The Palliative Function of System Justification: Concurrent Benefits Versus Longer-Term Costs to Wellbeing

We examined the extent to which system justification buffered the negative effect of retrospective experiences of active harm from general sources in society on life satisfaction during the same assessment period, and prospectively 1 year later. Results from a nationally representative sample indicated that the retrospective assessment of active harm and quality of life were uncorrelated for people who endorsed system justifying ideology (N = 6,518). Study 2 replicated the concurrent buffering effect of system justification on subjective wellbeing and demonstrated that the effect reversed over time. For people high in system justification beliefs, societal-level harm prospectively predicted lower life satisfaction 1 year later (N = 136 undergraduates). Perceiving the system as fair and legitimate in the face of harm from others in society has opposing short and longer-term effects on wellbeing. We argue that these opposing effects occur because although system justification trumps experiences of harm and buffers life satisfaction in the short-term; the resulting experience-belief conflict engenders a state of ideological dissonance that predicts negative psychological outcomes down the track.     

Exploring the Hierarchical Structure of Pacific Identity and Wellbeing

To understand outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand we need to further our psychological knowledge of the relationship between Pacific identity and wellbeing. We map the hierarchical organization of Pacific identity and wellbeing using a novel top-down factor analytic approach applied to the Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS; N = 586). Analyses indicated that Pacific identity experiences were organized within two broad dimensions reflecting Identity Engagement and Cultural Wellbeing. Critically, our analysis showed that Religious Centrality and Embeddedness emerged jointly from these dual broad domains. Religious identification provides a bridging link between identity and wellbeing for Pacific peoples. Identifying the relationships of Pacific identity and wellbeing factors, and how religious identification emerges jointly from these two broad domains, provides valuable information in how the Pacific self may be cognitively organized and may assist in future research directions in this area. We assert that this general statistical model provides broad conceptual insights into how Pacific peoples experience their identity and culture, and how this relates to various social indicators of health and wellbeing at a broad, theoretical level. In particular, we offer a conceptual analysis of possible insights from our hierarchical model of identity and wellbeing for understanding Pacific suicide in New Zealand.     

Considering the Role of Nativity in the Health and Psychological Wellbeing of Black LGBT Adults

ABSTRACT

Recent scholars have underscored how the experiences of LGBT people of color cannot be fully understood by considering only the independent contributions of race and sexual orientation. Framed by an intersectional lens, the current study seeks to address this gap in understanding by considering the role of nativity on the health and wellbeing of Black sexual minority adults; we also examined the moderating effects of family support and racial community climate on this relationship. Using national data from the Social Justice Sexuality Project (N = 2,166), we discovered that foreign-born Black LGBT adults had similar levels of psychological wellbeing and physical health as their native counterparts; family support and racial community climate did not moderate this relationship. Our findings did, however, substantiate the importance of family and community support for all Black LGBT adults, regardless of immigration status. Implications of this finding, in addition to directions for future intersectional work on racial minority LGBT people, are discussed.     

Indigenous Wellbeing Frameworks in Australia and the Quest for Quantification

There is an emerging global recognition of the inadequacies of conventional socio-economic and demographic data in being able to reflect the relative wellbeing of Indigenous peoples. This paper emerges out of a recent desktop study commissioned by an Australian Indigenous organization who identified a need to enhance local literacies in data collection and interpretation in order to monitor the wellbeing of the Indigenous people within their region, manage governments in respect of their civic responsibilities to this population, and proactively and imaginatively plan for the future of the Indigenous people in their region. In canvassing available data and the growing Indigenous wellbeing literature, it became apparent that conventional statistical collections used to report on the status of populations are governed by a series of assumptions regarding three related concepts: wellbeing; demography; and economic productivity and prosperity. These assumptions have direct implications for how Indigenous peoples are represented to governments and broader society. The paper draws together the existing threads of literature regarding Indigenous wellbeing research to posit a possible broader framework for organising various kinds of Indigenous wellbeing analyses. In doing so, it identifies important shortcomings and deficits in the kinds of data that are available to Indigenous peoples in presenting themselves and their aspirations to governments with. It also opens up a critical analysis of the opportunities and obstacles for Indigenous communities in undertaking such research.     

