Subjective Ill-being Research Articles

Low Income, Ill-being, and Gender Inequality: Explaining Cross-National Variation in the Gendered Risk of Suffering Among the Poor

Scholars have long investigated the positive link between income and well-being, including its gender difference. However, little is known about (1) how low income is linked to ill-being among women and men; and (2) how their association varies depending on societal-level gender (in)equality. Filling this knowledge gap is crucial not only for scholarship but for social policy to tackle income-based disparities of ill-being. In this study, using the European Social Survey and the joint European Values Study-World Values Survey data, we conduct country-specific regressions and cross-national multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between low income, subjective ill-being (SIB), and macro-level gender parity. We first confirm that low-income individuals, regardless of gender, are more likely than their affluent counterparts to suffer from SIB in many countries. This indicates the applicability of implications derived from conventional approaches focused on the positive association between higher income and better well-being to the studies on low income and SIB. Nevertheless, the SIB risk significantly differs depending on the degree of gender inequality in that (1) both women and men face a higher likelihood of SIB in gender-inegalitarian societies; and importantly, (2) the psychological penalty for the poor is intensified under such gendered circumstances, especially among men. These results suggest that gender inequality not merely induces women’s ill-being but punishes low-income men possibly by exacerbating pressure as a breadwinner and imposing stigmas when they cannot meet gendered social expectations.

Cognitive complaints mediate the influence of sleep disturbance and state anxiety on subjective well-being and ill-being in adult community volunteers: a cross sectional study

BackgroundSleep disturbance, state anxiety, and cognitive complaints (CCs) have been recognized as important issues in public health. Although the mediating role of CCs has been proposed, their role in the relationships between sleep disturbance, state anxiety, and subjective well-being (SWB) and subjective ill-being (SIB) are not yet fully understood. This study used path analyses to investigate whether CCs mediate these relationships.MethodsThe study recruited 523 Japanese adult volunteers using convenience sampling. Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y), Cognitive Complaints in Bipolar Disorder Rating Assessment, and Subjective Well-Being Inventory to evaluate sleep disturbance, state anxiety, CCs, and SWB and SIB, respectively. Path analyses were conducted to assess the mediating effects of CCs.ResultsThe path analyses showed significant indirect associations of sleep disturbance and state anxiety with SWB (p = 0.024 and p = 0.012) and SIB (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001), respectively, mediated by CCs. Furthermore, there were significant indirect associations of sleep disturbance with CCs (p < 0.001), SWB (p < 0.001), and SIB (p < 0.001), via state anxiety, respectively.ConclusionsThis study suggests that CCs mediate the associations of sleep disturbance and state anxiety with SWB and SIB, respectively, in adult community volunteers. To address SWB and SIB associated with sleep disturbance and state anxiety, evaluating CCs may be useful in public mental health. Our findings will encourage health care workers to assess CCs more systematically. Future studies may need to target CCs to develop interventions for SWB and SIB.

Subjective cognitive impairment and presenteeism mediate the associations of rumination with subjective well-being and ill-being in Japanese adult workers from the community

BackgroundIn recent years, the roles of rumination, subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), and presenteeism have been emphasized in occupational mental health. However, associations between rumination, SCI, presenteeism, and psychological well-being are not fully understood. We hypothesized that SCI and presenteeism mediate the associations between rumination and subjective well-being (SWB) and subjective ill-being (SIB). Hence, we investigated the mediating roles of SCI and presenteeism in this study.MethodsA total of 458 adult workers (mean age, 40.8±11.9 years; 44.1% male), who were recruited in Tokyo using convenience sampling, were analyzed in this study. The Ruminative Responses Scale, Cognitive Complaints in Bipolar Disorder Rating Assessment, Work Limitations Questionnaire 8, and Subjective Well-being Inventory were used to evaluate rumination, SCI, presenteeism, and psychological well-being (SWB and SIB), respectively. Path analyses were performed to evaluate the relations between these parameters.ResultsThe path analysis indicated that rumination, SCI, and presenteeism were directly and negatively associated with SWB and SIB. Regarding indirect effects, rumination was negatively associated with SWB and SIB via SCI, presenteeism, and both SCI and presenteeism. Furthermore, SCI was negatively associated with SWB and SIB via presenteeism.ConclusionsThe results suggest that SCI and presenteeism mediate the associations of rumination with SWB and SIB in Japanese adult workers. To address the psychological well-being associated with rumination, evaluating SCI and presenteeism simultaneously may be useful in occupational mental health. This study provides key insights into the development of comprehensive intervention strategy based on the biopsychosocial perspective for worker’s psychological well-being.

