Hope and emotional well-being: A six-year study to distinguish antecedents,correlates, and consequences

Hope is a motivational factor that helps initiate and sustain action toward long-term goals, including flexible management of obstacles that get in the way of goal attainment. Despite an abundance of research on the benefits of hope, little attention has been given to this aspect of youth development via longitudinal studies. In this study, we collected ratings of hope and positive and negative affect from 975 adolescents over a six-year assessment period (Grades 7–12). Using cross-lagged structural equation modeling, we found that hope led to greater positive affect, with little evidence for the reverse direction. In contrast, hope and negative affective states were reciprocally related. Hope predicted future well-being particularly well in years when the young people where in transition (e.g. starting high school and transitioning to senior high school). Our data support the position that hope is a malleable attribute that fosters positive youth development.     

Preliminary study of reminiscence therapy on depression and self-esteem in cancer patients

The present study investigated use of life review, a form of reminiscence, on the depression and self-esteem in cancer patients. 15 cancer patients in the experimental group participated in individual reminiscence therapy. 21 patients in the comparison group received no therapy. All patients were measured on both depression and self-esteem scales during two testing periods. Analysis showed mean depression scores of the cancer patients decreased and mean self-esteem increased significandy after the life-review therapy sessions, while the scores of the comparison group did not change. Furthermore, patients' psychological states were improved, and they thought their problems had been addressed. These results suggest reminiscence therapy can be useful for cancer patients.     

Age stereotypes,flexible goal adjustment,and well-being among Chinese older adults

Previous studies have examined the independent roles of positive age stereotypes (PAS) and negative age stereotypes (NAS) in successful aging. This study aimed to examine the joint effect of PAS and NAS on the well-being of Chinese older adults, and to further examine whether this effect was moderated by flexible goal adjustment (FGA). Using a cross-sectional design, 279 Chinese older adults (age range 60?97 years) completed measures related to age stereotypes, FGA, and well-being. The results showed that PAS interacted with NAS to predict well-being. In addition, the joint effect of PAS and NAS was moderated by FGA. Specially, for older adults with low FGA, NAS weakened the positive association between PAS and well-being; whereas, for older adults with high FGA, NAS could not influence the association between PAS and well-being. Tailored interventions to modify aging perceptions and to enhance coping flexibility competence might be helpful for promoting the well-being of older adults.     

Emotional well-being: The role of social achievement goals and self-esteem

The current study examined how self-esteem and social achievement goals affect individuals’ emotions independently and jointly using the data collected from 367 college students. Social development goals were related to positive emotions (i.e., love and joy). Social demonstration-avoid goals were related to maladaptive patterns (low levels of joy but high levels of fear, shame and sadness). Social demonstration-approach goals were positively associated with joy but had null relations with all other emotions. The results indicated that social development goals buffered students with low self-esteem against negative emotions and amplified the positive emotional experiences. In contrast, social demonstration-avoid goals were especially harmful for students with low self-esteem.     

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.     

Interpersonal relationships and irrationality as predictors of life satisfaction

This study examined the association among interpersonal relationships, irrational beliefs, and life satisfaction. Twenty-eight psychotherapy clients and 207 college undergraduates completed measures of interpersonal relations (Outcome Questionnaire; Lambert et al., 1996 Lambert, MJ, Burlingame, GM, Umphress, V, Hansen, NB, Vermeersch, DAClouse, GC. 1996. The reliability and validity of the Outcome Questionnaire. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 3: 249–258. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), irrationality (Rational Behavior Inventory; Shorkey & Whiteman, 1977 Shorkey, CT and Whiteman, VL. 1977. Development of the Rational Behavior Inventory: Initial validity and reliability. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 37: 527–534. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and life satisfaction (The Satisfaction with Life Scale; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985 Diener, E, Emmons, R, Larsen, R and Griffin, S. 1985. The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49: 71–75. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results indicated that interpersonal relations predicted life satisfaction, whereas global irrationality was indirectly related to life satisfaction. Specifically, interpersonal relations mediated the association between global irrationality and life satisfaction. Clinicians aiming to foster life satisfaction in their patients are encouraged to carefully assess their social functioning and utilize relationship-enhancing treatments. Targeting irrational thinking may also be necessary to set the stage for and support such interventions.     

Personality and job satisfaction: their role in work-related psychological well-being

This study investigated the role of work related psychological well-being in the relationship between personality and job satisfaction. Participants were 207 (females?=?58.9%, blacks?=?20.3%, white?=?64.3%, Indian?=?7.7% and Coloured?=?6.8%) employees of various South African organisations. The participants completed the Ryff's Scale of Psychological Well-being, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Basic Traits Inventory. The data were analysed by means of moderated hierarchical regression analysis. Results show self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and purpose in life fully explain extraversion and job satisfaction, and partly explain conscientiousness and job satisfaction. Self-acceptance, environmental mastery and purpose in life also moderated the relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction. Findings lead to the conclusion that aspects of work related psychological well-being are influenced by personality traits and job satisfaction, growth and development.     

