Subjective Well-being Constructs Research Articles

Concordance Between Life Satisfaction and Six Elements of Well-Being Among Respondents to a Health Assessment Survey, HealthPartners Employees, Minnesota, 2011.

IntroductionWe assessed and tracked perceptions of well-being among employees of member companies of HealthPartners, a nonprofit health care provider and health insurance company in Bloomington, Minnesota. The objective of our study was to determine the concordance between self-reported life satisfaction and a construct of subjective well-being that comprised 6 elements of well-being: emotional and mental health, social and interpersonal status, financial status, career status, physical health, and community support.MethodsWe analyzed responses of 23,268 employees (of 37,982 invitees) from 6 HealthPartners companies who completed a health assessment in 2011. We compared respondents’ answers to the question, “How satisfied are you with your life?” with their indicators of well-being where “high life satisfaction” was defined as a rating of 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest) and “high level of well-being” was defined as a rating of 9 or 10 for 5 or 6 of the 6 indicators of well-being.ResultWe found a correlation between self-reported life satisfaction and the number of well-being elements scored as high (9 or 10) (r = 0.62, P < .001); 73.6% of the respondents were concordant (high on both or high on neither). Although 82.9% of respondents with high overall well-being indicated high life satisfaction, only 34.7% of those indicating high life satisfaction reported high overall well-being.ConclusionThe correlation between self-reported life satisfaction and our well-being measure was strong, and members who met our criterion of high overall well-being were likely to report high life satisfaction. However, many respondents who reported high life satisfaction did not meet our criterion for high overall well-being, which suggests that either they adapted to negative life circumstances or that our well-being measure did not identify their sources of life satisfaction.

Sense of coherence: A distinct perspective on financial well-being

With the ongoing financial challenges being faced in the economic environment, research exploring financial and psychological well-being is of significant value because employees’ socio-economic behaviour affects productivity. Research emphasises mainly the effect of income level on psychological well-being, and its orientation to psychological well-being is narrowly derived from a focus on subjective well-being constructs. This study addresses the research gap by exploring the relationship dynamics between sense of coherence, income level and financial well-being. Secondary data were obtained from a cross-sectional online employee-wellness survey (n=7 185). The sample distribution included 66 per cent females and 34 per cent males from various age groups, with 46 per cent of the sample comprising single-household earners and 54 per cent sharing household income. Analysis of variance was conducted to examine the relationship dynamics between sense of coherence, level of income and financial well-being. Demographic variables that formed part of the survey results were included in the analysis. The relationships between sense of coherence and identified significant income level, financial well-being and demographic effects were further explored in Bonferroni multiple comparisons of means test and cross reference frequency tables that included Pearson’s chi-square and/or Cochran–Armitage trend tests. Detail results indicate that high-income employees exhibit a significantly stronger sense of coherence than low-income employees, and that, despite level of income, financial wellbeing is nevertheless positively related to sense of coherence. Results indicate important implications for managing a financially healthy workforce. Limitations are discussed and recommendations for future research are highlighted.

Sport events and happiness: towards the development of a measuring instrument

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to create a measuring instrument to capture happiness in the context of events and test it in the context of two non-mega-sport events. Three groups of residents were distinguished (event 1: Ontario Summer Games (OSG); event 2: Ontario 55 + Summer Games (55 + SG); and a control group, unaware of events: CONTR). Residents who did not attend the events were surveyed in public places in order to find out whether the mere hosting of these events had the potential to impact their happiness and well-being. The theoretical construct of subjective well-being was used to develop a survey to measure happiness and well-being holistically. Four components were developed: overall level of happiness (one item), satisfaction with important domains (three items), and specific emotions recently experienced (i.e. affect dimensions, eight items). Exploratory factor analyses confirmed one construct for satisfaction; and two constructs for the affect dimensions: positive affect (three items) and reversed negative affect (five items). ANOVAs revealed that residents aware of the 55 + SG, an “older age” sport event, reported significantly higher levels of overall happiness and satisfaction than the control group. Moreover, the 55 + SG showed significantly lower levels of negative emotions than the OSG and control groups. The results do not strongly support the notion that different types of events affect residential happiness in different ways. Future research should explore the impacts of other types of sport events on residential happiness and well-being, and account for socio-demographic factors, involvement with the event, and the weather to more precisely discern the impacts of events on residential happiness.

