Being Creative Makes You Happier: The Positive Effect of Creativity on Subjective Well-Being

The impact of happiness on creativity is well-established. However, little is known about the effect of creativity on well-being. Two studies were thus conducted to examine the impact of creativity on subjective well-being. In the first study, 256 undergraduate students (Study 1a) and 291 working adults (Study 1b) self-reported their creativity, stress, and subjective well-being. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed a positive relationship between creativity and subjective well-being after controlling the effect of self-perceived stress and demographics in both samples. Study 2 then employed an experimental design to examine the causal relationship between creativity and subjective well-being. Half of the 68 undergraduates underwent a creativity priming task followed by a divergent thinking test as well as self-reported stress and subjective well-being. The priming task was found to boost creative performance in the pilot study (Study 2a) and the actual study (Study 2b). Moreover, after controlling the effect of self-perceived stress, ANCOVA analysis showed that participants receiving the priming reported higher subjective well-being scores than their counterparts in the control group. The overall findings not only shed light on the facilitative effect of creativity on subjective well-being but also highlight the necessity of considering the reciprocal relationship of the two constructs in future research.

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Studying Subjective Well-Being during a Quarantine

Virginia Journal of Business, Technology, and Science ◽

10.51390/vajbts.v1i1.7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Browning ◽

E. Scott Geller

Keyword(s):

Positive Psychology ◽

Mood State ◽

Well Being ◽

Potential Effect ◽

Mood States ◽

Control Group ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Psychology Class ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Impact

To investigate the impact of writing a gratitude letter on particular mood states, we asked students in two university classes (a research class and a positive psychology class) to complete a 15-item mood assessment survey (MAS) twice a day (once in the morning and once at night). The research students who signed up for one or two pass/fail field-study credits in a research class also completed the MAS twice a day, but they did not write the weekly gratitude letter that was expected from the students in the positive psychology class. Each mood state was averaged per each day for the participants in each group and compared between the Gratitude Group and the Control Group. No group difference occurred for some mood states like “incompetent,” but for the “unmotivated” mood state, a significant difference was found. To investigate the potential effect of weekday, we compared the average mood rating between groups for each day of the week. For the mood state of “unmotivated”, a remarkable dip occurred on Wednesday for the Gratitude group, but not for the Control group. These results indicated that writing a gratitude letter increased the benefactor’s motivation, especially on the day when it was accomplished.

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Irrational happiness beliefs and subjective well-being of undergraduate students: A longitudinal study

Journal of Positive School Psychology ◽

10.47602/jpsp.v5i1.258 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 65-72

Author(s):

Murat Yıldırım

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Future Studies ◽

Affective Components ◽

The Impact ◽

First Time ◽

Over Time

Identifying factors that influence well-being are fruitful for improving the knowledge held about the correlates and predictors of well-being in both practice and theory. This research for the first time aimed to investigate whether irrational happiness beliefs, a newly presented construct, contribute to the affective components of subjective well-being over time. The sample included 103 undergraduate students (88 females and 15 males) whose ages varied from 18 to 29 years (M = 19.39 ±1.62). Participants completed measures of irrational happiness beliefs, positive affect, and negative affect both at Time 1 and Time 2 over three months apart. The findings showed that irrational happiness beliefs were significantly negatively related to positive affect only at Time 1. However, the research failed to provide evidence regarding the value of irrational happiness beliefs in predicting positive and negative affect over time. The results suggest that the impact of irrational happiness beliefs upon well-being may occur momentarily not over time. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed and directions for future studies are provided.

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Pocket Cartoons

Research Anthology on Personal Finance and Improving Financial Literacy ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8049-3.ch031 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 579-595

Author(s):

Yin Yin Khoo ◽

Robert Fitzgerald

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Financial Literacy ◽

Experimental Methodology ◽

Future Research ◽

Control Group ◽

Learning Collaborative ◽

Economics Students ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Cartoon Characters ◽

The Impact

This study examines the impact of using cartoons shared through mobile devices to promote awareness and to aid in the development of financial literacy among Economics students in Malaysia. The study also investigates the use of these ‘mobile cartoons' to develop students' communication skills. The study involved a quasi-experimental methodology investigating the learning outcomes of 91 undergraduate students. Data was acquired through surveys and interviews. The results showed a higher mean for the experimental group (Mobile Learning Collaborative) than the control group (Conventional Collaborative). Future research may focus on the improvement in the design of the intervention with a particular focus on expanding the range of cartoon characters.

