Quality of Life in Macau,China

We report the initial findings of an ongoing, long-term investigation into subjective quality of life in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. Data were collected via quarterly public surveys (2007 to 2009; n = 8,230), as part of the Macau Quality of Life Report. The main aims of the study were to: (a) ascertain the public’s satisfaction with life and with the regional situation in Macau; (b) confirm the utility of the International Wellbeing Index (IWI) as a measure of subjective life quality; and (c) contribute to ongoing discussion in the literature on quality of life in China. The data indicated moderate levels of personal (PWI = 64.4; range 63–66.7) and national (NWI = 59.7; 57.4–63.7) wellbeing across the study period, which implies that residents in Macau are generally satisfied with life. The lowest scores were reported in the first quarter of 2009, a period of great economic uncertainty in Macau and the world, but were positioned within the normative range. The IWI demonstrated good psychometric performance, consistent with previous studies in China and the West, which confirmed its utility. These findings are discussed in relation to the IWI’s theoretical underpinnings and the literature.     

Priming Effects in Measuring Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction, as an indicator of subjective well-being, has received increasing attention in the recent decades. It has become a potential indicator of development, to be used complementary to objective measures. However, no clear consensus exists on the relationship between life satisfaction and satisfaction with the various domains of life as well as on the measurement of life satisfaction. This paper addresses the relationship between overall life satisfaction and domain satisfaction (DS). The objective is to identify potential biases induced by priming effects when measuring DS. Four types of theoretical models, derived from existing literature, are tested in different scenarios. Data from three waves of the European Quality of Life Surveys are analyzed using a structural equation modeling framework to provide empirical evidence. An original experimental design is employed to demonstrate that priming effects cannot be ignored. A comparison of models including priming effects and those ignoring such biases shows that the former is a better fit and has higher propensity to explain the variations in life satisfaction and DS.

     

Regional Heterogeneity of Life Satisfaction in Urban China: Evidence from Hierarchical Ordered Logit Analysis

Given sheer geographic size and unequal regional development, common wisdom may attribute the heterogeneity of individual subjective wellbeing largely to regional disparity in China. Using a hierarchical ordered logit model and the Subjective Survey for Chinese Livelihood Index in 2012, this study however finds that regional factors only account for 3.7 % of total variance of individual subjective wellbeing in urban China. It implies that regional differences are not important for explaining individual happiness though some regional variables are statistically significant. Correspondingly, the Chinese governments should make policies down to individual level to promote people's life satisfaction. Other findings on income and social demographical variables are consistent with the current studies.     

Homeownership and Subjective Wellbeing in Urban China: Does Owning a House Make You Happier?

This paper examines the effect of homeownership status on individual subjective wellbeing indicators in urban China using a large nationally representative dataset. It is the first to gauge the relationship between homeownership and individual subjective wellbeing in the setting of China and is also among the few empirical studies concerning developing countries. The results show that the homeownership status does have a strong positive effect on both one’s housing satisfaction and overall happiness in urban China. Even after controlling for housing satisfaction in the equation, the homeownership status still positively affects one’s overall happiness, suggesting that the homeownership status might also contribute to other possible aspects of life satisfaction except for housing satisfaction. In addition, in terms of housing satisfaction, females seem to value much more on owning a house than males, while the subjective benefits of owing a house in large cities seem to be much smaller than in small cities.     

Aversion to Local Wellbeing Inequality is Moderated by Social Engagement and Sense of Community

Our subjective wellbeing is a mix of our personal and community wellbeing. One indication of their close relationship is the strong negative correlation between our own subjective wellbeing and the degree of subjective wellbeing inequality within our community. This negative relationship reflects our innate and socialized inequality aversion and holds regardless of whether the group is large as in the case of countries or small in the case of local neighbourhoods. While the country case has been well documented in the subjective wellbeing literature, the relationship between the local community distribution of subjective wellbeing and individual subjective wellbeing has received little attention. In this paper we demonstrate the sensitivity of individual life satisfaction to the distribution of life satisfaction within electoral wards in urban New Zealand and explore several possible behavioural drivers. We find that having social support and feeling a sense of community both reduce the negative effects of local subjective wellbeing inequality, while being less socially engaged exaggerates them. Our results highlight the potential that programmes aimed at reducing wellbeing inequalities within local communities might play in raising individual as well as average wellbeing.

