scholarly journals The Long Shadow of Youth: Girls’ Transition From Full-Time Education and Later-Life Subjective Well-Being in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Author(s):  
Baowen Xue ◽  
Penny Tinkler ◽  
Anne McMunn

Abstract Objectives To investigate whether the timing and nature of women’s transitions out of full-time (FT) education are related to later-life subjective well-being and the life-course experiences that might explain any associations seen. Methods Data are from women in Wave 3 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing who have participated in the life history interview and were aged 50+ at the interview (n = 3,889). Using multichannel sequence analysis, we identified 6 types of transition out of FT education (ages 14–26). Regression models were used to examine associations between transition types and life satisfaction, quality of life, and depressive symptoms at age 50+. Results Women who made early transitions to married parenthood and FT domestic labor had lower levels of well-being on all 3 later-life well-being outcomes (p < .01), compared to women who made later transitions to family life and remained employed. Women who remained single up to age 26 also had lower life satisfaction (p < .05) and quality of life (p < .01) in later life than their counterparts who married and had children. These associations were explained by the life-course socioeconomic and relationship pathways. Advantaged childhood socioeconomic circumstances and higher educational qualifications set “Later Marriage and Later employment” women apart onto advantaged trajectories and a better quality of life later (p < .01). Discussion The timing and nature of exits from FT education played a pivotal role in setting people onto life-course trajectories that influence well-being in later life for this older generation of women.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S128-S129
Author(s):  
Melanie S Hill ◽  
James E Hill ◽  
Stephanie Richardson ◽  
Jessica Brown ◽  
Jeremy B Yorgason ◽  
...  

Abstract Identity scholars have suggested that having a unified sense of past, present, and future is related to positive well-being outcomes (Whitbourne, Sneed & Skultety, 2009). One’s occupation can have a profound influence on an individual’s identity throughout the life course (Nazar & van der Heijden, 2012). Research has looked at career mobility among younger age groups (Baiyun, Ramkissoon, Greenwood, & Hoyte, 2018); however, less is known about the impact of career stability later in life. Consistency in career choice over the life course may have positive outcomes down the line as career becomes part of an individual's identity. The current study uses the Life and Family Legacies dataset, a longitudinal state-representative sample of 3,348, to examine individual’s careers at three points in the life course: high school (projected career choice), early adulthood, and later life. Results revealed that a match of desired career in high school and actual career in early adulthood was not predictive of life satisfaction or depressive symptoms in later life. However, a match of career in early adulthood and later life was significantly related to better life satisfaction and less depressive symptoms, which was explained through higher levels of job satisfaction. This study highlights the importance of acquiring and maintaining a career that is fulfilling to the individual over the course of early adulthood to later life.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Magallares ◽  
Pilar Benito de Valle ◽  
Jose Antonio Irles ◽  
Ignacio Jauregui-Lobera

AbstractObesity represents a serious health issue affecting millions of people in Western industrialized countries. The severity of the medical problems it causes is paralleled by the fact that obesity has become a social stigma that affects the psychological health-related quality of life of individuals with weight problems. Our study, with 111 obese patients of a Spanish hospital, focused specifically on how overt and subtle discrimination is related to subjective well-being (affect balance and life satisfaction) and physical health-related quality of life. It was shown that overt (r = –.28, p < .01 with affect balance; r = –.26, p < .01 with life satisfaction) and subtle discrimination (r = –.28, p < .01 with affect balance; r = –.27, p < .01 with life satisfaction) were negatively linked with subjective well-being, and that there was a negative correlation between overt discrimination and physical health-related quality of life (r = –.26, p < .01). Additionally, it was found that overt discrimination was a mediator variable in the relationship between physical health-related quality of life and subjective well-being using the Baron and Kenny procedure. Finally, it is discussed the relationship between discrimination, subjective well-being and physical health-related quality of life in obese people.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-112
Author(s):  
Nik Shahrizan Nik Mad ◽  
Marzudi Md Yunus ◽  
Muhammad Shamsinor Abdul Azziz

Subjective well-being is the self-assessment of happiness, pleasure, satisfaction and quality of life, measured specifically and holistically. The assessment of subjective well-being is varied based on the area of focus of the researcher. Events that occur over some time also could affect an individual’s evaluation. Various factors assess well-being, such as character, love, wisdom, excitement and experiences leading to a good life. The evaluation of the positive and negative effects also affects the subjects’ emotions and mood during a study. Earlier studies showed that well-being is not merely related to income and ownership, but issues on health, activities, personality, emotions, mood, family, environment and various other factors. Therefore, this article aims to discuss aspects, assessment methods, theories and progress based on articles, books and research related to subjective well-being. This study utilises the literature review approach to collect data on subjective well-being. The finding shows that the level of subjective well-being is diverse and dynamic, and not limited to certain aspects and factors that could affect humans. Keywords: subjective well-being; self-assessment; happiness; life satisfaction; quality of life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 407-407
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks ◽  
Yingling Liu

