Life satisfaction: A study based on the organization of personal projects

A methodology about personal project was used to understand perceived life satisfaction. Variables derived from the Personal Project Matrix were shown to explain variability in reported life satisfaction in two separate studies (university and professional samples). The results indicated that personal projects of students had been organized in systems and these systems' properties had meaningful effects on life satisfaction. A cross-validation analysis revealed that professionals' projects did not show the same systemic feature which students' projects had. But some variables such as projects performed in general places, stress, and amount of reported obstacles discriminated life satisfaction scores meaningfully.     

The Association Between Perceived Spirituality, Religiosity, and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Self-Rated Health

This study examined the mediating role of self-perceived health between perceived spirituality, religiosity, and life satisfaction among a stratified, random sample of college students, while controlling for gender. Although both models displayed excellent fit criteria, the perceived spirituality and life satisfaction model was fully mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 4) = 1.64, p=0.80, CFI =0.99, TLI=0.99), and the perceived religiosity and life satisfaction model was partially mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 10) = 22.29, p=0.01 CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99). Both models were equal for men and women. Students who describe themselves as spiritual (or religious) are likely to report greater self-perceived health and greater self-perceived health likely influences life satisfaction for both men and women. Results preliminarily support the contention that life satisfaction is related to differing reported health status, whether physical or mental, and that life satisfaction may be influenced by religiosity and spirituality engagement. Implications for colleges and universities are discussed.     

Personal Wellbeing Index in a National Cohort of 87,134 Thai Adults

Satisfaction with life correlates with other measures of subjective wellbeing and correlates predictably with individual characteristics and overall health. Social indicators and subjective wellbeing measures are necessary to evaluate a society and can be used to produce national indicators of happiness. This study therefore aims to help close the gap in wellbeing data for Thailand. The specific aims are to: (1) calculate the Thai PWI and domain scores using a large scale sample; (2) examine the level of life satisfaction of Thais when compared to international standards; (3) examine the Thai PWI and domains in relation to demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics. Our report derives from the findings on the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) in a large national cohort of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University adult students living all over Thailand (n = 87,134). This Thai cohort had an overall PWI of 70.0 on a scale from 0 to 100 which is consistent with Western populations. The ‘spirituality and religion’ domain had the highest average score. ‘Standard of living’, ‘future security’ and ‘achievement in life’ made the largest contribution to overall ‘satisfaction in life as a whole’. These domains also show a positive trend with increasing age, being married, higher income, more education, more household assets, and rural residence. The PWI will be an important tool for policymakers to understand the subjective wellbeing of population groups especially as Thailand is undergoing a political and economic transition.     

Economic disadvantage,perceived family life quality,and emotional well-being in Chinese adolescents: A longitudinal study

Over three consecutive years, Chinese secondary school students experiencing and not experiencing economic disadvantage (n = 280 and 2,187, respectively) responded to measures of perceived family life quality (parenting attributes and parent-child relational quality) and emotional well-being (hopelessness, mastery, life satisfaction and self-esteem). While participants experiencing economic disadvantage generally had more negative perceptions of parenting quality and parent-child relational quality than did adolescents not experiencing economic disadvantage, the differences were more pronounced for the father-adolescent dyad than for the mother-adolescent dyad. Emotional well-being was also different in adolescents with and without economic disadvantage. Although adolescents experiencing different intensity of economic disadvantage differed on some paternal parenting processes, no related differences were observed for other measures of family life quality and emotional well-being. The present study fills the research gap pertinent to the relationship between economic disadvantage and family as well as emotional quality of life in early adolescence in the Chinese culture. This work was financially supported by the Research Grants Council of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong (Grant CUHK4293/03H) and Wofoo Foundation. The author wishes to thank Britta Lee and Joyce Chow for their assistance in collecting the data.     

