Gratitude and PTSD symptoms among Israeli youth exposed to missile attacks: examining the mediation of positive and negative affect and life satisfaction

Based on a sample of Israeli adolescents living in a city which was under missile attack 2½ months prior to this study, we examined the possible affective and cognitive mechanisms through which gratitude may serve as a protective factor against PTSD symptoms. Specifically, we focused on how this process might be mediated by positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. These are widely understood as the emotional and cognitive components of subjective well-being and have each been significantly associated with gratitude and with pathology in the literature. Using pathway analysis, our findings revealed that life satisfaction and negative affect, but not positive affect, mediated the relationship between gratitude and PTSD symptoms. Our study suggests that gratitude may serve as a protective factor primarily through cognitive appraisal processes tied to greater appreciation of life in a way that distinguishes it from other positive emotions.     

青少年物质主义与幸福感的关系：感恩的中介作用

采用物质主义量表、感恩问卷、主观幸福感量表、心理幸福感量表和身体症状问卷对701名中学生进行调查,考察了青少年物质主义与其幸福感的关系,以及感恩在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）青少年物质主义与其负性情感显著正相关,与正性情感、生活满意度、心理幸福感和身体健康显著负相关;（2）感恩在青少年物质主义与其生活满意度、负性情感、心理幸福感和身体健康关系之间起着部分中介作用,在青少年物质主义与其正性情感关系之间起着完全中介作用。     

Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being

The development and manifestation of gratitude in youth is unclear. We examined the effects of a grateful outlook on subjective well-being and other outcomes of positive psychological functioning in 221 early adolescents. Eleven classes were randomly assigned to either a gratitude, hassles, or control condition. Results indicated that counting blessings was associated with enhanced self-reported gratitude, optimism, life satisfaction, and decreased negative affect. Feeling grateful in response to aid mediated the relationship between experimental condition and general gratitude at the 3-week follow-up. The most significant finding was the robust relationship between gratitude and satisfaction with school experience at both the immediate post-test and 3-week follow-up. Counting blessings seems to be an effective intervention for well-being enhancement in early adolescents.     

Looking for happiness in all the wrong places: The moderating role of gratitude and affect in the materialism–life satisfaction relationship

We propose a model that explains the negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. We test negative affect as a mediator of the relationship between materialism and dissatisfaction with life, and gratitude and positive affect as moderators of this effect. Self-report data collected from 246 (129 female) undergraduate students generally supported our predictions. The negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction was mediated in part by an increase in negative affect. Additionally, gratitude – and to a lesser extent, positive affect – functioned as moderators of the effect of materialism on life satisfaction. Individuals high in gratitude showed less of a relationship between materialism and negative affect. Additionally, individuals high in materialism showed decreased life satisfaction when either gratitude or positive affect was low. Thus, negative affect, positive affect, and gratitude seem to be important variables in the relationship between materialism and dissatisfaction with life.     

中学生感恩与主观幸福感的关系:抗挫折能力与社会支持的中介作用

采用感恩问卷、正性情感负性情感量表、生活满意度问卷、抗挫折能力问卷和社会支持评定量表对865名中学生进行调查, 以考察中学生感恩和主观幸福感的关系, 以及社会支持与抗挫折能力在两者之间的中介作用。结果:(1)中学生正性情绪显著高于负性情绪;(2)中学生感恩与主观幸福感、社会支持、抗挫折能力相关显著;(3)结构方程分析结果显示, 中学生感恩直接负向预测负性情绪;社会支持和抗挫折能力在感恩与生活满意度、正性情绪间起到完全中介作用, 抗挫折能力在感恩和负性情绪间起部分中介作用。 结论:感恩能通过作用于社会支持和抗挫折能力来影响主观幸福感。     

被动性社交网站使用与主观幸福感的关系:中介效应分析

为探讨被动性社交网站使用行为、上行社会比较与主观幸福感的两个成分——情绪和生活满意度的关系,采用问卷法对1168名大学生进行调查。结果发现:(1)被动性社交网站使用与上行社会比较和消极情绪显著正相关,与积极情绪以及生活满意度显著负相关;上行社会比较与积极情绪以及生活满意度都呈显著负相关,与消极情绪显著正相关;积极情绪与生活满意度显著正相关;消极情绪与生活满意度显著负相关;(2)被动性社交网站使用对情绪和生活满意度都没有直接的预测作用,但能通过上行社会比较的中介作用预测积极情绪、消极情绪和生活满意度;(3)被动性社交网站使用还可以通过两条链式中介作用预测生活满意度:通过上行社会比较和积极情绪的链式中介作用;通过上行社会比较和消极情绪的链式中介作用。研究结果进一步揭示了被动性社交网站使用与主观幸福感的关系及其作用机制,能为网络时代个体维护和提升主观幸福感提供有益启示。     

