Domains Of Subjective Well-being Research Articles

A new subjective well-being index using anchored best-worst scaling

Subjective well-being (SWB) describes an individual's life evaluation. Direct elicitation methods for SWB via rating scales do not force individuals to trade-off among life domains, whilst best-worst scaling (BWS) approaches only provide relative measures. This paper instead offers a dual-response BWS task, where respondents nominate areas of most and least importance and satisfaction with respect to 11 SWB domains, whilst also eliciting anchoring points to obtain an absolute measure of domain satisfaction. Combining domain satisfaction and importance produces a robust measure of individual SWB, but statistically unique relative to other life satisfaction measures utilizing single- and multi-item ratings, including global satisfaction and those aggregated over SWB domains, as well as eudemonia. Surveying 2500 Australians reveals anchored-BWS improves discrimination amongst domains in terms of importance and satisfaction, illustrating its value as a diagnostic tool for SWB measurement to focus services, policy, and initiatives in areas to most impact wellbeing. This includes highlighting a major discrepancy between health satisfaction and importance, whilst also reporting that SWB is significantly lower for Indigenous, unemployed, middle-aged, males and lower income groups.

Subjective well-being and chronic illnesses: A combined survey and register study

Populations are ageing, and higher proportions live with chronic illnesses. Understanding the association between health and well-being and being able to predict who may experience the largest detriment in well-being is essential if societies are to maintain high levels of social welfare. Our study places itselfin the limited literature examining the association between chronic illness and subjective well-being (SWB). We offer a unique contribution to the literature by studying different domains of SWB and by investigating variation in SWB.A cross-sectional survey of a representative group of Danish citizens aged 50-80 is linked with national register data containing comprehensive information on health and social issues. We identify six common chronic illnesses. In addition to general life satisfaction, we also measure SWB in seven domains of life, including health, using the Personal Wellbeing Index. Health state is measured by EQ-5D-5L. We use OLS and adjust for socio-demographics, lifestyle, personal skills, preferences, and personality traits. In a range of heterogeneity analyses we explore the role of 22 personal characteristics as predictive factors of SWB when being chronically ill. We also examine two possible sources of variation in SWB.We find robust evidence of negative associations between chronic illness and older individuals’ SWB beyond the health domain. When ascertaining the influence of personal characteristics, we find that some factors predict vulnerability. Interestingly, heterogeneity in SWB across personal characteristics stem from differential health state and in some cases from differences in the association between SWB and health.

Aspiration-attainment gaps predict adolescents' subjective well-being after transition to vocational education and training in Germany.

An occupational aspiration-attainment gap (AAG) is defined as a discrepancy between the socioeconomic status (SES) of the aspired occupation and the one attained. We investigated how experiencing an occupational AAG after transition to vocational education and training (VET) affects three domains of subjective well-being (SWB) among adolescents in Germany (general life, job, and income satisfaction). Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we could track respondents' SWB during the transition to and during VET. Results from latent growth curve models revealed that both under- and overachievement of aspirations (i.e., negative and positive AAGs) reduced initial levels of SWB after VET entry-especially work-related satisfaction (i.e., income and job satisfaction). Individuals with an AAG (both negative and positive) tended to experience a slightly larger increase in SWB during VET than those who met their aspirations. Overall, our results suggest that the decisive factor for adolescents' SWB is not the SES of the VET position they attain, but rather whether that position is the exact type of position to which they aspired.

Living Alone in the City: Differentials in Subjective Well-Being Among Single Households 1995–2018

Over the past decades, the number of single households is constantly rising in metropolitan regions. In addition, they became increasingly heterogeneous. In the media, individuals who live alone are sometimes still presented as deficient. Recent research, however, indicates a way more complex picture. Using the example of Vienna, this paper investigates the quality of life of different groups of single households in the city. Based on five waves of the Viennese Quality of Life Survey covering almost a quarter of a century (1995–2018), we analyse six domains of subjective well-being (satisfaction with the financial situation, the housing situation, the main activity, the family life, social contacts, and leisure time activities). Our analyses reveal that, in most domains, average satisfaction of single households has hardly changed over time. However, among those living alone satisfaction of senior people (60+) increased while satisfaction of younger people (below age 30) decreased. Increasing differences in satisfaction with main activity, housing, or financial situation reflect general societal developments on the Viennese labour and housing markets. The old clichéd images of the “young, reckless, happy single” and the “lonely, poor, dissatisfied senior single” reverse reality.