The Values Adolescents Aspire to,Their Well-being and the Values Parents Aspire to for Their Children

This paper presents a study of the relationship between the psychological well-being of Spanish adolescents from 12 to 16 years old and the values they aspire to for the future (N = 1,618). Adolescents’ well-being is explored through (a) their satisfaction with 19 specific life domains, (b) the Personal Well-Being Index (Cummins, Social Indicators Research, 43, 307−334, 1998) and (c) an item on overall satisfaction with life. The values they aspire to are explored by means of a list of 23 personal qualities or values. Satisfaction domains and values aspired to have been grouped into dimensions using principal component analysis (PCA). Boys scored significantly higher on the materialistic values dimension and the capacities and knowledge related values dimension, while girls scored higher on the interpersonal relationship related values dimension. The youngest adolescents scored higher on materialistic values, while the oldest scored higher on interpersonal relationships related values. Such results are similar to those obtained in a previous study, using a shorter version of the lists of satisfaction domains and of values aspired to and a sample of 8,995 adolescents and 4,381 of their parents from five different countries. In both studies results suggest that values aspired to can be considered a well-being related construct. However, an important change appears in the latest Spanish sample: Family values no longer fit with the interpersonal relationships related values dimension in the PCA, and now function as a separate value dimension which shows no correlation with overall life satisfaction, the PWI, or life satisfaction domains with the exception of family satisfaction. Interestingly, family values have also changed their loading dimension in the PCA developed with the answers from a sample of parents about the values they aspire to for their own child’s future (N = 723). Parents’ responses were compared with those of their own child, with concordances observed in about half of the families, low discrepancies in about one third and high or very high discrepancies in about 20%. Although the results of this study have their limitations, they suggest support for the hypothesis that important changes in values aspired to may be taking place over a short period of time, consistent with the findings of changes in values in several countries (Inglehart, Modernization and postmodernization. Cultural, economic and political change in 43 societies, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), but apparently with no outstanding impact on adolescents’ well-being.     

Personal Project Content and Stress: Relations to Subjective Health and Depressive Mood

The aim of this study was to examine how personal project stress and stress related to different personal project contents are associated with subjective health and depressive mood among adults. Participants were 343 men and women (20–76 years old), who responded to the questionnaire including the Little’s Personal Project Analysis, and health and depression measures. As expected, high personal project stress was related to lower perceived general health, greater number of health complaints, and higher level of depressive mood. Further analysis showed that general health, health complaints, and depressive mood were predicted by stress related to specific personal project contents.     

Initiating Personal Growth: The Role of Recognition and Life Satisfaction on the Development of College Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of life satisfaction between positive recognition and levels of personal growth initiative in a collegiate setting. The design of the research study utilized a quantitative research method. A brief questionnaire assessed 204 undergraduate students at a mid-sized university. The average age of the participants was 19 years old and the predominant race was Caucasian. Approximately the same number of male and female participants completed the survey. Each participant answered questions that measured perceived life satisfaction, personal growth initiative and the amount of recognition and praise received from family and overall within a typical college setting. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the relationship between the variables. The hypothesized mediational model had adequate fit. Positive recognition and personal growth initiative were mediated by life satisfaction χ² (n = 204, 101) = 259.20, CFI = .88, TLI = .86. Results from this study hope to show that life satisfaction builds the relationship between receiving recognition and an undergraduate’s involvement in changing and developing as an individual. In addition, the study hopes to use the emerging field of Positive Psychology to identify applications of life satisfaction, personal growth initiative and recognition to assist with the optimal functioning of college students and the overall educational institution.     

Perceived Quality of Life and Self-Rated Health among First-Year University Students

This study compares health status and qualityof life assessments of first-year universitystudents with those of their same-age workingcounterparts. Subjects and materials for eachgroup were gathered in 1999 from twocross-sectional data sets from the Swedishregion of Östergötland, covering malesand females aged 20–34 years. Subjects'perceived quality of life (QoL) and self-ratedhealth (SRH) were assessed on a 10-point scale(Ladder scale) and a five-point scale,respectively. Gender-based comparison revealedthat, for both males and females, first-yearuniversity students' average perceived QoL waslower than that of their working counterparts(p < 0.0001 in all instances). A higherproportion of students than expected ratedtheir health as ``average' or as ``low'(p < 0.0001). Perceived QoL was significantlycorrelated with SRH in both groups. Differencesin perceived QoL and SRH exist between studentsand their full-time working peers, and thedeterminants of these differences deservesgreater attention. Knowledge of thedeterminants of SRH and perceived QoL amonguniversity students might then be translatedinto sound and effective public-health practiceand intervention programs.     