Neuroticism, extraversion, goals, and subjective well-being: Exploring the relations in young, middle-aged, and older adults

The positive association between intrinsic, as opposed to extrinsic, goal importance and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) is well-documented. However, less is known whether these associations are consistent across age groups and when simultaneously considering personality traits. Structural equation models conducted with young, middle-aged, and older adults indicated that neuroticism was negatively related to SWB across age groups, while extraversion and intrinsic goal importance held age-differential associations: Extraversion was related to SWB in the two younger age groups, whereas in older adults only an indirect effect emerged via intrinsic goal importance. Intrinsic goal importance was related to SWB among young and older adults but not among middle-aged adults. These results underscore the importance of age-differential associations in determinants of SWB.     

Positive emotions,hope, and life satisfaction in Chinese adults: a test of the broaden-and-build model in accounting for subjective well-being in Chinese college students

ABSTRACT

The present study sought to determine if the positive association between positive emotions and life satisfaction can be understood as a function of hope in Chinese. Consistent with the broaden-and-build model of positive emotions, we tested the hypothesis that positive affectivity, the disposition to experience positive emotions, would be associated with broadening hope agency, building hope pathways, or both, in a sample of 212 Chinese college students. Results examining for bootstrapped mediation testing with multiple mediators indicated that positive affectivity was indirectly associated with life satisfaction through hope agency, but not through hope pathways. In support for partial mediation, however, the association between positive affectivity and life satisfaction remained significant even after including hope components in the model. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.     

Cognitive-behavioral,solution-focused life coaching: Enhancing goal striving,well-being,and hope

Research is in its infancy in the newly emerging field of coaching psychology. This study examined the effects of a 10-week cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused life coaching group programme. Participants were randomly allocated to a life coaching group programme (n =?28) or a waitlist control group (n =?28). Participation in the life coaching group programme was associated with significant increases in goal striving, well-being and hope, with gains maintained up to 30 weeks later on some variables. Hope theory may explain such positive outcomes. Life coaching programmes that utilize evidence-based techniques may provide a framework for further research on psychological processes that occur in non-clinical populations who wish to make purposeful change and enhance their positive psychological functioning.     

Protective functions of health and self-esteem against depression in older adults facing illness or bereavement

Four functions were examined by which health and self-esteem could ward off depression over time in older adults. Adults (N = 1,074)--55 years and older--were interviewed 5 times at 6-month intervals. Demographic and prevent depression controls were included. Neither health nor self-esteem served as an interactive buffer. Both had direct negative effects on depression, independent of events, over 2 years. Neither illnesses nor bereavements had direct effects on depression; both had indirect effects through other events; illness also had indirect effects by weakening health. Health had stronger preventive effect on illnesses but was more vulnerable to undesirable events than was self-esteem. There was little support for the specificity hypothesis that a close match between event and resource would increase resource effects.     

Cultural orientation,ego resilience,and optimism as predictors of subjective well-being in African Americans

Kashdan, Biswas-Diener and King (2008 Sen, A. 1999. Development as freedom, New York: Knopf.  [Google Scholar]) debated with Waterman (2008 Waterman, AS. 2008. Reconsidering happiness: A eudaimonist's perspective. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3: 234–252. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) the value of eudaimonic perspectives in well-being research. In this invited response we discuss problems associated with reducing the conceptualization of well-being to subjective well-being (SWB). Although we like and use SWB ourselves as an indicator of well-being, the value of eudaimonic thinking, both in the generation of hypotheses concerning how goals and lifestyles link with wellness, and in broadening and differentiating the outcomes considered to be reflective of wellness. We agree that eudaimonic research in psychology is young and varied, but suggest that preemptively constraining the field to a “big one” (SWB) conceptualization of wellness would be less generative.     

Let's talk openly about sex: Sexual communication,self-esteem and efficacy as correlates of sexual well-being

Drawing from theories of sexual development, the aim of this study was investigate whether sexual well-being was more positive when youth reported more frequent and better quality sex-related communication, and greater sexual subjectivity (sexual body esteem and pleasure self-efficacy). Sexual well-being was measured with reference to partnered behaviour, including safe-sex behavioural competence, sexual assertiveness, and emotional reactions. Young adults (N = 209; 61% female) aged 17–21 completed questionnaires. While also considering age, gender, romantic status and coital experience in regression analyses, participants higher in competence reported more frequent communication with mothers in high school, and current higher quality communication with mothers and friends. Participants reported more positive emotions related to sex when they had better quality communication with their friends. Associations of sexual subjectivity with greater sexual well-being were found, and small indirect effects were found between retrospectively reported communication frequency and sexual well-being via pleasure self-efficacy.     

