Understanding Leisure Trip Experience and Subjective Well-Being: an Illustration of Creative Travel Experience

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Leisure activities provide an opportunity to stimulate an individual’s creative potential, making positive contributions to health and well-being. Using...     

Personality and Optimal Experience in Adolescence: Implications for Well-Being and Development

Past research has repeatedly identified relations between optimal experience—or flow—and well-being across the lifespan. In the attempt to identify the conditions favoring this experience, some studies took into account personality traits. While most of them operationalized flow in terms of intensity, we presently focused on perceived occurrence versus absence of flow. Specifically, we investigated the relations between flow occurrence, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, activities associated with flow, and personality in adolescence. A group of 408 Italian teenagers (mean age = 17.31; SD = 1.13) were administered Flow Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Psychological Well-being Scales, and the Big Five Questionnaire. Participants reporting optimal experience in their lives were compared with those not reporting it. Results showed that adolescents experiencing flow reported higher satisfaction with life, hedonic balance, and psychological well-being than their counterparts. Findings from logistic regression analyses further showed that openness to experience was the sole personality factor predicting flow occurrence, and that no personality factors were predictive of type of activities adolescents associated with flow. Findings point to the promotion of optimal experience among adolescents through the support of curiosity and openness to new experiences in engaging opportunities for action. They further call for the development of an integrated model taking into account both individual predispositions and social and cultural factors in well-being promotion.     

Abstinence and Well-Being Among Members of Alcoholics Anonymous: Personal Experience and Social Perceptions

Abstract

The authors examined the subjective experience of well-being (WB) among abstinent Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members and social perceptions of an abstinent alcoholic's WB among 3 nonalcoholic French-Canadian samples: male police officers, Catholic nuns, and university women. The short-term abstinent AA members, along with the university women, reported the lowest self-ratings of WB, whereas the Catholic nuns reported the highest. However, among the abstinent AA members, the level of WB was positively related to the length of abstention. The 3 nonalcoholic groups evaluated an abstinent AA member more positively than a nonabstinent alcoholic. These evaluations of an abstinent AA member converged with the AA members' self-evaluations on the measure of WB.     

Well-Being and Pluralism

It is a commonly expressed sentiment that the science and philosophy of well-being would do well to learn from each other. Typically such calls identify mistakes and bad practices on both sides that would be remedied if scientists picked the right bit of philosophy and philosophers picked the right bit of science. We argue that the differences between philosophers and scientists thinking about well-being are more difficult to reconcile than such calls suggest, and that pluralism is central to this task. Pluralism is a stance that explicitly drives towards accommodating and nurturing the richness and diversity of well-being, both as a concept and as an object of inquiry. We show that well-being science manifests a contingent pluralism at the level of methodology, whereas philosophy of well-being has largely rejected pluralism at the conceptual level. Recently, things have begun to change. Within philosophy, conceptual monism is under attack. But so is methodological pluralism within science. We welcome the first development, and bemoan the second. We argue that a joined-up philosophy and science of well-being should recognise the virtues of both conceptual and methodological pluralism. Philosophers should embrace the methodological justification of pluralism that can be found in the well-being sciences, and scientists should embrace the conceptual reasons to be pluralist that can be found in philosophical debate.

     

Well-Being and Fairness

The article explores the interaction of two, potentially clashing, considerations, each reflecting a different conception of fairness concerning the resolution of interpersonal conflicts. According to the Equal Chance Principle, the harm for each person should be minimized in a significant and (roughly) equal degree; when this is impossible, each person should be accorded the highest possible equal chance to avoid the harm. According to the Importance Principle, the danger to the person who would otherwise suffer the more serious harm should be prevented. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Age-Related Differences in Lay Conceptions of Well-Being and Experienced Well-Being

Conceptions of well-being are defined as a system of beliefs concerning the nature and experience of well-being and can be described generally by the degree to which four dimensions, representing (1) the experience of pleasure, (2) avoidance of negative experience, (3) selfdevelopment, and (4) contribution to others, are emphasized. A first main objective of the current study was to investigate age-related differences in younger and older adults’ conceptions of well-being. A second main objective was to address whether conceptions of well-being are differentially associated with experienced well-being in younger and older adults. Results indicated several age-related differences in conceptions of well-being, with younger adults reporting more emphasis on the experience of pleasure and self-development, older adults reporting more emphasis on avoidance of negative experience, and younger and older adults reporting similar levels of emphasis on contribution to others. Results further indicated several age-related differences in associations between the experience of pleasure and avoidance of negative experience dimensions and well-being, with these two dimensions being more strongly and positively associated with well-being in older adults. Self-development and contribution to others were found to be positively associated with well-being regardless of age.     

