scholarly journals Being Poor and Feeling Rich or Vice Versa? The Determinants of Unequal Income Positions in Old Age Across Europe

Author(s):  
Bettina Isengard ◽  
Ronny König

Abstract Individual prosperity and welfare can be measured using both objective and subjective criteria. Although theory and previous research suggest that these two methods can produce corresponding results, the measurements can also be inconsistent. Against this background, the current paper investigates the relationship between the objective income position of older Europeans (aged 50 + years) and their perception of their financial situation, using the seventh wave of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) conducted in 2017. The main research questions include (1) how is objective income distributed in old age across Europe?, (2) how do elderly Europeans evaluate their income situation subjectively?, (3) is there a discrepancy between the objective prosperity position and their subjective perception observable?, (4) are there country-specific differences that are observable?, and (5) how can such discrepancies be explained? The results show that objective income positions can be congruent with subjective self-perceptions, both good (well-being) and bad (deprivation), of one’s income situation. However, this is not always the case, and country-specific variations do exist. In analyzing the causes of the 2 forms of nonconformance—namely, adaptation (satisfaction paradox) and dissonance (dissatisfaction dilemma)—this paper concludes that sociodemographic and socioeconomic determinants alone cannot account for discrepancies. The consideration of certain social-psychological influences or personality traits and especially social comparison processes (namely, with one’s past) is essential in explaining both the satisfaction paradox and the dissatisfaction dilemma.

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily C. Tanner ◽  
Richard J. Vann ◽  
Elvira Kizilova

Access to health services affects the well-being of millions of consumers. Although the topic of health-related access is regularly featured in popular and academic conversations, these conversations primarily concentrate on objective or situational access factors. This research focuses instead on consumers’ subjective perception of access to better appreciate how personally experienced service availability and ease of access jointly determine consumers’ access perceptions. The authors find that perceived access to health services (PAHS) offers insight into the relationships between access, perceived health vulnerability, and overall health. Through scale development and a series of three theory-testing studies, this work demonstrates the close link between PAHS and perceived vulnerability (Study 1), connects this relationship to overall health (Studies 1–3), and establishes behavioral changes associated with access-vulnerability concerns (Study 2). Moreover, Study 3 finds evidence for a “muting” effect of health system distrust on the relationship between PAHS and perceived vulnerability as well as an “amplifying” effect of health motivation on the relationship between perceived vulnerability and overall health. Together, these studies illustrate PAHS’s relevance for explaining consumer vulnerability and overall health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Mi Yoo ◽  
Do-Hwan Kim

Abstract Background Happiness, a subjective judgment about one’s quality of life, is influenced by environmental factors and should be considered as an important goal of medical education, which should support each learner’s development as a person as well as a professional. However, although several studies have reported on the correlation between Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) scores and students’ academic achievement, few have investigated the relationship between DREEM scores and students’ subjective happiness. This study examined different perceptions of the educational environment between phases of the curriculum and determined which DREEM subscales affect the overall level of happiness. Methods We used the Korean version of the DREEM questionnaire and a single item measure of happiness on a scale of 0 to 10. First we analyzed student perceptions of the educational environment according to their demographic characteristics using independent sample t-tests and one-way analysis of variance. A multiple regression analysis was performed to reveal which subscales affect the overall level of happiness while controlling for grade point average (GPA) and other demographic characteristics. Results The subjects were 239 medical school students across all stages of the curriculum. The students’ overall perception was more positive for the educational environment during Phase 3 (clerkship) than Phase 1 (pre-medical). Among the DREEM subscales, this difference was especially prominent in Students’ Perception of Learning and Students’ Academic Self-Perceptions. In contrast, no difference in the subjective perception of happiness was found between phases. The effect of GPA on happiness became insignificant under the control of other variables, but the influence of the Students’ Social Self-Perceptions (SSSP) subscale remained significant. Conclusions The students’ overall perception of the educational environment was more positive during the clerkship period than in the pre-medical period. Based on our finding that the SSSP correlates significantly with subjective happiness, we suggest that institutions promote not only students’ academic development but also their happiness by fostering an appropriate educational environment.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Thompson

ABSTRACTA critique of the study of ageing by sociologists and historians is provided in this paper, on the basis of the comparative neglect of life history studies across the whole lifespan. It points to the skewed nature of studies reported in the literature. As a corrective, results from a UK life history based study are presented. It focuses on leisure, grand- parenting and intimate relationships between adults, leading to conclusions about the relationship between class factors in the determination of late life experiences and self perceptions of the meaning of old age.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathanael G. Mitchell ◽  
Justin B. Moore ◽  
Wendy S. Bibeau ◽  
Kathleen M. Rudasill

Background:Levels of physical activity decline throughout childhood. Children’s physical self-perceptions have been found to relate to their physical activity. Understanding the relationships among physical self-perceptions, obesity, and physical activity could have important implications for interventions in children.Methods:The current study investigated the moderating effect of cardiovascular fitness (CVF, heart rate recovery from a 3-minute step test) on the relationship between obesity (BMI, waist circumference) and physical self-perceptions (athletic competence, physical appearance) in 104 fourth- and fifth-grade children from a small rural community.Results:Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that CVF moderated the relations between BMI and waist circumference on athletic competence. For children with lower fitness, higher waist circumference was associated with lower athletic competence, while for children with higher fitness levels, higher BMI was associated with higher athletic competence. Results also indicated that both BMI and waist circumference were negatively related to physical appearance. CVF moderated these relations such that only children with lower fitness, greater BMI and waist circumference was associated with poorer physical appearance scores.Conclusions:Implications include the need for support of fitness programs to promote psychological well-being and to investigate the relationship between obesity and physical self-perceptions within the context of fitness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 481-481
Author(s):  
Jordan Boeder ◽  
Dwight Tse

