The Heritability of Job Satisfaction Reconsidered: Only Unique Environmental Influences Beyond Personality

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which genetic and environmental influences explain differences in job satisfaction and its relationship to personality in order to explain the heritability of job satisfaction.

Design

Behavior genetic analyses are based on a dataset containing 622 individuals, including 185 MZ (M = 39.5 years) and 126 DZ twin pairs (M = 40.1 years).

Findings

The results showed that all genetic influences (28 %) on job satisfaction could be explained by its relation to personality, especially Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, representing a high genetic overlap between job satisfaction and personality. Non-shared environmental influences explained the remaining three fourths of the variance.

Implications

By showing that genetic influences of job satisfaction overlap completely with personality, including common non-additive genetic influences, the results support an interactionist view of job satisfaction in that both situational and dispositional determinants of job satisfaction are relevant.

Originality

In contrast to previous studies, we used a more appropriate behavior genetic approach meaning that our approach allows to directly estimate parameters of specific and common (additive and non-additive) genetic and environmental influences. Building on this, interpretations of behavior genetic findings were explained in detail to avoid common misunderstandings.

     

How Does More Attention to Subjective Well-Being Affect Subjective Well-Being?

There is an ongoing debate as to whether pursuing happiness is beneficial for people’s subjective well-being (SWB). To address this question, we tested whether attention to SWB – measured by participation in SWB surveys – is related to experienced SWB in two longitudinal studies. The initial study was conducted from November to December 2013 (N?=?129), and the replication study, three years later from November to December 2016 (N?=?120). The studies include two groups: one group (the control group) answered three SWB surveys over 4 weeks, and the other group (the experimental group) followed the same procedure but additionally tracked their SWB in detail using the experience sampling method four times a day and the day reconstruction method once a day using a smartphone application for two weeks to heighten their attention to their SWB. Both studies show higher SWB scores at later measurements compared to the first ones.     

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

The current studies were designed to explore the structure of sources of meaning in life among Chinese university students. In Study 1, we content-analyzed 171 students’ answers to the question of what made their lives meaningful and derived 74 frequently mentioned ideas. Then, we composed a questionnaire based on these ideas and administered it to another sample of 523 university students in Study 2. Seven underlying dimensions were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Self-development (i.e., to accomplish one’s aspirations and actualize one’s potential), social commitment (i.e., to contribute to society and to adhere to moral principles), interpersonal relationships (i.e., relationships with family members, friends and others), secular pursuits (i.e., stable jobs, material possessions and social status), experiences in life (i.e., to experience all the joys and sorrows in life), civilization (i.e., reading, thinking, music and arts), and autonomy (i.e., to make decisions freely and take charge of one’s own life). Results are discussed in light of the philosophical influences in Chinese culture, especially those from Confucianism and Taoism.     

A Cross-Cultural Evaluation of the Personal Wellbeing Index – School Children in Samples of Australian and Portuguese Adolescents

The practice of comparing nations on subjective wellbeing (SWB) is becoming commonplace, with many countries ranked by economists and social scientists alike according to average levels of SWB based on survey responses. Such large, multi-national population surveys have the potential to generate insights into the causes and correlates of SWB within different cultural groups, as well as inform policy regarding how to improve the wellbeing of citizens. At the heart of these large-scale research endeavors are SWB measures that function equivalently between the various participating cultural groups. For this reason, it is concerning that their remains a paucity of research that supports measurement equivalence for many SWB instruments commonly employed. Thus, it remains unclear whether variations in SWB across cultures reflect true differences, or whether these differences reflect measurement biases (e.g., response bias inherent within a particular cultural group). The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric equivalence of the Personal Wellbeing Index–School Children (PWI-SC) in convenience samples of Australian and Portuguese adolescents using multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis. Participants comprising the Australian sample were 1104 Victorian high-school students aged between 12 and 19 years (M?=?14.42, SD?=?1.63). Participants comprising the Portuguese sample were 573 high-school students living in Portugal aged between 12 and 18 years (M?=?14.32, SD?=?1.72). The results demonstrated strict factorial invariance between both versions of the PWI-SC, suggesting that this scale measures the same underlying construct in both samples. Moreover, these findings provide preliminary support for quantitative comparisons between Australian and Portuguese adolescents on the SWB variable as valid.     