A systematic review of sexual health and subjective well-being in older age groups.

This systematic review aimed at assessing the associations between sexual health and subjective well-being in older age groups (i.e. people aged between 40 and ≥90 years). A systematic search was conducted of the Web of Science, MEDLINE, EBSCO, Scopus, SciELO and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature) databases for studies published until September 2021. Search strings included a combination of terms such as "sexual health" or "sexuality" and "well-being" and terms related to the measures that assess the constructs of interest. This systematic review followed PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Results were grouped into four categories that assess the interplay between sexual health and subjective well-being: cognitive and attitudinal factors, sexual behavior, sexual function and sexual satisfaction. The subjective well-being domains that were analyzed were life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and psychological well-being. A total of 15 quantitative studies were reviewed, of which 14 were articles and 1 was a doctoral dissertation. Findings suggest that living a fulfilling sexual life is an essential part of subjective well-being. This review suggests that programs aiming to promote well-being in older age groups should also encourage a fulfilling sexual life.

Psychological well-being in college students: Psychometric properties of the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT) and the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT)

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the psychometric properties of two integrative inventories of psychological well-being– the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT) and the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT)– that could be widely used among Turkish young adults. This study also aimed to examine whether students with severe psychological health symptoms reported higher levels of loneliness, lack of control, and negative feelings, and fewer positive domains of the CIT (e.g., support, belonging, positive feelings, and self-efficacy). The participants of this study included 314 Turkish undergraduate students (76% female with an age range of 18–47 years [M = 22.83, SD = 4.09]) from a state university in Turkey. Confirmatory factor analyses showed good psychometric fit statistics of both the CIT and BIT, confirming the latent structure of inventories. Factor loadings of the CIT items were strong, with robust indicator reliabilities. With regard to the concurrent validity of the measures, the study results showed that the domains and the brief version of the measure had significant correlations with psychological health symptoms. Additionally, individuals with severe mental health symptoms reported fewer positive psychological domains of psychological well-being, whereas having higher negative domains of psychological well-being than those with mild symptoms. Specifically, Cohen's d effect sizes were large for some social resources and subjective well-being domains. Overall, these results provide evidence suggesting that both the CIT and BIT could be used to assess psychological well-being among Turkish young adults.

HOME-RELATED SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING BASED ON WELL-BEING STUDIES AND ITS DETERMINANTS

Studies about well-being (WB) have been used to build an interdisciplinary research area centered on positive psychology and economics of happiness. WB research is characterized by active use of subjective data about one’s life, called subjective wellbeing (SWB), as indicators of the quality of an individual’s life or their society. SWB has various domains, including ones related to cognitive and emotional well-being, and each has different determinants. For example, life satisfaction, which is the cognitive aspect of SWB, is strongly correlated with income, while emotional well-being has a relatively strong correlation with health and social relationships. There are various theories about SWB’s composition, and the OECD has defined three basic domains of SWB: life evaluation (life satisfaction), emotion (affect, mood), and eudaimonia. Conventional research for assessing residential environments has used “housing satisfaction” as a subjective indicator of housing quality, which belongs to the “cognitive evaluation” domain. However, based on the findings of WB research, it can be inferred that there are diverse subjective domains related to housing quality. Therefore, in the current study, we attempted to construct home-related subjective well-being (HOME-SWB) based on the OECD’s SWB definition: “home satisfaction,” “positive emotions at home,” “negative emotions at home,” and “eudaimonia derived from home.” “Home satisfaction” is the cognitive aspect of HOME-SWB, which is similar to the conventional subjective indicator, housing satisfaction. “Positive emotions at home” includes the frequency of positive emotional experiences at home, such as feeling happy, cheerful, or joyful, while “negative emotions at home” includes the frequency of negative emotional experiences, such as feeling depressed, stressed out, or lonely at home. “Eudaimonia derived from home” indicate to what extent residents obtain experiences of eudaimonic well-being from their homes, such as self-esteem and the sense that life is worth living. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of HOME-SWB among 4,000 residents in the Tokyo area and the determinants of each domain of HOME-SWB using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis.