     

Community Subjective Well-being,Personality Traits and Quality of Life Therapy

In this study, factors that are instrumental in improving individuals' aswell as communities' subjective well-being (SWB) and Quality of Life (QOL)such as positive and negative relationships, personality characteristics ortraits as defined by family members or spouse, perceptions of the future aslooking good, and psychological factors (such as congruency,thriving/resilience personality, belongingness, external and internal powerand psychoallostasis), demographic variables, and religion were examined.The findings indicate that congruency with one's community values andexpectations, belongingness, thriving personality, psychoallostasis andpositive relationships or closeness to people in one's community, and theperception of the future both for the individual and for the community asbright, are important indicators of Quality of life and increased Subjectivewell-being. Additionally, family or spousal ratings of personalitycharacteristics as desirable affected SWB only if the ratings correspondedto the individuals' rating. Path analysis indicate that the high levels ofhappiness experienced by people living in Individualistic-sub-collectivisticcultures such as Appalachia is strongly linked to communal homeostasis andpsychoallostasis lifestyles prevalent in these communities. Implications ofthese findings to Quality of life therapy (QOLT) and healthy psychology atboth the individual level and community level are discussed.     

Quality of Life of Residents Living near Industrial Estates in Singapore

Quality of life (QOL) studies are increasinglygaining the attention of urban planners due toits usefulness in assessing and monitoringpublic policies. With this in mind, an attemptwas made in this study to assess the quality oflife of residents staying near industrialestates in Jurong, Singapore using 18subjective life indicators to measure theoverall life satisfaction.Based on a 5-point Likert scale, health (4.48),family life (4.37) and public safety (4.13)emerged as the more important aspects, whileself-development (3.90), religion (3.60) andpolitics (2.74) were named by the respondentsto be among the least important. On thesatisfaction level, public safety (3.92),family life (3.88), and public utilities (3.78)were deemed to be among the most satisfiedaspects, while consumer goods (2.92), politics(2.91) and environment (2.89) were consideredto be among the least satisfied aspects. Therelationship between the different demographicvariables with overall life satisfaction werealso determined and five variables, namely,marital status, education level, occupation,household income and household size were foundto contribute significantly to the overall lifesatisfaction scores.Overall, the residents in Jurong were found tobe generally satisfied with their life, scoringa mean satisfaction rating of 3.687. It ishoped that the data gathered from this studycan be used by planners in formulating andimplementing future policies.     

Does Weighting Capture What’s Important? Revisiting Subjective Importance Weighting with a Quality of Life Measure

The present study evaluated subjective importance weighting using data collected with the Injection Drug User Quality of Life Scale (IDUQOL). Weighted and unweighted IDUQOL scores from 241 adults were correlated with convergent, discriminant, and criterion measures. Regression analysis was used to examine the contribution of importance ratings to scores on a global measure of life satisfaction and the corrected weighted IDUQOL total scores. Overall, the results showed that weighted scores did not perform better than unweighted scores in measuring quality of life. However, the mean satisfaction ratings for important domains correlated significantly higher with convergent measures than did the mean satisfaction ratings for unimportant domains. This finding suggests further attention needs to be paid to the meaning and measurement of subjective importance and how it may be incorporated more effectively into measures of quality of life.     

Evaluating Quality of Life in Urban Areas (Case Study: Noorabad City, Iran)

Quality of urban life (QOUL) has become an important field within urban studies. The increased level of attention to this topic is due to the increasing importance of QoL studies in monitoring public policies and in the role they can play as effective tools in urban management and planning. The main objective of this study is to measure the QOUL in the town of Noorabad in Iran, using subjective and objective indicators. In addition to secondary datasets, this study relies on a perception survey of households in the selected city. Based on an 11-point Likert scale, the mean of the overall life satisfaction of the respondents was found to be 6.06. At the same time, it has been found that satisfaction from employment opportunities is lowest among all other indicators. The comparison between the subjective and objective QoL in Noorabad indicated that 25 % of the households are in a state of well-being, 30.1 % are in a state of deprivation, while 24.4 % are in dissonance and 20.4 % are in a state of adaptation. Although correlation between objective and subjective dimensions of the QoL has not been found to be high, in general, the findings of this study reveal the importance of simultaneous studying of both objective and subjective dimensions of QoL. Results and findings of this study will be useful in designing and implementing future policies in the town of Noorabad.     

The Quality of Life in China

The Asia Barometer Survey of 2,000 respondents reveals that substantial majorities of the Chinese people experience feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. In fact, the proportion experiencing these indicators of a high quality of life are larger in China than in some more prosperous countries. Favorable historical comparison, sustained high economic growth, satisfaction with interpersonal life, and a high percentage of married people are among the explanations for China’s prevalence of subjective well-being. The Chinese people’s high levels of satisfaction with their interpersonal, material, and nonmaterial life domains, their positive assessments of their relative living standards, and their high rate of marriage are three direct positive influences on subjective well-being. Value priorities and other demographic characteristics also have indirect bearings on subjective well-being in China.     

