The Relative Importance of Personality,Financial Satisfaction,and Autonomy for Different Subjective Well-Being Facets

Abstract

Using a nationally representative sample (N?=?507) from Singapore, this study examined whether personality, financial satisfaction, and autonomy were important to subjective well-being (SWB), and how the importance of these predictors varied across different SWB facets—life satisfaction, happiness, positive feelings, and negative feelings. The findings indicated that neuroticism, financial satisfaction, and autonomy, were important predictors of happiness. Personality was most important for affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative feelings), whereas financial satisfaction was most important for life satisfaction. Specifically, neuroticism accounted for substantial variance in positive and negative feelings, and was the strongest correlate among the Big Five traits. In contrast, financial satisfaction explained most of the variance in life satisfaction. This highlights that the importance of well-being predictors depended on the facet of well-being examined. The findings suggest that residents in an affluent nation like Singapore do not emphasize only postmaterialist values (e.g., autonomy) and disregard materialist concerns (e.g., financial satisfaction). Though certain SWB facets (positive and negative affect) are largely influenced by dispositional factors, other facets (life satisfaction and happiness) are closely related to factors (e.g., financial satisfaction, autonomy) that may be affected by social policies. Policymakers can thus target those aspects to enhance people’s SWB.     

An interaction model for the role of self-evaluations and antagonistic pursuits in subjective well-being

Popular theorizing about happiness pursuit emphasizes universal paths to happiness, but other theorizing acknowledges different people achieve happiness in different ways (i.e., subjective well-being, SWB). The present work extended this latter perspective by examining how antagonistic pursuit of a grandiose identity (‘narcissistic antagonism’) – generally thought to reduce narcissistic people’s SWB – may relate to increased cognitive well-being (i.e., a component of SWB) for narcissistic people with lower self-esteem. In Study 1, participants (N = 417) reported their narcissism, self-esteem, narcissistic antagonism, and general life satisfaction (to index cognitive well-being). In Study 2 (pre-registered), participants (N = 450) reported their narcissism, self-esteem, narcissistic antagonism, general and domain-specific life satisfaction, and general affect (to index affective well-being, which is a different component of SWB). Both studies revealed narcissistic antagonism related to increased life satisfaction only for more (vs. less) narcissistic people with lower (vs. higher) self-esteem. Study 2 not only replicated this interactive pattern on satisfaction across various life domains but also revealed the interaction may be related to increased negative affect. Broadly, results highlight how different people may enhance features of SWB in different, even ‘dark’, ways.     

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.     

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.     

Cultural Values and Happiness: An East-West Dialogue

Abstract

Happiness as a state of mind may be universal, but its meaning is complex and ambiguous. The authors directly examined the relationships between cultural values and experiences of happiness in 2 samples, by using a measurement of values derived from Chinese culture and a measurement of subjective well-being balanced for sources of happiness salient in both the East and the West. The participants were university students–439 from an Eastern culture (Taiwan) and 344 from a Western culture (the United Kingdom). Although general patterns were similar in the 2 samples, the relationships between values and happiness were stronger in the Taiwanese sample than in the British sample. The values social integration and human-heartedness had culture-dependent effects on happiness, whereas the value Confucian work dynamism had a culture-general effect on happiness.     

Regulatory Focus and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Coping Styles and the Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

Although previous research has suggested that regulatory focus may exert considerable impacts on individuals’ subjective well-being (SWB), little research has explored the mechanism for this relation and the potential gender difference. The current study investigated the potential mediating effects of coping styles on the relationship between regulatory focus and three aspects of SWB (indicated by life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) among Chinese adolescents. Total of 2943 Chinese adolescents participated in this cross-sectional survey and completed self-reported questionnaires (M_age = 14.47, SD?=?1.59, 44.50% boys). Hypothesized pathways were tested by structural equation models. Results showed that regulatory foci were significantly associated with SWB. Promotion focus predicted SWB mainly through problem-focused coping, and the mediating effects of emotion-focused coping were also observed; Prevention focus predicted SWB mainly through emotion-focused coping, and the mediating effects of problem-focused coping were observed. Furthermore, relative to boys, the prediction of problem-focused coping on life satisfaction was stronger and the prediction of promotion focus on life satisfaction was weaker for girls. These findings provide a new approach to understand the mechanism for the relationship between regulatory foci and SWB, and indicate the gender differences of this process.     

