Life Satisfaction Judgments Research Articles

Influences on current mood of eliciting life-satisfaction judgments

Subjective well-being (SWB) has attracted a plethora of cross-disciplinary research in recent years. As measured in this research, SWB includes a cognitive and an affective component. We hypothesize that eliciting the cognitive component by means of life-satisfaction judgments activates thoughts about positive and negative life circumstances that influence the affective component (current mood or memory of the frequency of past positive and negative affects). Experiment 1 demonstrates an expected asymmetrical carryover effect in that current mood correlates higher with life-satisfaction judgments performed before than after the measurements of current mood. In Experiment 2, it is found that inducing current mood by means of rewarding performance does not influence the life-satisfaction judgments. In contrast and consistent with Experiment 1, Experiment 3 shows such an influence when current mood is induced by thinking about positive and negative life circumstances.

Limiting long-term illness and subjective well-being in families

The hedonic definition of subjective well-being (SWB) includes subjective perceptions of moods and cognitive judgements of life satisfaction. Little is known about levels of well-being within families when other family members have a chronic illness. This paper explores these associations. Data come from year 1 wave 1 of Understanding Society , a new longitudinal UK-representative household panel survey. SWB of adults (³ 16 years) was measured using the GHQ-12, the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and a life satisfaction question. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire measured well-being in youth (10 to 15 years). Self-reported long-term limiting illness (LLTI) was used to indicate chronic illness. Various models incorporating latent variable and multi-level frameworks were used to explore associations between illness and SWB between partners, between older parents and adult children and between young child and parents. LLTI in one partner was negatively associated with own and their partner’s well-being. There was a significant association between a parent’s LLTI and SDQ total difficulties score for youth. These associations were accounted for in part by caring/being cared for and the physical and mental functioning of the family member with a LLTI. Adult children and their older parents did not show any association between LLTI and SWB. The findings from this study indicate that the limiting illness of one family member has differential associations with the well-being of other family members.

Happy today, happy tomorrow: The (non-)effect of temporal distance on judgments of Life Satisfaction

Construal Level Theory (CLT; Trope & Liberman, 2003) posits that everyday life predictions, evaluations, and choices are influenced by how near or distant in time the event is. However, judgments of Life Satisfaction (LS) are relatively weakly influenced by situational factors and relatively strongly influenced by personality factors. Moreover, the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis (Schacter & Addis, 2007a, 2007b) implies that memory of past events provides details for simulations of future novel experiences. Undergraduate students (N=127) were randomly asked for how desirable LS was and for actual judgements of LS in the near- or distant-future. The results show that LS was more desirable in the distant-future. Thus, indicating that LS is abstractly assessed and judgments of LS should therefore be influenced by temporal distance as predicted by CLT. However, no significant differences in actual LS were found between conditions. Implications for theory development are discussed.

P2-30 Chronic illness and subjective well-being of family members

BackgroundThe hedonic definition of subjective well-being includes subjective perceptions of moods such as happiness and cognitive judgements of life satisfaction coupled with an absence of negative feelings. Little is known...

Is a life without meaning satisfying? The moderating role of the search for meaning in satisfaction with life judgments

Results from two studies revealed that the relation between meaning in life and life satisfaction was moderated by the extent to which the rater was searching for meaning in his or her life. In Studies 1a and 1b, the presence of meaning was more strongly related to life satisfaction for those who were actively searching for meaning in life than for those who were not. Study 2 extended the finding to judgments concerning a fictitious target's life satisfaction based on experimentally manipulated information regarding meaning in life. Thus, the role of meaning in life satisfaction judgments varies across individuals, depending on the level of search for meaning in life. These results suggest that search for meaning behaves like a schema increasing the salience of meaning-relevant information, and provides new ways of understanding people's efforts to establish meaningful lives.