The Metrics of Subjective Wellbeing Data: An Empirical Evaluation of the Ordinal and Cardinal Comparability of Life Satisfaction Scores

This paper is motivated by the lack of consensus on the metrics of subjective wellbeing measurement scales. Subjective wellbeing data are frequently treated as though they are cardinally comparable both across and within individuals, though very little evidence exists to support these assumptions. Because wellbeing cannot be observed directly, cardinality must remain an assumption, which is usually imposed based on statistical convenience rather than on reason. The premise of this paper is that it is both possible and useful to make this assumption more informed. The analysis applies the principle of simultaneous conjoint measurement to improve our understanding of what information is contained within subjective wellbeing scores. Specifically, the metrics of the eleven-point numeric life satisfaction scale is evaluated using the MH5 mental health survey instrument. Under the assumption that the response function for MH5 is identifiable by the Rasch model, the shape of the response function for life satisfaction is potentially observable indirectly via the association between life satisfaction and MH5. The results presented here suggest life satisfaction scores are ordinally distinct, in terms of these mental health data, which supports the assumption of ordinal comparability. Under the aforementioned assumption, these scores are also approximately equidistant, which supports cardinal comparability. This pattern is found both across individuals and within individuals across time.     

South African Quality of Life Trends Over Three Decades, 1980–2010

The South African Quality of Life Trends study has tracked the subjective well-being of South Africans in ten waves from 1983 to 2010. The paper presents the SAQoL trendline of life satisfaction, happiness and perceptions of life getting better or worse against the backdrop of the transition from apartheid to democracy. Subjective well-being peaked in the month following the first open elections in April 1994 when black and white South Africans were equally satisfied and happy at levels found in other democratic societies. But post-election euphoria was short-lived and levels of well-being dropped the following year and racial inequalities in evaluations of life re-emerged. The tenth and latest wave in the study was conducted a few months after South Africa’s successful hosting of the Soccer World Cup. In 2010, the proportions of all South Africans expressing satisfaction, happiness and optimism was among the highest since the coming of democracy—just over half stated they were satisfied, close on two-thirds were happy, and half felt life was getting better. Nonetheless, while the standard of living has increased for a minority of formerly disadvantaged South Africans and a small black middle class has emerged, there are still huge disparities in both material and subjective well-being. In 1997 and 2010, South Africans were asked what would make them happier in future. In 2010, the majority of citizens still hoped for basic necessities, income and employment, to enhance their quality of life.     

Dimensions of mental health: Life satisfaction,positive affect,anxiety and depression

Psychological well-being and psychological distress are often regarded as distinct, if not orthogonal dimensions of mental health. Based on analyses in this paper, we consider the distinction misleading. Four dimensions seem worth measuring in general population surveys: life satisfaction, positive affect, anxiety and depression. Furthermore, one of the well-being dimensions, life satisfaction, is quite strongly correlated with a distress dimension, depression. A person is unlikely to be both satisfied with life and depressed, but may be satisfied and anxious. The paper is based on convergent validity (exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses) and divergent validity assessments of a range of widely used measures, which were included in the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Survey, 1987.     

Health, Quality of Life and Population Density: A Preliminary Study on “Contextualized” Quality of Life

Quality of life concerns individual (physical and psychological health), interpersonal (social relationships) and contextual (environment) aspects, which are both subjective and objective. In considering contextual characteristics, empirical findings have demonstrated that people’s relation to their living environment is a key issue for their well-being. However, until now literature has paid little attention to population density as an element affecting quality of life. The present study aimed at assessing the predictive role of population density on the several domains of quality of life, along with socio-demographic characteristics and physical diseases. Participants were 344 subjects living in the Northern Italy area. A questionnaire with WHO Quality of Life Brief Scale, a checklist of chronic diseases and a socio-demographic form was used to collect data. Results showed that population density influences psychological, relational and environmental quality of life. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Happiness and Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents in Hong Kong: Relationships and Self-Concept

This study uses survey data from adolescents (N = 1,428) in Hong Kong to test the association of gender with happiness and life satisfaction through relationship style and self-concept. While self-esteem and purpose in life are associated with higher happiness and life satisfaction, having more close friends is related to higher happiness, but not necessarily life satisfaction. On the other hand, boys with higher academic achievement are happier, but not more satisfied; the opposite holds true for girls. Our results provide a much-needed investigation of the differential effect of gender on the subjective well-being of adolescents. Contributing to the theoretical debate about the concepts of subjective well-being, we argue that happiness and life satisfaction are empirically and conceptually distinct. Life satisfaction might be characterized by more profound enjoyment and achievement in life than happiness.     

