Character Strengths – Stability,Change, and Relationships with Well-Being Changes

Character strengths are positively valued personality traits that are assumed to be stable across time and situations, but also malleable due to cultivation or deliberate intervention. Also, studies showed that character strengths are robustly related to well-being. Consequently, character strengths have often been used in interventions aimed at increasing well-being. However, the stability of character strengths and the longitudinal relationships with well-being are widely unexplored: First, previous reports on the stability of character strengths have mainly focused on one assessment instrument only and second, they did not consider other indicators of stability (and malleability) besides rank-order stability, (i.e., mean-level stability). In this longitudinal study, we assessed character strengths and well-being at two time points and examined the stability and malleability of character strengths and the convergence of changes in character strengths and well-being by means of correlation analyses. Two samples (n₁ = 601, n₂ = 1162) completed different measures of character strengths and instruments for the assessment of well-being, ill-being, and health within up to three and a half years. Results showed that character strengths are stable over longer time periods (test-retest reliabilities ranging from r_tt = .60–.83) and that relationships between changes in strengths and well-being are highly parallel to what has been reported in cross-sectional studies (strongest relationships for zest, hope, curiosity, and love). Furthermore, results suggest that some strengths, most predominantly humor, but also spirituality and prudence might be more amenable for change than others. These results might bear important information for selecting character strengths in interventions.

     

Character Strengths and Life Satisfaction in Later Life: an Analysis of Different Living Conditions

The aim of this study was to explore the role of character strengths and their associations to life satisfaction in older people. We were interested in studying several transitions that are specific for older people: aging, retirement, living alone, and being widowed. We examined the relationships of these demographic characteristics and living conditions with character strengths and studied their effects on the association of character strengths with life satisfaction. In a cross-sectional analysis, 15,598 older adults (aged 46–93 years) who had completed measures on character strengths, life satisfaction, and demographic characteristics and living conditions were selected from an existing database. Overall, analyses revealed positive associations of most character strengths with age, and higher scores in most character strengths for the employed (vs. the retired) and those living with a partner (vs. those living alone), while only few relationships with being widowed (vs. being married) were observed. Further, the contribution of character strengths to life satisfaction generally decreased slightly with age, but increased for certain character strengths, such as modesty or prudence. Also, stronger relationships between several character strengths and life satisfaction were found for retired people and those living alone, while being widowed did not affect these relationships. The results demonstrate how character strengths might contribute to the life satisfaction of older adults in various living conditions and thereby offer a starting point for strengths-based programs in later life.

     

Understanding users' switching intention of cloud storage services: A push-pull-mooring framework

Highly sensitive and private information is stored in the cloud, so understanding how and why customers choose and switch between cloud storage service providers is pivotal. However, prior studies have tended to focus on users' adoption of cloud storage services, whereas little attention has been paid to their switching intention behavior based on non-functional factors. Using the push-pull model, developed from human migration theory, and by employing a survey (n = 326), we demonstrate that the push factor (i.e., satisfaction) has a significant negative effect, while the pull factor (i.e., alternative attractiveness) has a significant positive effect on users' switching intentions. Furthermore, mooring factors such as switching costs, habitual use, and past switching experiences have a varying moderation effect on the relationship between push and pull factors and switching intentions. The results offer several important theoretical and actionable managerial implications.     

Long-Term Outcome of a Cluster-Randomized Universal Prevention Trial Targeting Anxiety and Depression in School Children

The present study concerns a 3-year follow-up of a universal prevention trial targeting anxiety and depressive symptoms in school children. In addition to evaluating the long-term effect of the prevention program, we also examined attrition and its effect on the outcome. High rates of attrition have commonly been observed in studies in the field. However, the role of attrition is not sufficiently understood regarding internal and external validity biases. The current study comprised 695 children (aged 8–11 at baseline) from 17 schools in Sweden. Schools were cluster-randomized to either the intervention or control condition. Children completed measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms and parents completed measures of their child’s anxiety and general mental health. We found no evidence of long-term effects of the prevention program, except for a small effect regarding parent reports of child anxiety. However, that effect was not found to be of clinical significance. Regarding attrition, children with missing data at the 3-year follow-up displayed higher levels of psychiatric symptoms at baseline and increasing symptoms across time. Furthermore, children in the control condition with missing follow-up data were found to be significantly deteriorated across time compared to the corresponding children in the intervention condition regarding depressive symptoms and total difficulties. In other words, attrition served as a moderator of the effect, which suggests that the overall result was biased toward a null-result. Our study highlights that large and nonrandom attrition severely limits the validity of the results. Further, given the common problem of retaining participants in long-term evaluations of school-based prevention trials, previous studies may suffer from the same limitations as the current study.     

