Higher Levels Of Subjective Well-being Research Articles

Welfare state impact on mental wellbeing of the oldest old in Europe: A multilevel survey data study

Abstract Background Improving the health and wellbeing of the oldest old population is a key public health policy concern considering the rapid aging of the world’s population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the welfare state on different aspects of mental wellbeing of the oldest old population in Europe. Several approaches to measure welfare state types were compared. Methods The study used individual level data from Round 6 of the European Social Survey to measure six dimensions of mental wellbeing among the 80+ population including countries belonging to the European Union or European Economic Area. Welfare state types were measured using one welfare state- and three elderly care regime typologies, as well as three welfare state dimensions based on factor analyses of several welfare state characteristics. Welfare state impact on mental wellbeing was analysed by multilevel regression analyses, controlling for age and gender. Results The preliminary results show that universalistic and service-based regimes, as e.g. Nordic countries, are associated with higher level of subjective wellbeing and social trust, but not psychological wellbeing, compared to family-based regimes with low formal support. East Europe have lower scores on all dimensions compared to Nordic countries. The welfare state dimension capturing prioritisation of health and social services and gender equality is positively associated with all wellbeing aspects, whereas the factors capturing labour market participation of seniors and income equality respectively, are only significantly associated with subjective wellbeing and social trust. Conclusions The result point to caring approaches with high level of formal support and gender equalisation as key to enhance all aspects of mental wellbeing for the oldest old. Stimulating long duration of working life and reducing income inequalities have the potential to increase life satisfaction and happiness and social trust. Key messages Welfare state matter for the mental wellbeing in the oldest old population. General measures, supporting formal care, labour market participation and income and gender equality will also benefit the oldest old.

Midwifery matters: resilience and subjective wellbeing of midwives

Abstract Introduction Resilience is the ability to resist, cope with life positively after suffering a negative event. Midwifery has been defined as ’emotionally demanding’; midwives with an higher levels of resilience experience higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between resilience and SWB amongst midwives. Materials and methods Data were collected using a questionnaire, distributed between September 2018-January 2019 in hospitals in the Tuscany region (Italy). For evaluation of SWB, we used OECD scale (2013) evaluating three items: actual happiness (AH); emotive wellbeing (BE) composed of positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) and life satisfaction (LS). Also, job satisfaction (JS) was evaluated. Resilience (RS) was evaluated using the Italian version of the Resilience Scale by Wagnild and Young. All items were expressed on the Likert scale, statistical analysis was performed with Minitab 18. Results In total 123 questionnaires were analyzed. The average scores were: AH: 6.9±1.8; BE: 5.9±1.6; PA: 6.0±1.8; NA: 4.2±2.1; LS: 7.1±1.6; JS: 6.5 ± 2.4. Average R was 130.3±18.1. RS was correlated (p < 0.001) to AH (Coef=0.4), PA (Coef=0.4), BE (Coef=0.3) e LS (Coef=0.4). The sample was divided into three groups according to RS: low (LR)<116, medium (MR):116-139 and high (HR) ≥140. MR represented 44%, followed by HR (35%). AH, PA, BE values were significantly higher in the HR group (ANOVA; Tukey; p < 0.001). For NA the highest values were observed in the LR group, but the difference was not significant. LS resulted significantly lower in LR group (ANOVA; Tukey; p < 0.001) and JS was significantly higher in medium resilience group in confrontation to other two groups (ANOVA; Tukey; p < 0.001). Conclusions Our results confirmed, that the higher levels of RS influenced positively almost all components of SWB (AH, PA, BE, LS). On the other hand to achieve a higher level of JS the level of RS should not be nor too high, nor too low. Key messages Midwifery has been defined as ’emotionally demanding’, higher levels of resilience influenced positively almost all components of subjective wellbeing. The medium resilience was correlated to higher level of job satisfaction.

The Influence of Spiritual Quotient Toward Subjective Well-Being of Student of Muhammadiyah Boarding School Yogyakarta High School

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of spiritual quotient towards subjective well-being of students in Muhammadiyah Boarding School Yogyakarta High School. This research was quantitative research. The subject of this research was students of class X and XI of Muhammadiyah Boarding School Yogyakarta High School as many as 227 students. The technique of data collection was using scale of spiritual quotient and scale of subjective well-being in theform of questionnaire. Data analysis was using simple linier regression analysis. The results of this study indicated that: (1) as many as 211 students (92,95%) have high level of spiritual quotient, 16 students (7,05%) have moderate level of spiritual quotient and there was no low level of spiritual quotient of student, (2) as many as 176 students (77,53%) have high level of subjective wellbeing, 51 students (22,47%) have moderate level of subjective well-being and there was no low level of subjective well-being of student, (3) Spiritual quotient has positive effect and significant toward subjective well-being of students in Muhammadiyah Boarding School Yogyakarta High School as big as 48% with significant value (Sig.) of 0,000 and t-count as big as 14,418.