An examination of social and psychological influences on academic learning: a focus on self-esteem,social relationships,and personal interest

The present study focused on an examination of both global and domain-specific self-esteems in secondary mathematics learning. The extent to which self-esteem, in general, would account and explain educational success through social relationships with teachers and peers, and personal interest in learning tasks is the main inquiry of this correlational investigation. Two hundred and eighty-three year 10 students (128 girls, 155 boys) were asked to respond to a number of Likert-scale inventories. Causal modeling procedures, aided by the statistical software MPlus 7.3, were used to analyze the data and to test the hypothesized model. A series of a posteriori analyses yielded a modified model for discussion, producing a number of key findings, namely: (a) the differential influences of both global (e.g., →relationship with teachers) and domain-specific (e.g., →relationship with peers) self-esteems, (b) the positive influences of social relation with teachers (e.g., →exam result) and interest in learning tasks (e.g., →end-of-school term grade), and (c) the mediating functioning of relationship with peers and interest in learning tasks. This evidence, overall, provides additional theoretical insights into the operational nature and trajectories of effective learning.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">DRD4</Emphasis> Variants Moderate the Impact of Parental Characteristics on Child Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Exploratory Evidence from a Multiplex Family Design

Parental ADHD symptomatology and related impairments have been robustly associated with youth ADHD across decades of work. Notably, these factors may impede typical development of child self-regulation capabilities through both neurobiological and interpersonal processes. High heritability of estimates for the disorder further suggest that these effects are likely genetically-mediated, at least in part. Variation within the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) has been shown to moderate parental influences on youth ADHD. Use of a multiplex family design (i.e., samples of families that included multiple affected members) may facilitate identification of additional gene variants of interest and advance understanding of gene-environment interplay in regard to parenting. Thirty multiplex families consisting of 114 individuals (66 youth, 48 parents) completed a multi-stage, multi-informant diagnostic and neurocognitive assessment, measures of parenting, and provided saliva samples for DNA analyses. Sanger sequencing of the DRD4 gene yielded 16 rare variants; a polygenic risk score was computed for both parents and youth. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) examined the predictive effects of parental ADHD symptoms, parental neurocognitive functioning, and poor parenting dimensions on youth ADHD as well as moderation of these effects by parental and youth DRD4 variants. Findings indicated that parental DRD4 variants moderated the impact of parental ADHD and neurocognitive functioning on youth ADHD symptoms. Youth DRD4 variants moderated the impact of parental inconsistent discipline on child ADHD. In all cases, stronger associations were observed for those individuals with more risk variants. These exploratory findings highlight the potential utility of a multiplex family design for examining the interplay between parent and child characteristics in predicting youth outcomes.     

Why Power Decreases Happiness in a Collectivist Context? A Qualitative Study

In the Western settings, power positively predicted happiness (e.g., Kifer et al. 2013). Though, this result may not be generalized across cultures as cultural psychologists recognized that interdependence is more important in collectivist cultures. Consistent with this conjecture, Datu and Reyes (2014) assessed the relations among power, relations, and happiness in the Philippine setting which revealed that power negatively predicted happiness. However, not much is known on why power could potentially reduce happiness in collectivist cultures. Thus, the current investigation employed qualitative research to offer in-depth explanations on why power may be associated with lower happiness in a collectivist setting. Findings revealed three major themes that characterized reasons on why power may decrease happiness in an interdependent context: a.) Power impairs relationship; b.) Power evokes negative judgments from others; and c.) Power comes with a great responsibility. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Happiness from Ancient Indian Perspective: Hitopadeśa

People who seek happiness intentionally often do not get it. That is, as per the paradox of happiness, in order to be happy one should forget about it (Martin in J Happiness Stud 9(2):171–184, 2008) and try to make others happy. Given that, the purpose of present article is to suggest a six-stage people-centric (rather than self-centric) theoretical model of happiness (sukha), which is constructed using a framework based on one of the eminent ancient Indian texts—Hitopade?a. The ancient yet novel model describes a balanced path to happiness. The propounded model indicates “knowledge” (vidyā) as a foremost antecedent of happiness. The model propounded not only offers insights on achieving integrated well-being and happiness in a moral and philanthropic way, but also extends complex constructs and perspectives in the realm of happiness studies and psychology, which could subsequently promote further research. Furthermore, the proposed model seems to corroborate some of the modern well-being theories.     