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Community Gardening: Stress, Well-Being, and Resilience Potentials

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17186740 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (18) ◽

pp. 6740

Author(s):

Way Inn Koay ◽

Denise Dillon

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Well Being ◽

Analysis Of Covariance ◽

Future Research ◽

Control Group ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Community Gardening ◽

Home Gardening ◽

Mental Health Benefits

The financial and health burdens of stress associated with increased urbanization have led to a demand for mental health enhancement strategies. While some extant literature details mental health benefits of community gardening, a coherent narrative on the construct of resilience and its relationship with the mental health benefits of community gardening is lacking. The present study examined the relationship between community gardening and a number of mental health benefits, in the forms of subjective well-being, stress, resilience potentials, and resilience factors (self-esteem, optimism, and openness). A total of 111 residents in Singapore completed a survey. Results from Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) and Pearson’s correlation analyses show that, after controlling for age and levels of connection to nature, community gardeners reported significantly higher levels of subjective well-being than individual/home gardeners and non-gardeners, indicating that engagement in community gardening may be superior to individual/home gardening or non-gardening outdoor activities. Community gardeners reported higher levels of resilience and optimism than the non-gardening control group. These novel results indicate some potential for mental health benefits in urban environments, specifically in terms of subjective well-being and resilience. These findings have implications for future research in clinical psychology, mental health promotion, and policy.

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The Effect of Fixed-Term Employment on Well-Being: Disentangling the Micro-Mechanisms and the Moderating Role of Social Cohesion

Social Indicators Research ◽

10.1007/s11205-020-02421-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 152 (1) ◽

pp. 91-115

Author(s):

Sonja Scheuring

Keyword(s):

Social Cohesion ◽

Well Being ◽

Control Group ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Social Contacts ◽

Country Level ◽

Micro Level ◽

Deprivation Model ◽

The Impact

Abstract This paper examines the impact of fixed-term employment on well-being from a cross-national comparative perspective by testing (1) the effect heterogeneity across European countries, (2) to which extent Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Model provides a sufficient micro-level explanation for the underlying mechanisms and (3) whether the macro-level factor of social cohesion weakens the micro-level impacts. We investigate the effects in both an upwards (permanent employment) and a downwards (unemployment) comparative control group design. Due to the mediating role of social contacts on the micro-level, we assume social cohesion on the country-level to moderate the main effects: A high degree of societal affiliation should substitute the function of social contacts in the work environment of individuals. Using microdata from the European Social Survey (ESS) 2012 for 23 countries and applying multilevel estimation procedures, we find that there is a remarkable variation in the effects across countries. Even though in each country fixed-term employees have a lower subjective well-being compared to permanent ones, the point estimates vary from .17 to 1.19 units. When comparing fixed-term employees to unemployed individuals, the coefficients even range from − .27 to 1.25 units. More specifically, a negative effect indicates that having a fixed-term contract is worse than unemployment in some countries. Moreover, pooled linear regression models reveal that Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Model explains about three-quarters of the micro-level effect sizes for both directions. Eventually, social cohesion on the country-level diminishes the individual-level well-being differences between fixed-term employees and permanent individuals but not between fixed-term employees and the unemployed.

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Pocket Cartoons

International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning ◽

10.4018/ijmbl.2017100104 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 49-64

Author(s):

Yin Yin Khoo ◽

Robert Fitzgerald

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Financial Literacy ◽

Experimental Methodology ◽

Future Research ◽

Control Group ◽

Learning Collaborative ◽

Economics Students ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Cartoon Characters ◽

The Impact

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Psychological Effects of Working Night Shifts on Mental Health

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.961 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S609-S609

Author(s):

A. Kchaou ◽

M. Hajjaji ◽

R. Masmoudi ◽

I. Sellami ◽

M.L. Masmoudi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Shift Work ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Well Being ◽

Hospital Staff ◽

Night Work ◽

Clear Correlation ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Working And Living Conditions ◽

The Impact

IntroductionThe medical and scientific communities are continually reporting that night work can increase the risk of certain disorders and have a negative impact on the overall well-being of employees.ObjectivesThis study wanted to examine the impact of night work on physical and psychological well-being of hospital staff.MethodsWe carried out a cross-sectional study about a representative sample of hospital staff. We used validated self-reporting instruments: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Subjective Well-being Scale (SWS). Data were analyzed using SPSS-20.ResultsOur study concerned 519 hospital staffs. More than half were male (53%) and 83.1% had worked in the same position for more than two years. More than half of the participants (51. 3%) considered themselves in very good health. Also 41.5% of participants had a well-being index reduced and 26% of personal had high perceived stress. Correlation analysis had shown that more than one guard at week was associated with high levels of perceived stress (P = 0.004) and well-being index reduced (P = 0.000). After adjusting for categories, more than one shift work at week was associated to well-being index reduced with odds ratios of 1.57 (confidence interval 95% [1.07 to 2.30]).ConclusionThere is a clear correlation between night work, perceived stress and subjective well-being of different categories of hospital staff. Shift work interferences on health and well-being are complex and multifaceted in their origins and time manifestations, dealing with several aspects of personal characteristics, and working and living conditions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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Impact of the EU Blue Card programme on cultural participation and subjective well-being of migrants in Germany