Rural community well-being through minor league sport

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how small-town residents’ perceptions of a minor league sport team’s socially responsible initiatives (SRI) influence several psychological responses to SRI, including feelings of gratitude, subjective well-being, place attachment and community pride.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional, survey-based research design was employed to empirically assess the effects of SRI on positive psychological responses in the context of a minor league sport team located in a rural community. The data set used in this study included a convenience sample of 307 small-town residents.FindingsResidents of the rural community did perceive and feel grateful for their minor league sport team’s SRI. Grateful residents experienced higher levels of subjective well-being (happiness, pleasure and satisfaction) as well as enhanced community pride and attachment due to the local sport team’s altruistic and prosocial behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThis study’s findings shed light on a critical function and benefit of a minor league sport team in rural communities. Emotionally valued prosocial efforts enhance the well-being of residents in rural communities. Thus, a reasonable course of action for local community leaders and public-sector organizations is to invest in and create partnership opportunities with their local minor league sport teams. Such efforts can turn sport teams into leverageable assets that can help promote healthy and sustainable communities for current residents as well as future generations.Originality/valueA contribution of this study is the integration of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to better understand how gratitude mediates the relationship between SRI and beneficial community-focused outcomes such as pride, attachment and well-being.

A Pathway Towards Subjective Well-Being for Turkish University Students: The Roles of Dispositional Hope, Cognitive Flexibility, and Coping Strategies

The aim of the current study was to test a model that consisted of dispositional hope, cognitive flexibility, and coping strategies (avoidance, problem-focused coping, and seeking social support) towards subjective well-being of university students. The sample of the study included 1222 undergraduate students (601 females and 621 males) from a public university in Ankara, Turkey. In order to collect data, Dispositional Hope Scale, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, Coping with Stress Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and a demographic information form were administered. Structural equation modeling was employed in order to test the proposed model. The results showed that the proposed model fitted the data along with explaining 57% of the total variance in subjective well-being. According to the findings, cognitive flexibility and problem-focused coping failed to have direct effects on subjective well-being, whereas dispositional hope, avoidance, and seeking social support had significant direct effects on subjective well-being. That is, university students who had higher levels of dispositional hope and engaged in more avoidance and seeking social support while coping with stress had higher levels of subjective well-being. Moreover, the findings presented non-significant indirect effects of dispositional hope and cognitive flexibility on subjective well-being through coping strategies. Findings, possible implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies were discussed.

Uber happy? Work and well-being in the ‘Gig Economy’

SUMMARYWe study the rise of the so-called ‘gig economy’ through the lens of Uber and its drivers in the United Kingdom. Using administrative data from Uber and a new representative survey of London drivers, we explore their backgrounds, earnings, and subjective well-being. We find that the vast majority of Uber drivers are male immigrants, primarily drawn from the bottom half of the London income distribution. Most transitioned out of permanent part- or full-time jobs and about half of drivers’ report that their incomes increased after partnering with Uber. After covering vehicle operation costs and Uber’s service fee, we estimate that the median London driver earns about £11 per hour spent logged into the app. But while Uber drivers remain at the lower end of the London income distribution, they report higher levels of life satisfaction than other workers. Consistent with a trade-off between evaluative and emotional well-being observed among the self-employed, they also report higher anxiety levels. We hypothesize that the higher life satisfaction among Uber drivers partly reflects their preferences for flexibility and the autonomy that the platform offers. We provide suggestive evidence showing that drivers who emphasize flexibility as an important motivation to join Uber also report higher levels of subjective well-being. However, a minority of drivers who report that they would prefer work as an employee report lower levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of anxiety. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of non-monetary factors in shaping the welfare of workers in the gig economy.

