行为的具体影响。结果表明:(1)在工作执行和人际关系不安全感上,男女性别差异显著;在工作丧失、人际关系不安全感、群体组织公民行为以及留职意愿这四个维度上,不同企业类型差异显著。(2)工作丧失、工作执行,人际关系不安全感均对留职意愿有正向预测作用;过度竞争不安全感对群体组织公民行为及个体组织公民行为均有显著的负向预测作用。     

Happiness as a belief system: individual differences and priming in emotion judgments

Three studies involving 104 undergraduates sought to examine how an individual's level of life satisfaction organizes their knowledge concerning the self's emotions. Participants judged the self's positive and negative emotions within a computerized task. Key results sought to determine whether judging two positive emotions in a consecutive sequence speeds the second judgment--a pattern of priming that would suggest a tighter, more interconnected structure in semantic memory related to one's positive emotions. As expected, individual differences in life satisfaction predicted the magnitude of this priming effect (Studies 1 & 2), which appeared to be unique to judgments of the self's emotions (Study 3). The results indicate that happy, relative to less happy, individuals organize information concerning their positive emotions in a qualitatively different and tighter semantic manner.     

Happiness versus sadness as a determinant of thought confidence in persuasion: a self-validation analysis

The present research introduces a new mechanism by which emotion can affect evaluation. On the basis of the self-validation hypothesis (R. E. Petty, P. Bri?ol, & Z. L. Tormala), the authors predicted and found that emotion can influence evaluative judgments by affecting the confidence people have in their thoughts to a persuasive message. In each study, participants first read a strong or weak persuasive communication. After listing their thoughts about the message, participants were induced to feel happy or sad. Relative to sad participants, those put in a happy state reported more thought confidence. As a consequence, the effect of argument quality on attitudes was greater for happy than for sad participants. These self-validation effects generalized across different emotion inductions, different persuasion topics, and different measures of thought confidence. In one study, happy and sad conditions each differed from a neutral affect control. Most important, these metacognitive effects of emotion only occurred under high elaboration conditions. In contrast, individuals with relatively low motivation to think showed a main effect of emotion on attitudes, regardless of argument quality.     

Mental Health Inequalities During COVID-19 Outbreak: The Role of Financial Insecurity and Attentional Control

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns negatively impacted the mental health of populations. This impact is not equally distributed and increases existing mental health inequalities. Indeed, government restrictions and the economic consequences of the pandemic affect more the less educated and less wealthy people. However, psychological processes implicated in this increase of mental health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic remain unexplored. The present study (N=591) tested the role of financial insecurity and attentional control in the relation between socioeconomic status and mental health, along with the influence of trait anxiety. Based on Structural Equation Modelling, findings showed a mediation effect of financial insecurity, but not of attentional control, in the relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health. In addition, exploratory analyses suggested that financial insecurity also mediated the effect of attentional control on mental health. Results of the present research point at the importance of understanding psychological processes implicated in the effect of economic crises on mental health inequalities.     

Happiness Revisited: Ontological Well-Being as a Theory-Based Construct of Subjective Well-Being

The current model of subjective well-being (SWB) has been operationalized as the unity of affective and cognitive dimensions concerning the evaluation of one’s life, called emotional well-being and life satisfaction, respectively. There has been no theoretical framework, however, by which the unity is explained. The present paper offers a new construct of subjective well-being in an attempt to show that the cognitive and affective dimensions of SWB can be unified using the concept of goal. The concept of goal refers to the life as a project when the concern is the evaluation of life as a whole. The evaluation of the whole life, moreover, should take a whole-time perspective into account if it is supposed to be ‘whole’. Ontological well-being (OWB) construct is structured in a theoretical framework by which the cognitive and affective components of the current conceptualization of SWB are reframed and interpreted in a whole time perspective. By taking as base the historical and philosophical resources of the affective and cognitive dimensions of subjective well-being, this new construct defines subjective well-being as one’s evaluation of life in both past and future time perspectives in addition to the present.     

