Does life satisfaction change with age? A comparison of Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden

In this study, the relationship between age and life satisfaction was examined over a period of 27 years (1982-2009) in four countries—Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Sweden—using nationally representative samples of adults between the ages of 15 and 100 from the European Value Survey, the World Values Survey, and the European Social Survey (total N = 39,420). Unlike in Finland and Sweden, the relationship between age and subjective well-being in Estonia and Latvia was best described as curvilinear, with younger and older people having higher levels of life satisfaction. The observed age differences in life satisfaction in Estonia and Latvia, however, seem to be due to an interaction of cohort and period differences.     

Values as Predictors of Anticipated Socio‐cultural Adaptation Among Potential Migrants from Russia to Finland

This study examined the role of value patterns of potential migrants from Russia to Finland (N = 229) in predicting expectations of post‐migration socio‐cultural adaptation. Furthermore, the fit between migrants' personal values and the values they expect to encounter in the new home country (i.e. perceived value congruence) was hypothesized to predict anticipated socio‐cultural adaptation (ASCA). The study took into account perceived cultural distance variables as well as socio‐demographic controls traditionally related to adaptation outcomes among migrants. According to the results, familiarity with the host country (i.e., the number of Finnish friends/relatives in Finland), the openness to change value and perceived value congruence significantly predicted potential migrants' ASCA. When using four sub‐scales (interpersonal relations, cognitive understanding, impersonal perils and bureaucracy) of the ASCA‐scale, a more complex picture emerged. The results suggest that future work should include values, particularly perceived value congruence, in the analysis of the cultural fit hypothesis, as well as find better means of supporting immigrant adjustment starting at the pre‐migration stage. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perception of racial discrimination and psychopathology across three U.S. ethnic minority groups

To examine the association between the perception of racial discrimination and the lifetime prevalence rates of psychological disorders in the three most common ethnic minorities in the United States, we analyzed data from a sample consisting of 793 Asian Americans, 951 Hispanic Americans, and 2,795 African Americans who received the Composite International Diagnostic Interview through the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies. The perception of racial discrimination was associated with the endorsement of major depressive disorder, panic disorder with agoraphobia, agoraphobia without history of panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders in varying degrees among the three minority groups, independent of the socioeconomic status, level of education, age, and gender of participants. The results suggest that the perception of racial discrimination is associated with psychopathology in the three most common U.S. minority groups.