Explaining age differences in women’s emotional well-being: The role of subjective experiences of aging

ABSTRACT

Our study examines explanations for the “paradox” of older women’s better emotional well-being compared with younger women. We consider the role of subjective experiences of aging in a society that devalues older women. Using a sample of women (n = 872) from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (1995–1996 and 2004–2006), we examine the role of five components of the subjective experience of aging in explaining older women’s better emotional well-being compared with younger women: age identity, conceptions of the timing of middle age, aging attitudes, aging anxieties, and self-assessed physiological changes. We find that, compared with women 50–54 years old, those 35–39 years old report lower positive affect, and those 25–49 report higher negative affect. These patterns are partially explained by younger women’s greater anxiety about declines in health and attractiveness and older women’s more youthful identities. Our study underscores the value of considering the implications of our ageist and sexist society for women’s emotional well-being across adulthood.     

How Neighborhood Features Affect Quality of Life

In this paper we report on the development ofthree conceptual models that explain howsatisfaction with neighborhood features affectresidents' quality of life (life satisfaction). The first model posits that satisfaction withsocial, economic, and physical features of theneighborhood affects life satisfaction throughthe mediation effect of one's overall feelingstoward the neighborhood. That is, satisfactionwith the social, economic, and physicalfeatures tend to contribute to one's overallsatisfaction with the neighborhood(neighborhood satisfaction), which in turnplays a positive role in overall feelingstoward life (life satisfaction). Survey datafrom a variety of communities located insouthwest Virginia were collected, and the datafailed to provide support to this model. The second model posits that satisfaction withthe neighborhood features (social, economic,and physical) does affect life satisfactionthrough a hierarchy-of-satisfaction effects –satisfaction with the neighborhood featuresimpacts neighborhood satisfaction, which inturn affects community satisfaction and housingsatisfaction. Housing satisfaction, in turn,affects home satisfaction. Both homesatisfaction and community satisfaction, inturn, affect life satisfaction. The surveydata failed to support this model too. The third model posits that satisfaction withdifferent features of the neighborhood (social,economic, and physical) affect different domainsatisfactions, which in turn affect lifesatisfaction. Specifically, the model arguesthat satisfaction with the physical featuresaffects both neighborhood satisfaction andhousing satisfaction. Neighborhoodsatisfaction plays a role in communitysatisfaction, whereas housing satisfactionplays a role in home satisfaction. Bothcommunity satisfaction and home satisfaction,in turn, play a role in life satisfaction. Satisfaction with the social features of theneighborhood plays a role in the satisfactionwith the neighborhood and the community – thelatter feeds into life satisfaction. Satisfaction with the economic features of theneighborhood plays a role in the satisfactionwith the house and home – the latter feeds intolife satisfaction. The data were mostly supportive of this model.     

Dimensions Of Well-Being And Their Measurement: The Spf-Il Scale

What are the dimensions of well-being? That is, what universal goals need to be realized by individuals in order to enhance their well-being? Social production function (SPF) theory asserts that the universal goals affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation are the relevant dimensions of subjective well-being. Realization of these substantive goals and the perspective on opportunities to realize these goals in the future contributes to the affective and cognitive component of well-being. The theoretical elaboration of this theory has been published elsewhere. This paper provides a measurement instrument for the dimensions of well-being. To measure levels of affection, behavioral confirmation, status, comfort and stimulation and empirically validate the dimensions of well-being, the SPF-IL scale was developed. This paper presents findings from a pilot study (n=145), the main study (n=1094), a test–retest examination (n=163), and a validation study (n=725). The measurement model was tested by means of structural equation modeling. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the dimensional structure of well-being indicating construct validity. The overall fit of the model was sufficient, in spite of the somewhat problematic measurement of status, and the test–retest study showed an acceptable level of stability. As for the content validity of the dimensions and their measurement, various sub-studies showed that the SPF-IL scale is a valid instrument, doing at least as well as popular measures of overall well-being but also specifying its dimensions.     

