The determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia: