Strengths Use as a Predictor of Well-Being and Health-Related Quality of Life

There is a growing body of research devoted to the examination of character strengths as conceptualized by Values-In-Action (VIA) strengths classification system. However, there remains a dearth of research examining generic strengths use and its relationship with well-being, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and VIA character strengths. In this crosssectional study, 135 undergraduate university students completed measures of strengths use, subjective well-being (SWB), self-esteem, self-efficacy, and HRQOL, and endorsed five top VIA strengths. Results revealed strengths use is a unique predictor of SWB, but not HRQOL. The VIA strengths of hope and zest were significant positive predictors of life satisfaction. The most commonly-endorsed VIA strengths were: love, humor, kindness, social intelligence, and open-mindedness. The least-endorsed VIA strengths were: leadership, perseverance, wisdom, spirituality, and self-control. Overall, results suggest an important link between generic strengths use and specific VIA strengths and their impact on SWB.     

The 9th annual INDUS-EM 2013 Emergency Medicine Summit, “Principles,Practices, and Patients,” a level one international meeting,Kerala University of Health Sciences and Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute,Thrissur, Kerala,India, October 23–27, 2013

INDUS-EM is India’s only level one conference imparting and exchanging quality knowledge in acute care. Specifically, in general and specialized emergency care and training in trauma, burns, cardiac, stroke, environmental and disaster medicine. It provides a series of exchanges regarding academic development and implementation of training tools related to developing future academic faculty and residents in Emergency Medicine in India. The INDUS-EM leadership and board of directors invited scholars from multiple institutions to participate in this advanced educational symposium that was held in Thrissur, Kerala in October 2013.     

“Giving Back to Society What Society Gave Us”: Altruism,Coping, and Meaning Making by Two Refugee Communities in South Australia

We aimed to explore how refugee people utilised their coping resources and strategies to find meaning in their past and present experiences. Using an experience‐centred narrative approach, we analysed the stories of 24 former refugees from two African countries resettled in South Australia. Data analysis revealed altruism and helping behaviour as a prominent and recurring theme of participants' narrated lives. This meta‐theme encompassed four subthemes: (a) surviving war and exile, (b) adapting to Australian society, (c) reaching back home, and (d) meaning making through religious beliefs. Helping, cooperating, and sharing were entwined with participants' coping strategies and meaning making of experience. Participants' socio‐historical, cultural, and religious context influenced the interpretations of their experiences. Taken together, our findings identified a counter narrative in refugee mental health research beyond trauma and psychopathology. Specifically, we have shown that when the refugee experience is also accompanied by situational contingencies such as receiving help and being called upon to help, together with evaluations such as empathy, identification with suffering, and gratitude, people can be motivated to help others. Future research is needed to explore how altruism and helping behaviour can promote healing from trauma, alleviate distress of separation, and ameliorate acculturation stress among diverse refugee populations.     

Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature

A central construct within the positive psychology literature is life satisfaction. Whereas adult life satisfaction has been studied extensively, the life satisfaction of children and adolescents has only received attention more recently. This article provides a review of the extant research on youth life satisfaction. Empirical studies (n = 141) on life satisfaction among youth are reviewed. The review details how life satisfaction among youth relates to various other important emotional, social, and behavioural constructs. Evidenced by the review are the conditions that foster positive life satisfaction and the implications of positive life satisfaction among youth. Future directions in life satisfaction research among youth are briefly discussed.     

Personality predictors of levels of forgiveness two and a half years after the transgression

The aim of the present study was to explore whether the domains and facets of the five-factor model of personality predicted motivational states for avoidance and revenge following a transgression at a second temporal point distant from the original transgression. A sample of 438 university students, who reported experiencing a serious transgression against them, completed measures of avoidance and revenge motivations around the transgression and five-factor personality domains and facets at time 1, and measures of avoidance and revenge motivations two and a half years later. The findings suggest that neuroticism, and specifically anger hostility, predicts revenge and avoidance motivations two and a half years later. Findings are discussed within McCullough’s three systems of interpersonal forgiveness.     

Measuring happiness: The higher order factor structure of subjective and psychological well-being measures

The nature and structure of well-being is a topic that has garnered increasing interest with the emergence of positive psychology. Limited research to date suggests two separate but related factors of subjective well-being and psychological well-being. Subjective well-being comprises an affective component of the balance between positive and negative affect, together with a cognitive component of judgments about one’s life satisfaction. Psychological well-being is conceptualised as having six components, including positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, purpose in life and personal growth. In the current study, we used exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the higher order factor structure of subjective and psychological well-being in a series of large UK samples. Analyses showed that subjective well-being and psychological well-being loaded separately onto two independent but related factors, consistent with previous research. Further, we demonstrated that these loadings did not vary according to gender, age or ethnicity, providing further support for the robustness of this higher order factor structure. The discussion locates these findings in context and explores future research directions on the associations between subjective and psychological well-being over time.     

Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Programs in Australia: Effects of Beliefs,Interests, and Attitudes Toward Women

This research identified mediators explaining the relationship between gender and attitudes toward affirmative action programs for women. Structural equation modeling was conducted on survey data obtained from academics at an Australian university (n = 198 with listwise deletion of missing data). Findings indicated that the relationship between gender and affirmative action attitudes was mediated by (1) perceptions of affirmative action's impact on material self-interest, (2) belief in the existence of gender discrimination, and (3) traditional attitudes toward women. Implications for organizations, policymakers, and researchers are discussed.     

Assessing positive and negative changes in the aftermath of adversity: psychometric evaluation of the changes in outlook questionnaire

The Changes in Outlook Questionnaire (CiOQ; S. Joseph, R. Williams, & W. Yule, 1993) is a 26-item self-report measure that was designed to assess positive and negative changes in the aftermath of adversity. This article had 3 aims: 1st, to investigate the factor structure of the CiOQ; 2nd, to test for internal consistency reliability and convergent and discriminant validity; and, 3rd, to investigate the association between positive and negative changes in outlook, posttraumatic stress, and psychological distress. Three studies are reported. Study 1 provides evidence that positive and negative changes are statistically separable and that the 2-factor model is a better fit than the 1-factor model. Studies 2 and 3 provide evidence for internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the CiOQ, and its associations with posttraumatic stress and psychological distress. In conclusion, the CiOQ has much promise for research on responses to stressful and traumatic events.