Momentary Subjective Well-being Research Articles

Monitoring momentary subjective well-being and psychotic experiences during antipsychotic dose reduction: Two single-case time series experience sampling method pilot study.

Personalized dose optimization is desirable to improve subjective well-being and support rehabilitation. Therefore, N = 1 trials investigating tools to self-manage functional outcomes during dose optimization are necessary. The aim of this pilot study was to determine in two N = 1 trials whether an experience sampling method (ESM) smartphone app could be used to monitor and detect changes in subjective well-being and psychotic experiences during and after dose reduction. Two participants with a psychotic disorder in remission underwent gradual dose reduction under a longitudinal self-monitoring paradigm, accompanied by regular clinical monitoring by the attending physician. Subjective well-being was monitored with an (ESM) app through momentary affective experience (positive and negative affect) and physical well-being (tiredness, feeling unwell, and pain). Momentary psychotic experiences were assessed with four items. Time-series linear regression models were used to detect changes in reduction phases compared to baseline. Whereas significant improvements in subjective well-being and psychotic experiences during dose reduction were detected in one participant, the opposite was demonstrated for the other participant, showing worsened subjective well-being and increased psychotic experiences in the reduction phase compared to baseline. Self-monitoring with an ESM smartphone app offers a tool for detecting changes in subjective well-being and psychotic experiences during antipsychotic dose reduction. In this way, ESM may increase an individual's sense of control and empowerment. It may further facilitate dose optimization and shared decision-making at an individual level, which is required considering the high heterogeneity in psychotic disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Happiness, positive emotions, and subjective well-being in dementia.

Research on non-cognitive features of dementia traditionally focusses on neuropsychiatric symptoms and challenging behavior and thus on negative aspects of the disease. Despite the clinical observation that many patients frequently report subjective well-being and often express positive emotions there is only little research on the definition, measurement and determinants of subjective well-being and happiness in people living with dementia. Furthermore, the few studies there are, examined happiness using retrospective questionnaires and the accounts of relatives or caregivers. However, in dementia, the experiencing self becomes more significant since past and future thinking are fading into the background. Here, we review the relative scarce literature in this field, discuss different psychological constructs and their applicability for dementia research, and suggest methods for measuring the addressed constructs in people with dementia. In particular, we propose methodology to study happiness and positive emotions in the experienced moment of the participants using ecological momentary assessments (EMA). We believe that adequate measures of momentary subjective well-being might become an important outcome parameter in clinical dementia trials beyond the currently used quality of life measures.

Supplemental Material for Monitoring Momentary Subjective Well-Being and Psychotic Experiences During Antipsychotic Dose Reduction: Two Single-Case Time Series Experience Sampling Method Pilot Study

Supplemental Material for Monitoring Momentary Subjective Well-Being and Psychotic Experiences During Antipsychotic Dose Reduction: Two Single-Case Time Series Experience Sampling Method Pilot Study

Periodicity and Variability in Daily Activity Satisfaction: Toward a Space-Time Modeling of Subjective Well-Being

Understanding how geographical environments influence peoples’ subjective experiences of daily activities is of great potential for improving subjective well-being (SWB), a subject that is presently limited by a lack of available data and proper statistical methods. Focusing on Beijing and using a unique data set that linked residents’ seven-day mobility trajectories at a fine spatiotemporal resolution to their complete activity participation and momentary well-being, this article investigates the temporal dynamics of and geographical contextual effects on SWB of daily activities. We developed a unified spatial multilevel stochastic process model to simultaneously capture periodicity, stochastic dynamics, and individual heterogeneity effects. Results show that momentary SWB has a twenty-four-hour periodicity and evolves stochastically around individual equilibrium states depending on key life-circumstance variables. Migrants and low-income residents tend to have lower equilibrium states than their counterparts. Real-time air pollution exposure significantly lowers daily activity satisfaction levels, and an inverted-U-shaped relationship exists between city vibrancy and satisfaction.

