The Half-Life of Happiness: Hedonic Adaptation in the Subjective Well-Being of Poor Slum Dwellers to a Large Improvement in Housing

ABSTRACT Background Food insecurity is strongly associated with subjective well-being. People compare their well-being to a subjective reference that adjusts over time, which is called hedonic adaptation. Objective We aimed to deepen understanding of the relation between food insecurity and subjective well-being among countries from the perspective of possible hedonic adaptation between food insecurity and subjective well-being. Methods Global data from the Gallup World Poll 2014 were collected from 152,206 individuals in 147 countries. Telephone and face-to-face surveys were conducted in 37 and 111 countries, respectively, collecting data on law and order; food and shelter; institutions and infrastructure; job climate; and financial, social, physical, and evaluative well-being, including the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Data were aggregated to country level and merged with economic and social measures from World Bank and United Nations sources: infant mortality, gross domestic product, economic inequality, agricultural value added, fertility, maternal mortality, female schooling, and female participation in the labor force. Multilevel linear regression was used to examine associations between well-being and food insecurity. Results Experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity was prevalent among countries, with a mean probability of 0.273 ± 0.220. Countries that were less developed economically and socially had a higher probability of experiencing food insecurity, lower subjective well-being as measured by the daily experience index, and less negative slopes for the relation between daily experience index and food insecurity. Food insecurity was the strongest predictor of daily experience from among the measures of economic and social development. Conclusions The prevalence of food insecurity was strongly and negatively associated with subjective well-being across 147 countries. The association between food insecurity and poor subjective well-being within countries was stronger for more-developed countries, providing evidence of hedonic adaptation between food insecurity and subjective well-being. Food insecurity explained substantial variation in subjective well-being both among and within countries.

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Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction

The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0017 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 186-194 ◽

Cited By ~ 75

Author(s):

Ed Diener ◽

Shigehiro Oishi ◽

Richard E. Lucas

Keyword(s):

Historical Review ◽

Well Being ◽

Cultural Variation ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Future Directions ◽

Hedonic Adaptation ◽

Measurement Issues ◽

Theoretical Approaches ◽

Self Reports ◽

Review Current

This chapter reviews the scientific research on subjective well-being. Subjective well-being consists of a person's cognitive and affective evaluations of his or her life. First, the authors will provide a brief historical review of research on subjective well-being. Second, they will summarize the main measurement issues (e.g., the validity of self-reports, memory bias). Third, they will present the major theoretical approaches to this area of research (e.g., need and goal satisfaction theories, process or activity theories, genetic and personality predisposition theories). Finally, the authors will review current findings (e.g., hedonic adaptation, the effect of intervention, cultural variation) and suggest future directions for the study of subjective well-being.

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Delay Effect of Sport Media Consumption on Sport Consumers’ Subjective Well-Being: Moderating Role of Team Identification

Sport Marketing Quarterly ◽

10.32731/smq.304.1221.05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Wonseok (Eric) Jang ◽

Joon Sung Lee ◽

Daniel Wann

Keyword(s):

Purpose In Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Media Consumption ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Hedonic Adaptation ◽

Sport Media ◽

Positive Effect ◽

Moderating Role ◽

Practical Implications

Although empirical evidence indicates that sport media consumption has a positive effect on sport consumers’ subjective well-being (SWB), there is little information regarding how these enhancements in SWB change over time. Th e current research demonstrates that less identified sport consumers experienced greater levels of purpose in life when it was measured right after they recalled their past sport media consumption than when it was measured aft er a 15-minute delay. Meanwhile, the level of purpose in life was similar for highly identified sport consumers whether it was measured right aft er recalling past sport media consumption or aft er a 15-minute delay. On the basis of a moderated mediation test, we further demonstrate that highly identified sport consumers experience a greater degree of eudaimonic value aft er recalling past sport media consumption, which delays hedonic adaptation among them. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as they relate to SWB and hedonic adaptation.

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Conflict Avoidance in Old Age

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000168 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 61-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lia Oberhauser ◽

Andreas B. Neubauer ◽

Eva-Marie Kessler

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

Well Being ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Conflict Avoidance ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Adult Lifespan ◽

Set Up

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.

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Leisure Activities and the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults in Croatia

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000179 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 31-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan ◽

Tihana Brkljačić ◽

Zvjezdana Prizmić Larsen ◽

Andreja Brajša-Žganec ◽

Renata Franc

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Leisure Activity ◽

Later Life ◽

Perceived Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Hierarchical Regression ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Financial Status

Abstract. Research shows that engagement in leisure activities promotes well-being among older adults. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between subjective well-being (flourishing) and leisure activities (total number of different activities in the previous year) in a sample of older adults in Croatia, thereby considering the variables of sex, marital status, financial status, and self-perceived health. The differences in the examined variables between the groups of older adults who reported to be engaged in new activities with those who did not were also examined. The sample of N = 169 older adults aged 60 years and above was drawn from a convenience sample of adult internet users in Croatia. Participants reported their self-perceived health and the number of leisure activities they engaged in over the previous year as well as completing the Flourishing Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that older adults who were engaged in more various leisure activities, who perceived better financial status, and who were married reported higher levels of flourishing. A comparison of the two groups of older adults with and without engagement in leisure activities showed that those engaged in at least one leisure activity were more likely to be women, reported higher levels of flourishing, and perceived their own financial status as better. This study indicated that engaging in leisure activities in later life might provide beneficial effects for the well-being of older adults.

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Intraindividual Variability and Stability of Affect and Well-Being

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000094 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 185-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Christina Röcke ◽

Annette Brose

Keyword(s):

Age Differences ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Emotional Experiences ◽

Short Term ◽

Regulatory Processes ◽

Functional Implications ◽

Methodological Approaches ◽

Underlying Processes

Whereas subjective well-being remains relatively stable across adulthood, emotional experiences show remarkable short-term variability, with younger and older adults differing in both amount and correlates. Repeatedly assessed affect data captures both the dynamics and stability as well as stabilization that may indicate emotion-regulatory processes. The article reviews (1) research approaches to intraindividual affect variability, (2) functional implications of affect variability, and (3) age differences in affect variability. Based on this review, we discuss how the broader literature on emotional aging can be better integrated with theories and concepts of intraindividual affect variability by using appropriate methodological approaches. Finally, we show how a better understanding of affect variability and its underlying processes could contribute to the long-term stabilization of well-being in old age.

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