Mood Propensity as a Constituent of Happiness: A Rejoinder to Hill

In an earlier paper I defended an emotional state theory of happiness. In a basic form, emotional state theories identify happiness with a person’s moods and emotions. To this formulation I added a second component, “mood propensity”: roughly, an individual’s disposition to experience moods, which can vary with the circumstances. Scott Hill argues that this view is vulnerable to a serious counterexample and that my intuitive arguments for it are unconvincing. This paper extends my earlier defense of mood propensity as an aspect of happiness, in the process replying to Hill’s objections. I argue that the intuitive considerations favoring my view are not weakened by the points Hill raises. Moreover, the inclusion of dispositional elements in a theory of happiness is actually quite common, and there are good substantive, and not just intuitive, reasons for incorporating mood propensity in the account. In particular, it seems to be required by the guiding conception of happiness as a matter of a person’s overall emotional condition.     

Sub-national Fiscal Activity as a Determinant of Individual Happiness: Ideology Matters

Though there has been a recent outpouring of studies on the determinants of individual happiness, there remains a paucity of research on the influence of specific sub-national government policies. Additionally, theoretical expectations about how fiscal variables influence happiness are unclear, making further empirical research imperative. Combining survey data and aggregate information about state and local government revenue and expenditures within the United States, we draw inferences about whether or not such activities affect individual happiness. We find no indication that the overall level of state or local fiscal activity affects life satisfaction. However, we offer evidence that personal happiness could be increased with an increase in the percentage of sub-national expenditure devoted to public safety. We also find that there are notable differences across ideological groups (conservatives, moderates, and liberals) with respect to how much public safety influences happiness, as well as how some other fiscal variables influence happiness. We conclude that ideology mediates the impact of fiscal variables on life satisfaction.     

中国文化价值观和未来时间取向对幸福感的影响

幸福感是个体根据自定的标准对其生活质量的整体性评估。本研究探讨了中国文化价值观对大学生幸福感的影响,并揭示了时间取向在中国文化价值观和幸福感间的中介作用。结果表明,中国文化价值观可分为刻苦上进、自然知足、重视家庭、谦逊克己、团结和谐、正义利他、服从权威和中庸守序等八个维度;自然知足、正义利他和谦逊克己与幸福感显著正相关,并通过未来取向的中介作用影响幸福感体验。     

Freedom and Rationality as Predictors of Cross-National Happiness Patterns: The Role of Income as a Mediating Variable

Freedom and rationality have traditionally been viewed as essential ingredients to the 'pursuit of happiness'. Previous research has found that the way in which happiness is linked to freedom and other attributes of individualistic society is affected by the income level. This paper formulates a structural model of the linkage between political freedom, rationality, and happiness which takes explicit account of income as a mediating variable. Since income is hypothesized to be linked to the degree of freedom and rationality prevailing in a society, this approach permits to distinguish between direct and indirect linkages of happiness to freedom and rationality. Estimating the model with cross-national data yields the following key findings: (1) Happiness is positively related to freedom as well as to rationality at high freedom/rationality levels and negatively at low levels. (2) Whereas freedom affects happiness only indirectly (through its impact on income), rationality has both direct and indirect effects on happiness.     

Impact of School Psychological Environment Variables on Happiness of Korean Youths

Abstract: This study analyzed the structural relationships between school‐related psychological variables (teacher support, learning flow, friendship) and the happiness of Korean youths, and compared structural equation models for middle and high schools. Questionnaire data were collected from students in middle and high schools in 10 cities and provinces of Korea. The final data set from 870 students was analyzed with Amos 20.0. Goodness of fit indices for the hypothetical model were good, and all paths were significant. That is, a model incorporating indirect and direct impact of school‐related psychological environment variables, such as teacher support, learning flow, and friendship, on the happiness of Korean youths is valid. Second, structural equation models for middle and high schools demonstrated significant differences. Therefore, different types of assistance are needed to increase the happiness of students in middle schools and high schools.     