Effects of exposure to noise, PM2.5 and NO2 on emotional well-being during daily travel

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Urban residents are exposed to the environment during everyday travel. While previous studies have shown the potential impacts of environmental exposure on mental health and subjective well-being, few studies have examined this relationship in the dynamic transportation context. We aim to address this gap by using smartphone-survey data to quantify the impacts of exposure to PM2.5, NO2, traffic noise, and green/blue space on monetary mood and energy level during daily travel. METHODS: We conducted a smartphone-app survey in the Columbus metropolitan area in Ohio, USA in 2019 (n=465 people). We used the ecological momentary assessment approach and GPS tracking to track travelers’ movement and subjective well-being over the course of 14 days. Using a buffer of 300m along the travel routes, we tabulated the area of green space, traffic noise level, PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, and travel time by each mode every day. We calculated the dose inhaled based on exposure duration during transportation by each travel mode. We then quantified the impacts of exposure to these environmental factors on positive mood, energy level, calmness, and stress. RESULTS: Our multilevel models show that PM2.5 and noise level were associated with a decrease in positive feeling. On the other hand, NO2 and noise were associated with an increase in stress level, while PM2.5 shows the opposite effect. Noise was found to reduce energy level while green space and water show the opposite effect. CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds further evidence to the relationship between environmental exposure and momentary subjective well-being during daily transportation. The findings imply the need for cities to provide open space and reduce noise and air pollution to promote well-being, especially for vulnerable mode users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Who are more exposed to these factors at a higher level. KEYWORDS: GPS, mental health, exposure

Does catching more fish increase the subjective well-being of fishers? Insights from Bangladesh

Small-scale fisheries have been associated with the subjective well-being of coastal communities through their links with culture, identity, and social cohesion. But although fish catches are usually considered the primary ecosystem service that benefits fishers, little is known about how subjective well-being is influenced by the fishing activity itself. Here, we applied the experience sampling method in two small-scale fisheries in Bangladesh to assess the effects of fishing on fishers’ occurrence of positive and negative affect, two measures of subjective well-being. We found that fishing activities were not directly associated with increased momentary affect and that the frequency of positive affect actually decreased as the fishing trip progressed. Furthermore, although very low catches were associated with less positive affect, the highest frequency of positive affect was achieved with relatively small catches. Our results imply that the benefits provided by small-scale fisheries to the momentary subjective well-being of fishers are not strongly related to the actual catching of fish.

Subjective well-being and stated preferences: Explorations from a choice experiment in Norway

Subjective well-being valuation has recently grown in use with applications in the fields of environment, health, and cultural heritage. With this methodology values are based on how non-market goods impact on self-reported measures of well-being such as life satisfaction. Despite the differences in theoretical foundations of subjective well-being and preference-based valuation methods, recent applications have attempted to integrate both approaches without the complete understanding of the effects of subjective well-being on stated preference elicitation. The present study investigates the extent to which subjective well-being impacts the responses to a choice experiment in Norway. The results indicate that momentary subjective well-being does not induce a higher level of randomness in the stated choices but rather affects the preferences for attribute. We also find that self-reported well-being measures respond differently to the cost attribute in the choice experiment. Furthermore, we compute marginal willingness-to-pays for various subjective well-being categories and discuss the implications of these results for an integrated modelling of subjective well-being and preference-based valuation methods.

Momentary subjective well-being depends on learning and not reward.

Subjective well-being or happiness is often associated with wealth. Recent studies suggest that momentary happiness is associated with reward prediction error, the difference between experienced and predicted reward, a key component of adaptive behaviour. We tested subjects in a reinforcement learning task in which reward size and probability were uncorrelated, allowing us to dissociate between the contributions of reward and learning to happiness. Using computational modelling, we found convergent evidence across stable and volatile learning tasks that happiness, like behaviour, is sensitive to learning-relevant variables (i.e. probability prediction error). Unlike behaviour, happiness is not sensitive to learning-irrelevant variables (i.e. reward prediction error). Increasing volatility reduces how many past trials influence behaviour but not happiness. Finally, depressive symptoms reduce happiness more in volatile than stable environments. Our results suggest that how we learn about our world may be more important for how we feel than the rewards we actually receive.

Analyzing the Relationships between Citizens’ Emotions and their Momentary Satisfaction in Urban Public Spaces

It is recognized that the urban environment, and specifically better-experienced urban public space, contribute to people’s subjective well-being. However, research on people’s momentary subjective well-being (i.e., emotional state) in relation to the multiple aspects of urban public spaces is still limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze people’s emotional state and how this is influenced by the momentary satisfaction with urban public spaces, and also controlling for personal and experience characteristics. Data of 1056 momentary experiences of 161 citizens regarding the urban public space in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, were collected by means of an experience sampling method (ESM). These data were analyzed using a mixed multinomial logit (MMNL) model for each dimension of people’s momentary subjective well-being (i.e., sense of security, comfort, happiness, and annoyance). Results of this study showed that people were happier when they were satisfied with the atmosphere of the public space and felt more secure, comfortable, and less annoyed when they were more satisfied with traffic safety. Results could be used by policymakers and urban planners to create inclusive urban public spaces where people have more positive experiences, which eventually could lead to happier, comfortable, more secure and less annoyed citizens.

