scholarly journals Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent than Intense Happiness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Jachimowicz ◽  
Ruo Mo ◽  
Adam Eric Greenberg ◽  
Bertus F. Jeronimus ◽  
Ashley Whillans

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequency but not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study (N = 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a pre-registered cross-sectional study (N = 1,553), and a day reconstruction study (N = 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062097254
Author(s):  
Jon M. Jachimowicz ◽  
Ruo Mo ◽  
Adam Eric Greenberg ◽  
Bertus Jeronimus ◽  
Ashley V. Whillans

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income is more consistently linked to how frequently individuals experience happiness than how intensely happy each episode is. This occurs in part because lower-income individuals spend more time engaged in passive leisure activities, reducing the frequency but not the intensity of positive affect. Notably, we demonstrate that only happiness frequency underlies the relationship between income and life satisfaction. Data from an experience sampling study ( N = 394 participants, 34,958 daily responses), a preregistered cross-sectional study ( N = 1,553), and a day reconstruction study ( N = 13,437) provide empirical evidence for these ideas. Together, this research provides conceptual and empirical clarity into how income is related to happiness.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Raisa F. M. Simões ◽  
Júlia C. L. Nóbrega ◽  
Juliana Barbosa ◽  
Tácila T. M. Santos ◽  
Ricardo A. Olinda ◽  
...  

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate and compare factors associated with happiness, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction in elderly people aged 80 and older in two different regions of Brazil. Face-to-face interviews were performed with 417 Brazilians aged 80 years and older, 179 from Northeast and 238 from the Southeast. The prevalence of feelings of happiness, subjective well-being, and overall life satisfaction were very similar for the older elderly in both regions. While in the Southeast, the predictive factors were literacy, higher income, and better economic situation, with many elderly people living alone; in the Northeast, the affective ties with more people seem to predominate, as well as having a more frequent and diverse support network, and practice leisure activities. Our findings support a view of social bonds and family support enables the older elderly people to feel more satisfied with life, performing activities that bring happiness and subjective well-being.


GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Oberhauser ◽  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Eva-Marie Kessler

Abstract. Conflict avoidance increases across the adult lifespan. This cross-sectional study looks at conflict avoidance as part of a mechanism to regulate belongingness needs ( Sheldon, 2011 ). We assumed that older adults perceive more threats to their belongingness when they contemplate their future, and that they preventively react with avoidance coping. We set up a model predicting conflict avoidance that included perceptions of future nonbelonging, termed anticipated loneliness, and other predictors including sociodemographics, indicators of subjective well-being and perceived social support (N = 331, aged 40–87). Anticipated loneliness predicted conflict avoidance above all other predictors and partially mediated the age-association of conflict avoidance. Results suggest that belongingness regulation accounts may deepen our understanding of conflict avoidance in the second half of life.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukkyung You ◽  
Ji Eun Yoo

We examined the associations of different types of prayer with subjective well-being—with a religious support as a potential moderator—in a sample of Korean adults. In a cross-sectional study, 468 participants completed measures of five prayer types (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, and reception prayer), subjective well-being, and religious support. After controlling for background variables, the thanksgiving prayers had positive associations and supplication prayers had negative associations with subjective well-being. In examining the potential moderating role of religious support, the current findings showed that religious support strengthened the relationship between reception prayer and subjective well-being, especially among individuals who perceived moderate and high levels of religious support. These findings indicate differential associations between prayer type and well-being in Korean adults.


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