Abstract Decades of research have the beneficial effects of marital support and the detrimental consequences of marital strain on health and well-being. However, we know relatively less about how circumstances in childhood—a key developmental period of the life course—influence the relational structure in which later life is embedded and any implications this may hold for well-being. We integrate the life course perspective with the stress process model to offer a framework for how childhood conditions (childhood happiness, family structure, and financial strain) moderate the relationship between marital support/strain and subjective well-being in older adulthood in potentially different ways for men and women. The consequences of marital strain may be more severe and the benefits of marital support may not be as strongly felt for those adults who experienced greater adversity during childhood. Drawing on longitudinal data from Waves 2 (2010-2011) and 3 (2015-2016) of the NSHAP project (N = 1,376), results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that marital support buffers the effect of not living with both parents in childhood on subjective well-being for men. Meanwhile, women raised in families that experienced financial hardship reported lower subjective well-being in the context of marital strain in later life. No significant interaction effects were obtained for childhood happiness. Taken together, our findings suggest that adverse experiences in childhood can be scarring, particularly in the context of strained intimate relationships. However, a supportive marriage can, in some cases, offset the effects of childhood hardship on subjective well-being in later life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 147470491987594
Author(s):  
Antti O. Tanskanen ◽  
Mirkka Danielsbacka ◽  
David A. Coall ◽  
Markus Jokela

The transition to grandparenthood, that is the birth of the first grandchild, is often assumed to increase the subjective well-being of older adults; however, prior studies are scarce and have provided mixed results. Investigation of the associations between grandparenthood and subjective well-being, measured by self-rated life satisfaction, quality of life scores, and depressive symptoms, used the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe from 13 countries, including follow-up waves between 2006 and 2015 ( n = 64,940 person-observations from 38,456 unique persons of whom 18,207 had two or more measurement times). Both between-person and within-person (or fixed-effect) regression models were executed, where between-person associations represent results across individuals, that is, between grandparents and non-grandparents; within-person associations represent an individual’s variation over time, that is, they consider whether the transition to grandparenthood increases or decreases subjective well-being. According to the between-person models, both grandmothers and grandfathers reported higher rate of life satisfaction and quality of life than non-grandparents. Moreover, grandmothers reported fewer depressive symptoms than women without grandchildren. The within-person models indicated that entry into grandmotherhood was associated with both improved quality of life scores and improved life satisfaction. These findings are discussed with reference to inclusive fitness theory, parental investment theory, and the grandmother hypothesis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1173-1178
Author(s):  
Ivana Duvnjak ◽  

Research into the quality of people's lives is a current issue addressed by a large number of researchers. Subjective measures indicate differences in real living conditions. The well-being of people is examined within the eudaimonic and hedonistic approach. As a part of the hedonistic approach, life satisfaction is largely examined. The hedonistic approach refers to social and psychological well-being. In this study, we investigated both approaches to examine the overall well-being of students. The participants' general satisfaction with life is very high. The survey of life satisfaction in certain domains shows that students are most satisfied in the domains of personal relationships, community and personal safety. The well-being of the participants is high. Participants exhibit high levels of emotional and psychological well-being, which are related to eudaimonia. Full-time students are more satisfied with life and have higher levels of subjective well-being than part-time students. No differences in eudaimonic well-being were found.


Author(s):  
Olga Vasilieva

The article is devoted to the issue of sociological measurement of the quality of life of the population. It is argued that the key criteria for the quality of life of the population in the modern world are precisely non-economic indicators - such as subjective well-being, level of happiness, and social mood. The article provides evidence of the need for a subjective way of measuring the quality of life, which allows us to assess the living conditions of people through the prism of their real needs. The article clarifies the definition of quality of life: quality of life is an integrative or complex characteristic of the existence of the population, which can be measured by objective indicators of its standard of living or subjective assessments by members of society of the degree of satisfaction of their own needs. The analysis of the different ways of assessing the quality of life the author comes to the conclusion that the result of an objective method of measuring quality of life is the standard of living of the population, and the result of the subjective method of measuring quality of life - social well-being (subjective well-being, life satisfaction). The author insists that mixing subjective and objective indicators when constructing averaging quality of life indices is inappropriate, since in this case there is a risk of getting an irrelevant average. The conclusion is argued that it is advisable to make objective and subjective types of measurement of quality of life separately from each other, while comparing them with each other. The key input is formulated: the quality of life of a social actor through the prism of the sociological dimension is a measurement of social well - being (subjective well-being, or life satisfaction), and the position of a social actor in society through the prism of the sociological dimension is a social mood. At the same time, the phenomenon of social mood is represented by a synthesis of its static and dynamic components, the first of which represents social well - being, the second-orientation to value experiences and the corresponding readiness to act in a certain way. It is argued that the phenomenon that most generally characterizes the happiness system of an individual or group social subject (actor) is social mood. The definition of the concept of social mood is formulated as a General indicator of the position of a social actor in social reality, according to which social mood is a complex emotional and rational characteristic of an individual or group social actor characteristic of a certain period of time, determined by various aspects of the activity of this actor and determining its practical activity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 718-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Yamashita ◽  
Anthony R Bardo ◽  
Darren Liu

