Self-reported Happiness Research Articles

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND THE PET EFFECT

Social capital such as positive relationships and social support play an important role in older adults’ well-being. Typically, researchers have investigated family and friends as providers of interpersonal resources to older adults but there has been an increasing trend to explore companion pets as providers of social capital and to investigate the impact of pet companionship on older adults’ psychological well-being. Inconsistencies have appeared in the literature though as to whether there is a “pet effect,” the positive benefit of companion pets on older adults’ psychological health. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether having a companion pet would provide greater social connection and better psychological well-being among 83 community-residing older adults (meanage = 62.87 years; males = 38; females = 45) who owned a companion pet, a dog (n= 53) , cat, (n= 21) or both (n= 9), versus 42 community-residing older adults (meanage = 65.69 years; males = 25; females = 17) who didn’t own companion pets. Analyses revealed that no “pet effect” was found for any measure of psychological well-being: self-reported loneliness, happiness, life satisfaction, or mental health. This was especially true for cat owners in that the more one viewed a cat as a family member, the lower one’s life satisfaction and happiness. In addition, as the number of cats in the household increased, the perceived social support from a significant other, family, and friends lowered. Discussion will focus on the implications of these results for pets as providers of social capital.

Estimated effects of health conditions and risk factors on social and socioeconomic outcomes: mendelian randomisation of UK Biobank data

BackgroundA person's health might influence their ability to attend and concentrate at school, obtain, maintain, and be productive in employment, and maintain wellbeing and an active social life. We aimed to better understand the causal effects of health on social and socioeconomic outcomes, to help establish the broader benefits of investing in effective health policy, thereby strengthening the case for cross-governmental action to improve health and its wider determinants at the population level. MethodsWe used a mendelian randomisation approach to analyse data from the UK Biobank to estimate the effect of eight health conditions (asthma, breast cancer, coronary heart disease, depression, diabetes, eczema, migraine, osteoarthritis) and five risk factors (alcohol intake, body-mass index [BMI], cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, smoking) with known genetic determinants on 19 socioeconomic outcomes in men and women of white British ancestry, aged between 39 and 72 years. The main outcome measures were annual household income, deprivation (measured using the Townsend deprivation index [TDI]), degree-level education, satisfaction with health, and self-reported happiness and loneliness. UK Biobank received ethical approval from the Research Ethics Committee (11/NW/0382). FindingsOur cohort consisted of 337 009 men and women. Of the five risk factors, our results showed that higher BMI, smoking, and alcohol use affected socioeconomic outcomes. Smoking was estimated to reduce household income (mean difference –£24 394 [95% CI –£33 403 to –£15 384]), the chance of owning accommodation (absolute percentage change [APC] –21·5% [95% CI –29·3 to –13·6), being satisfied with health (APC –32·4% [–48·9 to –15·8), and of receiving a university degree (APC –73·8% [–90·7 to –56·9), and increased deprivation (mean difference in TDI 1·89 [1·13 to 2·64]). Of the eight health conditions, asthma decreased household income (mean difference –£13 519 [–£18 794 to –£8 243]), the chance of having a university degree (APC –17·0% [–25·3 to –8·7), and the chance of cohabiting (APC –11·0% [–18·0 to –4·0]), and migraine reduced the chance of having a weekly leisure or social activity (APC –43·7% [–66·0 to –21·3]), especially in men. No other associations were found. InterpretationHigher BMI, smoking, and alcohol use were all estimated to negatively affect multiple social and socioeconomic outcomes. Associations were not detected between health conditions and socioeconomic outcomes with the exceptions of depression, asthma, and migraine. Our findings might reflect true null associations, or be a result of selection bias (given the relative good health and older age of participants in UK Biobank compared with the eligible UK population), or a lack of power to detect effects. FundingThe Health Foundation.

Honeymoon or hangover? How election outcomes produce emotional shifts to winning candidate smiles

Presidential elections are emotion-laden affairs felt psychologically by both competitors and followers. The emotional fallout of losing competitive contests has been documented in the literature but little research has considered the change in affect among political followers in the aftermath of an unsuccessful election. This study examines changes in self-reported happiness, anger, and distress to different smile types expressed by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, measured immediately prior to and again following the 2012 presidential election. A panel of online respondents (N = 214) were shown four video clips featuring different smile types from each candidate before and after the election. Obama's clips featured an amusement and controlled-amusement smile, while Romney's featured a posed and contempt smiles. Findings revealed significant differences in self-reported emotional response to Obama. Followers of Obama reported an increase in happiness when shown examples of the president's smile after the election but no change in response to Romney's smiles. However, Romney's followers reported a significant increase in anger and distress towards Obama's smiles post-election, but minimal change to their own candidate. Election outcomes not only determine office holders; they also produce emotional shifts in the electorate that are most responsive to the electoral victor.