Recognition during recall failure: Semantic feature matching as a mechanism for recognition of semantic cues when recall fails

Research suggests that a feature-matching process underlies cue familiarity-detection when cued recall with graphemic cues fails. When a test cue (e.g., potchbork) overlaps in graphemic features with multiple unrecalled studied items (e.g., patchwork, pitchfork, pocketbook, pullcork), higher cue familiarity ratings are given during recall failure of all of the targets than when the cue overlaps in graphemic features with only one studied target and that target fails to be recalled (e.g., patchwork). The present study used semantic feature production norms (McRae et al., Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 37, 547–559, 2005) to examine whether the same holds true when the cues are semantic in nature (e.g., jaguar is used to cue cheetah). Indeed, test cues (e.g., cedar) that overlapped in semantic features (e.g., a_tree, has_bark, etc.) with four unretrieved studied items (e.g., birch, oak, pine, willow) received higher cue familiarity ratings during recall failure than test cues that overlapped in semantic features with only two (also unretrieved) studied items (e.g., birch, oak), which in turn received higher familiarity ratings during recall failure than cues that did not overlap in semantic features with any studied items. These findings suggest that the feature-matching theory of recognition during recall failure can accommodate recognition of semantic cues during recall failure, providing a potential mechanism for conceptually-based forms of cue recognition during target retrieval failure. They also provide converging evidence for the existence of the semantic features envisaged in feature-based models of semantic knowledge representation and for those more concretely specified by the production norms of McRae et al. (Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 37, 547–559, 2005).     

Christmas and Subjective Well-Being: a Research Note

According to Holmes and Rahe, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213–218, (1967), Christmas is a critical life event that may cause feelings of stress that, in turn, can lead to reduced subjective well-being (SWB) and health problems. This study uses a quantitative approach and large-scale survey data to assess whether or not respondents in European countries indicate lower SWB before and around Christmas. Precisely, respondents interviewed in the week before Christmas or at Christmas holidays are compared to respondents who are questioned at other times throughout the year. Moreover, the assumption is tested if religious denomination and religiousness moderate the association between Christmas and SWB. Main findings suggest that the Christmas period is related to a decrease in life satisfaction and emotional well-being. However, Christians, particularly those with a higher degree of religiousness, are an exception to this pattern.     

Unique Contributions of Positive Schemas for Understanding Child and Adolescent Life Satisfaction and Happiness

Much research has examined negative cognitive schemas as associates of psychopathology. Although some research has established relations between positive cognitive schemas and psychopathology, little research has examined positive cognitive schemas in the context of well-being among children and adolescents. In the current study, contributions of positive schemas to two indicators of well-being, namely happiness and life satisfaction, were examined. Specifically we examined how positive schemas predict well-being beyond negative schemas, whether age and gender moderate the relations between positive schemas and well-being, and the contributions of specific positive schema themes to well-being. 282 child and adolescent boys (n = 122) and girls (n = 160) aged 8–18 (M = 13.37, SD = 2.18), completed measures of positive schemas, negative schemas, life satisfaction, and happiness. Results indicated that positive schemas related to life satisfaction and happiness beyond negative schemas, supporting the importance of examining positive schemas in models of well-being. Positive schemas were more strongly tied to happiness in older adolescents versus younger children, but the relations between positive schemas and life satisfaction did not vary as a function of age. Gender effects indicate that the relation between positive schemas and life satisfaction and happiness was stronger for females than for males. When the relative contributions of positive schema themes (i.e., trust, worthiness, optimism, success, self-efficacy) were explored in the prediction of life satisfaction and happiness, worthiness emerged as the strongest predictor. Results emphasize the importance of considering positive schemas in models of well-being among children and adolescents.     

High Satisfaction and Low Distress in Breast Cancer Patients One Year after <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA</Emphasis>-Mutation Testing without Prior Face-to-Face Genetic Counseling

According to standard practice following referral to clinical genetics, most high risk breast cancer (BC) patients in many countries receive face-to-face genetic counseling prior to BRCA-mutation testing (DNA-intake). We evaluated a novel format by prospective study: replacing the intake consultation with telephone, written and digital information sent home. Face-to-face counseling then followed BRCA-mutation testing (DNA-direct). One year after BRCA-result disclosure, 108 participants returned long-term follow-up questionnaires, of whom 59 (55 %) had previously chosen DNA-direct (intervention) versus DNA-intake (standard practice i.e., control: 45 %). Questionnaires assessed satisfaction and psychological distress. All participants were satisfied and 85 % of DNA-direct participants would choose this procedure again; 10 % would prefer DNA-intake and 5 % were undecided. In repeated measurements ANOVA, general distress (GHQ-12, p?=?0.01) and BC-specific distress (IES-bc, p?=?0.03) were lower in DNA-direct than DNA-intake at all time measurements. Heredity-specific distress (IES-her) did not differ significantly between groups. Multivariate regression analyses showed that choice of procedure did not significantly contribute to either general or heredity-specific distress. BC-specific distress (after BC diagnosis) did contribute to both general and heredity-specific distress. This suggests that higher distress scores reflected BC experience, rather than the type of genetic diagnostic procedure. In conclusion, the large majority of BC patients that used DNA-direct reported high satisfaction without increased distress both in the short term, and 1 year after conclusion of genetic testing.     