Abstract Background and Objectives The encore years, or later life stages when adults enjoy health and free time, are the prime opportunity for leisure to maximize the overall quality of life. Physically active leisure is widely known to be linked to overall subjective well-being (SWB). However, experienced SWB or momentary emotion during active leisure as well as passive leisure has yet to be examined. Research Design and Methods Data were derived from the 2012/2013 American Time Use Survey Well-being modules. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to identify comparable matched samples of older adults. Results The PSM identified 211 older adults who reported a series of emotions (i.e., happy, meaningful, tired, sad, stressed, pain) during active leisure, and the comparable counterpart (n = 211) during passive leisure. Results from the Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests showed that active leisure was associated with greater levels of experienced happiness and meaningfulness, as well as with lower levels of sadness (p < .05). Discussion and Implications Physically active leisure is linked to greater levels of experienced SWB among older adults. Although more detailed roles of active and passive leisure for experienced SWB are yet to be verified, choices that older adults make in their free time may significantly impact their experienced SWB and, in turn, their overall quality of life. Aging and public health policies should enhance accessibility to active leisure to promote older adults’ SWB.


Author(s):  
Hyejin Yoon ◽  
Won Seok Lee ◽  
Kyoung-Bae Kim ◽  
Joonho Moon

South Koreans’ life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last four decades. However, the life satisfaction index of older Korean adults has been in the bottom third globally. The large majority of older Koreans spend most of the day watching television at home. However, concrete evidence regarding the effects of leisure involvement on older adults’ quality of later life is scant. Only a few existing studies have examined the link via cross-sectional survey data. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether meaningful leisure participation outside the home in older age plays an essential role in improving life satisfaction. To achieve the research aim, nationally representative panel data from the Korea Employment Information Service were used for the data analysis. The results indicated that social and productive leisure participation in religious activity, social gatherings, and volunteering was significantly related to quality of life in older adults. Moreover, frequent participation in travel and cultural activities outside the home were positively related to life satisfaction. These findings suggest that participation in meaningful leisure activities is a critical factor contributing to subjective well-being and good mental health in older Korean adults and should be encouraged.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-76
Author(s):  
T.G. Bokhan ◽  
A.L. Ul’yanich ◽  
O.V. Terekhina ◽  
T.A. Vidyakina ◽  
E.V. Galazhinskiy

Objective. Identification of features of subjective well-being and their connection with values, the implementation of which causes feelings of happiness and joy, among students of different cultural groups. Background. In the conditions of educational migration, students ‘life activity goes beyond the traditional cultural circle to a wide multicultural space, where a special role is given to the reflection of value and semantic regulation, which can be reflected in the subjective well-being of students’ representatives. Study design. We studied the features and differences in the cognitive and emotional components of subjective well-being and values among students of different cultural groups, and determined their relationship in each group. Descriptive statistics, comparative and correlation analysis were used for statistical data processing. Participants. The study sample consisted of 200 Tomsk University students aged 17 to 26 years (M=19.87; SD=1.88), who were divided into 5 study groups based on the criterion of cultural affiliation. Measurements. To study indicators of subjective quality of life, we used the “life satisfaction scale” (E. Diener, adaptation by D.A. Leont’ev, E.N. Osin) and the “scale of positive and negative affect” PANAS (D. Watson, adaptation by E.N. Osin). The orientation of values was studied using the B. Ford questionnaire. Results. It was found that the majority of representatives of all cultural groups are satisfied with their lives. There are statistically significant differences in life satisfaction indicators between cultural groups in the components of subjective well-being. The data obtained on differences (significance level p≤0.05) in values, the implementation of which allows students to experience feelings of joy and happiness, in some results are consistent with existing traditional ideas, in others — do not coincide with them, reflecting modern cultural transformations. Conclusions. Various interrelations of value orientations with components of subjective quality of life in the study groups are revealed, which may indicate specific cultural features.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document