scholarly journals Age patterns in subjective well-being are partially accounted for by psychological and social factors associated with aging

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0242664
Author(s):  
Arthur A. Stone ◽  
Joan E. Broderick ◽  
Diana Wang ◽  
Stefan Schneider

Subjective well-being has captured the interest of scientists and policy-makers as a way of knowing how individuals and groups evaluate and experience their lives: that is, their sense of meaning, their satisfaction with life, and their everyday moods. One of the more striking findings in this literature is a strong association between age and subjective well-being: in Western countries it has a U-shaped association over the lifespan. Despite many efforts, the reason for the curve is largely unexplained, for example, by traditional demographic variables. In this study we examined twelve social and psychological variables that could account for the U-shaped curve. In an Internet sample of 3,294 adults ranging in age from 40 to 69 we observed the expected steep increase in a measure of subjective well-being, the Cantril Ladder. Regression analyses demonstrated that the social-psychological variables explained about two-thirds of the curve and accounting for them significantly flattened the U-shape. Perceived stress, distress-depression, an open perspective about the future, wisdom, satisfaction with social relationships, and family strain were measures that had pronounced impacts on reducing the curve. These findings advance our understanding of why subjective well-being is associated with age and point the way to future studies.

2003 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Ming Hsieh

Although the effects of income and age on subjective well-being have been widely studied, research on the effects of income and age on financial satisfaction, a major life domain to which income has direct relevance, remains limited. Analyzing data from the General Social Surveys, this article empirically examined the effects of income and age on financial satisfaction. These findings suggest that the social-psychological mechanisms underlying the age differences in the effects of income on financial satisfaction might not reflect a clear-cut status attainment versus status maintenance framework. The findings also served to caution future financial satisfaction research in the choice of income measures and the age grouping.


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.


Author(s):  
Tomas Hanell

AbstractThis article analyses the gap between human aspirations concerning self-enhancement and corresponding outcomes in ten western European countries. Utilizing individual data for 14,300 respondents from the European Social Survey, four self-enhancement gap metrics are created: (1) the Ambition gap; (2) the Success gap; (3) the Wealth gap; and (4) the Authority gap. The findings suggest that subjective well-being (SWB) appears to be higher in rural than in urban communities. One reason for lower SWB among urban residents relates to their higher aspirations in certain areas of life. However, urban areas are apparently able to meet the financial expectations of their inhabitants far better than rural areas are, whereas an unmet craving for, e.g., success in rural areas appears not to affect SWB at all. Overall, there is a strong association between unmet aspirations and lower satisfaction with life. The added value of this paper is that it goes beyond existing explanations of the reasons behind urban malaise in developed economies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Anjali Sahai ◽  
Prof. (Dr). Abha Singh

Organizational Justice has the potential to create major impact on organizations and employees alike. These include greater commitment, trust, enhanced job performance, more citizenship behaviors and less number of conflicts. It has been reported that employees seem to have a universal concern for Justice that transcends the self and that many are subject to biases at various point of time in their work life. Sometimes these biases lead to adverse outcomes including decreased level of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is a broad category that includes life satisfaction, positive affect, and low negative affect, such as anger, sadness and fear. Thus to study the relationship between Organizational justice and subjective well-being, a sample of 88 employees working in Private Universities of NCR region were examined. For this purpose, the Organizational Justice scales consisting of Measure of Procedural & Interactional Justice and Distributive Justice Index scale by Moorman, Blakely & Niehoff (1998) and Subjective Wellbeing Scales inclusive of the Satisfaction with Life Scale(SWLS),Scale of Positive and Negative Experience(SPANE) and Flourishing Scale (FS) by Ed Diener (2004)were used. Results indicate significant relationship between the three types of Organizational justice and subjective well-being of employees.


Author(s):  
Emmanuel Abokyi ◽  
Dirk Strijker ◽  
Kofi Fred Asiedu ◽  
Michiel N. Daams

AbstractThis study investigates the possible causal relationship between buffer stock operations in Ghanaian agriculture and the well-being of smallholder farmers in a developing world setting. We analyze the differences in the objective and subjective well-being of smallholder farmers who do or do not participate in a buffer stock price stabilization policy initiative, using self-reported assessments of 507 farmers. We adopt a two-stage least square instrumental variable estimation to account for possible endogeneity. Our results provide evidence that participation in buffer stock operations improves the objective and subjective well-being of smallholder farmers by 20% and 15%, respectively. Also, with estimated coefficient of 1.033, we find a significant and robust relationship between objective well-being and subjective well-being among smallholder farmers. This relationship implies that improving objective well-being enhances the subjective well-being of the farmers. We also find that the activities of intermediaries decrease both the objective and subjective well-being of farmers. This study demonstrates that economic, social, and environmental aspects of agricultural life could constitute priorities for public policy in improving well-being, given their strong correlation with the well-being of farmers. Based on the results of this study, we provide a better understanding, which may aid policy-makers, that public buffer stockholding operations policy is a viable tool for improving the well-being of smallholder farmers in a developing country.


Author(s):  
Consuelo Novoa ◽  
Claudio Bustos ◽  
Vasily Bühring ◽  
Karen Oliva ◽  
Darío Páez ◽  
...  

Being a parent plays an important role in people’s life trajectory and identity. Though the general cultural perception is that having children is a source of subjective well-being, there is evidence that, at least in some societies, the subjective well-being of those who are parents is worse, in some aspects, than that of those who are not. This gap has been the object of interest and controversy. The aim of this study was to compare Chilean adults with and without children in a broad set of well-being indicators, controlling for other sociodemographic variables. A public national probabilistic database was used. The results show that, in terms of positive and negative affect, those who are not parents achieve greater well-being than those who have children. Other results also pointed in that direction. The implications of the social context and gender, which are aspects that pose a burden for the exercise of parenthood in Chile, are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110300
Author(s):  
Alfred DeMaris ◽  
Gary Oates

Although several studies have documented a distinct marriage advantage in well-being, it is still unclear what it is about marriage that renders this benefit. We hypothesize that it is due to factors theorized to accrue to matrimony, such as elevated financial status and specific social psychological supports. We examine the trajectory of subjective well-being for 1135 respondents from the three-wave 2010 GSS panel survey utilizing linear mixed-effects modeling. We find that about two-fifths of the marriage advantage in subjective well-being is accounted for by a mixture of control variables, finances, and emotional factors, with most of this due to elements that are associated with the marital context. Higher annual income, enhanced interpersonal trust, greater sociability, and less of a sense of loneliness and isolation appear to be responsible for a substantial component of the marital advantage. We further find that the marriage advantage is invariant to both race and gender.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2570
Author(s):  
Makiko Takao ◽  
Nobutaka Ishiyama

This study aimed to elucidate how career adaptability (CA) affects subjective well-being by focusing on the psychological adjustment of middle-aged and older workers. Two web-based surveys were conducted at 1-year and 3-month intervals with 3540 workers aged 40 to 64 years, including those eligible for both position-retirement and reemployment. Factor analysis of CA in the first wave extracted two factors “control and confidence” and “concern and curiosity”. Multiple regression analysis, adjusted for important covariates, was conducted with the overall CA and the two factors of CA as the independent variables, and scores of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) as the dependent variable. For satisfaction with life, only concern and curiosity had a significant positive association, while control and confidence had no significant association. Analysis by employment stage indicated that only concern and curiosity had a significant positive association with satisfaction with life, while control and confidence had no significant association with any employment stage. The results suggest that the effect of CA on satisfaction with life remains the same, even among those who are position-retired or reemployed at the end of their vocational lives, which is a transition period in their lives.


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