Why the Sky Didn't Fall: Mobilizing Anger in Reaction to Voter ID Laws

Since 2002, 26 U.S. states have passed laws that enhance restrictions on voters who intend to register and vote. Most have been sponsored by Republican legislators and passed by states with large Republican majorities. Proponents of such identification requirements argue that they are necessary to ensure the integrity of the electoral system by reducing voter fraud. Many Democrats have cried foul, arguing these laws are motivated by crass partisanship at best, and racial bias at worst, because they disproportionately disenfranchise minorities. Surprisingly, empirical evidence for significant demobilization, either in the aggregate or among Democrats specifically, has thus far failed to materialize. We suspect strong emotional reactions to the public debate about these laws may mobilize Democrats, counterbalancing the disenfranchising effect. We find support for this conjecture in a nationally representative survey and an experiment where news frames about voter identification (ID) laws are carefully manipulated.     

The Subjective Assessment of Accomplishment and Positive Relationships: Initial Validation and Correlative and Experimental Evidence for Their Association with Well-Being

In his Authentic Happiness Theory, Seligman describes three orientations that lead to happiness: The life of pleasure, the life of engagement, and the life of meaning (in Authentic happiness, Free Press, New York, 2002). The Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire (OTH; Peterson et al. in J Happiness Stud 6:25–41, 2005) has been developed as a subjective measure for these three orientations. In 2011, Seligman revised his theory and added two new components; i.e., positive relationships and accomplishment. These five are the basic tenets of his well-being theory. The present set of studies describes the construction and initial validation of two short scales for the subjective assessment of the endorsement of positive relationships and accomplishment. Their relation with the OTH-scales is also tested. Study 1 describes the scale construction and provides evidence for the factorial, convergent and divergent validity in three samples (n = 233, n = 336, and n = 125). Study 2 showed that the new scales have high test–retest reliabilities over a period of 1, 3, and 6 months (r = .68–.78), respectively. Study 3 examines the malleability of positive relationships and accomplishment in an intervention study that shows that the scores of both new scales increase in the intervention condition. Overall, the three studies show that the new scales have satisfactory psychometric properties—also when used together with the OTH-scales—and possible applications are discussed.     

Kooperatives Lernen auf der Grundlage komplementären Vorwissens: ein Experiment und eine Simulationsstudie

Summary. Knowledge acquisition in collaborative problem solving is mainly realized by two activities: (1) when participants mutually impart their knowledge and (2) when they elaborate their knowledge together. Both activities are favoured by differences in the participants' prior knowledge. To support this thesis, an experimental study and a cognitive simulation are described. In the study, pairs of students were systematically taught complementary knowledge about qualitative resp. quantitative aspects of classical mechanics. During the subsequent collaborative problem solving the students successfully exchanged information about their complementary knowledge. Students who had been taught knowledge about qualitative aspects of physics gained more from their partners than students who had been taught knowledge about quantitative aspects. A cognitive model simulates problem solving and learning under the conditions set up in the study. In a simulation study based on the cognitive model it was possible to reconstruct the main results of the experimental study. Finally, the role of dialogue analysis and external representations are discussed and conclusions for the design of computer systems supporting collaborative problem solving are drawn. Zusammenfassung. Wissenserwerb bei der Kooperation vollzieht sich vor allem durch zwei Aktivitäten: (1) gegenseitige Wissensvermittlung und (2) gemeinsame Elaboration des Wissens. Für beides ist unterschiedliches Vorwissen der Beteiligten eine günstige Voraussetzung. Um diese These zu unterstützen, wird im vorliegenden Artikel eine experimentelle Studie dargestellt, in der Paaren von Schülerinnen systematisch komplementäres Vorwissen über qualitative bzw. quantitative Aspekte der klassischen Mechanik vermittelt wurde. Beim anschließenden kooperativen Problemlösen vermittelten die Schülerinnen sich gegenseitig erfolgreich Teile ihres Wissens. Schülerinnen, die zuvor Wissen über qualitative Aspekte der Physik erworben hatten, lernten dabei mehr von ihren Partnerinnen als Schülerinnen, die zuvor Wissen über quantitative Aspekte erworben hatten. Ein nachfolgend implementiertes kognitives Modell simuliert kooperatives Lernen und Problemlösen unter den Bedingungen der Studie und ist in der Lage, die zentralen Befunde der Studie zu rekonstruieren. In der Diskussion wird auf die Rolle des Dialogverhaltens und der Nutzung externer Repräsentationen für das kooperative Lernen und Problemlösen eingegangen. Abschließend werden Schlußfolgerungen für die Gestaltung von Computersystemen zur Unterstützung kooperativen Lernens und Problemlösens gezogen.     

Special Issue: Character Strengths,Well-Being,and Health in Educational and Vocational Settings

Applied Research in Quality of Life -     

The Development of a Short Form of an Irrational/Rational Beliefs Scale

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - This study developed a short form of the Attitudes and Beliefs Scale-2 (ABS-2), a measure of Ellis’s irrational and rational...