Influences of Affect Associated with Routine Out-of-Home Activities on Subjective Well-Being

A survey of a random sample of 1,330 Swedish residents assessed the relationships between affect associated with performance of routine out-of-home activities, mood, and judgments of life satisfaction (cognitive subjective wellbeing, CSWB). Regression analyses showed that sociodemographic variables accounted for most variance in CSWB (7%) and least in mood (2%). In agreement with previous research, CSWB increased with income, employment, and cohabiting with a spouse, and had a U-formed relationship with age. Affect associated with routine activities accounted for more variance than the socio-demographic variables in mood (30%) and in CSWB (13%). Mood partially mediated the effect on CSWB of affect associated with the activities. The results suggest that future policy-related research should consider the possibility that community-provided resources that facilitate performance of routine out-of-home activities would increase life satisfaction.

The Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Happiness, and Current Mood

The present research proposes and tests a conceptualization of happiness as a situation-dependent evaluation of hedonic experiences, specifically the valence and activation of current mood, as well as being related to cognitive judgments of life satisfaction. In Experiment 1 86 undergraduates rated their life satisfaction (five scales forming the Satisfaction With Life Scale), happiness on five rating scales, and valence and activation of current mood, each on three rating scales, before and after attending a lecture. The results showed that happiness was related to life satisfaction mediated by valence of current mood. The change in happiness from before to after attending the lecture was only influenced by the change in valence of the current mood. In Experiment 2 which used scenarios to induce valence and activation of current mood in four randomized groups with a total of 135 undergraduates, happiness was related to preference for current mood rated on three scales which in turn was directly affected by both the valence and activation induction. Valence was in the mood-induction scenarios related to the expected rate of goal pursuit and activation to incidental events. Experiment 3 demonstrated for another 59 undergraduates that happiness stayed related to preference for a positive mood despite that its relation to a positive mood was reversed in an incongruent situation.

Tomorrow I could be in trouble…but the sun will come out next year: The effect of temporal distance on adolescents’ judgments of life satisfaction

In a series of three studies, we examined adolescents’ judgments of temporal life satisfaction (LS). We based our predictions in the notion of temporal distance influence in the level of construal of near- and distant-future events. In Study 1 we found that adolescents enhance future and present LS while devaluating past LS. Manipulating temporal distance in Study 2 and 3 and examining differences between- and within-subjects, respectively, we found that adolescents expected to be more satisfied with their life in the distant- than in the near-future. Moreover, framing LS in the near-future led adolescents to expect lower LS than they reported one week earlier. In contrast, expectations for own LS in the distant-future were not higher than self-reported LS measured one week before the experiment. The authors discuss implications for theory development and implications in the study of adolescents’ LS.

Effect of Changes in Living Conditions on Well-Being: A Prospective Top–Down Bottom–Up Model

Using the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examined life-satisfaction and housing satisfaction before and after moving (N = 3,658 participants from 2,162 households) with univariate and bivariate two-intercept two-slope latent growth models. The main findings were (a) a strong and persistent increase in average levels of housing satisfaction, (b) no increase in average life-satisfaction, (c) low stability in individuals’ level of housing satisfaction, and (d) high stability in individuals’ level of life-satisfaction. The results are discussed in the context of top–down and bottom–up models as well as adaptation theories of well-being. We conclude that moving or living in a better home is unrelated to life-satisfaction judgments for two reasons. First, housing makes a small contribution to life-satisfaction judgments. Second, positive effects of better housing are undermined by the greater costs of living in a better home. The results provide no support for the prediction of adaptation theory that shifting aspirations undermine the benefits of living in a better home.

Examining sources of self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction judgments

This study examined sources of self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction judgments. Pairs of participants (92 dating couples, 145 friendship pairs) provided self-ratings and informant ratings of life-satisfaction and domain satisfaction in five domains (family, health, academics, friends, and weather). Key findings were (a) significant self-informant agreement for life-satisfaction and all five domain satisfaction ratings, (b) significantly higher agreement for domain satisfaction than for life-satisfaction judgments, (c) discriminant validity of domain satisfaction judgments, (d) a top-down effect of general satisfaction on domain satisfaction, and (e) self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction judgments was fully explained by bottom-up effects of family satisfaction, health satisfaction, and academic satisfaction on self-ratings and informant ratings of life-satisfaction.