Comparison of Subjective Well-Being and Personality Assessments in the Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia), and African Lion (Panthera leo)

The study of subjective well-being in nonhuman animals is growing in the field of psychology, but there are still only a few published studies and the focus is on primates. To consider whether the construct of subjective well-being could be found in another mammal, this study aimed to assess subjective well-being in felids and to examine its association with personality. Personality is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of well-being in humans. This relationship could have important implications for other species, because personality has also been shown to affect health outcomes including stress, morbidity, and mortality. As in previous studies in nonhuman animals, the study results revealed that subjective well-being was related to agreeableness/openness and neuroticism in clouded leopards, neuroticism in snow leopards, and impulsiveness and neuroticism in African lions. The implications of these results for health outcomes and the welfare of animals in captivity are discussed. More research on any direct links among personality, subjective well-being, and these outcomes is important to advancing this field and adding another tool for improving captive animals' lives.

Bienestar, Apoyo Social y Contexto Familiar de Cuidadores de Adultos Mayores

Objective: to explore the perception of social support as a mediator of the influence from a problematic family context on the well-being of family caregivers of functionally dependent older adults. Method: a non-probabilistic sample of 464 family caregivers participated by answering a psychometric instrument that was previously validated for the population of reference. Results: a series of confirmatory factor analyses indicated the fit of observed variables to represent the constructs of subjective well-being, perception of social support and problematic family context. The case of caregivers who live with the dependent older adult, where the influence of the stressing family context on the caregiver’s well-being is mediated by the caregiver’s perception of social support was identified as the model with better fit after the review of four different models. Conclusions: this paper agrees with the buffer effect of social support documented in scientific literature, it also provides data to enrich the knowledge about the family and social circumstances associated to the Mexican family caregivers.

Expressão do afeto e bem-estar subjetivo em pessoas casadas

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar as correlações existentes entre os domínios do bem-estar subjetivo (BES) e a expressão do afeto. A amostra foi composta por 106 pessoas casadas. Os instrumentos utilizados foram: Questionário Sociodemográfico, Escala Abipeme, Escala de Bem-estar Subjetivo e Escala de Ajustamento Diádico. Os resultados da análise multivariada evidenciaram que a expressão do afeto está correlacionada com afetos positivos e negativos, mas significativamente relacionada apenas à categoria de afetos positivos, a partir da seleção de variáveis pelo método stepwise (rho = 0,04; p = 0,01). Desse modo, quanto mais a pessoa se sente feliz, mais tende a expressar sua afetividade quando está com o parceiro. A partir das contribuições da Psicologia Positiva, podemos compreender que o modo como cada cônjuge se sente em termos individuais e se coloca em relação ao mundo e às diferentes experiências contribui para que se sinta seguro e possa expressar a afetividade de maneira mais satisfatória.

Subjective Well-Being Structure: Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a Teachers’ Portuguese Sample

Authors consider that subjective well-being is a theoretical construct that includes three components: life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect. Despite the numerous studies already conducted, divergences remain concerning how to conceptualize these components within a global structure of subjective well-being. This study aims to examine the dimensionality of the subjective well-being construct. A set of self-report questionnaires was used to assess life satisfaction, positive and negative affect in 397 teachers of primary and high schools. A model of a tripartite structure was tested using a confirmatory factor analysis. The results corroborate the premise that subjective well-being is a multidimensional construct that incorporates three components: life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect. Our findings reinforce the viewpoint that these three components are moderately correlated and relatively independent and also strengthen the need for a complete SWB assessment that includes adequate measures of all three components.

Correlates of quality of life in an Arab schizophrenia sample

We focused on the subjective quality of life (QOL) indicators of the Lancashire quality of life profile, European version (LQoLP-EU) in a Kuwaiti schizophrenia sample. The objectives were: First, to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Second, to highlight the patients' QOL profile, in comparison with the results of the European five-nation study. Third, to examine the association of perceived needs for care, caregiver burden, service satisfaction, self-esteem and psychopathology, with three indices of global QOL: total life satisfaction or perceived QOL (PQOL) score; general wellbeing (GW) and Cantril's ladder (CL). Consecutive outpatients in stable condition and their family caregivers were interviewed with the LQoLP, and measures of needs for care, service satisfaction, caregiver burden and psychopathology. There were 130 patients (66.1%m, mean age 36.8). Majority of the patients (56%) felt satisfied with the nine domains of life investigated, and 44.6% felt "averagely" happy. Their clinical severity was moderate (BPRS-18 = 44.4). In exploratory factor analysis (FA), the original domains were mostly replicated. Reliability indices were significant (>0.7). In stepwise regression analyses, the associations of PQOL were more in number and mostly different from those of GW and CL. The correlates of PQOL included, social unmet need (8.1% of variance), staff perception of unmet need (10.3%), general satisfaction with services (11.3%), burden of caregiver supervision (3.7%), self-esteem (2.9%) and positive symptoms (2.6%). Of the nine life domains, health was the most important correlate of GW and CL, indicating the centrality of health status in judgments of subjective QOL. In secondary FA, GW and CL loaded together, but separately from life domains, implying that these are separable parts of the subjective wellbeing construct. The profile of QOL scores was mostly similar to European data. The significant multivariate association with patients/staff perceptions of unmet need for care and service satisfaction indicate the usefulness of staff professional development and service improvement in outcome; and imply that promotion of QOL should be an institutional objective. Our finding about the relationship between the three global measures of QOL has added support to the emerging QOL theory.