Cognitive-Behavioral-Related Prayer Types and Mental Health Relations among Muslim Samples

Psychological and subjective well-being depends on how an individual feels about his/her life and how he/she responds to life events. Individually, the person may unconsciously feel all external events occurring beyond his/her control in his cognitive schemas. Especially considering mental health, the influence of religious beliefs and practices on various components of mental well-being has emerged as one of the most studied topics in the psychology of religion in recent years. Most studies have focused on the role of religion in seeking answers about individuals' search for meaning and their reactions to life events. There is a prevalent finding that prayer plays a constructive role in the lives of individuals faced with life’s difficulties and exposed to stressors. Thus, for scientists over the past few decades, the possible application of the cognitive behavioral framework within the psychology of religion has become a key element of both subjective and psychological well-being. Using theoretical applications as to the relationship between religiosity and mental health, it was appeared that various prayer measures are predominantly derived from Christian religious norms and beliefs. However, non-Christian religions have been mostly disregarded in such inquiries. More specifically, the links between religiosity and mental health among Muslim individuals have been neglected even though there are several forms of religious behavior in Islam that are of great importance to the daily lives of believers. Therefore, the current research aims to investigate the link between different types of Islamic prayer and indicators of well-being using the cognitive-behavioral mechanism among Muslim individuals. An online link was used to recruit participants from many Islamic student communities and several worship places in different cities/regions of England in this study. The online questionnaire composed of six prayer types (obligatory, necessary, voluntarily, supererogatory, supplication, and invocation prayers), six psychological well-being domains (autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relations with others, personal growth, self-acceptance, and purpose in life), and two subjective well-being domains (life satisfaction, and positive and negative affects). The representative sample consisted of 214 participants (female= 145, male= 69), aged between 18 and 66 (M = 27.01, SD = 8.80). The results of the correlational analysis indicated that obligatory (fard) prayer, voluntarily (sunna) prayer, supplication (duʿāʾ) prayer and invocation (dhikr/remembrance of God) prayer have positive relationship with the well-being variables, while no correlation of necessary (wājib) prayer and supererogatory (nawāfil) prayer with any of the well-being variables is appeared. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that obligatory, voluntarily, and necessary prayers were not predictors of psychological or subjective well-being variables. Although only the type of supererogatory prayer was found to be predictive, the relationship was in the opposite direction. In addition, the supplication prayer accounted for the unique variance in predicting the psychological well-being scores, while the invocation prayer accounted for the unique variance in predicting subjective well-being. In light of James and Wells’ cognitive and behavioral models, the present study has identified only the types of supplication and invocation prayer as important factors that have a positive effect for individuals in providing psychological support for them. Therefore, the presented data suggest that people are more like to have better psychological and subjective well-being when their prayers take the form of a supplication prayer and invocation prayer in which they rely on God for guidance and support and refresh their thinking through feeling God’s presence. As can be seen from the present findings, it is important to consider the applicability of belief structures in specific community settings. Here, both the theoretical framework and practical direction can contribute to an understanding being held as to the relationship between Muslim prayer types and mental well-being and provides guidance for health practitioners regarding how different prayer models can lead individuals to have better well-being.

Relationship between health-related quality of life and subjective wellbeing in asthma

ObjectivePoor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is associated with a high risk of acute exacerbations in patients with asthma. The use of health state utility instruments to measure HRQoL is common, but it has been criticised for failing to adequately capture the impact of the condition from the patient perspective. We aimed to assess the ability of subjective wellbeing and health state utility instruments to capture important HRQoL dimensions for asthma patients. MethodsRegression analyses were conducted using data (n = 856 asthma patients) from a large multi-national cross-sectional survey to explore the relationship between subjective wellbeing (ONS4, PWI, SWLS), health state utility (15D, AQoL-8D, EQ-5D-5L, HUI3, SF-6D, SF-6Dv2), and an asthma-specific instrument (AQLQ-S). The latent structure of different instruments was investigated using an exploratory factor analysis. ResultsAll instruments could distinguish the impact of asthma on HRQoL. Among health utility instruments, 15D, SF-6D and AQoL-8D were more sensitive based on the average standardised regression coefficients. AQOL-8D had the strongest correlation with subjective wellbeing. Nevertheless, the exploratory factor analysis showed a complementary relationship between subjective wellbeing and HRQoL instruments. The most important subjective wellbeing domains were standard of living, achieving in life, and personal relationships; although contributions of these domains to overall life satisfaction differed among asthma patients identified by a latent class analysis. ConclusionThe use of subjective wellbeing alongside AQLQ-S and health state utility instruments provides a comprehensive approach to assess the impact of asthma on the patient's life. Further research is needed to incorporate these measures in health care evaluation.

