Enhance Life Satisfaction Research Articles

Influence of perceived social benefits on motives for visiting urban green infrastructure spaces in small and medium-sized towns in Southeast Nigeria

Although the benefits of urban green infrastructure (UGI) in sustainable development are well established in the literature, the specific benefits with the most influence on why people visit or use UGI spaces are not well understood. This study investigated the influence of perceived social benefits on motives for visiting UGI spaces in small and medium-sized towns in Southeast Nigeria. A survey of 513 participants in four main towns of Ebonyi State, Southeast Nigeria was done. The data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, descriptive and categorical regression analyses. The findings showed that the main motives for visiting UGI spaces were for enjoying nature, fresh air, relaxing, and walking these were significantly different across the respondents' age, marital status, and location. The role of UGI in promoting human-nature interactions, enhancing life satisfaction, and social interactions were the top three social benefits identified. The three social benefits with the most significant influence on motives for visiting UGI were the role of UGI in promoting physical well-being, social relations, a sense of community, and life satisfaction. The study implies that understanding public motives for visiting/using GI spaces and their predictors is vital for effective policy-making, planning, and management of UGI.

The relationship between transmission misinformation, COVID-19 stress and satisfaction with life among adults.

The perplexing evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the spiritual lives of Vietnamese people in general, and particularly adults. The objective of this study was to ascertain the link between adult satisfaction with life and COVID-19 stress in Vietnam and investigate if COVID-19 transmission disinformation modifies the effect of COVID-19 stress on adult satisfaction with life. A total of 435 Vietnamese adults were enrolled online to finish answering, including the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SL), the COVID-19 Stress Scale (CS), and the COVID-19 Transmission Misinformation Scale (CTMS), consisting of 350 females and 85 males. Correlation, regression, and basic mediation analyses were used to dissociate the data. According to the findings of our study, there is a difference in gender in satisfaction with life. Females have a greater degree of satisfaction with life than males. Significant differences exist between relatives of direct and indirect COVID-19 transmission misinformation workers. People who had relatives who were frontline medical staff had higher COVID-19 Transmission Misinformation than others. There is a positive correlation between satisfaction with life and COVID-19 spreading disinformation, but it can have adverse effects on persons' physical health. Additionally, COVID-19 transmission misinformation has a role in the relationship between COVID-19 stress and adult life satisfaction. Individuals are more likely to access misinformation about COVID-19 transmission, which results in enhanced life satisfaction. During the COVID-19 epidemic, adults in Vietnam should be aware of the damaging consequences of COVID-19 transmission misinformation on their stress levels. Stress may significantly influence not just one's mental health but also other aspects of one's life. Clinicians should be aware of COVID-19 transmission misinformation and stress, which affect psychological treatment.

Who does better on life satisfaction and meaning in life? A Mixed-methods exploration of demographic characteristics and well-being in Ghana

The present study examined the relationship between the demographic characteristics of age, sex, religious practice, and standard of living with life satisfaction and meaning in life in a Ghanaian setting. Participants were 394 Ghanaian urban adults (female = 43.90; mean age = 40.84 years, SD = 11.20 years). Participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, life satisfaction and meaning life measures, as well as an open-ended question on well-being. Linear regression and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were employed for the quantitative data analysis and thematic analysis for the qualitative data analysis. Results revealed that living standards predicted life satisfaction and presence of meaning in life. In a post hoc analysis, presence of meaning was much greater than life satisfaction among the group with below average standard of living. From the qualitative findings, we observed that the group with below average standard of living referred extensively to hedonic conceptualisations of well-being. Our findings suggest a need for economic policies to improve population material well-being in order to enhance life satisfaction and meaning in life in a developing country setting.

Health benefits of physical activity for people with mental disorders: From the perspective of multidimensional subjective wellbeing.

This paper uses a large scale and nationally representative dataset, Chinese General Social Survey, to empirically examine the role of physical activity in reducing the negative effects of depression among people with mental disorders. Empirical results demonstrate that physical exercise could help to alleviate depression's adverse consequences on work and life for depressed individuals. The impact mechanism is that physical activity may decrease the severity of depression, enhance life satisfaction, improve mood, and make people have a better sense of purpose and meaning in life. Therefore, from the perspective of multidimensional subjective wellbeing, evaluative wellbeing, experienced wellbeing and eudaimonic wellbeing all play mediating roles in the reduction of depression's adverse effects. Heterogeneity analysis shows that there are no significant gender differences in the health benefits of physical exercise, but its impact tends to be more prominent for depressed individuals who are younger and higher educated, with better health status, and live in urban areas. It is also found that socioeconomic status may play an important moderating role. The health benefits of physical activity seem to be greater for depressed people who have lower income, work in the secondary labor market, and have lower levels of social capital and assets. In addition, the instrumental variable approach is used to identify the causal impact of physical activity, which further proves a significant effect of it based on tackling the endogeneity problem. Meanwhile, this paper uses different explanatory and explained variables, different statistical models, as well as machine learning and placebo techniques to conduct robustness tests, all of which lend credence to above findings.