Integration and Subjective Well-Being Among Off-Site University Students

This study addresses an intriguing issue: does social integration impact on self-reported happiness? Can segregation overwhelm the effects of other determinants claimed to positively affect people’s well-being? Research on this topic normally focuses on racial-based segregation and international migration. This paper calls the attention to what happens when integration involves well-off internal migrants, i.e. off-site university students. Using survey data, we conduct an OPR to detect any relationship between integration and self-reported happiness, controlling for a set of individual characteristics and endogeneity. The results suggest that increased perceived lack of integration is associated with a reduction in happiness.

Personal income, local communities and happiness in a rich global city: evidence from Hong Kong

ABSTRACT The importance of individuals’ social environment as an explanation for the ‘happiness-income paradox’, but also accounting for the negative relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being in macro-comparative perspective is now widely recognized. At the same time, however, debates are still ongoing about the specific role local communities play in moderating the relationship between personal income and subjective well-being. This article adds to this literature by examining cross-level interactions between individual- and district-level determinants of self-rated happiness using multilevel mixed regression techniques. Our findings suggest that living in wealthier districts in Hong Kong is a ‘positive’ for individuals on lower personal incomes, whereas the effect on those with higher incomes is more in line with arguments underlining the role of local communities as a ‘negative’. While the overall effect of district-level poverty on self-reported happiness in Hong Kong is benign, this is not the case for individuals on low incomes who are most negatively affected if they live in districts featuring higher levels of deprivation. Governments across contemporary Asian global cities should recognize the important role of citizens’ social environment and tackle existing structural barriers to greater self-reported happiness accordingly.

Household’s Happiness and Financial Market Participation

ABSTRACTUsing the 2014 China Family Panel Studies, this study examines the impact of household’s subjective well-being on financial decision. It investigates whether happiness affects household’s decision to participate in risky financial market. This study finds a non-linear relationship between happiness and the probability of financial market participation. The probability of risky financial market participation increases as self-reported happiness measure increases. However, the probability declines slightly at the highest level of self-reported happiness measure. In order to address a potential endogeneity problem, this study uses the Two Stage Least Squaredmodel with two sets of instrumental variables. These findings provide a strong support for the hypothesis that a person’s subjective well-being is one of the major determinants of household’s economic behaviours, and provide an important implication on household portfolio research.

Gaming in Virtual Reality: What Changes in Terms of Usability, Emotional Response and Sense of Presence Compared to Non-Immersive Video Games?

Background. Virtual reality can provide innovative gaming experiences for present and future game players. However, scientific knowledge is still limited about differences between player’s experience in video games played in immersive modalities and games played in non-immersive modalities (i.e., on a desktop display). Materials and method. Smash Hit was played by 24 young adults in immersive (virtual reality) and non-immersive (desktop) condition. Self-report questionnaires (VAS-A, VAS-HP, VAS-SP, SUS, SUS-II) and psycho-physiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance) were used to assess usability, emotional response and the reported sense of presence. Results. No statistical differences emerged between the immersive and the non-immersive condition regarding usability and performance scores. The general linear model for repeated measures conducted on VAS-A, VAS-HP, VAS-SP scores for the virtual reality condition supported the idea that playing in the immersive display modality was associated with higher self-reported happiness and surprise; analysis on SUS-II revealed that the perceived sense of presence was higher in the virtual reality condition Discussion and conclusion. The proposed study provides evidence that (a) playing a video game in virtual reality was not more difficult than playing through a desktop display; (b) players showed a more intense emotional response, as assessed by self-report questionnaires and with psycho-physiological indexes (heart rate and skin conductance), after playing in virtual reality versus after playing through the desktop display; (c) the perceived sense of presence was found to be greater in virtual reality as opposed to the non-immersive condition.

Emotional Responsiveness in Borderline Personality Disorder: The Role of Basal Hyperarousal and Self-Reported Emotional Regulation.

The present study aims to test the hypothesis of biological hyperarousal and hyperreactivity underpinning the dysfunctional emotional processes of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Self-reported (quality and intensity of emotions) and physiological (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and heart rate) data were collected in 14 clinical subjects with BPD and in 14 control subjects (healthy controls [HCs]), during the administration of six video clips with different emotional contents. Our findings showed a constant hyperarousal state (lower RSA) in the clinical group, supporting the hypothesis of a biological vulnerability to emotional dysregulation. BPD patients showed lower self-reported happiness in positive stimuli compared with HCs and a significant association between emotional dysregulation and physiological hyperreactivity to neutral stimuli. Our data support the hypothesis of a constant condition of physiological preparedness to threat and danger in BPD subjects. Moreover, our results highlight the influence of self-reported ability in regulating emotions in explaining BPD responses to specific emotional situations.

Wealth Inequality as a Predictor of Subjective Health, Happiness and Life Satisfaction among Nepalese Women.

Socioeconomic status has shown to be associated with subjective health, well-being, satisfaction with overall life and estimation of happiness. The body of research concerning the question of whether higher economic status leads to better health and well-being are mostly from developed countries. The present study was therefore conducted among women in Nepal with an aim to investigate whether household wealth status is associated with satisfaction about (1) self-reported health, (2) happiness, and (3) life overall. Methods: Subjects were 5226 Nepalese women aged between 15 and 24 years. Cross-sectional data were extracted from round 5 of the Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (NMICS), conducted in 2014, and analyzed using chi-square tests of association, bivariate and multivariable regression methods. Results: Wealth status was significantly associated with satisfaction about health, estimation of happiness and satisfaction. Compared with women in the poorest households, the odds of positive estimation about overall happiness were respectively 30% higher for poorer (p < 0.0001; 95% CI = 1.653–3.190), 80% higher for middle (p = 0.001; 95% CI = 1.294–2.522), 64% higher for richer (p = 0.006; 95% CI = 1.155–2.326), and 40% higher for richest households. The odds of reporting satisfaction about life were respectively 97% higher for poorer (p < 0.0001; 95% CI = 1.680–2.317), 41% higher for middle (p < 0.0001; 95% CI = 1.165–1.715), 62% higher for richer (p < 0.0001; 95% CI = 1.313–2.003), and 31% higher for richest households (p = 0.043; 95% CI = 1.008–1.700). Conclusion: Our results conclude that women in households with lower wealth status report poorer subjective health, quality of life and happiness. However, the findings need to be interpreted in light of the existing sociocultural conditions mediating the role of household wealth status on women’s lives.

State government public goods spending and citizens' quality of life

A growing literature across the social sciences uses individuals' self-assessments of their own well-being to evaluate the impact of public policy decisions on citizens' quality of life. To date, however, there has been no rigorous empirical investigation into how government spending specifically on public goods impacts well-being. Using individual-level data on respondents' self-reported happiness and detailed government spending data for the American states for 1976–2006, I find robust evidence that citizens report living happier lives when their state spends more (relative to the size of a state's economy) on providing public goods. As an important spuriousness check, I also show that this relationship does not hold for total government spending or for government spending on programs that are not (strictly speaking) public goods like education and welfare assistance to the poor. Moreover, the statistical relationship between public goods spending and happiness is substantively large and invariant across income, education, gender, and race/ethnicity lines – indicating that spending has broad benefits across society. These findings suggest that public goods spending can have important implications for the well-being of Americans and, more broadly, contribute to the growing literature on how government policy decisions concretely impact the quality of life that citizens experience.

Test-retest reliability and validity of a single-item Self-reported Family Happiness Scale in Hong Kong Chinese: findings from Hong Kong Jockey Club FAMILY Project.

Family happiness is one major theme of family well-being in Chinese culture. We investigated the reliability and validity of the single-item Self-reported Family Happiness Scale (SFHS-1) with the score of 0-10, based on two studies in Hong Kong Chinese. Study 1 was a territory-wide population-based telephone survey (n = 4038) conducted in 2016. Study 2 was a community-based family intervention program conducted during 2012-2013 (n = 1261) to enhance family communication and well-being. Test-retest reliability of the SFHS-1 was assessed over 1month in Study 2. Family APGAR (Adaption, Partnership, Growth, Affection, Resolve) Scale, Family Communication Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, 12-item Short Form Health Survey Version 2, and 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire were used to assess the convergent and discriminant validities of the SFHS-1 in both studies. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the incremental validity by identifying the additional contribution of the SFHS-1 score in predicting subjective happiness. The 1-month test-retest reliability assessed by intraclass correlation was 0.76. Family happiness was moderately to strongly correlated with family function, family communication, subjective happiness, mental health-related quality of life and depression, but weakly correlated with physical health-related quality of life. Furthermore, the score of the SFHS-1 added predictive power to mental health-related quality of life and depression in assessing subjective happiness. Our results have shown the SFHS-1 as a reliable and valid measurement of family happiness in Hong Kong Chinese, suggesting SFHS-1 is highly practicable for future large epidemiological and community-based intervention studies.