Relationship Between Socio-Economic Values and Wellbeing: An Overview Research in Asia

This paper investigates ten Asian nations to consider how socio-economic values affect happiness and satisfaction. Moreover, it considers whether economic factors can strongly affect wellbeing under certain conditions. Males in Asia are said they have more opportunities to obtain higher happiness and satisfaction but it does not happen in the current study. Unemployment has negative and significant impact with regard to happiness and satisfaction in developing countries yet it does not have the same effect in developed nations. It is believed cultural value positively affects happiness and satisfaction in East Asia but the result in the models is different with no clear relationship between this variable and wellbeing. Furthermore, some people declare that a relative increase of income compared to the lowest group will lead them to lower life satisfaction.     

Social Capital Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing of Older Chinese

Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies, this study provides insights on comparative wellbeing outcomes for older people who are institutionally segregated into clusters that produce uneven social capital. We present the first study that examines how institutionalized social capital inequality, measured by the social capital gap generated by hukou (household registration) status in China, affects the wellbeing of older people. Our results show that high levels of social capital inequality are associated with lower subjective wellbeing, measured by life satisfaction. This general conclusion is robust to a number of sensitivity checks including alternative ways of measuring subjective wellbeing and inequality. We also find that the negative relationship between social capital inequality and subjective wellbeing is strongest for people with a non-urban hukou living in urban areas. Our findings highlight the need for policies aimed at narrowing the social capital gap and the dismantling of institutional structures that hinder upward social capital mobility.

     

Why Do Pacific People with Multiple Ethnic Affiliations Have Poorer Subjective Wellbeing? Negative Ingroup Affect Mediates the Identity Tension Effect

We argue that multi-ethnic affiliation as a member of both the Pacific and majority (European) group creates tension in psychological wellbeing for Pacific peoples of mixed ancestry. Study 1 showed that multi-ethnic Pacific/non-Pacific people were lower in Pacific Familial Wellbeing relative to mono-ethnic Pacific and multi-ethnic Pacific/Pacific people (n = 586). Study 2 replicated this effect in a New Zealand (NZ) national probability sample using a measure of self-esteem (n = 276). Study 2 also modelled the mechanism driving the identity tension effect, and showed that group differences in negative affect toward Pacific peoples fully mediated the effect of ethnic mixed or mono-ethnic group affiliation on self-esteem. This currently affects the one-third of Pacific people who identify as Pacific/non-Pacific in NZ and occurs because multi-ethnic identification promotes the endorsement of negative societal attitudes toward Pacific peoples. Our model indicates that endorsement of such attitudes produces a more negative self-evaluation and generally corrodes subjective wellbeing and family integration. Population projections indicate that this potentially at-risk Pacific/non-Pacific group may increase dramatically in subsequent generations (upwards of 3.3 % of the population by 2026). Implications for the study of Pacific wellbeing, and avenues for applied research targeting this newly-identified emerging social problem are discussed.     

Bridging the Gap: Conceptual and Empirical Dimensions of Child Wellbeing in Rural Mexico

While conceptualizations of child wellbeing usually include multiple dimensions and complex notions, measurements of child wellbeing often tend to be simpler. This mismatch between concepts and measurements is often rooted in a limitation in the instruments that were originally conceived to assess child wellbeing. This paper aims to help in closing this gap by proposing a model that measures child wellbeing in a multi-dimensional way. With the aid of structural equation modeling (SEM), the model examines the physical health, cognitive ability, motor co-ordination, and emotional competence of around 2,000 children aged four to 6 years in poor rural communities in Mexico. Data is extracted from the Household Evaluation Survey-2003 (Encuesta de Evaluación de Hogares, ENCEL-2003). This paper concludes that further investments in the measurement of child wellbeing are needed, particularly in relation to subjective wellbeing, time use, and the role of children within the household and in society. Nevertheless, while more data is collected, this paper also concludes that SEM appears to be a great aid in exploring multiple dimensions of child wellbeing simultaneously.     

The Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS): A Culturally-Appropriate Self-Report Measure for Pacific Peoples in New Zealand

We describe and validate the Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS). The PIWBS is a culturally appropriate self-report measure assessing a five-factor model of Pacific identity and wellbeing. Items and construct definitions were developed through qualitative interviews, review of psychological theories, and previous research on Pacific concepts of ethnic identity and wellbeing. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the model (Study 1 N = 143; Study 2 N = 443). The proposed five-factor model of Pacific identity and wellbeing includes scales assessing (1) Perceived Familial Wellbeing, (2) Perceived Societal Wellbeing, (3) Pacific Connectedness and Belonging, (4) Religious Centrality and Embeddedness, and (5) Group Membership Evaluation. The PIWBS provides a culturally appropriate valid and reliable assessment tool that can be used for within-cultural research for Pacific peoples from a Pacific perspective. A copy of the PIWBS and scoring instructions for its use are included.     