Positive psychology in neurodiversity: An investigation of character strengths in autistic adults in the United Kingdom in a community setting

BackgroundThe positive psychology and neurodiversity movements both aim to promote and improve wellbeing through strengths-based approaches. However, little is known about how positive psychology can support the wellbeing of autistic people. The present study investigated character strengths profiles as a potential tool to identify strengths-based interventions that could enhance wellbeing outcomes for autistic adults. To our knowledge, this is first study to use this method as a possible way of improving the wellbeing of autistic adults in the community in the UK. MethodForty-seven self-reported formally diagnosed (83%) and self-identifying (17%) autistic adults completed online self-rated standardised questionnaires about their character strengths and life satisfaction. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were used to evaluate the profile of character strengths and their relationship to overall life satisfaction. ResultsCharacter strengths most frequently reported by autistic adults were Honesty, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Love of Learning, Fairness, and Kindness. Higher levels of life satisfaction were associated with character strengths of Gratitude, Hope, and Honesty. ConclusionsThe most frequent character strengths were consistent with autistic traits reported in the wider body of autism literature, such as intense interests and strong attention to detail. The present study provides preliminary findings and recommendations for potential future strengths-based interventions that could enhance life satisfaction of autistic adults in a community setting. Further investigation with larger samples is needed to replicate the emerging findings on this topic.

"Nice You Share in Return": Informational Sharing, Reciprocal Sharing, and Life Satisfaction Amid COVID-19 Pandemic.

Social media become an important space where people receive and share up-to-date health-related information during the rapid global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). While information sharing in social media has been shown to improve relations, reduce stress, and enhance life satisfaction, little is known about reciprocal sharing. Situated in COVID-19 pandemic, this study conceptualizes information sharing as a communication process during which sharers expect the receivers to reciprocate, while receivers feel obligated to return the favor. Building upon social exchange theory and studies on social media sharing, the study tested a model of moderated mediation in which sharing of COVID-19 information was predicted to enhance life satisfaction by encouraging reciprocal sharing, i.e., information reciprocity. Subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived usefulness of the information was predicted to moderate the mediation. The hypothesized mediation was supported by data from a survey of 511 online participants in China. Furthermore, the indirect effect appeared stronger among the respondents who found the information more useful, reported more positive attitude, or perceived more subjective norms. The findings suggest that expected reciprocation may be an important incentive for social sharing, and received reciprocation may be a central part of the mechanism through which sharing benefits the sharer. Policymakers and communicators may need to take information reciprocity into consideration when designing health information campaign to confront communal threats.

Leisure, Mental Health, and Life Satisfaction among Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objectives: Little research has investigated the relationship between types of leisure activities and mental health outcomes among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The purpose of this study was to investigate how certain leisure activities are associated with life satisfaction, anxiety, loneliness, happiness, and positive and negative affect. Methods: In this study, we used the 2020 Health and Retirement Study Core Early data and conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the different effects of the 3 types of leisure activities on the mental health of older adults with MCI (N=901). Results: We found that leisure-time physical activity was the strongest predictor of enhanced life satisfaction, positive affect, and happiness, and reduced anxiety and loneliness. In addition, sedentary leisure was associated with reduced anxiety and loneliness and increased happiness. Conclusions: These findings suggest that engagement in leisure-time physical activity and sedentary leisure can be instrumental in promoting the life satisfaction and mental health of older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Passion Amid the Pandemic: Does Dual-Domain Passion Facilitate Life Satisfaction?

