scholarly journals Subjective Social Class and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Class Consistency and Identity Uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bek Wuay Tang ◽  
Jacinth Jia Xin Tan

Drawing on a recent perspective that inconsistent class identities can negatively impact psychological outcomes, the current research explored if the relative benefit of higher subjective social class for life satisfaction would differ depending on whether it is consistent with one’s objective social class. In Study 1, across two independent samples from Singapore (N = 1045) and the US (N = 492), higher subjective social class predicted higher life satisfaction more strongly among those high in objective social class, but less strongly among those low in objective social class. In Study 2, these patterns were replicated in another large US sample (N = 1030), and appeared to be driven by lower status-based identity uncertainty (SBIU) linked to higher subjective social class perceptions among high objective social class participants. The role of class-identity perceptions in explaining social class disparities in subjective well-being is discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-26
Author(s):  
L.A. Golovey ◽  
M.D. Petrash ◽  
O.Y. Strizhitskaya ◽  
S.S. Savenysheva ◽  
I.R. Murtazina

The present paper considers daily hassles in different life domains, reveals their connections to the level of strain and perceived stress, investigates the role of psychological well-being and life satisfaction in the perception of the number of stressors and strain caused by stress. Methods: Inventory of daily stressors (Petrash et al.), Scale of perceived stress (Ababkov et al.), Psychological well-being scale (C. Ryff), Life satisfaction scale (E. Diener), a survey on satisfaction with different life domains. Sample: 334 adults aged 20—60 (118 males, 216 females). Results revealed hassles in all the life domains. Most pronounced hassles in women were those related to health, loneliness, competitiveness, job; most pronounced hassles in men were job-related, financial, health and family stressors. Perception of daily hassles was associated with an increase in the levels of stress overstrain and perceived stress. The number of stressors and the level of overstrain was higher in women. Psychological well-being, subjective well-being, and financial satisfaction were shown to be direct positive predictors of the number of perceived hassles and the level of overstrain.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansika Singhal ◽  
Renu Rastogi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover the role of psychological capital (PsyCap) as a predictor of subjective well-being (SWB) and career commitment (CC). Further, it aims to analyze the mediating role of SWB in the relationship between PsyCap and CC in the Indian manufacturing sector. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative survey-based research design employing data from 300 employees in the National Capital Region (NCR) of India was used in the present research. Findings The results demonstrated that PsyCap acted as a predictor for SWB and CC. Additionally, SWB partially mediated the relationship between PsyCap and CC. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the present research would have to do with the purposive sample set chosen during the data collection. The sample consisted of middle- and upper-middle-class Indian employees working in the NCR having knowledge of English language and computer skills. Perhaps, future research works should take into account a wider sample in terms of the regions across India and not only the NCR. Although the findings showed that SWB reduced the relationship between PsyCap and CC, still that relationship was significant statistically. Further research studies might also explore various moderators while simultaneously studying SWB. In the research, SWB acted as a significant mediator of the relation between PsyCap and CC, yet at the same time, it may be the scenario that employees who are committed toward their career would be more inclined to espouse a greater sense of SWB (i.e. mediator is caused by the outcome). Hence, the authors duly recognize the need to test this substitute model. Since, SWB places chief emphasis on respondent’s own experiences and perspectives; it does not denote a consummate understanding of their mental health as people may have psychological disorders even if they experience happiness. Hence, the use of other measures in addition to SWB in comprehending a person’s psychological health is desirable (Diener et al., 1997). Practical implications This study suggests that in order for organizations to have a workforce committed to their career and hence, their profession, the supervisors will need to train the employees having a higher incidence of PsyCap to increase their SWB. Consequently, the supervisors will, in turn, need to recruit employees already having the four dimensions of PsyCap, i.e. hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism at the workplace in order for them to have a higher life satisfaction, positive affect, reduced negative affect (three components of SWB) and increased CC. Social implications Employees who develop within themselves a state of being hopeful, efficacious, resilient and optimistic will also be strongly oriented toward having greater life satisfaction, positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. This, in part, would help them achieve the required commitment toward their career and hence, help them in sticking with their jobs. Originality/value The present study advances the existing work on positive organizational behavior by exhibiting the noteworthy role of PsyCap in predicting SWB and CC. Further, it helps in demonstrating the inevitable role of SWB in partially mediating the relationship between PsyCap and CC.