Subjective Wellbeing and its Meaning for Young People in a Rural Australian Center

In Australia, wellbeing has been used as an assessment of how young people are doing by health researchers, youth researchers and psychologists. The concept ‚wellbeing’ is increasingly applied to young people in their late teens and early twenties with little discussion of young people’s perspectives. Using quantitative measures of subjective wellbeing as well as qualitative interviews to allow young people to discuss the concept of wellbeing, this study explored the levels and meanings of wellbeing among 91 young people (aged 16–24) from a rural center in south-east Australia. Key components of wellbeing for young people were found to include relationships, psychological dimensions and personal issues while family and ‚pressure’ impacted wellbeing. For most young people, wellbeing was multidimensional, holistic and centred around their own lives. Findings suggest that the Deiner et al. satisfaction with life scale was an appropriate measure of young people’s wellbeing but that health, sociology of youth and psychological approaches all contribute to young people’s perspectives of wellbeing and need to be incorporated into a more holistic measure of SWB for young people.     

All in the Family: How Do Social Capital and Material Wellbeing Affect Relational Wellbeing?

We use a unique dataset from Italy to investigate the impact of socioeconomic characteristics and social capital on family wellbeing and satisfaction. We assess wellbeing using four dimensions of satisfaction with family life: satisfaction with decision making processes, with relationships with partner and children, and with time spent with children. Social capital is measured through information about membership in organizations, trust, and interactions with others. We find that while socioeconomic characteristics in general do not have strong effects on family wellbeing, social capital matters for family life satisfaction.

     

Developing a National Index of Subjective Wellbeing: The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index has beendesigned as a new barometer of Australians'satisfaction with their lives, and life inAustralia. It is based on, and develops, thetheoretical model of subjective wellbeinghomeostasis. The Index comprises two sub-scalesof Personal and National Wellbeing. Data werecollected through a nationally representativesample of 2,000 people in April/May 2001.Factor analysis confirmed the integrity of thetwo sub-scales and, confirming empiricalexpectation, the average level of lifesatisfaction was 75.5 percent of the scalemaximum score. Group comparisons revealed thatall age groups maintained their Personal Indexscore within the normal range. In addition,people in country areas were more satisfiedwith their personal lives than city-dwellers,but less satisfied about the nationalsituation, and people who had recentlyexperienced a strong positive event evidenced arise in wellbeing, whereas those who hadexperienced a strong negative event evidencedwellbeing in the low-normal range. It is arguedthat these data generally support homeostatictheory. However, an unusual result was thatfemales were more satisfied with their ownlives than males. A tentative argument isadvanced that this may represent aconstitutional difference. It is concluded thatthe Australian Unity Wellbeing Index haspotential as a valid, reliable and sensitiveinstrument to monitor national wellbeing.     

The Interaction of Same-Sex Marriage Access With Sexual Minority Identity on Mental Health and Subjective Wellbeing

Previous psychological and public health research has highlighted the impact of legal recognition of same-sex relationships on individual identity and mental health. Using a sample of U.S. sexual minority (N = 313) and heterosexual (N = 214) adults, participants completed a battery of mental health inventories prior to the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) examining identity revealed sexual minority participants living in states where same-sex marriage was banned experienced significantly higher levels of internalized homonegativity than sexual minority participants living in states where same-sex marriage was legal, even after controlling for state-level political climate. Mental health ANCOVAs revealed sexual minority participants residing in states without same-sex marriage experienced greater anxiety and lower subjective wellbeing compared to sexual minority participants residing in states with same-sex marriage and heterosexual participants residing in states with or without same-sex marriage. Implications for public policy and future research directions are discussed.     