Passion and performance attainment in sport

ObjectivesTo test a performance-attainment model derived from the Dualistic Model of Passion [Vallerand et al. (2003). Les passions de l’âme: On obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 756–767] that posits that both harmonious and obsessive passions are positive predictors of deliberate practice that, in turn, is a positive predictor of performance.DesignA prospective design was used in the present study.Methods and resultsThe basic model was tested in two studies using structural equation modeling. Results from Study 1 with 184 high school basketball players indicated that both harmonious and obsessive passions were positive predictors of deliberate practice, which, in turn, was a positive predictor of objective performance. The results of Study 2, conducted with 67 synchronized swimming and water-polo athletes conceptually replicated those from Study 1. Furthermore, results differentially linked the two passions to achievement goals and subjective well-being (SWB). Specifically, harmonious passion was a positive predictor of mastery goal pursuit and SWB, whereas obsessive passion was a positive predictor of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal pursuit and was unrelated to SWB. Mastery goals were positive predictors of deliberate practice, which was a direct positive predictor of performance, whereas performance-avoidance goals were direct negative predictors of performance.ConclusionsIt appears that there are two paths to high-level performance attainment in sport, depending if harmonious or obsessive passion underlies sport engagement. While the path from harmonious passion is conducive to high levels of performance and living a happy life, that from obsessive passion is less reliably related to performance attainment and is unrelated to happiness.     

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.     

Why do I feel this way? Attributional assessment of happiness and unhappiness

ABSTRACT

Much research has shown that how people explain events affects subjective well-being (SWB), in particular when they explain positive events as being due to internal, stable, and global factors, and negative events as being due to external, unstable, and local factors. In the current research, we asked: how do people explain their SWB itself, and how do such attributions in turn relate to SWB? In repeated measures studies 1 (N = 281) and 2 (N = 169) participants viewed happy feelings as more personally controllable, stable, and internally caused compared to unhappy feelings. In Study 3 (N = 142) participants made causal attributions about accurate SWB feedback, or about randomly assigned false (low or high) SWB feedback. Those in the false low-SWB feedback condition attributed their SWB to external and unstable factors controlled by others compared to those in the high-level feedback condition. In all three studies, attributing SWB to stable, personally controllable factors was positively associated with SWB.     

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.     

WHO IS HAPPY?

A flood of new studies explores people's subjective well-being (SWB) Frequent positive affect, infrequent negative affect and a global sense of satisfaction with life define high SWB These studies reveal that happiness and life satisfaction are similarly available to the young and the old, women and men, blacks and whites, the rich and the working-class. Better clues to well-being come from knowing about a person's traits, close relationships, work experiences, culture, and religiosity. We present the elements of an appraisal-based theory of happiness that recognizes the importance of adaptation, cultural world view, and personal goals     

Gratitude predicts hope and happiness: A two-study assessment of traits and states

Abstract

Gratitude is the appreciation of a gift received; happiness is the enjoyment of a present good; and hope is the desire for a valued future. Two studies investigated gratitude as a predictor of hope and happiness. In Study 1, hierarchical regressions (N = 181) revealed that trait gratitude exceeded other constructs (forgivingness, patience, self-control) in predicting trait hope and happiness. In Study 2, we experimentally tested the impact of a gratitude-related writing intervention on state hope and happiness. Participants (N = 153) first wrote about a current, meaningful, hoped-for outcome and completed state hope and happiness measures. Participants were randomly assigned to either (a) gratefully remember a past hope that had been fulfilled or (b) a control condition. The grateful remembering condition (vs. control) prompted significant increases in state hope and happiness, commending grateful remembering as a practice that can bolster present happiness and hope for the future.     

Experiential purchases and prosocial spending promote happiness by enhancing social relationships

Recent research on consumption and subjective well-being has revealed that experiential purchases and prosocial spending promote happiness by enhancing the purchasers’ social relationships. This study (N = 1523) explored whether undergraduate students’ consumption behaviors during summer break would be associated with their post-break happiness, and whether the consumption–happiness relationship would be mediated by a positive influence on their social relationships. The results showed that both experiential purchases and prosocial spending during summer break were associated with greater post-break happiness, but only when these purchases had a positive influence on the purchasers’ social relationships. These effects remained significant after controlling for respondents’ personality traits, financial standing, and sex. Moreover, both experiential purchases and prosocial spending were more likely to have a positive influence on social relationships than luxury purchases. These results are congruent with the recent exposition that experiential purchases and prosocial spending promote happiness by enhancing the purchasers’ social relationships.     

Adaptation and the Set-Point Model of Subjective Well-Being: Does Happiness Change After Major Life Events?

ABSTRACT— Hedonic adaptation refers to the process by which individuals return to baseline levels of happiness following a change in life circumstances. Dominant models of subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that people can adapt to almost any life event and that happiness levels fluctuate around a biologically determined set point that rarely changes. Recent evidence from large-scale panel studies challenges aspects of this conclusion. Although inborn factors certainly matter and some adaptation does occur, events such as divorce, death of a spouse, unemployment, and disability are associated with lasting changes in SWB. These recent studies also show that there are considerable individual differences in the extent to which people adapt. Thus, happiness levels do change, and adaptation is not inevitable.     