Vanishing time in the pursuit of happiness

Happiness can be conceptualized as a positive affective state or as a goal whose pursuit ironically pulls the pursuer away from achieving it (Mauss, Tamir, Anderson, & Savino in Emotion, 11(4), 807–815, 2011). But how do people think about time during this latter, never-ending pursuit of happiness? The present investigation asks how seeking happiness influences perceptions of time availability. Four studies demonstrated that trait-level happiness seeking (Study 1) as well as direct manipulation of happiness seeking (Studies 2, 3, and 4) consistently reveal the same pattern: reduced feelings of time availability while pursuing happiness. This negative effect on time availability is mitigated when happiness seems like it has been achieved (Study 2) or seems quick to achieve (Study 3). In addition, pursuing happiness can ultimately decrease happiness, in part, by reducing perceptions of time availability (Study 4), extending theories on happiness, goal pursuit, and perceptions of time.     

Assessment of Current Genetic Counselor Practices in Post-Visit Written Communications to Patients

Providing patients with post-visit written communication (PVWC) is a long-standing component of genetic counseling. However the depiction of this practice in today’s clinical landscape is limited. To better describe this practice, we surveyed practicing clinical genetic counselors to ask if they send post-visit communications to patients and if so, what are the types, the average length, and the average time spent writing. They were also asked the perceived purpose of providing PVWC, if/how the practice has changed over time, and factors influencing the practice. Eighty three percent (233/280) of participants reported sending patients PVWC. Of those, 93% sent at least one communication written in patient-friendly language. The type of communication varied by specialty. Prenatal genetic counselors were less likely to send patient-specific letters and hybrid letters (defined as letters with content intended for both a physician and a patient) than those in cancer genetics (p = 0.010, p = 0.001, respectively) or pediatric genetics (p = 0.001, p = 0.004, respectively). Prenatal genetic counselors spent less time on average writing post-visit communications (19.0 min) relative to those in cancer and pediatric genetics (30.6 min, p = 0.027 and 37.7 min, p = 0.001, respectively). The most commonly cited purpose for sending PVWC was to provide patients a formal account of what happened during the appointment. These data suggest PWVC are still regularly sent to patients but the practice is variable and is influenced by numerous factors including specialty, years of experience, and time constraints.     

Perseverance Counts but Consistency Does Not! Validating the Short Grit Scale in a Collectivist Setting

The present research aims to validate the Short Grit Scale (Duckworth et al. Journal of Personality Assessment 91:166–174, 2009) among a sample of university (n?=?220) and high school students (n?=?606) from a collectivist culture (i.e., the Philippines) using both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation. Our results revealed interesting cross-cultural differences in grit. First, grit was comprised of two distinct dimensions rather than as a hierarchical construct. Only the perseverance of effort dimension loaded onto the higher-order grit factor. Second, perseverance of effort was more salient in predicting key psychological outcomes (i.e., academic engagement and subjective well-being) compared to consistency of interests. This suggests that in collectivist cultures, the perseverance of effort dimension of grit is more relevant compared to the consistency of interest. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The Multilevel Modality-Switch Effect: What Happens When We See the Bees Buzzing and Hear the Diamonds Glistening

Previous studies demonstrated that the sequential verification of different sensory modality properties for concepts (e.g., BLENDER-loud; BANANA-yellow) brings about a processing cost, known as the modality-switch effect. We report an experiment designed to assess the influence of the mode of presentation (i.e., visual, aural) of stimuli on the modality-switch effect in a property verification and lexical decision priming paradigm. Participants were required to perform a property verification or a lexical decision task on a target sentence (e.g., “a BEE buzzes”, “a DIAMOND glistens”) presented either visually or aurally after having been presented with a prime sentence (e.g., “the LIGHT is flickering”, “the SOUND is echoing”) that could either share both, one or none of the target’s mode of presentation and content modality. Results show that the mode of presentation of stimuli affects the conceptual modality-switch effect. Furthermore, the depth of processing required by the task modulates the complex interplay of perceptual and semantic information. We conclude that the MSE is a task-related, multilevel effect which can occur on two different levels of information processing (i.e., perceptual and semantic).     