While many employees have experienced sudden work changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those changes have been particularly unsettling for employees whose work is also their passion. We examine whether having passion for work and non-work activities (i.e., passion in dual domains) helps employees achieve life satisfaction amid the pandemic. Using multiple identity frameworks, we investigate which forms of dual-domain passion are associated with life satisfaction, and whether passion enhancement moderates those relationships. Further, to explore the possibility that some people may be more prone to experiencing dual-domain passion, we examine individual ambidexterity as an antecedent of dual-domain passion. We first conducted a preliminary study to empirically test the notion of dual-domain passion and the forms it can take. In the main study, we tested the proposed model using two samples: employees working from home or furloughed during the pandemic. We found that having same-form passion (i.e., harmonious passion for work and non-work domains, or obsessive passion for both domains) was more critical to bolstering life satisfaction than having different-form passion (i.e., harmonious work passion and obsessive non-work passion, or vice versa). Specifically, harmonious (obsessive) dual-domain passion enhanced life satisfaction when one had high (low) passion enhancement. By extension, the indirect link between individual ambidexterity and life satisfaction, as mediated by each of the two same-form dual-domain passion, differed depending on the nature of same-form passion and passion enhancement.

How Mindfulness Affects Life Satisfaction: Based on the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory.

Life satisfaction is the general evaluation of the individual’s life, which is of great significance to achieving a better life. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating effect of core self-evaluation, positive affect, and negative affect in the relationship between trait mindfulness and life satisfaction based on the Mindfulness-to-Meaning theory. 991 Chinese undergraduates (692 females, 299 males) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the Core Self-Evaluations Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. The results indicated that core self-evaluation and negative affect mediated the effect of trait mindfulness on life satisfaction, consistent with the Mindfulness-to-Meaning theory. Furthermore, trait mindfulness affected life satisfaction by the mediation paths of “core self-evaluation→positive affect” and “core self-evaluation→negative affect,” which uncovered the underlying mechanism of promoting life satisfaction by combining the point of view of cognition (core self-evaluation) and emotion (positive and negative affect). The present study not only contributes to a better theoretical understanding of how trait mindfulness links to life satisfaction but also provides valuable guidance for enhancing life satisfaction.

Pay Attention to Those Who Are Not Epidemiologically Affected by COVID-19 Pandemic

Psychological distress, which has become widespread globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic, poses detrimental consequences on the lives of employees and the functioning of organizations. The present study seeks to explore the nexus between psychological distress, perceptions of health, and employee life satisfaction. A survey was conducted on 246 employees working in Indian organizations, and the data were analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. The findings show that an employee's life satisfaction is greatly reduced by psychological distress. It was further observed that perceptions of health moderate the link between psychological distress and employee life satisfaction. Organizations should therefore implement psychological interventions and conduct training programs in order to cope with adverse impacts of perceived poor health and psychological distress in employees. Organizational researchers, HR managers, and organizational psychologists can also use psychological testing and conduct established interventions, which can help employees handle psychological distress and cultivate enhanced life satisfaction during unprecedented circumstances.

The effects of loving-kindness and compassion meditation on life satisfaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKCM) was a promising intervention for improving life satisfaction, but previous findings have been inconsistent. The current study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis, including 23 empirical studies on LKCM with life satisfaction as an outcome variable. The primary meta-analysis indicated that LKCM significantly enhanced life satisfaction in pre-post design (g = 0.312, k = 15, n = 451), but the significance disappeared in the additional meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials (g = 0.106, k = 6, n = 404). Moderator analyses found significant effects for type of control (i.e., the effects of LKCM were inferior to active control group, but superior to waitlist condition), but not for other moderators (i.e., participant type, previous meditation experience, specific protocol, components of LKCM, combination with mindfulness mediation, and intervention length). Narrative review identified self-compassion and positive emotions as important mediators. The practice time of LKCM had indirect but not direct association with life satisfaction. The findings supported that LKCM is promising in increasing life satisfaction, but more studies are needed to investigate the effects with more rigorous designs. Future studies should investigate other potential mechanisms and clarify whether LKCM change the reality or the perception of life.

How Is Connectedness With Nature Linked to Life Satisfaction or Depression Among Chinese People Living in Rural Low-Income Households? A Serial Mediation Model.

ObjectivesIn this study a serial multiple mediation model is tested to investigate the potential sequentially-mediating effect of affect balance and social cohesion on the association between connectedness to nature and life satisfaction or depression.MethodsA total of 675 Chinese people from Jiangsu province living in rural low-income households participated in the study. The Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS), the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Social cohesion scale (SCS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ9) were measured in this paper.ResultsResults indicated that the multiple serial mediation of affect balance and social cohesion on the association between connectedness to nature and life satisfaction was significant among the full-size sample, the adult-report, and the old people report, but that this effect is relatively small. Specifically, serial mediation accounted for 2.01, 1.69, 2.67% of the total effect explained by connectedness to nature on life satisfaction, while it accounted for 2.66, 2.35, 2.91% of the total effect explained by connectedness to nature on depression among the full sample population, adults, and old people, respectively.ConclusionsThe findings corroborate the important roles of affect balance and social cohesion in activating connectedness to nature. We discussed the possible ways that affect balance and social cohesion might enhance life satisfaction and decrease depression for Chinese people living in rural low-income households. We also discussed the limitations of this study. More mechanisms could be considered in future studies.

