Subjective Well-Being in an Era of Relentless Growth: The Case of Turkey Between 2004 and 2014

This paper analyses the subjective well-being levels in Turkey between 2004 and 2014 by relying on Turkish Statistical Institute’s Life Satisfaction Surveys. This is the first study ever suggesting an alternative well-being approach for Turkish population based on subjective measures. Inspired from the Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness and Cummins et al.’s (2003) Australian Unity Well-Being Index approaches, we constructed several subjective well-being indexes for the first time in Turkey. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Despite GDP per capita (in current $) doubles between 2004 and 2014 period, constructed indexes show slight increments or stagnate around some level. (2) We found a slight support for Frey and Stutzer’s (2002a) argument that GDP per capita is insensible after some threshold. (3) National well-being indicators are found to be more volatile than individual well-being indicators, which hints that individuals may be using their informal social networks as a shelter from the economic and politic fluctuations in the country. (4) Much of the volatility in subjective well-being indexes are caused by psychological well-being indicators. Previous results indicate that as basic requirements of a society are met after some level of per capita income, non-materialistic aspirations- like happiness, freedom or justice-started to surpass materialistic aspirations. Same is true for Turkey- this led us to conclude that the reductionist approach of delegating the solution of social and ecological problems to economic growth process may lie beneath this dismal outcome in Turkey in the last decade. Thus, we recommend policy-makers to upkeep with the reform process which would make economic and political system more transparent and competitive, which in turn, help to ameliorate the channels through which individuals fulfil their aspirations.     

Personality,Relationships with Others and Psychological Well-Being: A Pilot Study on the Gabonese Older People

Each Individual is linked to his social environment by support relationships. This concern both aid that the individual himself provides and his social resources. We studied the hypothesized mediator role, in aging, of relationship with others, including in particular perceived social support (PSS) and compassionate love (CL). PSS and CL were studied in the link between personality and psychological well-being (PWB) to Gabonese older people. The data were collected using Likert  questionnaires in a sample of 155 (94 men and 61 women) older people. Findings revealed the mediator role of CL between two dimensions of personality (agreeableness and openness) on the one hand and PWB on the other side. PSS was also found to be a mediator only between agreeableness and PWB. Our findings support the influence of relationship with others in enhancing PWB. The latter would be more fostered when individuals receive and give support. The present study has implications in nursing home as well as at home. It allows relatives to better interact and take their parents to foster their PWB. Similarly, it may contribute to health care research and provide knowledge about older people care at nursing home. It encourages the implementation of clinical interventions in a goal of promoting social interactions in which older people can give compassionate love and receive social support. Finally, the study highlights the importance of the development of person-centred practice in Nursing Home Services.     

Dysfunctional Attitudes as a Mediator in the Association Between Problematic Internet Use and Depression,Anxiety, and Stress

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - The aim of this study was to describe the mediating role of dysfunctional attitudes in the association between problematic internet...     

Examining Irrational Happiness Beliefs within an Adaptation-Continuum Model of Personality and Coping

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - The integration of dispositional characteristics of personality and coping as part of an adaptation-continuum model of personality and...     

Count-based decision-making in mice: numerosity vs. stimulus control

Animal Cognition - Numerical and temporal control of behavior is ubiquitous across many species of animals. Recent studies showed that in the presence of reliable discriminative stimuli, mice...