Development and evaluation of the positive psychology intervention for older adults

Although research suggests that positive psychology intervention can enhance subjective well-being and reduce depression, its effectiveness on older adults remains largely unknown. Therefore the present study aimed to develop and evaluate a custom-tailored positive psychology intervention program for older adults. The program offered nine-week group sessions to 74 older people recruited from district community centers and nursing homes in Hong Kong. The intervention program covers eight themes, including optimism, gratitude, savoring, happiness, curiosity, courage, altruism, and meaning of life. The participants consisted mostly of females aged between 63 and 105?years. One-group pre-test/post-test design was adopted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on depression, life satisfaction, gratitude, and happiness. Results revealed that the intervention reduced the number of depressive symptoms and increased the levels of life satisfaction, gratitude, and happiness. Effectiveness of the intervention is discussed in relation to self-awareness, education, self-reinforcement, and sensitivity to age and culture.     

Lay Understanding of Happiness and the Experience of Well-Being: Are Some Conceptions of Happiness More Beneficial than Others?

The aim of the study was to understand aspects of life that men and women associate with happiness and to explore the connections between these associations and well-being (measured as positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction) in different periods of life. Participants were 785 people who were asked to list associations that came to mind on hearing the word ‘happiness’. The moderating roles of gender and period of life (adolescence/adulthood, transition/no transition) were analysed. Participants associated happiness mostly with health and relationships. Other categories included knowledge, work, material goods and freedom. Those who associated happiness with work had higher levels of positive affect. Associating happiness with relationships predicted greater life satisfaction, whereas associating it with material goods predicted lower satisfaction. Gender moderated the relationship between associations and positive affect: associating happiness with material goods decreased positive affect among men but no such effect was observed among women; associating happiness with relationships was beneficial for women but unbeneficial for men. Additionally, associations with material goods predicted lower positive affect, especially in times of transition. Associating happiness with knowledge decreased positive affect in adolescents and increased it in adults. Some ways of understanding happiness improved life satisfaction but none were related to negative affect. The relationship between concepts of happiness and positive affect is complex; some concepts are unbeneficial only for some people and during certain periods of life.     

Assessing psychological health: the contribution of psychological strengths

Balanced assessment of mental health involves assessing well-being and strengths as well as psychopathology. The character strengths of curiosity, gratitude, hope, optimism and forgiveness are assessed in 214 new undergraduates and their relationships to mental health, subjective well-being and self-esteem explored. Scoring the mental health scale for psychiatric caseness, case and non-case students did not differ in character strengths, positive affect or life satisfaction, supporting a dual-factor model. Hope pathways and gratitude predicted mental health. Gratitude, hope agency and exploratory curiosity predicted positive affect. Gratitude and hope agency predicted life satisfaction. Hope agency, hope pathways, exploratory curiosity and gratitude predicted self-esteem, with absorption curiosity as a negative predictor. The benefits of assessing strengths are discussed and interventions designed to develop them.     

Psychological strengths and subjective well-being in South African white students

This study investigated the role of individual resources, notably self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope, in subjective well-being of white dormitory students at a historically white institution of higher learning. Using a convenience sample of white students (N?=?227), we tested the role of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, and hope as indicators of a latent factor, labelled personal resources, in a structural equation model with subjective well-being as the latent output variable, measured by self-esteem and satisfaction with life. Path analyses indicated a reasonable fit between the data and our hypothesised theoretical model which proposed positive relations between levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, self-esteem and satisfaction with life. White students were psychologically doing well, considering above-midpoint levels obtained for levels of generalised self-efficacy, gratitude, dispositional hope, and satisfaction with life However, scores obtained for self-esteem and adult dispositional hope were below the mid-point and neutral respectively, indicating that White students do not agree that they experience high levels of these two psychological strengths. White female students experienced higher levels of hope, gratitude, and life satisfaction, while no significant gender differences were found for generalised self-efficacy and self-esteem. The results of this study highlight the potential for using psychological strengths to promote well-being in racially diverse students.     