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.     

Understanding associations between negatively biased attention and depression and social anxiety: positively biased attention is key

ABSTRACT

Background and objectives: Although research supports the premise that depressed and socially anxious individuals direct attention preferentially toward negative emotional cues, little is known about how attention to positive emotional cues might modulate this negative attention bias risk process. The purpose of this study was to determine if associations between attention biases to sad and angry faces and depression and social anxiety symptoms, respectively, would be strongest in individuals who also show biased attention away from happy faces.

Methods: Young adults (N?=?151; 79% female; M?=?19.63 years) completed self-report measures of depression and social anxiety symptoms and a dot probe task to assess attention biases to happy, sad, and angry facial expressions.

Results: Attention bias to happy faces moderated associations between attention to negatively valenced faces and psychopathology symptoms. However, attention bias toward sad faces was positively and significantly related to depression symptoms only for individuals who also selectively attended toward happy faces. Similarly, attention bias toward angry faces was positively and significantly associated with social anxiety symptoms only for individuals who also selectively attended toward happy faces.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that individuals with high levels of depression or social anxiety symptoms attend preferentially to emotional stimuli across valences.     

Religiosity and its association with subjective well-being and depression among Kuwaiti and Palestinian Muslim children and adolescents

The present study sought to investigate the association of religiosity and the self-ratings of happiness, satisfaction with life, mental health, physical health, and depression among Kuwaiti (N?=?1937) and Palestinian (N?=?1009) Muslim children and adolescents (M _age?=?14.1, SD?=?1.4). They responded to five self-rating scales and the Multidimensional Child and Adolescent Depression Scale. It was found that Palestinian males were significantly less religious than all other groups, while Kuwaiti males and females had significantly higher mean scores on happiness and satisfaction than Palestinians. Kuwaiti males had significantly higher mental health and less depression than all other groups. Among all the four groups, the correlations between religiosity and well-being rating scales were positively significant, but negatively significant with depression. The principal components analysis yielded a single salient factor for all groups and labelled “Religiosity and well-being vs. depression.” It was concluded that clinicians treating depression will probably make use of its negative association with religiosity mainly among Muslim clients.     

Subjective Well-Being among Adolescent Consumers: The Effects of Materialism, Compulsive Buying, and Time Affluence

The burgeoning world-wide consumer culture brings with it certain baggage. Materialistic attitudes and compulsive buying have both been linked to lower levels of subjective well-being in consumers. Additionally, time is becoming an increasingly precious commodity as denizens of the consumer culture increase their work load and activities in an attempt to fully achieve the happiness promised by a lifestyle of consumption. The purpose of the present research is to investigate whether the negative impact of materialism and compulsive buying on well-being is moderated by a person’s perceived time affluence (the time one perceives he/she has available for life’s many activities). Using a large sample of adolescents (n = 1,329), the present study finds that (1) materialism and compulsive buying negatively impact subjective well-being, and that (2) time affluence moderates the relationship between materialism and compulsive buying and well-being. Specifically, perceptions of time affluence were found to negate the negative relationship between both materialism and SWB and compulsive buying and SWB. And (3), the present research appears to have uncovered a “sweet spot” when it comes to the influence of time affluence on the above relationships. Too little or too much time affluence was found to be associated with lower well-being. A simple slope analysis suggests that moderate levels of time affluence are most conducive to our well-being as consumers. In addition to discussing these findings, the authors also note certain limitations and offer directions for future research.     

Individualism/Collectivism and Cultures of Happiness: A Theoretical Conjecture on the Relationship between Consumption, Culture and Subjective Well-Being at the National Level

This theory paper seeks to explain an empirical puzzle presented by past research on the relationship between consumption and subjective well-being (SWB). Research has shown that people in rich countries are, on average, significantly higher in SWB than people in poor countries, which is consistent with a strong link between one's overall level of consumption and one's SWB. However, when individuals within the same country are compared, income has little relationship to SWB above the level at which basic needs can be met, suggesting that higher levels of consumption may not be linked to higher levels of SWB. This link between consumption and SWB when nations are compared to each other, but not when individuals within a given nation are compared to each other, presents a puzzle. As a solution, I propose that economic development leads to higher levels of national average SWB not by increasing consumption (again, with the caveat that this statement excludes situations where basic needs are not being met), but by creating more individualistic cultures which encourage their members to pursue personal happiness over honor and meeting social obligations. Whether or not this is seen as a socially positive development depends in a circular fashion on the cultural values of the person making the judgement.