Abstract The majority of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) research uses either a combination of the Age-related Cognition (AgeCog) scales of Ongoing Development and Physical Loss, or the Attitudes Towards Own Aging (ATOA) subscale to assess views on aging. Although these scales are used interchangeably, the valence (positive/negative) and the specificity of the view on aging (domain-based/general) being assessed are not consistent. This study investigates how different measures of SPA relate to one another and whether they differentially predict various types of health outcomes (psychological/physiological; well-being/ill-being). Data from the 2008 and 2014 waves of the German Aging Survey (DEAS; n=3,745), a population-based representative survey of adults aged 40 to 95, was used to examine the relationship between the AgeCog scales and the ATOA subscale, as well as the differences in the types of health outcomes each predicts. The correlations between the AgeCog scales and the ATOA were higher than the correlation between the AgeCog scales (p < .001). The AgeCog scale of Ongoing Development significantly predicted psychological health outcomes across a six-year period, while the AgeCog scale of Physical Loss and the ATOA subscale predicted both physiological and psychological health outcomes. Evidence supports using the AgeCog scale of Ongoing Development to predict domain-relevant, psychological health outcomes. However, the multidimensionality of SPA is best measured by the ATOA subscale or a combination of the two AgeCog scales. Both forms of measurement were found to maximize the amount of explained variance for psychological and physiological indicators of well-being and ill-being.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (7) ◽  
pp. e524-e534
Author(s):  
Simone Hausknecht ◽  
Lee-Fay Low ◽  
Kate O’Loughlin ◽  
Justin McNab ◽  
Lindy Clemson

Abstract Background and Objectives Older adults’ self-perceptions of aging and being older can influence well-being and quality of life. This systematic scoping review aimed to map out current research on older adults’ self-perceptions of aging and being older. Research Design and Methods The scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. A total of 5,037 records were identified (duplicates removed). After screening, a final 148 papers were included. Descriptives, including year of publication, methodology, age, gender, and location of participants, were calculated. Thematic analyses were conducted examining ways in which the topic was conceptualized. Results The most frequent method used in the research was quantitative. Participants were from 38 different countries. There were more female participants than male. Seven themes representing the main research emphasis emerged: attitudes towards one’s own aging (n = 48), aging well (n = 23), aging stereotypes, self-stigma (n = 23), construction of aging identities (n = 22), subjective age (n = 18), the aging body (n = 8), and future self-views (n = 6). Discussion and Implications The research within these themes approach self-perceptions of aging using varying points of reference for what participants compare their age to. The methods used to illicit aging perspectives held their own assumptions about aging.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Tuuli Turja ◽  
Oxana Krutova ◽  
Harri Melin

During COVID-19, telework has become a new form of work for broader groups of workers who were not teleworking prior to the pandemic. In this study, we ask what we will be returning to after COVID-19, if teleworking will become a new norm or if most workplaces will merely return to the old forms of work. The main research question of this study was to estimate the role of telework in perception of workload. More specifically, to gain an understanding of the stakes involved when reorganizing work after the pandemic, we analysed the relationship between perceived workload and opportunities to telework. Multilevel analysis utilized representative national data of wage earners in Finland (N = 4091). The findings showed that the opportunity to telework is associated with lower perceived workload in the capital area but not in the rural areas. More specifically, increasing telework opportunities among different-level workers, particularly in educational and social work in the capital area, would be beneficial in terms of increasing well-being at work. There could be good reasons for organizations to reject returning to the status quo ex ante after COVID-19 and to consider the new norm, where opportunities to telework are offered to wider worker groups.


2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Van Phong

Vietnam is a country of religious diversity, in which Buddhism has the most significant participation. In addition to practicing the Five Precepts, many Vietnamese people have registered for active mindfulness meditation classes recently. This fact has received significant attention from scientists to add to the evidence of previous studies. Enrich the research literature, so the study explores the role of mindfulness meditation practice as a moderator of the relationship between five precepts practice and subjective perception well-being of Vietnamese adults. This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey using an intentional sampling technique (n=200). Multivariable linear regression analysis and moderator regression were applied to prove the hypotheses. Research results show a positive and meaningful relationship between practicing mindfulness meditation, practicing the five precepts and feeling subjective happiness. In particular, mindfulness meditation acts as a moderating variable between the practice of the five sexes and the subjective feeling of happiness.


Author(s):  
Aisha Muhammad Abdullahi ◽  
Rita Orji ◽  
Abbas Muhammad Rabiu ◽  
Abdullahi Abubakar Kawu

Subjective well-being (SWB) is an individual’s judgment about their overall well-being. Research has shown that activities that elevate people’s sense of SWB have a significant effect on their overall health. There are two dimensions of SWB: Affective and Cognitive dimensions. However, studies on SWB usually focus more on one dimension, ignoring the other dimension. Also, most existing studies on SWB focused on individuals from Western cultures. Research has shown that the influence of personality on the subjective well-being components is moderated by culture. Thus, to advance research in personalizing persuasive health interventions, this study focuses on Africans (n=732). Specifically, we investigate the relationship between the Big-Five personality traits and both dimensions of SWB using the constructs: Happiness, Satisfaction with Life, Social, Psychological and Emotional well-being. Our results reveal that to design PTs to promote SWB for people high in Agreeableness, designers should focus on designing to promote their feeling of Happiness and Social Well-being, while for Neuroticism, designers should focus on designing to promote Psychological well-being and Emotional well-being. Based on our findings, we offer guidelines for tailoring persuasive health interventions to promote individuals’ SWB based on their personality.


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