Life satisfaction,ethical reflection,and the science of happiness

Life satisfaction is widely considered to be a central aspect of human welfare. Many have identified happiness with it, and some maintain that well-being consists largely or wholly in being satisfied with one’s life. Empirical research on well-being relies heavily on life satisfaction studies. The paper contends that life satisfaction attitudes are less important, and matter for different reasons, than is widely believed.] For such attitudes are appropriately governed by ethical norms and are perspectival in ways that make the relationship between life satisfaction and welfare far more convoluted than we tend to expect. And the common identification of life satisfaction with happiness, as well as widespread views about the centrality of life satisfaction for well-being, are problematical at best. The argument also reveals an unexpected way in which philosophical ethics can inform scientific psychology: specifically, ethical reflection can help explain empirical results insofar as they depend on people’s values.     

Altruistic behavior as a costly signal of general intelligence

Unconditional altruism is an enduring puzzle for evolutionary approaches to social behavior. In this paper, we argue that costly signaling theory, a well-established framework in biology and economics, may be useful to shed light on the individual differences in human unconditional altruism. Based on costly signaling theory, we propose and show that unconditional altruistic behavior is related to general intelligence. The cost incurred by engaging in unconditional altruism is lower for highly intelligent people than for less intelligent people because they may expect to regain the drained resources. As a result, unconditional altruism can serve as an honest signal of intelligence. Our findings imply that distinguishing altruistic behavior from cooperative behavior in social psychological and economic theories of human behavior might be useful and that costly signaling theory may provide novel insights on various individual difference variables.     

青少年时间管理倾向相关因素的研究

本研究探讨时间管理倾向与学生学业成绩、自我价值感和主观幸福感三者的关系,进一步验证个人的时间管理倾向与生活质量的关系。对重庆和成都两地三组1387名大、中学生(重庆312名中学生、339名大学生,成都736名中学生)的问卷调查研究发现：(1)时间监控观对学业成绩具有一定的预测作用,时问价值感和时间效能感是通过时间监控观来影响学业成绩。(2)时间管理倾向各维度与总体、一般和特殊自我价值感之间存在显著的正相关。随着自我价值感抽象程度的降低,时间管理倾向对自我价值感的影响程度也就越大。(3)时间管理倾向各维度与积极情绪之间存在显著正相关,与消极情绪之间存在显著负相关。时间管理的好坏可能是影响主观幸福感的一个重要因素。     

Effectiveness of a Comprehensive Worksite Stress Management Program: Combining Organizational and Individual Interventions

A comprehensive worksite stress management program consisting of self-management training and a stressor reduction process was evaluated in a pre-post, treatment-control design in four comparable facilities. Results showed that over a 3-month period those individuals attending self-management training improved on emotional well-being measures. Organizational data suggested that their work-units' productivity increased and absenteeism decreased over the same period. Results support the value of combining self-management training and stressor reduction to produce positive individual and organizational outcomes.     

Personality Factors and the Short-Term Variability in Subjective Well-Being

The present study used a sample of 60 college students and an intensive longitudinal approach to investigate the variability in subjective well-being (SWB). At the beginning of the semester students provided information related to their personalities, while throughout the semester they provided SWB data on a weekly basis. Considerable between-student and within-student variability in SWB was found. Multiple regression analyses revealed that personality-based models were useful in explaining the variability in SWB. Conscientiousness and the Chance component of locus of control were found to be statistically significant independent personality predictors of variability in SWB. Specifically, students high in conscientiousness and high in external locus of control experienced more variability in SWB over the study period.     

Poverty in Russia

This paper is intended to shed light on the extent of poverty in the Russian Federation. We present estimates of poverty lines and poverty ratios derived from subjective questions used in a data collection for a large household panel (RUSSET). We estimate poverty using a subjective approach, where the level of the poverty line is derived using the opinion of the individual, rich or poor, on poverty. This approach differs from the objective approach to poverty, which defines poverty according to the opinion of experts. Three subjective poverty lines are presented: one the Financial Satisfaction Poverty Line, two the Leyden Poverty Line, and three the Subjective Well-Being Poverty Line. The first two poverty lines are based on subjective questions regarding income and economic welfare while the last concept focuses on satisfaction with life as a whole. The results obtained are compared with each other and with results derived using objective measures and official figures.     

Is Retirement Good or Bad for Subjective Well-Being?

Retirement has been viewed either as a transition that is accompanied by psychological distress or as a time of continued, or even enhanced, subjective well-being. Existing evidence is mixed, with some studies reporting retirement as positively related to well-being and others reporting a negative relationship or none at all. Our research indicates that developmental and social contexts shape an individual’s retirement decisions and experiences, so that retirement should be studied in its ecological and life-course context. Research on marital quality and subjective well-being in retirement has demonstrated both similarities and differences between men and women, as well as the need to consider couples conjointly (rather than viewing individuals in isolation). Future research focusing on the retirement process as it unfolds over time and in ecological context can serve to illuminate the circumstances under which retirement promotes or detracts from the quality of life.     

主观幸福感的结构及其与人格特质的关系

以239名大学生为被试,考察了主观幸福感(SWB)的结构及其与人格特质的关系。分析表明,SWB由生活满意度、积极情感和消极情感三个相关的维度构成,而且它们可以共同负荷于一个高阶因子。外倾和神经质是SWB的重要预测指标,积极情感的主要预测指标是外倾,神经质则是消极情感最有力的预测指标,而外倾和神经质对消极情感和生活满意度有相同的预测力。情感平衡是外倾和神经质影响生活满意度的中介变量。     

一般自我效能感量表的信度和效度研究

由Schwarzer等人编制的一般自我效能感量表(GSES)目前在国际上广泛使用,本研究拟对中文版GSES的信度和效度进行研究.412名大学生接受了GSES的测试.结果表明①和其他文字版本的GSES一样,中文版GSES也具有较高的信度;②中文版GSES的单维度性得到了证实,印证了Schwarzer等人的有关发现;③中文版GSES具有很好的预测效度.     

心理和谐概念辨析

心理和谐是心理要素以及直接影响心理的各要素之间在总体意义上的协调统一、相对稳定的关系,它由个体内部心理和谐、人－事心理和谐、人际心理和谐和身心和谐四个子系统组成,其内涵本质上属于积极心理学的范畴。心理和谐和心理健康、自我和谐、主观幸福感既有显著区别,又存在密切关系。对心理和谐的内涵及其同邻近概念的关系进行全方位的辨析,有助于深化心理和谐的理论研究和实证研究。