Sources of life satisfaction judgments in Latvia

Research indicates that life satisfaction judgments may be influenced by many different factors, but there is no clear evidence how these judgments are constructed. The purpose of this study was to examine sources of life satisfaction judgments in Latvia. Respondents (N=605) aged 18 - 70 completed self report measures of life satisfaction (SWLS), satisfaction with life domains, stressful life events, positive and negative affects (PANAS). Regression analysis shows that model including satisfaction with different life domains, positive and negative affects and number of stressful life events measures explains 53% of the variance in the overall life satisfaction. Immediately after completing the life satisfaction questionnaire, respondents were asked to write down their thoughts while completing it. Content analysis shows that the sources of LS judgment most often mentioned were relationships, personal development, financial situation, goals and education. Many respondents show high satisfaction in their comments, but low scores on the SWLS with implications of culture-specific interpretations involved in life satisfaction judgments.

Acquaintanceship length as a moderator of self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction ratings

Meta-analyses have shown moderate agreement between self-ratings and informant ratings of personality and well-being. The influence of acquaintanceship length on self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction judgments was examined using 922 participants from friendship and relationship dyads. Data were analyzed using non-linear mixed models to estimate the shape of the acquaintanceship effect and to account for the dependence of dyadic data. Results revealed a significant, non-linear acquaintanceship effect, indicating that self-informant agreement increases over the first 3 years of a relationship to within 90% of the maximum level of agreement. The maximum agreement was estimated to be r = .34, which is consistent with meta-analytic findings of self-informant agreement in life-satisfaction judgments for well-acquainted informants.

Stability and Change of Well Being: An Experimentally Enhanced Latent State-Trait-Error Analysis

This study uses longitudinal panel data and short-term retest data from the same respondents in the German Socio-economic Panel to estimate the contribution of state and trait variance to the reliable variance in judgments of life satisfaction and domain satisfaction. The key finding is that state and trait variance contribute approximately equally to the reliable variance in well being measures. Most of the occasion specific variance is random measurement error, although occasion-specific variation in state variance makes a reliable contribution for some measures. Moreover, the study shows high similarity in life satisfaction and average domain satisfaction for the stable trait component (r = .97), indicating that these two measures are influenced by the same stable dispositions. In contrast, state variance of the two measures is distinct, although still highly correlated (r = .77). Error variances of the two measures are only weakly correlated, indicating that most of the error component is indeed due to random measurement error.

Life satisfaction across adulthood: different determinants at different ages?

It is likely that with aging and changing life circumstances, individuals’ values shift in systematic ways, and that these shifts may be accompanied by shifts in the determinants of their subjective judgments of well being. To examine this possibility, the relations among the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and a number of personality, affect, demographic, and cognitive variables were examined in a sample of 818 participants between the ages of 18 and 94. The results indicated that although many variables had significant zero-order correlations with the SWLS, only a few variables had unique utility in predicting life satisfaction. Invariance analyses indicated that while the qualitative nature of life satisfaction remains constant across adult age, the influence of fluid intelligence on judgments of life satisfaction declines with age. In contrast, negative affect is negatively associated with life satisfaction consistently across the adult age span.

The Satisfaction With Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction

Since its introduction in 1985, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) has been heavily used as a measure of the life satisfaction component of subjective well-being. Scores on the SWLS have been shown to correlate with measures of mental health and to be predictive of future behaviors such as suicide attempts. In the area of health psychology, the SWLS has been used to examine the subjective quality of life of people experiencing serious health concerns. At a theoretical level, extensive research conducted since the last review (Pavot & Diener, 1993) has more clearly articulated the nature of life satisfaction judgments, and the multiple forces that can exert an influence on such judgments. In this review, we examine the evolving views of life satisfaction, offer updated psychometric data for the SWLS, and discuss future issues in the assessment of life satisfaction.

From Culture To Priming Conditions

Existing cross-cultural research often assumes that the independent versus interdependent self-construal process leads to different cultural behaviors, although few studies directly test this link. Extending from prior cross-cultural findings, two studies were conducted to explicitly test whether self-construal is linked with the differential use of emotions versus social information in judgments of life satisfaction. Study 1 confirmed the prediction that even among Americans, those who view themselves in interdependent terms (allocentrics) evaluate their life satisfaction in a more collectivistic manner (strong reliance on social appraisal) than those who view themselves in independent terms (idiocentrics). Study 2 replicated these findings in two cultural settings (United States and Korea) by using experimental primes of independent versus relational self-construal. Results strongly suggest that differences in self-construal processes underlie cross-cultural differences in life satisfaction judgments.