Relationship Context,Body-Esteem,Religiosity, and Sexual Experience: Associations with Well-Being and Relationship Status

Abstract

In this study we explored why there are sometimes conflicting findings regarding the influence of past sexual experience on relationships. Consequently, we studied the effects of body-esteem and religiosity on sexual experience in two relational contexts (casual or committed relationships) and how all of these variables were associated with life satisfaction, and the likelihood that a person would be married by their early thirties. With a national sample of 4966 participants, our results indicated that sexual experiences in casual relationships had negative associations with life satisfaction and relationship status, whereas sexual experiences in committed relationships had positive associations.     

Investigating the Relationships Between Mobility Behaviours and Indicators of Subjective Well-Being Using Smartphone-Based Experience Sampling and GPS Tracking

People interact with their physical environments every day by visiting different places and moving between them. Such mobility behaviours likely influence and are influenced by people's subjective well-being. However, past research examining the links between mobility behaviours and well-being has been inconclusive. Here, we provide a comprehensive investigation of these relationships by examining individual differences in two types of mobility behaviours (movement patterns and places visited) and their relationship to six indicators of subjective well-being (depression, loneliness, anxiety, stress, affect, and energy) at two different temporal levels of analysis (two-week tendencies and daily level). Using data from a large smartphone-based longitudinal study (N = 1765), we show that (i) movement patterns assessed via GPS data (distance travelled, entropy, and irregularity) and (ii) places visited assessed via experience sampling reports (home, work, and social places) are associated with subjective well-being at the between and within person levels. Our findings suggest that distance travelled is related to anxiety, affect, and stress, irregularity is related to depression and loneliness, and spending time in social places is negatively associated with loneliness. We discuss the implications of our work and highlight directions for future research on the generalizability to other populations as well as the characteristics of places. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Cultural Adaptation of New Affective Well-Being Measure in Hindi-Speaking Youth: Scale of Positive and Negative Experience

This study is an attempt to culturally adapt the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE, Diener et al. in Soc Indic Res 97(2):143–156, 2010) in the Indian context. The study was conducted on youth in the age range of 15–24 years (N = 966), and reliability and factorial validity of translated version (in Hindi) of SPANE were calculated. Convergent validity of translated scale was also examined with different measures of well-being (life satisfaction, psychological distress, and happiness) and positive expectations scales (optimism and self-efficacy). Results supported the original two-factor structure of SPANE, and the scale also demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Further analyses revealed structural invariance for scale items across gender, different age groups (adolescents and young adults), different residential areas (urban and rural), and different socioeconomic levels. Results also provided a support for the convergent validity of the Hindi version.     

Subjective Well-Being and Policy

This paper analyses whether the aggregation of individual happiness scores to a National Happiness Index can still be trusted once governments have proclaimed their main objective to be the pursuit—or even maximization—of this National Happiness Index. The answer to this investigation is clear-cut: as soon as the National Happiness Index has become a policy goal, it can no longer be trusted to reflect people’s true happiness. Rather, the Index will be systematically distorted due to the incentive for citizens to answer strategically and the incentive for government to manipulate the Index in its favour. Such a distortion would arise even if the measurement of subjective well-being correctly reflected actual happiness before the intervention of government. Governments in a democracy should establish the conditions enabling individuals to become happy. The valuable and important results of happiness research should be introduced into the political process. Each person should be free to pursue happiness according to his or her preferences. This process is supported by obedience to the rule of law, human rights and free media, as well as by extended political participation rights, decentralized public decision-making, an open and effective education system fostering upward mobility and the possibility to find suitable employment.     

Sacrifice and Relational Well-Being

ABSTRACT

The well-being account of sacrifice says that sacrifices are gross losses of well-being. This account is attractive because it explains the relationship between sacrifice and moral obligation. However, sacrifices made on behalf of loved ones may cause trouble for the account. Loving sacrifices occur in a context where the agent’s well-being and the beneficiary’s well-being are intertwined. They present a challenge to individualism about well-being. Drawing inspiration from feminist philosophers and bioethicists, I argue that a notion of ‘relational well-being’, analogous to ‘relational autonomy’, can help account for loving sacrifices without either undermining the well-being theory of sacrifice or minimizing the very real sacrifices made in caregiving situations.     

Worlds,Capabilities and Well-Being

Critics suggest that without some “objective” account of well-being we cannot explain why satisfying some preferences is, as we believe, better than satisfying others, why satisfying some preferences may leave us on net worse off or why, in a range of cases, we should reject life-adjustment in favor of life-improvement. I defend a subjective welfarist understanding of well-being against such objections by reconstructing the Amartya Sen’s capability approach as a preferentist account of well-being. According to the proposed account preference satisfaction alone—possible as well as actual—is of value. States of affairs contribute to well-being because and to the extent that they satisfy actual or nearby possible preferences, and are fruitful, that is, compatible with a range states that satisfy further actual or nearby possible preferences. The proposed account solves the problem of adaptive preference. Individuals whose preferences are “deformed” are satisfied with fruitless states of affairs, which constrain their options so that they are incapable of satisfying a wide range of nearby possible preferences—preferences they “could easily have had.” Recognizing the value of capabilities as well as actual attainments allows us to explain why individuals who satisfy “deformed” or perverse preferences may not on net benefit from doing so. More fundamentally, it explains why some states are, as Sen suggests, bad, awful or gruesome while others are good, excellent or superb without appeal to any objective account of value.     