Association between disaster experience and quality of life: the mediating role of disaster risk perception.

Disasters may impair people's quality of life (QoL) indirectly through disaster risk perception. We intended to address this point by analyzing the correlation between disaster experience and QoL with a test of the mediating effects of risk perception at the example of earthquake. We employed the 2013 Taiwan Social Change Survey data as the data source (N = 1481). Unadjusted ordinal logistic regression models examined the correlation of disaster experience with QoL and earthquake risk perception at first. Another set of ordinal regressions were conducted to explore the mediating effect of earthquake risk perception between earthquake experience and QoL. Earthquake experience had negative impact on QoL measured by self-reported happiness, general health status, and life satisfaction. People who had earthquake experience perceived higher earthquake risk compared to those who had never experienced an earthquake. Risk perception measured by perceived likelihood of future earthquake as a mediating factor for the impact of earthquake experience on QoL from the dimensions of both self-reported happiness and life satisfaction was confirmed. Findings are consistent with existing reports about the association between disaster experience and QoL. Research using multi-dimensional measures of disaster risk perception and QoL is needed to inform post-disaster recovery programs.

Well-being and volunteering: Evidence from aging societies in Asia

This study examines whether and how volunteering is associated with the well-being of older people in rapidly aging Asian societies; this topic has received remarkably little attention in the literature. Based on the severity of their population aging problem, five Asian societies are selected for an empirical study, namely Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. We conduct analysis of the latest World Values Survey data set collected from 2011 to 2012 and the effect of volunteering on four aspects of well-being, namely self-reported life satisfaction, happiness, health, and life mastery. Given the ordinal nature of well-being, we establish ordered probit models that focus on voluntary work type, volunteer age, and the level of immersion in volunteer work. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between active volunteering and well-being, which is valid for all well-being aspects. Active volunteering may have a more significant effect on well-being than inactive volunteering. Age is also a relevant factor affecting volunteering effect. No significant volunteering benefits are found for people younger than 54 years old. Voluntary work in charitable, humanitarian, and religious organizations is the most closely associated with higher well-being for relatively younger people. For people aged 65 and above, volunteering in self-help and cultural organizations is also associated with higher well-being. Moreover, immersion in volunteer work is crucial, particularly for retired people and people aged more than 65 in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The results suggest people should be encouraged to engage in longer hours (or longer duration) of voluntary service. This study identifies the types of volunteer work that most effectively enhance the well-being of older people, which might help older adults transition to retirement and age with higher well-being and help aging societies alleviate their labor shortage problems by involving productive older people.

Cell Phone Use and Happiness Among Chinese Older Adults: Does Rural/Urban Residence Status Matter?

This study explores the relationship between cell phone use and self-reported happiness among older adults in Mainland China and whether rural/urban residence status moderates this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 6,952 respondents over the age of 60, from the 2010 wave of China Family Panel Studies. Findings show that using own cell phone is positively associated with self-reported happiness among Chinese older adults (odds ratio [ OR] = 1.283, p < .001). This relationship remains for respondents residing in rural areas ( OR = 1.616, p < .01) but not for their urban counterparts. Findings reflect on how the happiness of Chinese older adults has been affected by a growing shift in the traditional family values due to the unprecedented economic growth. Results also highlight the disparities between state support for older adults in rural and urban areas as well as the necessity to develop relevant policies to improve the subjective well-being of China's rapidly growing population of older adults.

Effects of analytical (abstract) versus experiential (concrete) induced rumination of negative self defining memories on schizotypic symptoms.

Repetitive thought may have adaptive and functional consequences, depending on, among other things, the interpretation of the content: analytical or abstract (general and decontextualized) and experiential or concrete (specific, contextual and incidental). Studies experimentally manipulating repetitive thought have shown both the constructive consequences of the experiential mode and the dysfunctional consequences of the analytical mode. The aim of the current study is to observe the effect of analytical and experiential rumination of negative self-defining memories on schizotypic symptoms. A sample of 111 university students were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions of induced rumination, "analytical" or "experimental." The participants completed a series of questionnaires (anomalous perception of reality, preoccupation and depression) and a negative self-defining memory was obtained to be used as the content of the induced rumination. Following the rumination induction, participants in the experiential condition significantly decreased their scores on anomalous perception of reality compared with those in the analytical condition. We also observed that post-induction scores on self-reported sadness significantly increased in both experimental conditions while scores on self-reported happiness decreased. Our results show that the concrete/experiential rumination, focused here on negative self-defining memories, have positive consequences on schizotypic symptoms, such as decreased anomalous perception of reality.