A time-use approach: high subjective wellbeing, low carbon leisure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the question: which leisure activities are relatively low carbon and conducive to high levels of subjective wellbeing? Underlying this question is the premise that to combat climate change, carbon emissions must be radically reduced. Technological change alone will not be sufficient: lifestyles must also change. Whereas mainstream strategies generally address the challenge of reducing carbon emissions through reviewing consumption, approaching it through the lens of how we use our time, in particular, leisure time, may be a promising complementary avenue. Design/methodology/approach The paper brings together three areas of research that are hitherto largely unlinked: subjective wellbeing/happiness studies, studies on how we use our time and studies on low-carbon lifestyles. Findings The paper shows that low-carbon leisure activities conducive to high subjective wellbeing include social activities such as spending time in the home with family and friends, and physical activities that involve challenge such as partaking in sports. However, depending how they are done, some such activities may induce high carbon emissions, especially through travel. Therefore, appropriate local infrastructure, such as local sports and community centres, is required, along with facilities for active travel. Policymaking developed from a time-use perspective would encourage investment to support this. Originality/value Win–win opportunities for spending leisure time engaged in activities conducive to high subjective wellbeing in low carbon ways are identified. This is done by bringing three research topics together in a novel way.

Личностные характеристики китайских студентов с разным уровнем субъективного благополучия

The paper presents the findings of an empirical study on personal characteristics of Chinese students with high, medium, and low subjective well-being. A survey involved 722 male and female majors aged 18-25 studying at Chinese universities. The Chinese version of the famous Russian psychodiagnostic techniques was employed to collect empirical data. They were mathematically processed by k-means clustering and dispersion analysis (Analysis of Variance – ANOVA). The results of ANOVA show that the severity of students’ personal characteristics differs depending on the level of subjective well-being. The author concludes that students with a higher level of subjective well-being demonstrate higher rates of personal characteristics. These characteristics are a part of the personal potential of an actor: self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, hardiness. All components of hardiness (resilience, challenge, control, and commitment) are significantly higher in students with higher levels of subjective well-being compared to students with lower levels of subjective well-being.

Subjective Well-Being among Young Dancers with Disabilities

ABSTRACT Little is known about the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of young dancers with disabilities and whether it changes over time. The aim of this study was to assess the SWB of young dancers with disabilities enrolled on an extracurricular inclusive talent development programme in the UK at two time points. Twenty-two young dancers completed the Personal Wellbeing Index for people with intellectual disability at the beginning of the academic year. Thirteen dancers completed the questionnaire a second time towards the end of the academic year. Scores were compared with normative values, and a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was conducted to assess change over time. The participants reported high levels of SWB at both time points in comparison with normative values. There was no significant change in wellbeing scores over time. The study contributes to a growing body of literature suggesting that people with disabilities have high levels of SWB. Although causality cannot be assumed, inclusive dance programmes may contribute to SWB and allow young people with disabilities to overcome the barriers associated with physical activity.

Openness to Experience, Extraversion, and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of Dispositional Awe.

Awe is the emotion experienced when people confront stimuli so vast and novel that they require accommodation. Dispositional awe, in contrast, captures individual differences in the tendency to experience awe. Previous research has found that state awe could predict life satisfaction; however, no study has focused on the indirect effects of dispositional awe on the relationship between personality traits and subjective well-being. Previous studies have found that both openness to experience and extraversion were significant predictors of subjective well-being. Both openness to experience and awe involve cognitive flexibility. Awe can also arise from engaging in social events. Previous research has found that those who are higher in dispositional awe tend to be more extraverted and open to experience. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of dispositional awe among openness to experience, extraversion, and subjective well-being. To test this hypothesis, a total of 332 Chinese college students were invited to complete an anonymous survey using a cross-sectional design. The results of structural equation modeling showed that openness to experience and extraversion predicted higher levels of dispositional awe, while dispositional awe predicted higher levels of subjective well-being. Moreover, dispositional awe mediated the effects of openness to experience and extraversion on subjective well-being. The findings of this study suggest that openness to experience and extraversion may invite more experiences of awe and thus promote subjective well-being.

A neighbor like me: the effect of fractionalization on subjective well-being

ABSTRACT Population shifts resulting from increasing cross-national migration have caused the diversity and its economic effects to become a hotly contested issue in modern societies. Using fractionalization as a proxy for diversity, we ask: what is the effect of fractionalization on subjective well-being (SWB)? Using the fractionalization index created by Alesina et al., we hypothesize that (1) the effect of ethnic, linguistic, and religious fractionalization on SWB is conditional on the size of the welfare state and that (2) decommodifying welfare states will mediate the (potential) negative impact of ethnic heterogeneity, resulting in higher levels of SWB. Ultimately, we find evidence for both of our claims, and conclude by emphasizing the importance of decommodification for both economic growth and SWB.