Sadness and Other Health Complaints among Swedish Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Health complaints are increasing among adolescents and are recognized as a global public health issue. Health complaints are an indicator for subjective ill-being, but little is known about the relationship between sadness and other health complaints. The aim of this study was to investigate sadness and other health complaints among Swedish adolescents. A survey with a cross-sectional design was completed by adolescents (n = 1489, 15–17 years old) in the south of Sweden. A logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between sadness and other health complaints. The result show that sadness and other health complaints were common among adolescents, and sadness was related to health complaints (headache (OR: 1.58), sleeping difficulties (OR: 2.00), reduced appetite (OR: 1.43), tension (OR: 2.44), and concentration difficulties (OR: 2.75)). When adolescents express sadness or other health complaints it is important to reflect on what these complaints are an expression of, and take into account the body as physical and psychological intertwined. This might entail person-centered support that hopefully leads to an improvement in adolescents’ well-being. Future research that profoundly highlights adolescents’ existential health is needed.

Life Values and Subjective Well-being of the Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the Arctic Zone (Based on the Example of the Nenets)

The article presents the results of a study of life values and their relationship with the subjective well-being of indigenous small-numbered peoples based on the example of the Nenets. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that globalization transformations determine the change in human living conditions in the Arctic zone. This process often takes place painfully: representatives of indigenous small-numbered minorities cannot find their place in the new economic and multicultural system, which leads to the loss of vital meanings and subjective ill-being. The article notes that the solution to this problem may be to take into account life values during the transformation of the economic behaviour of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian Arctic. The materials presented in the article demonstrate a strong relationship between the level of satisfaction with life and the subjective level of income (subjective economic wellbeing). The most important life values for the Nenets (security, kindness, independence) turned out to be connected both with the level of satisfaction with life in general and with the level of subjective economic well-being. In conclusion, it is noted that the results obtained make it possible to formulate recommendations for various entities on the effective transformation of the economic behaviour of the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the Russian Arctic, in particular the creation of conditions for stability, social security, community and collectivism, as well as the ability to independently make economic decisions

Is Subjective Ill-Being Related to Islamophobia in Germany? In Search for Moderators

Is subjective ill-being, defined as the inverse of subjective well-being, related to Islamophobia in Germany? We conducted a study guided by two goals to answer this question. The first goal was to test the hypothesis that subjective ill-being is associated with Islamophobia. The second goal, contingent on the results of testing for the association between subjective ill-being and Islamophobia, was to test a set of variables presumed to moderate this relationship—positive and negative contact with Muslims, right-wing political views, political participation, the importance of political life, and cultural diversity orientation. Data from the GESIS Panel, a probability-based panel representative of the German-speaking population aged between 18 and 70 years permanently residing in Germany, were used to test the study hypotheses. The data provided support for the hypothesis that subjective ill-being is indeed associated with Islamophobia in Germany (r = .12, p < .01). The data provided support for only one of the moderator hypothesis, namely cultural diversity orientation. Specifically, the data showed that the relationship between subjective ill-being and Islamophobia is stronger for those who have low (rather than high) cultural diversity orientation.

SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AND ILL-BEING ZONES IN THE RUSSIAN SOCIETY

In recent years, difficult economic conditions in the Russian society have determined the urgency of assessing both objective and subjective well-being of the population. The article aims at identifying boundaries and characteristics of subjective well-being and ill-being in the contemporary Russian society. Based on the all-Russian survey conducted in 2018 by the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS and cluster analysis, the author identifies the zones of subjective well-being, ill-being, and an intermediate zone. The zone of subjective well-being is smaller than the zone of subjective ill-being; representatives of the former in general appreciate all aspects of their lives including those not related to income and consumption, while subjective ill-being can be defined by dissatisfaction with one&rsquo;s material situation and leisure and holiday opportunities although together with satisfaction with other aspects of life. The zone of subjective ill-being is determined not so much by low incomes as by the problems its representatives face every day and are not able to solve on their own. Differences in the situation of the representatives of two polar zones lead to their different requests for social policy, which is mostly reflected not in different priorities but in the intensity of the request. The key areas in which the entire population expects assistance from the state are the guarantees of fair wages and functioning health care system. The situation of two groups indicates that without solving these problems the zone of subjective ill-being is unlikely to decline even under the rising incomes. As for localization, the zone of ill-being is typical for rural areas, elders and manual labor, while the zone of well-being is typical for the young urban &lsquo;middle class&rsquo;.

Зависимость структурных компонентов субъективного благополучия от качества функционирования зрительного анализатора

In the article it was studied dependence of subjective wellbeing degree on effectiveness of visual analyzer functioning. The carried-out analysis allowed to state the existence of high associations of affective, affective-cognitive and cognitive components of subjective wellbeing with the quality of person visual system functioning. We established existence of dependence between characteristics of subjective wellbeing and effectiveness of visual analyzer functioning, which is estimated by using the evoked potential. The revealed regularities may be used for prediction of subjective ill-being of the person by results of objective psychophysiological diagnostics of visual analyzer condition.

Hair cortisol concentrations in relation to ill-being and well-being in healthy young and old females

Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) provides a retrospective measure of long-term (i.e. over a period of months) cortisol secretion and has been shown to be elevated in relation to chronic stress conditions. However associations in healthy participants with subjective ill-being are less clear and associations with well-being have not been explored. The current study examined HCC in relation to independent comprehensive measures of ill-being (stress, depression, anxiety) and well-being (subjective happiness, life satisfaction, psychological well-being) in healthy young and old females (mean±SD: 19.5±2.2years and 78.6±6.7years respectively, total N=115). The data supported evidence of increased total cortisol secretion with increased age. No association between ill-being and HCC was found in either the young or older group of participants. A positive association between HCC and well-being was found in the older participant group which was independent of ill-being and potential confounds. These findings do not support associations between HCC and ill-being in healthy young or old females. However the results suggest that HCC is able to distinguish levels of well-being in healthy older females.

Unhappy expatriates at work: subjective ill-being and work outcomes

While some expatriates could feel deeply unhappy trying to deal with the challenges of living and working abroad, few rigorous academic studies have presented evidence of the association between unhappiness among expatriates and their work outcomes. That is surprising since unhappiness could well have a substantial effect on performing certain work tasks which is the reason for the foreign assignment. Based on the survey responses of 428 expatriate academics, results of this exploratory study show that unhappiness conceptualised as Subjective Ill-Being (SIB) had a strong negative association with work adjustment, work performance, work effectiveness, and job satisfaction as well as a strong positive relationship with time to proficiency. These results are discussed in detail and their implications are drawn.

Does Climate Undermine Subjective Well-Being? A 58-Nation Study

The authors test predictions from climato-economic theories of culture that climate and wealth interact in their influence on psychological processes. Demanding climates (defined as colder than temperate and hotter than temperate climates) create potential threats for humans. If these demands can be met by available economic resources, individuals experience challenging opportunities for self-expression and personal growth and consequently will report lowest levels of ill-being. If threatening climatic demands cannot be met by resources, resulting levels of reported ill-being will be highest. These predictions are confirmed in nation-level means of health complaints, burnout, anxiety, and depression across 58 societies. Climate, wealth, and their interaction together account for 35% of the variation in overall subjective ill-being, even when controlling for known predictors of subjective well-being. Further investigations of the process suggest that cultural individualism does not mediate these effects, but subjective well-being may function as a mediator of the impact of ecological variables on ill-being.