Applying optimisation programming and research generator methods to measure subjective well-being within country

Survey data collected from eight countries (Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Bhutan, and Indonesia) are used to extract social resources through optimisation programming technique as well as resource generator method. These resources are used to propose an aggregated subjective well-being (SWB) indicator in each country. Relationship between this indicator and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is also examined to consider economy impact on SWB. The results indicate that a high GDP per capita is a necessary factor to improve well-being, but non-economic pillar is also essential. Non-economic domains of SWB are more influential in Bhutan, and Indonesia (developing countries). In contrast, the results show a positive relation between the economic domain and SWB in the rest of countries (developed countries). The Safety and Relief, Life Satisfaction, and Expertise and skills factors are significant domains for SWB in developed countries. While, Health and welfare, safety and Relief, and Economic Stability are influential factors in Bhutan, and Indonesia.

Subjective Well-Being and Its Relation to Academic Performance among Students in Medicine, Dentistry, and Other Health Professions

Subjective well-being is defined as a person’s cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life. This study aims to investigate the differences in the domains of subjective well-being based on gender, type of school, and academic performance. Additionally, the study aimed to determine the factors (socio-demographic variables, including the academic performance of the students) that are predictive of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being was assessed using a questionnaire which included the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), which measured the respondent’s life satisfaction, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), which consisted of six positive and negative emotions, and, lastly, the Flourishing Scale (FS), which measured the respondents’ self-perceived success. Data were collected, transformed into a linear scale, and exported into SPSS version 24, where t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and stepwise regression were performed. Of the total of 535 participants, the majority were females (383 = 71.6%) and studying in a school of medicine (31.8%). With respect to the SWLS and FS, a significant difference was reported among students based on the type of school and their academic performance (p < 0.05). While comparing the differences in the SPANE, a significant difference was recorded based on academic performance. Among the domains of subjective well-being, only the SPANE showed a significant association with academic performance. Greater subjective well-being correlates with higher academic performance, indicating that subjective well-being is an important aspect of a student’s academic life; provisions can be made by paying more attention to those who showed poor academic performance during and at the end of each semester.

Weathering the Storms: Workplace Wellbeing, Mental Health, and the U.S. Meteorologist

Mental health is a topic of increasing interest and concern across the weather enterprise amidst a backdrop of funding cuts, extreme storms, and longer, more involved work hours. The present study therefore investigated wellbeing in the meteorological workplace. Participants (N= 389), professional meteorologists (n = 360) and professionally-employed meteorology students (n = 29), voluntarily participated in a Qualtrics-hosted online survey and responded to a number of measures representing a broad range of mental health variables. These individuals fell into three employment sectors: U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), Broadcast (television weather), and Other (a combination of academic, private sector, military, and non-NWS operational meteorologists). Individual differences emerged between meteorological sectors in personality and the subjective wellbeing domains of burnout, job satisfaction, and anxiety. Broadcasters were significantly more burnt-out at work and personally, were higher in extraversion, and were highest in anxiety. NWS meteorologists were most burnt-out in working with partners. The Other category of meteorologists showed more agreeableness and greater job satisfaction than broadcasters and those in the NWS. There was no cross-sector difference, however, in traits that might be relatively uniform among meteorologists: Grit, life satisfaction, self-concept clarity, subjective happiness, stress, and depression. Results are discussed in terms of consequences for meteorologists’ mental health and emotional wellbeing as well as the future of the field.