Encouraging Governments to Enhance the Happiness of Their Nation: Step 1: Understand Subjective Wellbeing

This article considers the issue of facilitating policies that enhance population happiness. An impediment to such action is the failure of most policy makers to understand that subjective wellbeing can be measured and understood within the framework of science. Additionally, they fail to realize that enhancing the subjective wellbeing of populations enhances not only the functioning of individuals but that of the population as a whole. A framework for understanding calls on the Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis and data from the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. This Index has been used to monitor the subjective wellbeing of the Australian population over the 6-year period 2001–2006. The article begins by a description of the subjective wellbeing construct and the theory that it is homeostatically managed. The operation of homeostasis makes very determined predictions as to the kinds of relationships that should be found in association with various environmental challenges and resources. These predictions will be examined in the light of the data from our surveys and the benefits of population happiness will be discussed. Finally, consideration will be given as to and how such understanding may be conveyed to politicians, in order to assist the development of policies aimed at enhancing the level of happiness in society.

Happiness Revisited: Ontological Well-Being as a Theory-Based Construct of Subjective Well-Being

The current model of subjective well-being (SWB) has been operationalized as the unity of affective and cognitive dimensions concerning the evaluation of one’s life, called emotional well-being and life satisfaction, respectively. There has been no theoretical framework, however, by which the unity is explained. The present paper offers a new construct of subjective well-being in an attempt to show that the cognitive and affective dimensions of SWB can be unified using the concept of goal. The concept of goal refers to the life as a project when the concern is the evaluation of life as a whole. The evaluation of the whole life, moreover, should take a whole-time perspective into account if it is supposed to be ‘whole’. Ontological well-being (OWB) construct is structured in a theoretical framework by which the cognitive and affective components of the current conceptualization of SWB are reframed and interpreted in a whole time perspective. By taking as base the historical and philosophical resources of the affective and cognitive dimensions of subjective well-being, this new construct defines subjective well-being as one’s evaluation of life in both past and future time perspectives in addition to the present.

Predictors of Subjective Well-being among Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

Neuropsychological and psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being (SWB) were examined among 74 persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The multidimensional construct of SWB was assessed by self-report measures of acute psychological distress, global life satisfaction, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objective disease-related indices were obtained from medical records and neuropsychological testing. Unawareness of deficit, a frequent aspect of executive function impairments in MS, was measured as the discrepancy between patient self-report of functional abilities and a caregiver's report of the patient's abilities. Results indicate that a substantial proportion of patients experienced diminished SWB and that disease characteristics such as duration and severity have differential relationships to SWB outcomes. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, in the context of a combined predictive model, social support and unawareness of deficit provided unique information in predicting all three aspects of SWB, beyond that accounted for by disease characteristics. Both social support and unawareness of deficit were associated with positive well-being outcomes. Neuropsychological impairment was adversely related to life satisfaction and HRQoL, but it did not add unique information to the prediction of these outcomes. The findings present a unique view of SWB among individuals with MS in the absence of acute exacerbation of the illness.

Subjective Well-Being in Mental Health and Human Development Research Worldwide: An Introduction

In this introduction to a special issue, the author suggests that a third generation of research on subjective well-being has emerged that is focused on health and human development as the presence of well-being (i.e., health) and not merely the absence of illness, disease, and developmental deficiencies. In turn, this article describes the construct of subjective well-being, its historical ties to the aftermath of World War II and the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health, its conceptual foundations, and empirical evidence supporting the view that it consists of two theoretical traditions – hedonia and eudaimonia. The nearly 50 years of research on subjective well-being has yielded as many as 13 distinct dimensions of subjective well-being in the United States. Consequently, new directions in subjective well-being are emerging such as the study of mental health as a complete state, which suggest the need for greater scientific attention to the integration of hedonic and eudaimonic measures and theory.