工作场所中的主观幸福感干预研究*

旨在探讨基于持续幸福理论的感恩、助人和追求目标的主观幸福感干预方法在国内工作场所中的有效性。采用随机分组安慰剂控制的方式,将3家企业的140名员工随机分为3个干预组、1个安慰剂控制组和1个空白对照组,进行持续一周的干预,并分别在干预前、干预结束时和干预结束2周后对被试的主观幸福感进行测试。结果发现记录感恩能够显著提升生活满意度;助人行为能够显著提升生活满意度、积极情绪,且能降低消极情绪;追求目标能显著提升生活满意度和降低消极情绪。结果表明上述三种干预方法能有效提高工作场所人员的主观幸福感。     

The unbearable lightness of meaning: Well-being and unstable meaning in life

Psychological theories prioritize developing enduring sources of meaning in life. As such, unstable meaning should be detrimental to well-being. Two daily experience sampling studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. Across the studies, people with greater instability of daily meaning reported lower daily levels of meaning in life, and lower global levels of life satisfaction, positive affect, social connectedness and relationship satisfaction, along with higher global levels of negative affect and depression. In addition, instability of meaning interacted with average daily levels of meaning to account for significant variance in meaning in life scores. Relative to people with more stable meaning, people with unstable meaning tended to score near the middle of the distribution of well-being, whether they reported high or low levels of daily meaning. Results are discussed with an eye toward a better understanding of meaning in life and developing interventions to stabilize and maximize well-being.     

Letters of Gratitude: Further Evidence for Author Benefits

This study examined the effects of writing letters of gratitude on three primary qualities of well-being; happiness (positive affect), life-satisfaction (cognitive evaluation), and depression (negative affect). Gratitude was also assessed. Participants included 219 men and women who wrote three letters of gratitude over a 3 week period. A two-way mixed method ANOVA with a between factor (writers vs. non-writers) and within subject factor (time of testing) analysis was conducted. Results indicated that writing letters of gratitude increased participants’ happiness and life satisfaction, while decreasing depressive symptoms. The implications of this approach for intervention are discussed.     

感恩与生活满意度的关系:多重中介探究

目的:基于感恩对生活满意度的独特预测作用,在应对方式、自尊、情绪、一般自我效能感中探讨哪些中介变量可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因。方法:采用Rosenberg自尊量表、一般自我效能感量表(GSES)、积极情绪和消极情绪量表(PANAS)、简易应对方式问卷(SCSQ)、大五人格简版问卷(NE0-FFI)测量338名大学生。结果:(1)控制性别、人格后一般自我效能感、应对方式、消极情绪的回归效应不显著;自尊和积极情绪的回归效应显著。(2)控制性别、人格后自尊的中介效应显著,积极情绪的中介效应不显著,自尊和情绪的对比中介效应显著。结论:(1)应对方式、消极情绪、一般自我效能感等中介变量在感恩与生活满意度间的中介作用可能受人格的影响。(2)自尊可能是感恩能够独特预测生活满意度的原因,自尊与生活满意度可能存在因果关系。     

Dispositional gratitude mediates the relationship between a past-positive temporal frame and well-being

Both past-positive temporal frame, which involves dwelling on positive memories of the past, and dispositional gratitude are associated with positive life outcomes, including greater life satisfaction. A past-positive temporal frame may provide a foundation for the development of dispositional gratitude. The present study examined a model positing that gratitude mediates the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. Two hundred and thirty-three participants (mean age = 34.10 years; SD = 14.21) completed measures of characteristic past-positive temporal frame, dispositional gratitude, and several indices of well-being. Higher levels of a past positive temporal frame were associated with greater gratitude and indices of well-being. Higher levels of gratitude were associated with indices of well-being. Gratitude mediated the relationship between past-positive temporal frame and well-being. These results provide information regarding a possible process through which past-positive temporal frames have beneficial effects.     