Being Tough Versus Tender: The Impact of Country-Level and Individual Masculinity Orientations as Moderators of the Relationship Between Job Insecurity and Job Attitudes

Having a job constitutes one of the most potent means of attaining ‘masculine’ goals such as status, success, and material rewards. In the present research, we examine whether masculinity, both as a country-level value and an individual orientation, moderates the relationship between job insecurity and job attitudes. In Study 1, we draw on cross-cultural data of 20,988 employees from 17 countries. We find that job insecure individuals from countries with higher masculinity values show stronger decrements in job satisfaction (but not commitment). Shedding light on the underlying mechanism, we show that the moderating effect of masculinity is transmitted through two social job characteristics, perceived supervisor interpersonal justice and coworker support. We then constructively replicate the moderating effect of masculinity in Study 2. In a one-country sample of 319 employees, individual masculinity orientations likewise strengthen the negative relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction. Our research highlights that country-level and individual masculinity orientations yield comparable effects in the job insecurity appraisal process, and provides insight into how cultural values can be enacted at the individual level.     

Happiness Runs in a Circular Motion: Evidence for a Positive Feedback Loop between Prosocial Spending and Happiness

We examine whether a positive feedback loop exists between spending money on others (i.e. prosocial spending) and happiness. Participants recalled a previous purchase made for either themselves or someone else and then reported their happiness. Afterward, participants chose whether to spend a monetary windfall on themselves or someone else. Participants assigned to recall a purchase made for someone else reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection; most importantly, the happier participants felt, the more likely they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future. Thus, by providing initial evidence for a positive feedback loop between prosocial spending and well-being, these data offer one potential path to sustainable happiness: prosocial spending increases happiness which in turn encourages prosocial spending.     

Network Size, Social Support and Happiness in Later Life: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Hong Kong

This study investigates how happiness of elderly Chinese is related to their social support networks, based on survey data collected in 2000 from Beijing and Hong Kong. These two Chinese cities share a common cultural heritage but differ in social-economic structure. It was found that in both cities, income is more significant than gender and education in determining happiness, but it is less important than personal network size and particularly perceived social support. More importantly, findings from the two cites consistently lend support to the thesis that older persons with a larger network are happier and that social support plays a mediating role. Controlling for social-demographic factors does not change this pattern of relationships. There are, however, differences between the two cities. Beijing’s elderly were found to be happier and have larger social networks than Hong Kong’s elderly. Also, our explanatory models consistently account for less variance in the happiness of older persons in Beijing. These findings are probably due to the differences between socialist Beijing and capitalist Hong Kong in degrees of modernization and urbanization and in social organization of work and community life.     

乳腺癌患者经济负担对情绪健康及生活质量的影响研究进展

通过文献综述的方式,对乳腺癌患者疾病经济负担、情绪健康、生活质量及三者相关关系的实证研究成果进行系统梳理。研究证实,乳腺癌患者疾病经济负担的主观感知严重程度对患者治疗依从性、情绪健康和生活质量产生重要负面影响。长期的治疗以及靶向药物、免疫药物使用的增加,加重了患者及其家庭经济负担,进而增加抑郁、焦虑的患病风险,导致患者总体生活质量下降。并在探讨当前研究局限性的基础上,提出对未来研究方向的建议与展望。

     

社交网站使用对青少年幸福感的影响:一个有调节的中介模型

在社会比较的视角下探讨社交网站使用对青少年幸福感的影响,建构了一个有调节的中介模型考察消极社会比较的中介作用和社交焦虑的调节作用。采用社交网站使用强度问卷、消极社会比较问卷、社交焦虑量表和主观幸福感问卷对798名中学生进行问卷调查。结果表明:(1)社交网站使用通过消极社会比较的中介作用间接影响青少年的幸福感;(2)该间接效应受到社交焦虑的调节,相对于低社交焦虑的青少年,高社交焦虑青少年的社交网站使用诱发更多的消极社会比较。