scholarly journals Advances and Open Questions in the Science of Subjective Well-Being

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed Diener ◽  
Richard E. Lucas ◽  
Shigehiro Oishi
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Active Area ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
National Accounts ◽  
Policy Decisions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Process Oriented

Subjective well-being (SWB) is an extremely active area of research with about 170,000 articles and books published on the topic in the past 15 years. Methodological and theoretical advances have been notable in this period of time, with the increasing use of longitudinal and experimental designs allowing for a greater understanding of the predictors and outcomes that relate to SWB, along with the process that underlie these associations. In addition, theories about these processes have become more intricate, as findings reveal that many associations with SWB depend on people’s culture and values and the context in which they live. This review provides an overview of many major areas of research, including the measurement of SWB, the demographic and personality-based predictors of SWB, and process-oriented accounts of individual differences in SWB. In addition, because a major new focus in recent years has been the development of national accounts of subjective well-being, we also review attempts to use SWB measures to guide policy decisions.

scholarly journals Individual differences and changes in lifestyle behaviours predict decreased subjective well-being during COVID-19 restrictions in an Australian sample

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Brindal ◽  
Jillian C Ryan ◽  
Naomi Kakoschke ◽  
Sinead Golley ◽  
Ian T Zajac ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Australian Sample

Abstract Background Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social distancing practices were introduced to curb infection rates in many countries. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of these restrictions on behaviours and well-being and whether individual differences predict changes in well-being. Methods Australian adults participated in a cross-sectional, online survey during May 2020. The survey captured demographic information; health behaviours; personality traits; life satisfaction and COVID-19-related attitudes, financial concerns, perceived risks and impacts. Results In total, 3745 (86.8% of 4313) participants completed all items. Participants were mostly female (85.7%) and 56.4 years (standard deviation [SD] = 12.6) on average. Over 95.0% of the sample indicated they had been social distancing or isolating. Health behaviours and well-being had generally worsened, with social connections being the most negatively affected. Life satisfaction was significantly lower since restrictions. For changes in life satisfaction, extroversion was a risk factor and openness to experience was a protective factor. Conclusions Overall, well-being was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing particularly in this sample containing mainly older women. In future, it will be crucial to understand why and who may be differentially affected, to encourage behaviours that are protective of well-being.

scholarly journals Psychocapital and Shangri-Las: How happiness became both a means and end to governmentality

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Mckay
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
The Past ◽  
Means And Ends ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Politics Of Happiness

In this paper a paradox is revealed in the politics of well-being over the means and ends of happiness. That paradox, in brief, is that although happiness is argued to be the ultimate end of all governmentality, in order to serve as that end, it first needs to be translated into a means for bolstering the economy, for only that way can a teleology of happiness gain a foothold in a world which prioritizes economic growth as an end in itself. To show this the paper gives a history of subjective well-being (SWB) research, and contrasts it with the politics of happiness in the UK, where SWB has in the past decade been translated into a discourse around the psychological wealth of the nation via the concepts of mental capital (MC) and mental well-being (MWB).

Remittances and subjective well-being: A static versus dynamic panel approach to happiness

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mduduzi Biyase ◽  
Bianca Fisher ◽  
Marinda Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Variable ◽  
National Income ◽  
Probit Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Income Dynamics ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
The Past ◽  
Static Versus Dynamic ◽  
Dynamic Panel Models

Using all five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) panel dataset, we examine the effect of domestic remittances on the static and dynamic subjective well-being (SWB) of recipient individuals in South Africa, by using a random effects ordered probit model that accounts for individual heterogeneity. Moreover, we check the robustness of our static model results by making use of an instrumental variable for migrants’ remittances. Two major empirical findings emerge from this paper: firstly, domestic remittances are consistently found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on the happiness of recipient individuals. Moreover, this finding persists in both the static and dynamic panel models. Secondly, the coefficient on lagged SWB (derived from the dynamic model) is found to be positive and statistically significant, confirming that SWB today is significantly influenced by SWB in the past.

Standing in the glory or shadow of the past self: Cultures differ in how much the past self affects current subjective well-being.

Emotion ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1111-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Hoon Kim ◽  
Huajian Cai ◽  
Matthew Gilliland ◽  
Chi-Yue Chiu ◽  
Stephen Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
The Past

scholarly journals Heritability of life satisfaction in adults: a twin-family study

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 1581-1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. STUBBE ◽  
D. POSTHUMA ◽  
D. I. BOOMSMA ◽  
E. J. C. De GEUS
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Dutch Version ◽  
Sibling Pairs ◽  
Genes And Environment