Multidimensional Racial Inequality in the United States

This paper measures racial inequalities in the US using a multidimensional ‘wellbeing’ approach that simultaneously considers the distributions of income, health and education. The primary objective is to examine trends in US wellbeing inequality with an emphasis on changes in racial composition. Data is taken from 1990 to 2007 and we observe increases in income inequality, a decline in education inequality and unchanged health inequality over the period. Taken together, these results show a slight increase in the dispersion in multidimensional wellbeing. Stratifying by racial groups shows that this increase is due to widening intra-racial inequalities while inter-racial differences remained unchanged. The method is also used to evaluate wellbeing across groups and we estimate black wellbeing to average around 76 % of whites, while persons from other races average approximately 93 %. Some other changes in composition occur through time and the results are shown to be robust to a number of changes in parametric weightings.     

Capturing Multidimensionality: What does a Human Wellbeing Conceptual Framework Add to the Analysis of Vulnerability?

Much research to date has tended to view vulnerability by discipline or sector, despite the fact that individuals and households experience multiple, interacting and sometimes compound vulnerabilities. However, cross-disciplinary thinking on vulnerability has emerged. At the same time, also emergent is an alternative to traditional thinking on poverty, which shifts the focus away from poverty as a static set of deprivations towards poverty as a dynamic set of interacting material, relational and subjective aspects of life in a human wellbeing perspective. The contribution of this paper is to bring together these two strands of thinking in order to explore the ways in which a human wellbeing conceptual framework might contribute to the analysis of vulnerability in terms of better capturing the multidimensionality of vulnerability.     

The Impact of Macro-Economic Circumstances and Social Protection Expenditure on Economic Deprivation in 25 European Countries, 2007–2011

In this study, we investigate to what extent macro-economic circumstances and social protection expenditure affect economic deprivation. We use three items from round five of the European Social Survey (2010–2011) to construct our latent outcome variable, which we label economic deprivation in the 3 years before 2010–2011. The results of our linear multilevel regression analyses indicate that in countries that perform worse economically, individual experiences of economic deprivation are more prevalent: the stronger the rise in the unemployment rate and the lower a country’s wealth, the more economic deprivation individuals experience. We also find that in countries with high levels of social protection, people experience less economic deprivation as compared to countries with low levels of social protection. In turn, adverse economic conditions in a country temper these positive outcomes of social welfare arrangements. Finally, our study reveals that the strength of the relationship between a low income and economic deprivation strongly varies according to the economic circumstances in a country and the generosity of the welfare state.     

Local Meanings of Wellbeing and the Construction of Wellbeing Indicators

There have been attempts to develop and employ tools for measuring development that shifted away from economic growth. In Thailand, a number of alternative indicators to measure the progress of development were created and employed. However, the indicators and measurements of development continued to be challenging, partly because of the dynamic changes of socio-economics, and partly due to the inconsistency between aggregated and local, or individual units of measurement. This paper aims to study meanings and develop wellbeing indicators of a community in the Northeast of Thailand. The data was derived from qualitative research conducted during 2013–2014. Focus group discussions with thirty-five formal and informal community leaders were used, and in-depth interviews were applied to collect data from thirty key informants. The results showed that the indicators of community wellbeing are classified into four groups, namely objective community wellbeing, community trust, community security, and community strength. The objective community wellbeing indicators were consistent with those that are used to guide policy and practice in Thailand. However, based on the local meaning of community wellbeing, new dimensions of indicators were found and proposed. This study recommended that these indicators should be developed further, to be employed as a tool to monitor progress, especially by local government.     

The Gap in the Subjective Wellbeing of M��ori and New Zealand Europeans Widened Between 2005 and 2009

We compared the self-reported subjective wellbeing of M??ori and New Zealand (NZ) Europeans in two NZ national postal samples. The first sample was collected in 2005 before the global financial crisis of 2007/2010. The second was collected in 2009 while the crisis was ongoing. Both samples contained large and arguably representative samples of the indigenous peoples of NZ, M??ori (Ns = 289 and 964) as well as the now-majority group, NZ Europeans (Ns = 2,769 and 4,073). NZ Europeans?? scores on the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) were near-identical across the 2005 and 2009 samples. However, M??ori, who were already lower than NZ Europeans on the PWI in 2005, showed a further decrease in 2009. We argue that this gap in wellbeing widened because material advantages experienced by NZ Europeans as a social group provides a systemic buffer which protects their personal wellbeing from the impact of economic privation. M??ori, who had already experienced systemic disadvantage, were not privileged with this buffer, and thus, the effects of the 2007/2010 global financial crisis impacted their personal wellbeing to a greater extent.