Public spaces and happiness: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment

This study examines the relationships between public spaces, immediate environment and momentary subjective wellbeing (M-SWB). The empirical findings are based on a unique dataset collected from tens of thousands of students in Singapore. The students wore a sensor for one week, and happy moments were captured as well as geospatial an environmental data throughout the country. This is a large-scale in-the-wild user study. The findings provide weak empirical evidence that visiting parks and community centers increase the probability of experiencing M-SWB compared with commercial areas. In line with previous studies, proximity to natural influencers such as green-, blue spaces or reservoirs was found to be not statistically significant. On the other hand, immediate noise levels and air temperature were strongly associated with M-SWB. The unique contribution of the paper is the estimation of place-, environment-, and personal-effects on momentary happiness using nearly-real time data.

Experience sampling in and around airports. Momentary subjective wellbeing, airports, and aviation noise in England

We explore the wellbeing of people in and around English airports using real-time data from a large spatial positioning experience sampling dataset (Mappiness). We analyze the association between subjective wellbeing reported in the moment and aviation, in terms of airport location, aircraft noise, and activities within airports. This is the first time that a large Experience Sample Method (ESM) of momentary wellbeing measurements has been used to quantify the associations between aviation and subjective wellbeing. Being within areas of high levels of aircraft noise is associated with lower levels of happiness and relaxation. Those surveyed in proximity to airports report significantly lower levels of relaxation. These findings have important implications to policy. Exploiting the panel nature of the ESM data provides the strongest causal claims to date of the negative association between aviation activities and subjective wellbeing. The Mappiness application also allows us to assess the association between airports and wellbeing on those inside them, and divide activities within airports between those who work there and those who are passing through for travel purposes, as well as the effects of aircraft noise beyond airports. This gives us a broader insight into the range of impacts, both positive and negative, that aviation has on peoples’ momentary wellbeing, which may be used to inform aviation noise mitigation and compensation policies in the future.

The social contingency of momentary subjective well-being.

Although social comparison is a known determinant of overall life satisfaction, it is not clear how it affects moment-to-moment variation in subjective emotional state. Using a novel social decision task combined with computational modelling, we show that a participant's subjective emotional state reflects not only the impact of rewards they themselves receive, but also the rewards received by a social partner. Unequal outcomes, whether advantageous or disadvantageous, reduce average momentary happiness. Furthermore, the relative impacts of advantageous and disadvantageous inequality on momentary happiness at the individual level predict a subject's generosity in a separate dictator game. These findings demonstrate a powerful social influence upon subjective emotional state, where emotional reactivity to inequality is strongly predictive of altruism in an independent task domain.

A computational and neural model of momentary subjective well-being.

The subjective well-being or happiness of individuals is an important metric for societies. Although happiness is influenced by life circumstances and population demographics such as wealth, we know little about how the cumulative influence of daily life events are aggregated into subjective feelings. Using computational modeling, we show that emotional reactivity in the form of momentary happiness in response to outcomes of a probabilistic reward task is explained not by current task earnings, but by the combined influence of recent reward expectations and prediction errors arising from those expectations. The robustness of this account was evident in a large-scale replication involving 18,420 participants. Using functional MRI, we show that the very same influences account for task-dependent striatal activity in a manner akin to the influences underpinning changes in happiness.

Happiness is greater in natural environments

Links between wellbeing and environmental factors are of growing interest in psychology, health, conservation, economics, and more widely. There is limited evidence that green or natural environments are positive for physical and mental health and wellbeing. We present a new and unique primary research study exploring the relationship between momentary subjective wellbeing (SWB) and individuals’ immediate environment within the UK. We developed and applied an innovative data collection tool: a smartphone app that signals participants at random moments, presenting a brief questionnaire while using satellite positioning (GPS) to determine geographical coordinates. We used this to collect over one million responses from more than 20,000 participants. Associating GPS response locations with objective spatial data, we estimate a model relating land cover to SWB using only the within-individual variation, while controlling for weather, daylight, activity, companionship, location type, time, day, and any response trend. On average, study participants are significantly and substantially happier outdoors in all green or natural habitat types than they are in urban environments. These findings are robust to a number of alternative models and model specifications. This study provides a new line of evidence on links between nature and wellbeing, strengthening existing evidence of a positive relationship between SWB and exposure to green or natural environments in daily life. Our results have informed the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), and the novel geo-located experience sampling methodology we describe has great potential to provide new insights in a range of areas of interest to policymakers.