Urban greenness, mixed land-use, and life satisfaction: Evidence from residential locations and workplace settings in Beijing

China’s unprecedented urbanisation in the last several decades has significantly transformed its urban built environment. On the one hand, such an urbanisation has brought about improvement in infrastructure, access to various public facilities, and opportunities for social connectivity, all of which would benefit citizen’s wellbeing. On the other hand, rapid, unplanned, and unregulated urbanisation may lead to air pollution and water pollution, compact neighbourhoods, traffic noise and congestion, and lack of natural amenity, which pose various threats to urban dwellers’ wellbeing and life satisfaction. Therefore, how to build liveable cities has become one of the key goals and top priorities of urban planning in China and other developing countries. This study investigates the effect of urban greenness and mixed land-use, two key dimensions defining urban liveability, on residents’ life satisfaction at both residence and workplace settings in Beijing. Three big geo-coded datasets are combined, including a social survey about residents’ subjective life satisfaction and demographic characteristics, eye-sensored street greenness data extracted from online platform through machine learning, and fine-grain land-use data based on point-of-interest entropy, and then taken into a Bayesian multilevel ordered logit model. The empirical results reveal that (1) street view greenness could enhance life satisfaction at residence, but depress life satisfaction at workplace; (2) mixed land-use could positively contribute to life satisfaction at both residence and workplace; and (3) there exist positive interactions between greenness and mixed land-use. These empirical findings provide practical implications for planning and constructing liveable cities in China and other countries where both urban greening and mixed land-use are promoted and embraced as core elements of the compact city and smart city ideal.

The psychological mechanism linking life satisfaction and turnover intention among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 challenged and brought turmoil to the healthcare workers' mental and psychological well-being. Specifically, they are feeling tremendous pressure and many of them worry about their work conditions and even intent to leave them. In this situation, it is of utmost for them to satisfied their lives during the challenging situation. This paper explores the relationship of life satisfaction with healthcare workers' turnover intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hypothesized that this relationship would be mediated by trust climate, and this mediation association would be stronger when workers experience job embeddedness in the workplace. Survey data were collected from the 520 healthcare workers. A moderated mediation examination was employed to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that life satisfaction is positively related to a trusting climate that, in turn, is negatively related to workers' turnover intention. Moreover, the association between life satisfaction and turnover intention was moderated by job embeddedness. Focusing on improving healthcare workers' job embeddedness and increasing their trust climate might enhance life satisfaction and reduce turnover intention. The implications of the findings are also discussed for research and practice.

Neurofeedback Therapy for Sensory Over-Responsiveness-A Feasibility Study.

Background: Difficulty in modulating multisensory input, specifically the sensory over-responsive (SOR) type, is linked to pain hypersensitivity and anxiety, impacting daily function and quality of life in children and adults. Reduced cortical activity recorded under resting state has been reported, suggestive of neuromodulation as a potential therapeutic modality. This feasibility study aimed to explore neurofeedback intervention in SOR. Methods: Healthy women with SOR (n = 10) underwent an experimental feasibility study comprising four measurement time points (T1—baseline; T2—preintervention; T3—postintervention; T4—follow-up). Outcome measures included resting-state EEG recording, in addition to behavioral assessments of life satisfaction, attaining functional goals, pain sensitivity, and anxiety. Intervention targeted the upregulation of alpha oscillatory power over ten sessions. Results: No changes were detected in all measures between T1 and T2. Exploring the changes in brain activity between T2 and T4 revealed power enhancement in delta, theta, beta, and gamma oscillatory bands, detected in the frontal region (p = 0.03–<0.001; Cohen’s d = 0.637–1.126) but not in alpha oscillations. Furthermore, a large effect was found in enhancing life satisfaction and goal attainment (Cohen’s d = 1.18; 1.04, respectively), and reduced pain sensitivity and anxiety trait (Cohen’s d = 0.70). Conclusion: This is the first study demonstrating the feasibility of neurofeedback intervention in SOR.

Satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescent girls in Tehran: a cross sectional study

Objective and backgroundMental health is a widespread field that entails variables such as the presence of positive feelings like satisfaction with life and lack of negative emotions like depression, anxiety, and stress. This research aimed to study the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and satisfaction with life as dimensions of adolescent girls’ mental health in Tehran.MethodologyThe population considered in this cross-sectional study consisted of adolescent girls in the last grade of high school in Tehran. Research samples were selected using multi-stage sampling. The sample size in this study was 491 and the research tools used were standardized questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics included Spearman, ANOVA, and regression tests were used.FindingsMore than half of the adolescents experienced common symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. About 30% of adolescents were dissatisfied with life to some extent. Satisfaction with life was negatively correlated with age, depression, anxiety, and stress. Age and depression were predictor variables of life satisfaction based on the regression model.ConclusionA considerable percentage of adolescents suffered some form of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and were notably dissatisfied with life. Regarding the importance of satisfaction with life in having a joyful life and its role in initiating depression, anxiety, and stress, our findings highlight the need for interventions to prevent depression, anxiety, and stress and enhance life satisfaction among adolescents.

Roles of religiosity in enhancing life satisfaction, ethical judgements and consumer loyalty

Roles of religiosity in enhancing life satisfaction, ethical judgements and consumer loyalty

Intergenerational Caregiving Patterns, Living Arrangements, and Life Satisfaction of Adults in Mid and Later Life in China.

While the health implications of intergenerational caregiving have been broadly investigated in the aging literature, less is known about caregivers in four-generation families and their living arrangements. Using 2011 and 2013 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 12,914 obs.), we document enhanced life satisfaction of grandchild caregivers and sandwich caregivers caring for both grandchildren and parents than non-caregivers. When further taking living arrangements into consideration, we find that parent caregivers also benefit from care provision when not living with their parents and sandwich caregivers only have an advantage when co-residing with care recipients with adult children present in households. By contrast, grandchild caregivers living with grandchildren show substantially higher life satisfaction no matter adult children are present or not. The subgroup comparison suggests that females and rural residents enjoy psychological advantages over their male counterparts and urban counterparts in grandparenting within skipped-generation households and sandwich caregiving.

Can Viewing Nature Through Windows Improve Isolated Living? A Pathway Analysis on Chinese Male Prisoners During the COVID-19 Epidemic.

Nature exposure is known to promote life satisfaction and well-being, and indirect exposure through windows is likely to benefit isolated populations. However, whether such type of exposure can benefit prisoners, the extremely isolated population, is unknown. In the current study, we investigated 326 male prisoners from three prisons in southwest China. Psychological variables including depression, anxiety, loneliness, distress tolerance, life satisfaction, and well-being were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), respectively. Structural equation modeling was employed to identify the pathways from the visibility of nature through windows to prisoners' life satisfaction and well-being. Our results demonstrated that visibility of nature promoted the frequency and duration of viewing nature through windows. The frequency directly affected well-being, but the duration did not effectively affect any measured variables. The visibility of nature enhanced life satisfaction mainly via direct effects but enhanced well-being mainly via indirect effects. Regarding the indirect pathways, the visibility of nature increased distress tolerance and thus reduced loneliness and mental health problems. The reduced mental health problem, in turn, promoted life satisfaction and well-being. Our findings suggest that nature exposure through windows is effective in enhancing prisoners' life satisfaction and well-being. The policymaker may need to consider nature-based solutions such as indirect nature exposure in prions to benefit isolated populations.

Age moderates the effect of work-family conflict on life satisfaction among Chinese female employees: A propensity score matching method

ObjectiveThe study aimed to confirm the association between work-family conflict and life satisfaction among Chinese female employees, and to further examine the moderated role of age within the relationship. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from July to August of 2020 in Jilin province, China. 14,910 female employees completed the self-reported questionnaires. Propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to assess the impact of work-family conflict on life satisfaction. Then the moderation model was examined by the Haye's PROCESS macro. ResultsThe results confirmed that work-family conflict was negatively related to life satisfaction after using PSM to minimize the impact of confounding factors. In addition, age acted as a moderator which the effect of work-family conflict on life satisfaction became stronger as the age increased. ConclusionsOverall, work-family conflict exerted a negative effect on life satisfaction, and the relationship was stronger as age increased among middle-aged female employees. Measures and strategies should be taken to reduce work-family conflict and enhance life satisfaction level especially for middle-aged women.