Which Attitudes Will Make us Individually and Socially Happier and Healthier? A Cross-Culture and Cross-Development Analytical Model

This paper describes a dynamic system for the interrelationships between happiness and health that considers three main attitudes to life: α, β, and γ for Aristotelian, Epicurean, and Stoic, respectively. All variables that have been shown by empirical and theoretical studies to affect individual health and happiness are included (i.e., employment, occupation, education, ethical freedom, equity in achievements). Three main approaches are considered: behavioural and statistical ex-ante, and ex-post behavioural. A model is developed to rank the three attitudes in terms of health for a given happiness level, and consequently, provide insights into which attitude should be adopted by each individual, according to their characteristics: individuals in Protestant and non-Protestant Christian societies should adopt β and γ attitudes, respectively; educated individuals should adopt a γ attitude; and poor individuals should adopt an α attitude. Based on this analysis, this paper provides insights into which attitude actually is adopted by each society by comparing predicted health and achievement levels with the observed life expectancy at birth and per capita gross domestic product levels in 107 countries, thus providing an empirical test of the analytical model. This analysis revealed a prevalence of β attitudes in Protestant Developed Countries, with larger γ shares in less income-unequal countries; a prevalence of γ attitudes in non-Protestant Christian Developed Countries, with larger β shares in more income-unequal countries; a prevalence of α attitudes in Muslim Less Developed Countries, with larger γ shares in more educated countries; and a prevalence of β attitudes in more educated atheist and Jewish countries.     

Anxiety and Depression During Childhood and Adolescence: Testing Theoretical Models of Continuity and Discontinuity

The present study sought to clarify the trajectory (i.e., continuous vs. discontinuous) and expression (i.e., homotypic vs. heterotypic) of anxiety and depressive symptoms across childhood and adolescence. We utilized a state-of-the-science analytic approach to simultaneously test theoretical models that describe the development of internalizing symptoms in youth. In a sample of 636 children (53% female; M _age = 7.04; SD _age = 0.35) self-report measures of anxiety and depression were completed annually by youth through their freshman year of high school. For both anxiety and depression, a piecewise growth curve model provided the best fit for the data, with symptoms decreasing until age 12 (the “developmental knot”) and then increasing into early adolescence. The trajectory of anxiety symptoms was best described by a discontinuous homotypic pattern in which childhood anxiety predicted adolescent anxiety. For depression, two distinct pathways were discovered: A discontinuous homotypic pathway in which childhood depression predicted adolescent depression and a discontinuous heterotypic pathway in which childhood anxiety predicted adolescent depression. Analytical, methodological, and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Betting on transitivity in probabilistic causal chains

Causal reasoning is crucial to people’s decision making in probabilistic environments. It may rely directly on data about covariation between variables (correspondence) or on inferences based on reasonable constraints if larger causal models are constructed based on local relations (coherence). For causal chains an often assumed constraint is transitivity. For probabilistic causal relations, mismatches between such transitive inferences and direct empirical evidence may lead to distortions of empirical evidence. Previous work has shown that people may use the generative local causal relations A → B and B → C to infer a positive indirect relation between events A and C, despite data showing that these events are actually independent (von Sydow et al. in Proceedings of the thirty-first annual conference of the cognitive science society. Cognitive Science Society, Austin, 2009, Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the cognitive science society. Cognitive Science Society, Austin, 2010, Mem Cogn 44(3):469–487, 2016). Here we used a sequential learning scenario to investigate how transitive reasoning in intransitive situations with negatively related distal events may relate to betting behavior. In three experiments participants bet as if they were influenced by a transitivity assumption, even when the data strongly contradicted transitivity.     

Orientations to Happiness and Subjective Well-Being in Chinese Adolescents: The Roles of Prosocial Behavior and Internet Addictive Behavior

Researchers have studied individual’s pursuit of well-being through two perspectives: the eudaimonic perspective and the hedonic perspective. Peterson and his colleagues (2005) introduced their Orientations to Happiness scale, a self-report measure assessing individual’s pursuit of well-being that corresponds to these two perspectives. Specifically, the Life of Meaning subscale is the index of the eudaimonic pursuit; the Life of Pleasure subscale is the index of the hedonic pursuit. Previous research has demonstrated that orientations to happiness are positively associated with individual’s subjective well-being, whereas little research has addressed the mechanisms underlying the associations. Based on goal theory of happiness, the present study investigated how orientations to happiness were associated with subjective well-being by examining the indirect effects of the prosocial behavior and Internet addictive behavior in a sample of Chinese adolescents aged between 13 and 18 (N = 2082). The results showed that: (1) both life of meaning and life of pleasure were positively associated with adolescents’ subjective well-being; (2) prosocial behavior partially mediated the positive association between life of meaning and subjective well-being; and (3) prosocial behavior also partially mediated the positive association between life of pleasure and subjective well-being, whereas Internet addictive behavior undermined the positive association here. The findings shed light on the underlying mechanisms between orientations to happiness and subjective well-being.