Cougars or kittens? The representation of celebrity cougars and their toyboys in gossip media

Abstract

Relationships involving a woman who is much older than her male partner have become increasingly visible in popular culture. These women are referred to as “cougars” and their partners as “toyboys.” This type of relationship has the potential to undermine elements of heteronormativity and intersectional gender/age performances, as women who are past their forties are not expected to engage in sexual relationships with (younger) men. The present study discusses the discourse found in Dutch gossip media (n = 138) on the relationships of preselected celebrity “cougars:” Demi Moore, Madonna, Patricia Paay, and Heleen van Royen. A qualitative content analysis reveals that certain aspects of heteronormativity are challenged: these women are depicted as financially and sexually empowered, whereas their partners are seen as interchangeable male suitors who are dependent on the female partner’s (financial/career) achievements. Yet, traditional understandings of intersectional performances (i.e., gender/age) are also found: a wise, caring mother, and a handsome, boyish, adventurous partner. Overall, these women are seen as both maintaining and challenging traditional roles that are typically associated with older women.     

新生代乡-城流动人口社会融合研究——基于上海的调查分析

基于上海市流动人口问卷调查资料,采用因子分析和多元回归分析的方法对新生代乡-城流动人口社会融合的结构维度、现状、影响因素进行了实证分析。研究发现:社会融合结构维度包括经济适应、社会接纳、文化与心理融合;社会融合度较高,但融合质量有待提高;社会融合的主要影响因素是个人特征、经济因素以及制度安排,个人特征是基础性因素,经济因素不再是影响社会融合最重要的因素,但与社会融合呈现复杂的线性关系,制度因素特别是参与社会养老保险最为重要。     

Family Life Quality and Emotional Quality of Life in Chinese Adolescents with and Without Economic Disadvantage

Chinese secondary school students (N = 2758) responded to measures of perceived family life quality (parenting quality and parent–child relational quality) and emotional quality of life (hopelessness, mastery, life satisfaction and self-esteem). Parenting quality included different aspects of parental behavioral control (parental knowledge, expectation, monitoring, discipline and demandingness as well as parental control defined in terms of indigenous Chinese concepts), parental psychological control, and parental responsiveness whereas parent–child relational quality included satisfaction with parental control, child’s readiness to communicate with the parents, parental trust of the child, and child’s trust of the parent. Results showed that parenting quality and parent–child relational quality in poor families were generally poorer than those of non-poor families and the differences were more pronounced in paternal parenting quality and father–child relational quality than in maternal parenting quality and mother–child relational quality. Emotional quality of life of adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage was also found to be poorer than that of adolescents not experiencing economic disadvantage. The present findings replicate the previous research findings in the literature and generate a pioneering dataset based on Chinese adolescents at Secondary 2 level in Hong Kong.     

Exploratory Study on Drug Users’ Perspectives on Quality of Life: More than Health-Related Quality of Life?

In drug treatment outcome literature, a focus on objective and socially desirable indicators of change (e.g. no drug use) has predominated, while outcome indicators that are important for drug users themselves (e.g. quality of life, satisfaction with treatment) have largely been neglected. Nonetheless, Quality of Life (QoL) has become an important concept to evaluate effectiveness of treatment in mental health care research and disability studies. Given the almost exclusive focus on Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in substance abuse research and the neglect of clients’ perspectives in this field, we explore in this study the concept of QoL as perceived by drug users. Focus group discussions (n = 9) were organised in various treatment settings and community services for drug users in the region of Ghent, Belgium to identify important dimensions of QoL and their interpretation by drug users. Data were clustered and analysed based on the theoretical framework of Robert Schalock (Quality of life. Volume 1: Conceptualization and measurement, 1996). The domains ‘personal relationships’, ‘social inclusion’ and ‘self-determination’ were discussed most frequently by the participants. They stressed the importance of a supportive social network in particular. It can be concluded that QoL is not primarily associated by drug users with health and it involves much more than the aspects typically represented in measures of HRQOL.     

Financial Satisfaction in Old Age: A Satisfaction Paradox or a Result of Accumulated Wealth?