Executive coaching enhances goal attainment,resilience and workplace well-being: a randomised controlled study

In a randomised controlled study, 41 executives in a public health agency received 360-degree feedback, a half-day leadership workshop, and four individual coaching sessions over 10 weeks. The coaching used a cognitive-behavioural solution-focused approach. Quantitative and qualitative measures were taken. This is the first published randomised controlled study in which coaching was conducted by professional executive coaches external to the organisation. Compared to controls, coaching enhanced goal attainment, increased resilience and workplace well-being and reduced depression and stress. Qualitative responses indicated participants found coaching helped increase self-confidence and personal insight, build management skills and helped participants deal with organisational change. Findings indicate that short-term coaching can be effective, and that evidence-based executive coaching can be valuable as an applied positive psychology in helping people deal with the uncertainly and challenges inherent in organisational change. Practical impactions are discussed and recommendations are made for the effective measurement of coaching outcomes.     

Personal investment predictors of life satisfaction among physically active middle-aged and older adults

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the social psychological components of personal investment and life satisfaction among 85 middle-aged and older men and women participating in a structured exercise program. Specifically, we examined the degree to which personal incentives for exercise, perceptions of a sense of self, and the congruency between the exercise program and the participants' goals, predicted life satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the social psychological variables reflecting personal investment accounted for 52% of the variance for life satisfaction in physically active middle-aged and older adults. The personal investment theory is supported as a framework for investigating psycho-social predictors of situational outcomes such as life satisfaction.     

生命意义与主观幸福感的关系:基于中国样本的元分析

运用元分析的方法来探讨生命意义与主观幸福感的关系。纳入了符合元分析标准的文献45篇,共51个独立样本,总样本量为27291。元分析结果表明:生命意义与主观幸福感(r=0.505,p0.001),生活满意度(r=0.395,p0.001)和积极情感(r=0.325,p0.001)呈显著正相关,而与消极情感(r=-0.195,p0.1)呈显著负相关。生命意义与主观幸福感的关系受到性别和被试群体的调节,如性别能显著正向调节二者的关系。结果表明,生命意义能有效预测主观幸福感。     

Individually tailored internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for older adults with anxiety and depression: a randomised controlled trial

Mixed anxiety and depression is common among older adults. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of an eight-week-long tailored internet-supported cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) programme and to compare against the provision of weekly general support. A second aim was to investigate if pre-treatment cognitive flexibility and self-reported cognitive problems would predict outcome. We included 66 older adults (aged over 60 years) with mixed anxiety/depression following media recruitment and randomised them into treatment and control groups. We also included a one-year follow-up. As a measure of executive function, we used the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (perseverative errors) and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire during the pre-treatment phase. Results showed a moderate between-group effect on the main outcome measure, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (d= .50), favouring the treatment group. Nearly half (45.5%) of that group were classified as responders. One person (3%) in the treatment group deteriorated. There were significant correlations between perseverative errors and outcome (on the BAI r = ?.45), but not among self-reported cognitive function. We conclude that guided, tailored ICBT may be effective for some older adults and that the role of cognitive function needs to be investigated further.     

Nonverbal zero-acquaintance accuracy of self-esteem,social dominance orientation,and satisfaction with life

Two samples of undergraduates judged the personalities of strangers (either six men or six women) after viewing a 30 s, silent video clip of each target. We evaluated the accuracy of five traits, three of which were not previously studied in zero-acquaintance research (self-esteem, social dominance orientation (SDO), and satisfaction with life (SWL); we also tested masculinity and femininity). We compared these five new traits to a baseline of accuracy for extroversion. People reached consensus on self-esteem, SDO, and SWL, though accuracy was higher and more consistent for male targets. Significant self-other agreement was obtained only for SWL, for male targets. We replicated past studies by demonstrating zero-acquaintance accuracy for masculinity but not femininity.     

Purpose,hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups

Using the Revised Youth Purpose Survey (Bundick et al., 2006 Bundick, M, Andrews, M, Jones, A, Mariano, JM, Bronk, KC and Damon, W. 2006. Revised youth purpose survey, Stanford, CA: Unpublished instrument, Stanford Center on Adolescence.  [Google Scholar]), the Trait Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991 Snyder, CR. 2003. March). Measuring hope in children. Paper presented at the Child Trends Indicators of Positive Development Conference. 2003, Washington, DC.  [Google Scholar]), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985 Diener, E, Emmons, RA, Larsen, RJ and Griffin, S. 1985. The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49: 71–75. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the present study examined the relationship among purpose, hope, and life satisfaction among 153 adolescents, 237 emerging adults, and 416 adults (N = 806). Results of this cross-sectional study revealed that having identified a purpose in life was associated with greater life satisfaction at these three stages of life. However, searching for a purpose was only associated with increased life satisfaction during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Additionally, aspects of hope mediated the relationship between purpose and life satisfaction at all three stages of life. Implications of these results for effectively fostering purpose are discussed.