Sumner On Desires and Well-Being

Berkeley holds that objects in the world are constituted of ideas. Some commentators argue that for Berkeley, ideas are identical to acts of perception; this is taken to proceed from his view that ideas are like pains. In this paper, I evaluate the identity claim. I argue that although it does not follow from the pain analogy, nonetheless the texts suggest that Berkeley does think ideas and acts are identical. I show how Berkeley can account for objects persisting over time and being perceivable by multiple observers, even if the ideas that constitute them are intermittent and dependent on particular actors.     

Effects of Spiritual Well-Being on Subsequent Happiness,Psychological Well-Being,and Stress

Recently, Gomez and Fisher (Gomez R and Fisher JW (2003) Pers Individ Dif 35: 1975–1991) proposed that four facets of spiritual well-being exist, namely, personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental spiritual well-being. Based on data from three independent studies, the present research effort tested the validity of a German version of (Gomez R and Fisher JW (2003) Pers Individ Dif 35: 1975–1991) of the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ-G). It was found that the SWBQ-G was factorially valid and that each of the four SWBQ-G scales was discriminant to mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Also, it was found that the SWBQ-G predicted levels of subsequent happiness, psychological well-being (positive relationship), and stress (negative relationship). These results add to our knowledge about the validity of the construct of spiritual well-being.     

Implicit Theories of Well-Being Predict Well-Being and the Endorsement of Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes

The current studies investigated whether beliefs concerning the malleability or immutability of well-being (i.e., incremental and entity implicit theories of well-being, respectively) are predictive of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being and of the endorsement of activities conducive to well-being. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that, relative to entity theory endorsement, the endorsement of an incremental theory of well-being predicted greater hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, regression analyses showed that these associations remained when including scores on measures of socially desirable responding, implicit theories of ability, and related variables of striving for personal growth, hope, and character strengths usage. Study 3 showed that greater endorsement of an incremental theory of well-being predicted greater perceived utility of well-being activities. Study 4 showed that an experimentally-induced incremental theory of well-being caused greater endorsement of well-being activities than an experimentally-induced entity theory of well-being. These findings suggest that amenability toward, and responsiveness to, existing well-being interventions may be fostered by an incremental theory of well-being. Furthermore, they suggest that cultivating an incremental mindset regarding well-being may facilitate adaptive functioning and, thereby, serve as a well-being intervention.     

Integrated Conative Model of Well-Being: from Motives to Well-Being

The aim of this study was to develop the self-concordance model of healthy goal striving through testing the extended conative model of well-being. This model included: goal self-concordance as an aspect of positive motive; sustained effort as positive behaviour directed toward attaining the goal; goal attainment; personal growth interpretation as positive cognition regarding goal attainment; need satisfaction; and finally well-being as the outcome of the successful goal-striving process. Across three studies, university students completed online surveys regarding these variables, making reference to their most important goal during the past 4 weeks. The results indicated that (a) goal self-concordance predicted well-being via mediation of need satisfaction; (b) sustained effort also predicted well-being via mediation of need satisfaction; (c) personal growth interpretation predicted well-being via mediation of need satisfaction. The suggested integrated conative model of well-being provided appropriate goodness of fit. The three model-fitting studies highlight the important role of psychological processes such as construal in the conative processes that predict subjective well-being.     

The Mediating Effect of Financial Motives in the Association between Entrepreneurial Experience and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Japan

This study investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial experience and subjective well-being. Using an original survey on subjective well-being, entrepreneurial experience, level of wealth (inferred from observed variables of income, cash, and assets), and personal attributes of 10,001 individuals in Japan, we examine the factors that mediate the association between entrepreneurial experience and subjective well-being. We measure entrepreneurial experience as an individual’s experience in funding, owning, and running a corporation. We consider the mediating effect of the level of wealth on subjective well-being because entrepreneurial well-being is associate with wealth derived from income, cash, and assets. Our results provide no significant evidence that individuals with entrepreneurial experience have higher subjective well-being. However, we find a positive indirect effect of entrepreneurial experience on subjective well-being through wealth and a negative indirect effect through debt. The findings of this study indicate the importance of considering the mediating effect of financial motives in entrepreneurial well-being.