The Role of Decision Making Styles in Explaining Happiness

In pursuit of happiness, individuals often choose activities which may be influenced by their general decision making styles that reflect habitual ways of choosing and making decisions. The present study investigated the associations of such tendencies, namely individuals’ temporal perspectives that included present and future focus, and maximizing, with persons’ orientations to happiness and their relevance for subjective well-being. The obtained results confirmed previous reports indicating the relevance of orientations to happiness for subjective well-being. With respect to the decision making styles, they revealed positive correlations with regard to future focus with orientations to meaning and engagement that were also negatively associated with present focus. In addition, present focus was positively correlated with orientation to pleasure. With respect to maximizing, this decision making style was positively associated with all three orientations. While assessing the relevance of decision making styles for subjective well-being, the regression analyses indicated that higher levels of maximizing directly predicted higher levels of negative affect and lower life satisfaction. Next, mediation and network methodologies revealed significant mediating effects of orientations to meaning and engagement with respect to the relationships between future focus with life satisfaction and positive affect, orientation to meaning with respect to the associations between present focus with life satisfaction and positive affect, and orientation to engagement with respect to the relationships between maximizing with life satisfaction and positive affect. These results extend previous knowledge, indicating the relevance of individuals’ decision making styles for their conceptualizations of happiness, as well as subjective well-being.     

Hope,religiosity, and subjective well-being

This study explored the relationship between religiosity, hope, and subjective well-being among 430 South African university students (n = 324) and their family members (n = 104) (70.2% female; 88.4% black; 8.4% white). Data were gathered utilising measures of religiosity, hope, satisfaction with life, and affect balance. We applied structural equation modelling to examine both the direct effects of religiosity on hope, as well as the indirect effects of religiosity on life satisfaction and positive and negative affect via hope as mediator. Findings suggest pathway and agency hope to mediate the relationships between religiosity and life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Specifically, religiosity predicted higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect, and lower levels of negative affect via agency hope. The results suggest agency hope to mediate the relationship between religiosity and subjective well-being.     

Gratitude and Athletes’ Life Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Mindfulness

Life satisfaction is a critical index of well-being and is well documented in the literature as a means of protecting athletes from stress. However, minimal research has focused on the factors that contribute to life satisfaction in sports. Accordingly, we adopted the positive psychology perspective and proposed that gratitude would relate to athletes’ life satisfaction. Additionally, we further suggested that mindfulness would strengthen the relationship between gratitude and athletes’ life satisfaction. Athletes completed measurements, and the results, which indicated that athletes with higher levels of gratitude exhibited increased life satisfaction when they had higher levels of mindfulness, supported our expectations. The implications and applications are discussed in terms of mindfulness.     

Association Between The Search For Meaning In Life And Well-Being In Chinese Adolescents

Theories suggest that having a meaningful life has beneficial effects on adolescent well-being. Encouraging adolescents to search for meaning in their lives is therefore well advised. However, whether and how the search for meaning in life (SMIL) is related to adolescent well-being is unclear. Thus, this study tested the following two hypotheses, based on a sample of 1539 Chinese adolescents in the tenth grade (M_age = 15.8 years): 1) the SMIL promotes adolescent well-being (“SMIL-as-promotor”), and 2) social connectedness mediates the link between the SMIL and adolescent well-being (“connectedness-as-mediator”). Multiple regression analyses revealed that SMIL was positively associated with life satisfaction, self-esteem and positive affect, and negatively associated with negative affect in the adolescents who exhibited low levels of presence of meaning; thus supporting the SMIL-as-promotor hypothesis. Mediation analyses revealed that SMIL was related to social connectedness (i.e., parent-child communication and peer relationship), which, in turn, was linked to the presence of meaning and hedonic well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, self-esteem, positive affect, and negative affect). These findings support the connectedness-as-mediator hypothesis. The implications of these findings for youth prevention programs and intervention services are discussed.

     

领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响

采用问卷法调查了1319名青少年,探讨了领悟社会支持对感恩与青少年生活满意度之间关系的中介效应以及压力性生活事件对此中介效应是否具有调节效应。结果发现：（1）领悟社会支持在感恩与青少年生活满意度之间起着部分中介作用;（2）领悟社会支持的中介作用受到压力性生活事件的调节,压力性生活事件调节了感恩 领悟社会支持 生活满意度这一中介过程的后半路径。因此,领悟社会支持对青少年生活满意度的影响是有调节的中介效应。研究结论对提高青少年的生活满意度具有重要的理论价值和参考价值。