Chapter 13: Live a Little Before You Die a Lot: Creative Living in the Later Years

SUMMARY

Calling for a radical new paradigm for living the latter third of life, this article suggests that persons can continue to grow, improve, create, and experience a quality of life never known by previous generations of older persons. Issues such as freedom, courage, adaptability, and expansiveness, along with an openness to God's transforming power, are suggested as a means of accomplishing this goal.     

Religion and positive well-being among Israeli and diaspora Jews: Findings from the World Values Survey

This study investigates the impact of selected religious indicators on two measures of positive well-being among Jews. Using data from subsamples of Jewish respondents from Israel (N?=?1,023) and the diaspora (N?=?859) taken from the World Values Survey, single-item measures of happiness and life satisfaction were regressed onto six measures of religiousness in the diaspora sample and onto the one religious measure available in the Israeli sample, adjusting for effects of age, gender, marital status, education, employment, and social class. Among Israeli Jews, affirming the importance of God in one's life is modestly associated with greater life satisfaction (β?=?0.07, p?<?0.05), but not with happiness. In the diaspora, the same measure is associated with greater happiness (β?=?0.13, p?<?0.01), as is more frequent attendance at synagogue services (β?=?0.14, p?<?0.01), but neither is associated with life satisfaction.     

God,the good life,and HEXACO: the relations among religion,subjective well-being and personality

The relations among religiousness, subjective well-being (SWB) and the HEXACO (Honesty–Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) model of personality were studied in a Muslim population. As expected, Extraversion and Honesty-Humility factors were the strongest correlates of SWB and religiosity, respectively. Religiosity also correlated with higher levels of SWB, and explained variance in SWB beyond personality factors, showing that religion is a unique predictor of well-being. Results have been discussed within the religious orientation paradigm, and the HEXACO model of personality structure.     

The relationship between religious orientation and happiness: the mediating role of purpose in life

Studies have demonstrated a positive association between religiosity and happiness and that other variables including purpose in life may account for this relationship. Few studies have examined the relationship between religious orientation and happiness, therefore the present study investigated whether purpose in life mediates the relationship between religious orientation and happiness. Three hundred and forty-two university students (men?=?117 and women?=?225) from Australia participated in the study. The results indicate that for women, purpose in life mediates the relationship between intrinsic religious orientation and happiness and for men, purpose in life mediates the relationship between extrinsic social religious orientation and happiness. The results are unexpected as intrinsic religious orientation negatively predicted happiness, whereas extrinsic social religious orientation positively predicted happiness. These findings suggest that further studies are needed to advance the understanding of these complex relationships.     

Towards happiness interventions: construct clarification and intervention methodologies

The aim of this study was to investigate the main streams of research on happiness, the approaches/models flowing from these philosophies and the methodology of happiness interventions. A systematic review was performed outlining the authors, the purpose of the research, the nature of the sample/setting, the method utilised and the key findings. Peer-reviewed articles published between 1950 and 2013, written in English/Afrikaans, and which examined the concepts of happiness were analysed. The results showed three causes for failing interventions: (a) unidimensional models/ approaches towards happiness, (b) targeting the concept of happiness instead of mediating factors; and (c) fragmented methodological interventions. The results support the need for a multidimensional model of happiness. Interventions focusing on psychological processes and utilising multi-facet methodologies should be developed and implemented to promote happiness. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing an integrative framework for positive psychological interventions directed at happiness.     

Positive work experiences and life satisfaction: the moderating role of gender

This study investigated the effects of work engagement and psychological meaningfulness on life satisfaction taking into account the moderating effect of gender. A cross-sectional research design was used to capture data on satisfaction with life, work engagement and psychological meaningfulness. The sample consisted of 796 employees from various companies in South Africa (women?=?65.9%; aged between 18 and 67). The results showed work engagement and psychological meaningfulness to significantly predict life satisfaction. A significant interaction effect for gender was found on the relationships between work engagement on life satisfaction and psychological meaningfulness on work engagement respectively. The results indicated that men showed a higher level of life satisfaction when work engagement was high. Women showed lower levels of life satisfaction the more they engage in their work. Women further experienced a higher level of work engagement compared to men; however, the relationship between psychological meaningfulness and work engagement was stronger for men. The more psychological meaningfulness men experience, the more they will engage-unlike women, who tend to experience work engagement irrespective of psychological meaningfulness.     

品味:主动用心地感受积极体验

品味(savoring)是积极心理学中的一个重要概念,它主要指个体延长和增强积极体验的过程。本文在介绍Bryant和Veroff的品味理论基础上,结合最新研究进一步对品味的概念、结构、机制、测量进行系统论述,并探讨了品味和幸福感的关系以及提高品味能力的方法。除了需要在品味的神经生理机制、品味的毕生发展研究、品位的文化差异等一些研究领域继续努力外,品味的测量以及应用等问题也都值得未来研究注意。     

The effect of contact with natural environments on positive and negative affect: A meta-analysis

A growing body of empirical research suggests that brief contact with natural environments improves emotional well-being. The current study synthesizes this body of research using meta-analytic techniques and assesses the mean effect size of exposure to natural environments on both positive and negative affect. Thirty-two studies with a total of 2356 participants were included. Across these studies, exposure to natural environments was associated with a moderate increase in positive affect and a smaller, yet consistent, decrease in negative affect relative to comparison conditions. Significant heterogeneity was found for the effect of nature on positive affect, and type of emotion assessment, type of exposure to nature, location of study, and mean age of sample were found to moderate this effect. The implications of these findings for existing theory and research are discussed, with particular emphasis placed on potential avenues for fruitful future research examining the effects of nature on well-being.     

Classifying adolescents’ conceptions of purpose in life

Motivating youth to find a purpose in life promotes positive youth development. However, it is as yet uncertain whether adolescents think of purpose in ways similar to researchers. This study addressed this deficit by asking 229 adolescents from a Catholic and a public high school to define what it means to have a purpose in life, using a free-response format. Almost all adolescents suggested that having a purpose gives one a foundation and a direction for life, and over half mentioned that it led to increased happiness. In addition, adolescents often mentioned elements from multiple coding categories, suggesting that they hold multifaceted conceptions of purpose. In addition, definitions were marked by their similarities rather than differences across the sample. Overall, these results suggest that adolescents hold mature and complex conceptions of purpose that are in line with those presented in the existing research literature.     

The mediators of experiential purchases: Determining the impact of psychological needs satisfaction and social comparison

Once basic needs are satisfied, the relation between income and subjective well-being is small, and materialism leads to diminished well-being. This study attempts to determine: (1) whether experiential purchases, as opposed to materialistic purchases, are likely to increase well-being and (2) whether these increases are likely to be due to increased satisfaction of psychological needs and/or decreased social comparison. Participants indicated that experiential purchases represented money better spent, brought more happiness to themselves, and brought more happiness to others. Path models demonstrated that experiential purchases had an indirect effect on one's well-being through two independent paths: (1) increased relatedness, which then led to increased vitality, and (2) decreased social comparison. Discussion focuses on why vitality and social comparison affect well-being.