Quality of Life at Work of Janitors Workers

The aim of the study was to analyze the perception of quality of life in the work of janitor employees. The design was descriptive with a mixed approach. The 11 janitor workers of a Faculty of a public university participated and they responded individually to a questionnaire. In addition, eight of them participated in semi-structured interviews where the theme of study was addressed. The results showed that janitor workers have a high general perception of the quality of life at work associated with a high level of subjective wellbeing and satisfaction with work, good health and social interaction with coworkers, boss and members of the organization. For all janitor workers, the family is a great motivator and support in their daily lives and works. However, a work-family imbalance was found that women perceive greater than men.

Relating Sensory, Cognitive, and Neural Factors to Older Persons' Perceptions about Happiness: An Exploratory Study.

Despite increased rates of disease, disability, and social losses with aging, seniors consistently report higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB), a construct closely related to happiness, than younger adults. In this exploratory study, we utilized an available dataset to investigate how aspects of health commonly deteriorating with age, including sensory (i.e., vision and hearing) and cognitive status, relate to variability in self-described contributors to happiness. Community-dwelling seniors (n = 114) responded to a single-item prompt: “name things that make people happy.” 1731 responses were categorized into 13 domains of SWB via structured content analysis. Sensory health and cognition were assessed by Snellen visual acuity, pure-tone audiometry, and in-person administration of the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) battery. A subset of eligible participants (n = 57) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess resting state functional connectivity (FC) within a previously described dopaminergic network associated with reward processing. SWB response patterns were relatively stable across gender, sensory status, and cognitive performance with few exceptions. For example, hearing-impaired participants listed fewer determinants of SWB (13.59 vs. 17.16; p < 0.001) and were less likely to name things in the “special events” category. Participants with a higher proportion of responses in the “accomplishments” domain (e.g., winning, getting good grades) demonstrated increased FC between the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens, regions implicated in reward and motivated behavior. While the framework for determinants of happiness among seniors was largely stable across the factors assessed here, our findings suggest that subtle changes in this construct may be linked to sensory loss. The possibility that perceptions about determinants of happiness might relate to differences in intrinsic connectivity within reward-related brain networks also warrants further investigation.

Life satisfaction favors reproduction. The universal positive effect of life satisfaction on childbearing in contemporary low fertility countries.

Do people with higher life satisfaction have more children? Having children requires considerable energy and investment on the part of parents. However, even in countries where contraceptives are easily available and widely used, where having children is optional and most of time the result of an intended action, parenthood has not gone “out of fashion”. This paper tests the hypothesis that higher life satisfaction fosters reproductive behavior. We argue that people satisfied with their overall life feel better prepared to start the monumental task of childrearing. If, it is suggested, life satisfaction facilitates fertility, then this positive link should be observable in contemporary low fertility societies. The hypothesis is tested by taking overall life satisfaction as a determinant of fertility behavior using long longitudinal data available for developed countries: namely for Australia, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We find that higher levels of subjective well-being are, indeed, associated with a higher probability of having children in all the countries considered. We, therefore, conclude that life satisfaction favors reproduction, at least in low fertility societies.

A socioecological perspective to understanding mental and physical health: The mediating role of relationship mindsets and goals

People’s mindsets and goals regarding social relationships affect their relationship quality and psychological well-being. We employed multiple group path modeling to examine how perceived relational mobility affects mental and physical health through relationship mindsets (destiny and growth mindsets) and relationship goals (approach and avoidance goals) across countries, surveying community adults in the U.S. ( n = 206; Mage = 39.14; 48% female) and South Korea ( n = 236; Mage = 38.89; 51% female) through online questionnaires. Results showed that stronger growth mindsets and approach goals predicted better mental and physical health, whereas stronger destiny mindsets and avoidance goals predicted poorer mental and physical health in both countries. Moreover, higher levels of relational mobility were linked to higher levels of subjective well-being and fewer depressive symptoms via growth mindsets and approach goals. The results provide evidence for the importance of socioecological factors such as relational mobility in influencing relationship mindsets and goals with eventual consequences for health outcomes.