Life Satisfaction is not a Balanced Estimator of the Good Life: Evidence from Reaction Time Measures and Self-Reported Emotions

A widespread belief in happiness research is that measures of life satisfaction capture the variety of an individual’s experiences along a single favorable—unfavorable dimension. The current article points to a possible violation of this assumption. With a combination of data and theory it argues that life satisfaction is not a balanced reflection of subjective experiences because the evaluation that drives judgments of life satisfaction is tilted towards pleasure and away from engagement. We postulate that feelings of pleasure are overrated in statements of life satisfaction, whereas feelings of engagement are underrepresented. Feelings of engagement and interest are further supposed to be indicators of personal growth. Measures of personal growth and life satisfaction should thus be unrelated. Empirical evidence for our model is provided by self-report and reaction time data from a Norwegian convenience sample (N = 30). Detection latencies for pleasant stimuli correlated significantly with life satisfaction but not with measures of personal growth. Life satisfaction correlated significantly with pleasant experiences, but not with engagement. Personal growth correlated significantly with feelings of engagement. Life satisfaction and personal growth were uncorrelated.

Why are You Calling Me? How Study Introductions Change Response Patterns

Research on survey methodology has demonstrated that seemingly innocuous aspects of a survey's design, such as the order of questions, can produce biased results. The current investigation extends this work by testing whether standard survey introductions alter the observed associations between variables. In two experimental studies, we invited Parkinson's disease (PD) patients to participate in a telephone survey of (a) Parkinson's patients, conducted by a regional medical center, or (b) the general population, conducted by a regional university. The survey in Study 1 (n = 156) first assessed life-satisfaction, and subsequently health satisfaction. In Study 2 (n = 99), we reversed the order of the two questions, asking the health questions first. When the introduction focused on Parkinson's disease, we observed an increased correlation between life-satisfaction and a later question about health satisfaction (r = 0.34 vs. 0.63 after general population versus Parkinson's introduction, respectively; Study 1). In Study 2, asking the health questions first resulted in high correlations regardless of the introduction; in addition, judgments of life-satisfaction were lower after the Parkinson's-focused introduction. When participants were informed prior to the survey that its purpose was to examine well-being in PD, health satisfaction was a much more important component of life-satisfaction, accounting for three times as much variation. We hypothesize that the survey introduction primed participants' health status, resulting in an artificially large correlation with life-satisfaction.

Affective Reactions to the Thought of “God”: Moderating Effects of Image of God

Recent understanding of subjective well-being suggests that it consists of global judgments of life satisfaction, hedonic experiences, and beliefs about facets of one’s life. Traditionally, life satisfaction judgments have been the outcome of interest in studies examining the relationship between religiosity and well-being. Two studies were conducted to look at the interactive effects of personal religious beliefs, namely God images, and environmental stimuli, particularly priming the thought of “God.” The first study examines hedonic experiences, which is one of the information sources when constructing a well-being judgment. A second study attempts to replicate the findings with life satisfaction ratings. Results of the first study showed that one’s image of God as a controlling or non-controlling entity moderated the affective response to being primed to think about God. In particular, those who had a high controlling image of God had a negative affective reaction to the God prime. Results of the second study replicated the pattern of results using life satisfaction ratings as the dependent variable.

Integrating The Diverse Definitions of Happiness: A Time-Sequential Framework of Subjective Well-Being

The field of subjective well-being (SWB) is primarily concerned with people's evaluation of their lives; however, it includes a wide range of concepts, from momentary moods to global life satisfaction judgments. We propose a framework that integrates these diverse constructs. Our sequential temporal framework of subjective well-being describes experiences of well-being from the events and circumstances that cause evaluative reactions, through the emotional reactions to these events, to recall of these reactions, and finally to global judgments of well-being based on the previous stages. The hypothesized processes that translate the various steps in the sequence into one another are described, and supporting evidence is reviewed. We outline the implications of our framework for understanding subjective well-being, and discuss the research that is needed to further explore the proposed framework.