Good Job,Good Life? Working Conditions and Quality of Life in Europe

Cross-national comparisons generally show large differences in life satisfaction of individuals within and between European countries. This paper addresses the question of whether and how job quality and working conditions contribute to the quality of life of employed populations in nine strategically selected EU countries: Finland, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Using data from the European Quality of Life Survey 2003, we examine relationships between working conditions and satisfaction with life, as well as whether spillover or segmentation mechanisms better explain the link between work domain and overall life satisfaction. Results show that the level of life satisfaction varies significantly across countries, with higher quality of life in more affluent societies. However, the impact of working conditions on life satisfaction is stronger in Southern and Eastern European countries. Our study suggests that the issue of security, such as security of employment and pay which provides economic security, is the key element that in a straightforward manner affects people’s quality of life. Other working conditions, such as autonomy at work, good career prospects and an interesting job seem to translate into high job satisfaction, which in turn increases life satisfaction indirectly. In general, bad-quality jobs tend to be more ‘effective’ in worsening workers’ perception of their life conditions than good jobs are in improving their quality of life. We discuss the differences in job-related determinants of life satisfaction between the countries and consider theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Loneliness and Subjective Happiness as Mediators of the Effects of Core Self-evaluations on Life Satisfaction Among Chinese College Students

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the mediator effects of loneliness and subjective happiness on the relationship between core self-evaluations and life satisfaction in Chinese college students. A total of 301 participants were all students who were attending three different Chinese colleges in Nanchang, Xi’an and Yan’an. Data were collected by using the Core Self-evaluations Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Path revealed that subjective happiness fully mediated the relationship between core self-evaluations and life satisfaction. Furthermore, the association between core self-evaluations and life satisfaction was not mediated by loneliness and subjective happiness partially mediated the association between core self-evaluations and loneliness. The final model also showed a significant path from core self-evaluations through subjective happiness to life satisfaction and loneliness. Limitations of the study are considered and implications of the results for increasing individuals’ life satisfaction are discussed.     

新生代农村流动人口内部生活满意度差异研究--以江苏省为例

新生代农村流动人口正逐渐成为中国农村流动人口的主体。与老一代相比,新生代农村流动人口具有较为不同的客观经济社会属性和主观认知特征,而其生活满意度又将影响其未来的市民化决策。本文基于2012年江苏省外出青年农村流动人口调研,运用结构方程模型研究发现,新生代农村流动人口内部已出现较为明显的年龄差异。对于影响生活满意度的因子,新生代农村流动人口客观属性上的差异主要体现在所处生命周期的不同,而主观认知的不同则更多体现了时代背景的变化。     

Personality and Life Events as Predictors of Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction: Do Life Events Mediate the Link Between Personality and Life Satisfaction?

This study examined the association among personality traits, life events and life satisfaction, and the underlying pathways from personality traits to life satisfaction. A total of 1,961 adolescents were recruited from 21 secondary schools in Hong Kong. The adolescent version of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory (CPAI-A), the Chinese Adolescent Life Events Checklist (CALEC) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) were employed to assess their personality, life events and life satisfaction, respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed there was an additional value of the indigenously derived scales of CPAI-A, including the Family Orientation, Harmony and Ren-Qing scales, in predicting life satisfaction beyond the universal personality traits. Results also indicated that there was a partial mediation effect of negative life events on personality traits in the prediction of life satisfaction.     

Social Capital, Satisfaction and Quality of Life in the Workplace

This article is an empirical analysis of the relationship between social capital and satisfaction and quality of life in the workplace in Spain. Social capital has been defined as the set of cooperative relationships between social actors that facilitate collective action. This concept has been measured based on five dimensions: trust, social relations, commitment, communication and influence. An analysis has been carried out applying regression and causal models to determine the influence on satisfaction and quality of life at work of social capital dimensions and of characteristics of the worker, work environment and company or organization. The data is based on Spain's 2001 Quality of Life at Work Survey. The results of the analysis indicate that the models applied are significant, which confirms the examined propositions. Higher levels of social capital imply greater levels of satisfaction and quality of life at work. Social capital is a better predictor of quality of life at work and job satisfaction than the characteristics of the worker, the company or organization, and the work environment.