Happiness in the Face of Adversity: Reformulating the Dynamic and Modular Bases of Subjective Well-Being

Addressing diversity and apparent contradictions in manifestations of happiness, this article delineates subjective well-being (SWB) as a dynamic system in the face of possible adversity. SWB constitutes a favorable psychological environment that regulates the hostile-world scenario, defined as one's image of actual or potential threats to one's life or integrity. SWB operates in various modules: experiential, wherein private awareness of SWB dwells on relevant core themes; declarative, wherein public self-reports of SWB function as social behavior; differential, wherein synchronic dimensions of SWB form well-being types; and narrative, wherein diachronic valences of SWB construct trajectories along one's life story. By explicating the regulatory and configurational nature of SWB, the present conceptualization emphasizes the process, rather than the outcome, of pursuing happiness.

Personality and subjective well-being: big five correlates and demographic variables

This work examines the association between the Big Five personality dimensions, the most relevant demographic factors (sex, age and relationship status), and subjective well-being. A total of 236 nursing professionals completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the Affect-Balance Scale (ABS). Regression analysis showed personality as one of the most important correlates of subjective well-being, especially through Extraversion and Neuroticism. There was a positive association between Openness to experience and the positive and negative components of affect. Likewise, the most basic demographic variables (sex, age and relationship status) are found to be differentially associated with the different elements of subjective well-being, and the explanation for these associations is highly likely to be found in the links between demographic variables and personality. In the same way as control of the effect of demographic variables is necessary for isolating the effect of personality on subjective well-being, control of personality should permit more accurate analysis of the role of demographic variables in relation to the subjective well-being construct.

The Construct Validity of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their Relationship to Measures of Subjective Well-Being

The factor structure of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their relationship to standardized measures of subjective well-being (SWB) were investigated. Two hundred seventy-seven participants ranging in age from 18 to 48 years were administered the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), and the SPWB. Results failed to support either the hypothesis that performing factor analytic procedures on the items of the SPWB should produce a six-factor solution, with scale-specific items loading most highly on their respective factors or the hypothesis that subjecting the sub-scales of the SPWB to factor analytic procedures along with standardized measures of SWB would produce one higher-order well-being factor. Instead, item loadings clustered around three major factors that could not be identified with the six scales proposed by Ryff. Moreover, the factor analysis of SPWB and SWB scale totals produced three, instead of one, higher-order factors. Implications of findings are discussed with respect to the relationship of the PWB construct to the SWB construct.

The Conceptual and Relational Structure of Subjective Well-Being, Neuroticism, and Extraversion: Once Again, Neuroticism Is the Important Predictor of Happiness

The purpose of this study wastwofold: (1) to analyze and explore theconceptual structure of subjective well-being(SWB), neuroticism (N) and extraversion (E);and (2) to compare the effect sizes of N and Eas predictors of SWB. The sample comprised 461participants representative of the adultpopulation in northern Norway. Analyses wereconducted by means of Structural EquationModeling (SEM), and the results on (1)supported the notion of an overall subjectivewell-being construct sustained by the threenested dimensions of life satisfaction,positive affect, and negative affect. A simplefactor structure for N and E was notsupported, and considerable modification wasneeded to provide even a mediocregoodness-of-fit for the trait model. On (2),N explained eight times as much of the SWBvariance as did E. Moreover, throughcomparison of several models it was revealedthat if E is the sole predictor of SWB, theinfluence of E on SWB is overestimated by afactor of seven. Since N and E are stronglyand negatively correlated (r = −0.50), themodel comparison demonstrates the importanceof including both E and N as independentvariables in regression models of SWB.

Subjective Well‐Being: The Convergence and Stability of Self‐Report and Non‐Self‐Report Measures

ABSTRACT The validity of self‐report measures of subjective well‐being (SWB) was examined and compared with non‐self‐report measures using a sample of 136 college students studied over the course of a semester. A principal axis factor analysis of self‐ and non‐self‐report SWB measures revealed a single unitary construct underlying the measures. Conventional single‐item and multi‐item self‐report measures correlated highly with alternative measures, with theoretical correlates of SWB, and with a principal axis factor underlying five non‐self‐report measures of well‐being. Comparisons of family versus friend informant reports demonstrated the considerable cross‐situational consistency and temporal stability of SWB. Evidence of the discriminant validity of the measures was provided by low correlations of the various SWB measures with constructs theoretically unrelated to well‐being. It was concluded that conventional self‐report instruments validly measure the SWB construct, and that alternative, non‐serf‐report measures are useful for providing a comprehensive theoretical account of happiness and life satisfaction.