2020 ◽  
pp. 016402752096154
Author(s):  
Wen-Jui Han ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Cliff Whetung

Using a sample of Chinese adults over the age of 50 from wave 1 of the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (n = 13,367), we investigated the relationship between living arrangements and subjective well-being (SWB) in regard to life satisfaction, happiness, and control. We also looked at the moderating role of resources, proxied by income and hukou status. Multivariate regression results indicate that living only with a spouse was significantly associated with better SWB. Multigenerational living arrangements may not always promote SWB, particularly when resources are constrained. Yet, results also underscore the importance of daughters and daughters-in-law in promoting SWB among older adults. Older adults in rural areas had better SWB, including greater life satisfaction if living with grandchildren only, compared to their urban peers living with a spouse only. Findings suggest that context matters in the association between living arrangements and older adults’ SWB.


2020 ◽  
pp. 004728752096638
Author(s):  
Grace B. Yu ◽  
M. Joseph Sirgy ◽  
Michael Bosnjak

Despite growing interest in experience sharing among leisure travelers, there is still limited research concerning the role of travel experience sharing on leisure traveler’s life satisfaction. The main objective of this research is to test the moderation effects of experience sharing during and after leisure travel on the bottom-up spillover process of tourists’ leisure travel satisfaction–life satisfaction hierarchy. The positive effect of holiday trip motivation fulfillment on overall holiday trip satisfaction is hypothesized to be amplified by on-site experience sharing (e.g., uploading holiday pictures or videos to social media platforms while traveling). Also, the positive effect of holiday trip satisfaction on holiday travelers’ subjective well-being is hypothesized to be amplified by posttrip experience sharing (e.g., publishing blog posts or travel reports online post trip). We used data from a large-scale social survey in Germany (N = 2,198) and the results confirmed the hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georg Henning ◽  
Dikla Segel-Karaps ◽  
Andreas Stenling ◽  
Oliver Huxhold

Given substantial cohort differences in psychosocial functioning, for example perceived control, and ongoing pension reforms, the context of retirement has changed over the last decades. However, there is limited research on the consequences of such developments on historical differences in subjective well-being in the retirement transition. In the present study, we investigated historical differences in change in life satisfaction and positive affect across the retirement transition. We included perceived control as a potential mechanism behind these differences. Analyses were based on sub-samples of retirees among three nationally-representative samples of the German Ageing Survey (1996; 2002; 2008) and their respective follow-ups 6 years later. Results showed historical improvements in pre-retirement positive affect (i.e., later samples had higher pre-retirement levels), however, earlier samples showed a larger increase in positive affect across the retirement transition compared to later samples. No historical differences were found in life satisfaction. Perceived control showed no historical improvement and did not seem to contribute to historical differences in subjective well-being. Nevertheless, we found that the role of perceived control for positive affect seemingly increased over historical time. The results showed that the historical context seems to play a role in the experience of retirement, and that it is helpful to distinguish between cognitive-evaluative (e.g., life satisfaction) and affective components (e.g., positive affect) of well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-72
Author(s):  
Tim Wadsworth ◽  
Philip M. Pendergast

While much research has been done on the causes and correlates of subjective well-being over the last two decades, a relatively small number of studies have addressed disparities in subjective well-being between various racial and ethnic groups. Recently more research has addressed the differences between blacks and whites, and begun to unpack the causes for these differences. A smaller number of studies have started to look at differences between white and Latinx respondents. In the present work we add to this literature by examining differences in life satisfaction between white, Latin and Asian respondents, as well as the persistence of these differences after controlling for a variety of social, economic and lifestyle variables. After assessing how much of the racial and ethnic disparity between these groups can be explained by such factors, we present additional preliminary analysis that begins to explore the role of culture in understanding the relationship between race, ethnicity and subjective well-being.


2019 ◽  
pp. 135910531987395
Author(s):  
Nutifafa Eugene Yaw Dey ◽  
Benjamin Amponsah ◽  
Charles Brenya Wiafe-Akenteng

The study explored the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between spirituality and subjective well-being of 107 Ghanaian biological parents raising children with special needs. Results from mediational analyses revealed that spirituality indirectly influenced life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect through resilience. Specifically, greater levels of spirituality predicted greater resilience, which successively led to greater life satisfaction, greater positive affect and reduced negative affect. These findings emphasize the necessity of targeting parents’ well-being through resilience to help them deal with the burden of providing care for their children with special needs.


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