Stress and its causes in UK gastroenterologists: results of a national survey by the British Society of Gastroenterology

AimEvaluation of stress and its causes in UK gastroenterologists,DesignQuestionnaire emailed to all 1932 medical members of the British Society of Gastroenterology.ResultsOf 567 respondents (29%), 107 (20%) graded their stress level...

Does happiness data say urban parks are worth it?

Urban planners emphasize that urban nature plays an important role in providing social and psychological benefits to urban dwellers. Particularly, it provides space not only for the improvement of public health, but also for social interaction and community cohesion. However, less scientific attention has been paid to the effects of urban parks on the subjective well-being of urban dwellers who live in high density cities. In this study, we examine the relationship between individual subjective well-being and urban parks with individual survey data for self-reported happiness in Seoul. We obtain longitudinal Seoul Survey Data (SSD) conducted by the Seoul government between 2005 and 2015, and employ pooled cross-section data analysis with location-specific and time-specific fixed-effects to estimate the effects of urban parks on the subjective well-being of urban dwellers. In addition, we estimate the monetary value of urban parks using the average marginal rate of substitution between urban parks and household income. Our findings show that urban parks are associated with residents’ subjective well-being. Specifically, on average, an individual household has an implicit willingness-to-pay of approximately 129,300 won (approximately 110 U.S. dollar) in monthly household income for a 100 m2 increase in urban parks. High-income residents’ willingness-to-pay is approximately seventeen times more than that of low-income residents. Seniors also have more willingness-to-pay for urban parks.

Providing regular care for grandchildren in Thailand: An analysis of the impact on grandparents’ health

One of the many roles of grandparents is the role as caretaker for their grandchildren. Studies looking into the situation of older adults providing care for their grandchildren have found that care responsibilities can have beneficial effects but can also pose challenges to those providing it, depending on individual and societal circumstances. The objective of our study is to shed light on the health effects of providing care for grandchildren younger than 10 years of age on grandparents. Whether this experience has positive or negative effects on the caretaker's health depends on a range of factors that we explore here in the context of Thailand.The study is based on the quantitative analysis of the 2011 round of the National Survey of Older Persons in Thailand. In order to control for endogeneity between health status and the provision of care, we apply several instrumental variable (IV) approaches in addition to regular regressions. In terms of health status, we make use of four health-related variables: self-reported health status, functional limitations, happiness level and information about negative feelings. The observed positive impact of grandparenting on three health outcomes that we find with non-endogeneity-controlled OLS analyses is likely due to reverse causality or self-selection into becoming a grandparent who provides care. The unbiased results imply that regularly taking care of young grandchildren does not provide any physical health benefits; to the contrary, it seems to have a negative impact on self-rated health, functional limitations and psychological well-being, supporting the role strain theory.

Use and psychometric properties of the Flourishing Scale among adults with spinal cord injury.

Despite increased interest in the topic of resilience in rehabilitation, there has been no psychometric investigation of the Flourishing Scale (FS) in a sample of adults with spinal cord injury (SCI). The present study examined the reliability, convergent validity, and factor structure of the FS. Research Method/Design: Data for this project were extracted from a larger study on happiness and quality of life after SCI. For this study, information was collected using a cross-sectional mail survey design of adults with SCI. More than 1,900 mail surveys were distributed and 641 were returned; however, only 472 of these were valid. Respondents were primarily White males and had either cervical or thoracic injuries. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the unidimensional structure of the FS. Descriptive statistics were not considerably different from prior studied samples. CFA supported a 1-factor structure with all 8 FS items loading on a single flourishing factor. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency. Convergent validity analysis indicated the FS factor was positively related to Satisfaction With Life Scale scores (r = .674; p < .001) and self-reported happiness (r = .639, p < .001). The total computed FS score appears to be a valid assessment measure for clinical and research use with SCI patients in the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record

Konflikty v rodině původu, osobní pohoda a duševní zdraví v dospělosti

The article explores the relationship between conflict in the family of origin and an individual's wellbeing in adulthood. It examines to what extent the negative effects of a childhood spent in a conflict-ridden family can be explained by economic deprivation in childhood, a disrupted life course, and a person's sociodemographic situation in adulthood. Empirical analyses are conducted on data from the 7th wave of the ESS from 2014 and three indicators of personal wellbeing are used: a depression scale, self-reported happiness, and life satisfaction. The analyses show that spending childhood in a conflict-ridden family affects mainly the emotional side of personal wellbeing (happiness, depressive symptoms). The relationship between the cognitive side of personal wellbeing (satisfaction with life) and a high-conflict environment in childhood can be explained by sociodemographic factors.