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0253952 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

pp. e0253952

Author(s):

Eleftherios Giovanis ◽

Sacit Hadi Akdede ◽

Oznur Ozdamar

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

First Generation ◽

Well Being ◽

Control Group ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Cultural Participation ◽

First Generation Immigrants ◽

Cultural Activities ◽

The Impact ◽

The Eu

The first aim of this study is to investigate the role of the EU Blue Card programme implemented in 2012 in Germany. In particular, we aim to explore the impact on the participation in cultural activities of first-generation non-European Union (EU) and non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants, such as attendance to cinema, concerts and theatre. The second aim is to examine the impact of cultural activities on subjective well-being (SWB), measured by life satisfaction. We compare the cultural participation and life satisfaction between the treatment group that is the non-EU/EEA first-generation immigrants and the control group that consists, not only of natives and second-generation immigrants but also composes of EU/EEA first-generation immigrants who are not eligible to the programme. We will apply a sharp and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD) within a seemingly unrelated regression equations (SURE) system using the Ordered Probit method. The empirical analysis relies on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) survey over the period 2015–2018. The results show that the treated subjects experience an increase in cultural participation activities and an improvement in their SWB, as a result of the EU Blue Card programme, compared to the control group. Participation in classical music performance, opera or theatre influences more the SWB compared to other cultural activities. Policies that promote labour market integration and participation in cultural activities will enable immigrants to integrate into the social norms of the host societies and improve their SWB.

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Efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention programme with and without virtual reality support to reduce stress in university students: protocol for a randomized controlled pragmatic trial

10.21203/rs.2.12892/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marta Modrego-Alarcón ◽

María Teresa Navarro-Gil ◽

María Beltrán-Ruiz ◽

Alicia Monreal-Bartolomé ◽

Santiago Gascón ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

University Students ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Control Group ◽

Large Sample Size ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background: There is growing concern about mental health problems in university students. For this reason, mindfulness training is becoming increasingly popular in university settings. However, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) usually present high attrition rates. This trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a MBI to reduce perceived stress and to improve the psychological well-being of university students, as well as to explore the capacity of virtual reality (VR) to enhance adherence to the intervention. Methods: This study protocol presents a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving assessment time points of baseline, posttreatment and 6-month follow-up. A total of 280 students from the Spanish National Distance Education University (UNED) or the University of Zaragoza will be randomly assigned to a mindfulness condition, a mindfulness condition complemented by VR, and a relaxation condition to serve as a control group. Stress will be the main outcome and will be measured using the 10-item self-report Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Other well-being and academic functioning outcomes will be assessed, as well as variables that explore the impact of VR. Multilevel mixed-effects models will be calculated to estimate the efficacy of the programme, and effect size estimations will be carried out. Effects of VR in adherence to programme will be evaluated. Discussion: Some strengths of this study are the RCT design, which includes a suitable active control group and a 6-month follow-up assessment; a large sample size of university students at different stages of their courses and a variety of degrees; and the incorporation of the VR support to facilitate completion of the MBI programme. Potential limitations are the voluntary participation of the students and the utilization of self-report measures.Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03771300.

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Relations among Poly-Bullying Victimization, Subjective Well-Being and Resilience in a Sample of Late Adolescents

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17020590 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 590 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Beatriz Víllora ◽

Elisa Larrañaga ◽

Santiago Yubero ◽

Antonio Alfaro ◽

Raúl Navarro

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Well Being ◽

Future Research ◽

Bullying Victimization ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Late Adolescents ◽

Multiple Forms ◽

Central Spain ◽

Peer Bullying

The present study examined the relations among poly-bullying victimization (experiencing multiple forms of peer bullying), resilience and subjective well-being. This study specifically examined late adolescents’ resilience as a moderator of the relation between poly-bullying victimization and subjective well-being. In a region of central Spain, 1430 undergraduate students (64% females, 36% males), aged between 18 and 22 years, completed three self-reported measures, including bullying victimization experiences, self-reported subjective well-being and resilience. A substantial proportion of the participants (16.9%) reported being victims of poly-bullying. The results showed that the poly-bullying victimization group reported the poorest subjective well-being and the lowest resilience levels. The regression analyses revealed that resilience was significantly and positively associated with subjective well-being, and resilience moderated the association between poly-bullying victimization and subjective well-being. However, the relation was very weak and accounted for only an additional 1% of variance in the participants’ subjective well-being. Future research should assess resilience trajectories of youth exposed to multiple forms of bullying victimization in order to better understand the potential protective effect of resilience over negative mental health outcomes.

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