Well-being profiles in adolescence: psychometric properties and latent profile analysis of the mental health continuum model \u2013 a methodological study

BackgroundThe Adolescent Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF) is a psychometrically valid tool to evaluate the domains of subjective well-being, but there is a lack of investigations which could distinguish subgroups with distinct subjective well-being profiles based on this measurement. Therefore, after testing the competing measurement models of the MHC-SF, our main aim was to identify subjective well-being profiles in a large adolescent sample.MethodsOn a representative Hungarian adolescent sample (N = 1572; 51% girl; mean age was 15.39, SD = 2.26) confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were used to test the factor stucture of the Adolescent MHC-SF. In addition, gender invariance of the best fitting model was also tested. Latent Profile Analyses (LPA) were conducted to reveal distinct subgroups and these profiles were then compared.ResultsResults support the bifactor model of MHC-SF: the general and specific well-being factors which were invariant across gender. LPA yielded four subgroups, three of them have been theoretically hypothesized in previous works (i.e. flourishing, moderate mental health, languishing), but an emotionally vulnerable subgroup also emerged. Compared to the languishing group, this new subgroup demonstrated higher scores on prosocial behaviour, but had comparable level of loneliness and internalizing symptoms.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the MHC-SF is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing overall well-being and its components. In addition, the identification of young people to be at risk for low mental health may help us to tailor mental health promotion programs to their special needs.

Predictors of Domain-Specific Aspects of Subjective Wellbeing among School-Going Adolescents in Uruguay

Research shows that subjective wellbeing (SWB) is of high relevance in the developmental period of adolescence, with many researchers emphasizing the importance of a concrete and multidimensional conceptualisation. In this study we aim to explore predictors of domain-specific aspects of SWB in a sample of students between 12 and 18 years old in Uruguay. The Personal wellbeing index (PWI) was used to assess the global level of SWB and the scores of the seven SWB domains (standard of living, health, achievements, relationships with others [peers and family], safety, community-connectedness, and future security). The Adolescents self-report, the national alcohol survey (JND) and the cannabis screening test (CAST) were used to assess psychopathology and resilience, alcohol and marijuana use, respectively. Adolescents reported highest satisfaction with the domain of community-connectedness and least satisfaction with the domain of safety. Multivariate linear regression analyses indicated the existence of domain-specific determinants for the different domains of SWB. The domain safety was most influenced by the selected variables of interest, while these variables had a rather limited impact on the domain health. Implications for prevention and clinical interventions in the context of schools, consultation to parents and teachers, and psychological assessment and treatment are discussed.

COVID-19 Infections, Labour Market Shocks, and Subjective Well-Being

This is the first paper to present novel findings on how simultaneously (a) labour market shocks and (b) infections in the household, directly due to COVID-19, have impacted on life satisfaction and domain satisfactions. Using data from a world-wide online survey of almost 5,700 respondents across six countries, we estimate the associations of COVID-19-related labour market shocks and COVID-19 infection with life satisfaction and a range of domain satisfactions. Directly due to COVID-19, experiencing either (i) a reduction in salary and working hours, or (ii) unemployment or filing for unemployment benefits is significantly associated with lower reported satisfaction with family life, family health, available health services, and finances. The relationship is especially large for financial satisfaction. Reporting any COVID-19 labour market shock is also related to lower life satisfaction. Persons in households that have experienced a COVID-19 infection report significantly lower satisfaction with life, health, family life, and finances. Noteworthy is that labour market shocks are much more important in explaining subjective well-being compared to COVID-19 infections. The findings highlight the wide range of subjective well-being domains adversely affected by shocks to the labour market and health brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Correlation between Health-Related Quality of Life and Hand Grip Strength among Older Adults

ABSTRACTBackground: With advanced age, the progressive loss of muscle strength estimated by the handgrip strength (HGS) may result in a poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Studying this association becomes a vital area of research for promoting aging-well. The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between HRQoL and HGS among community-dwelling older adults above 60 years old.Methods: Participants comprised of 176 older adults (mean age: 68.15 ± 6.74). The HGS was tested with Jamar® Dynamometer, and the EuroQuol-5 Dimensions 5Levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire was used to assess HRQoL.Results: Both HGS and HRQoL were negatively correlated with age (p < .001). Lower values of HGS and HRQoL were recorded among older adults who had diagnosed with one or more chronic diseases (p < .001). Significant correlations were recorded between HGS and functioning, and subjective well-being domains of EQ-5D-5L. A relatively higher association was recorded between the functioning variables of EQ-5D-5L and HGS compared to subjective well- being variables.Conclusion: Handgrip strength is a simple and practical measure in identifying older adults at risk of physical decline. Maintaining handgrip strength may contribute to improving HRQoL, and can add an imperative dimension to promote aging-well in older adults ≥60 years old.

Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Devices Among the Oldest-Old: Loneliness, Anomie, and Autonomy

Background and ObjectivesA good person–environment-fit has positive effects on well-being in old age. As digital technologies are an integral part of older adults’ environments, we predicted that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is associated with subjective well-being among the oldest-old. Specifically, we compared different user groups of ICT devices (nonusers, users of nonweb-connected ICT, users of web-connected ICT) and analyzed the relations among ICT use and three domains of subjective well-being (loneliness, anomie, autonomy).Research Design and MethodsWe performed a quantitative data analysis using data from the first representative state-wide survey study in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany on quality of life and well-being of the oldest-old (n = 1,698; age range: 80–103; 9% long-term care). Multiple regression analyses were applied.ResultsThe findings revealed that 25.9% of all individuals aged 80 years and older reported using web-connected ICT, in contrast to 38.5% who do not use ICT at all. Individuals who used web-connected ICT reported lower levels of loneliness and anomie, and higher levels of autonomy. These differences remain significant when controlling for indicators of social inclusion and individual characteristics.Discussion and ImplicationsThis study investigated an underexplored group in terms of ICT use, shedding light on the relationship between ICT use and subjective well-being. The oldest-old generally use ICT in their everyday life but an age-related digital divide still exists. To avoid negative consequences of nonuse digital infrastructures and technology training for older adults need to be established.

The Relations between Hope and Subjective Well-Being: a Literature Overview and Empirical Analysis

How we perceive the future can greatly affect how we feel in the present. Even a currently positive situation is hard to bear when we know the future will be grim. Indeed, previous research has found that more hopeful people are happier. However, both hope and subjective well-being are multidimensional concepts comprising emotion (i.e., anticipation and affect), cognition (expectation and satisfaction) and, to some degree, motivation. Since most studies include only one dimension of hope and subjective well-being, little is known about how different aspects of hope relate to different aspects of subjective well-being. This study aims to gain insight into these relationships by providing an overview of the existing empirical literature on hope and subjective well-being. Subsequently, cross-sectional data of a representative sample of the American population are used to further examine the relationship between hope and subjective well-being. Our findings from both the literature and our empirical analysis show that positive expectations are only weakly associated with all domains of subjective well-being, whereas cognitive and emotional hope are most strongly related to subjective well-being. This finding indicates that the more passive characteristics of positive expectations have less of an impact on subjective well-being than a more agentic hopeful disposition.

Measuring subjective well-being in an understudied population of young Western-African IDPs and refugees

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report a real-life empirical case and discuss some caveats emerged in measuring subjective well-being (SWB) in an understudied population of adolescents refugees from West Africa. Design/methodology/approach During the process of translation and cultural adaptation of the subjective well-being assessment scale in the target population, the model of measurement presented some weakness with regard to content validity criteria. Findings This leads to a partial revision of the model and the development of new locally-based domains of SWB. Originality/value Context-specific factors’ robustness showed the dynamic and culture-informed nature of the SWB construct. Practical and theoretical implications of using quantitative questionnaires in non-western contexts characterized by high grades of insecurity and instability will be discussed.

Successful Aging and Personal Well-Being Among the Chilean Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Elderly

Objective: The aim of this research was to analyse the association between successful aging (SA) and subjective well-being (SWB) in different domains. Method: The study is quantitative and cross-sectional, with a sample consisting of 800 older people, including 569 indigenous (Aymara and Mapuche) participants living in northern and southern Chile. Results: Domains associated with SA are satisfaction with health, satisfaction with social relationships, satisfaction with future security, and satisfaction with spiritual and religious experiences. SA is also positively associated with being a woman, being young, and not being indigenous. Conclusion: The research has two main practical implications. First, SWB domains may be incorporated into socio-health interventions as they relate to elements that can be changed or improved (health, social inclusion, security, and beliefs). Second, this study suggests a situation of risk among older indigenous Chileans, confirming the premise that the life paths of indigenous Chileans at social risk give rise to a more socially unequal old age with; therefore, it is important to analyse positive aspects that promote better old age.