Prior research consistently has found that older adults, despite low incomes, are more financially satisfied than younger adults. This “satisfaction paradox” is typically attributed to elders’ supposed psychological accommodation to poor financial circumstances. We advance a different explanation, one that focuses on substantial age differences in wealth and liabilities. Data are from the first wave of the Norwegian NorLAG study (n = 4,169). Findings support the hypothesis that an examination of a wider range of economic variables shows that material circumstances are more important to the financial satisfaction of the elderly than previously believed. A considerable part of the higher financial satisfaction with increasing age can thus be explained by greater assets and less debt among the aged. Nonetheless, assets and debt do not mediate this relationship at lower incomes, because older people with little income have very little accumulated wealth. As older people with little income and wealth have a much stronger tendency to be financially satisfied than their younger, equally poor counterparts, an “aging paradox” still remains in this field.     

Psychometric Properties of the Satisfaction with Life Scale among Turkish University Students,Correctional Officers,and Elderly Adults

This study aims to extensively examine the psychometric properties of adapted version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in different Turkish samples. In order to test the psychometric properties of the SWLS three separate and independent samples are utilized in this study, namely university students (n = 547), correctional officers (n = 166), and elderly adults (n = 123). Concerning the reliability of the scale, internal consistency and item-total correlation coefficients are found to be satisfactory for all three samples. As for the validity studies, concurrent validity of the scale is supported in all three samples by revealing the association of SWLS with conceptually related measures, which included depression, self-esteem, positive affect and negative affect, work stress, and monthly income measures. Discriminant validity is examined only in the sample of university students, and SWLS revealed a non-significant correlation with a conceptually unrelated construct (i.e., willingness to self-censor). Consistent with the original scale, a single-factor solution model reveals an adequate fit in all three different samples. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis with multi-group comparisons performed demonstrates that SWLS has the same theoretical structure for three different groups on the basis of a single-factor solution model. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.     

The Patterns of Disability in the Peripheral Neighborhoods of Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso,and the Male–Female Health‐Survival Paradox

Disability is a crucial health and social concern in sub‐Saharan Africa, where a high prevalence of disabling diseases is compounded with insufficient care provision. There is a need for detailed analysis of the disability patterns. We provide a gender‐specific picture for the population in peripheral Ouagadougou (Burkina‐Faso), based on six disability dimensions following the United Nations’ recommendations. We computed disability‐free life expectancy (LE) using the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Ouaga HDSS) (n = 1 902). Women have a longer partial LE in the 20–79 age range (+3.3 years), half of this LE being spent with a disability, versus 31% of the LE for men. Limitations in mobility, cognition, and eyesight occur in midadulthood and result in a considerable disadvantage for women in the number of years with these limitations. These findings highlight disability patterns that are detrimental to social participation and claim for better screening and care, especially for women.     

Children's Economic Roles in the Maya Family Life Cycle: Cain,Caldwell, and Chayanov Revisited

This article examines the relationship between household demographic pressure and interage transfers for a group of Maya subsistence agriculturists in Yucatán, Mexico. The authors use data from a field study conducted in 1992–93 on individual time allocation, relative productivity by age and sex, and caloric costs of activities to estimate age schedules of average consumption and production. Using these, they investigate the net costs of children to their parents and find that children have a negative net asset value up to the time they leave home. The direction of net wealth flows in this group is downward, from older to younger, and in economic terms the internal rate of return to children is highly negative up to the time they leave home. Nonetheless, children play a critically important role in the family's economic life cycle. On average, girls offset 76 percent of their consumption costs before leaving home at age 19, and boys offset 82 percent before leaving home at 22. Without the contributions from children as a group, parents would have to double or triple their work effort during part of the family life cycle if they were to raise the same number of children. By the thirteenth year of the family life cycle, children as a group produce more than half of what they consume in every year, and after the twentieth year children produce more than 80 percent of what they as a group consume. The authors also find that the elderly in the sample, ages 50 to 65, produce more than they consume. Thus while children have a negative net asset value to parents, the timing of their children's economic contribution across the family life cycle plays a key role in underwriting the cost of large families.