Background. Subjective well-being (SWB) can be partitioned into the components life satisfaction and affect. Research on factors influencing these components of well-being has mainly focused on environmental characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative contribution of genes and environment to individual differences in life satisfaction in a large sample of Dutch twins and their singleton siblings.Method. Life satisfaction of 5668 subjects registered with The Netherlands Twin Registry (NTR) was measured with a Dutch version of the self-reported Satisfaction with Life Scale. An extended twin design was used to obtain correlations in life satisfaction scores for monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins and sibling pairs and to estimate the contribution of genes and environment to the variation in life satisfaction.Results. No differences between males and females were found in the mean level of life satisfaction. Broad-sense heritability was 38%. Non-additive genetic factors explained all or most of the genetic influences. The remaining 62% of the variance in life satisfaction could be attributed to unique environmental factors, both persistent and transitory, plus measurement error.Conclusions. Individual differences in life satisfaction are determined in part by genetic factors that are largely or entirely non-additive in nature.

scholarly journals When Individual Differences Meet Society: On the Complex Relationships Between Boredom Proneness, Material Deprivation, and Aspects of Subjective Well-Being Among Young Adolescents

2020 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2091782
Author(s):  
Bram Spruyt ◽  
Filip Van Droogenbroeck ◽  
Jessy Siongers ◽  
Lieve Bradt
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Short Version ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Young Adolescents ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Boredom Proneness

Even though boredom has been shown to be a distinct emotional experience that is prevalent among youth and that predicts a wide range of personal and societal problems, it remains often overlooked and poorly understood. Therefore, based on the Flemish data from the 2018 edition of the International Survey of Children’s Well-Being, this article studies boredom proneness among young adolescents (average age = 12 years). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the short version of the Boredom Proneness Scale–Child Version contains two dimensions referring to internal—a difficulty in keeping oneself interested and entertained—and external stimulation—the need for change and variety in the situations one encounters. Subsequent regression analyses demonstrated that both boredom proneness and social conditions predict aspects of subjective well-being (i.e., leisure boredom and life satisfaction). Our analyses revealed complex interactions between individual differences and social conditions with respect to aspects of well-being.

Assessing Individual Differences in the Affective Experience of Dreams: The Jena Dream Inventory–Affect Scales (JeDI-A)

Assessment ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1946-1959
Author(s):  
Birk Hagemeyer ◽  
Sarah Salomo ◽  
Cordelia Engelhardt ◽  
Franz J. Neyer ◽  
Sven Rupprecht
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Valid Instrument

The study reports on the validation of a new instrument for the assessment of emotional experiences in dreams. The Jena Dream Inventory–Affect (JeDI-A) contains 21 items and 3 scales, positive dream affect, negative dream affect, and dream intensity, providing a differentiated yet economic assessment of dream affect. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in a sample of university students ( N = 426) and a clinical sample of patients with sleep disorders ( N = 149) supported factorial validity and measurement invariance, high temporal stability (over 1 year and 9 months in the students and patients, respectively), convergent and discriminant validity regarding established measures of dream affect and the Big Five, and criterion validity regarding subjective well-being. Cross-lagged panel models showed reciprocal longitudinal effects between dream affect and waking affect. We conclude that the JeDI-A is a valid instrument for differentiated investigations of individual differences in dream affect in clinical and nonclinical populations.

scholarly journals Who Is Impacted? Personality Predicts Individual Differences in Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062095257
Author(s):  
Nick Modersitzki ◽  
Le Vy Phan ◽  
Niclas Kuper ◽  
John F. Rauthmann
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dark Triad ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
German Sample ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Public Lives

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in people’s private and public lives that are unprecedented in modern history. However, little is known about the differential psychological consequences of restrictions that have been imposed to fight the pandemic. In a large and diverse German sample ( N = 1,320), we examined how individual differences in psychological consequences of the pandemic (perceived restrictiveness of government-supported measures, global pandemic-related appraisals, subjective well-being) were associated with a broad set of faceted personality traits (Big Five, Honesty-Humility, Dark Triad). Facets of Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness were among the strongest and most important predictors of psychological outcomes, even after controlling for basic sociodemographic variables (gender, age). These findings suggest that psychological consequences of the pandemic depend on personality and thus add to the growing literature on the importance of considering individual differences in crisis situations.

scholarly journals Relative Income, Happiness, and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E Clark ◽  
Paul Frijters ◽  
Michael A Shields
Keyword(s):  
Utility Function ◽  
Relative Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Thomas Carlyle ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Easterlin Paradox ◽  
The Past ◽  
Average Happiness ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
And Migration

The well-known Easterlin paradox points out that average happiness has remained constant over time despite sharp rises in GNP per head. At the same time, a micro literature has typically found positive correlations between individual income and individual measures of subjective well-being. This paper suggests that these two findings are consistent with the presence of relative income terms in the utility function. Income may be evaluated relative to others (social comparison) or to oneself in the past (habituation). We review the evidence on relative income from the subjective well-being literature. We also discuss the relation (or not) between happiness and utility, and discuss some nonhappiness research (behavioral, experimental, neurological) related to income comparisons. We last consider how relative income in the utility function can affect economic models of behavior in the domains of consumption, investment, economic growth, savings, taxation, labor supply, wages, and migration. Every pitifulest whipster that walks within a skin has had his head filled with the notion that he is, shall be, or by all human and divine laws ought to be, “happy.” Thomas Carlyle

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