Understanding subjective well-being among social workers in Israel

Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study assesses the association between selected demographic factors (relationship status, years of work experience) and psycho-social factors (self-rated health, burnout, loneliness, and sense of coherence), and the subjective well-being of social workers. The data were collected through structured questionnaires ( n = 394). The findings suggest that relationship status, self-rated health, burnout, loneliness, and sense of coherence significantly predicted subjective well-being among social workers. It may be concluded that social workers who have a strong arsenal of demographic and psycho-social resources will experience fewer negative psychological outcomes and report higher levels of subjective well-being.

Short and long-term change in subjective well-being among voluntary and involuntary retirees

This paper investigates the differential change in subjective well-being among Hungarians 0–3 years and 8–11 years following voluntary and involuntary retirement. Controlling for baseline individual characteristics is important to circumvent possible endogeneity problems between retirement and subjective well-being; however, voluntary and involuntary retirees correspond to considerably different sets of observed confounders, and thus regression models may be subject to interpolation and extrapolation bias. Here, we use genetic matching to improve the comparability of these two subgroups and approximate the conditions of a controlled experiment in which voluntary retirement is the treatment variable. The same regression model applied to the matched and the non-matched data leads to different results. However, the results obtained through the matching procedure are superior in terms of subgroups comparability and model performance. These results show that voluntary retirees have a higher level of subjective well-being than involuntary retirees not only in the short but also in the long-term, the latter contradicting our expectation that the two groups would converge over time.

Psychological Wellbeing and Personality Mental Health

Wellbeing is a multifaceted phenomenon with regard to its conceptualization, fields of application, discourse practices and a great number of components. Its greatest advantage resides in health improvement and lifespan increment. Health can be considered as a source of physical and mental force, as an adaptive ability of the organism, an ideal and meaning of life, an ideal state of the individual who feels well. The aim of the study was to examine socio-psychological features of the respondents with different degrees of subjective wellbeing and health self-esteem pronouncement. As a result, the four groups involving 202 testees were singledout. The survey showed that both health self-esteem and subjective wellbeing serve as predictors not only of attitude towards the world and the self but also as a certain “frame” through the prism of which the person perceives the world around. It was revealed that the respondents with low health self-esteem are emotionallyunstable, prone to neuroticism and dissatisfaction with their life in general. The group of the testees with high health self-esteem and high level of subjective wellbeing are characterized by proactive attitude, a zest for life, positive self-esteem, lack of sustainable tension, while the respondents with low level of subjectivewellbeing and low health self-esteem exhibit an increased level of neuroticism, significance of their social environment and preoccupation with their own emotional sensations. The search for individual and typological specific features depending on the person’s subjective perceptions about his health and wellbeing allows forrevealing idiosyncratic “syndromes” of individual consciousness.&#x0D; Keywords: subjective wellbeing, mental health, typology.

WHY ARE THEY SO HAPPY? UNRAVELING THE HAPPINESS PARADOX OF OLDER LATINOS

Older Latinos report higher levels of subjective well-being (SWB) than non-Latinos in the United States. We investigated if Latinos, aged 65 and older, derived more SWB from activities of daily life than comparable non-Latinos. Using data from the American Time Use Survey we examined if, compared to non-Latinos (n=5,930), Latinos (n=516): (1) spent more time in meaningful activities of daily life, (2) derived more happiness from such activities, (3) derived more happiness and meaning from engaging others in daily activities. Results suggest that older Latinos spent less time than non-Latinos in meaningful activities like volunteering. However, they derived more happiness and meaning than non-Latinos from ordinary activities such as cooking and religious participation, especially if friends and family were involved. Interventions to increase subjective well-being and to engage older Latinos in productive aging activities, should be tailored to participants’ preferred activities and involve friends and family members.

Youth Activities and Children’s Subjective Well-Being in Korea

This paper studies whether children’s participation in youth activities affects subjective well-being (SWB). We exploit a nationally representative longitudinal survey, the Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey waves 2010 and 2012, to conduct our analysis. Three measures of SWB, happiness, joy, and worry, are in use in this study. The respondents were in grade 1 of middle school (age 13) in 2010 and grade 3 in 2012. The fixed effects regressions show that longer participation hours associate with higher overall happiness and more joy, but do not significantly correlate with worry. Moreover, some activities such as adventure and environment programs associate with a higher level of SWB than other programs or activities do. We also find that various environmental factors affect children’s SWB.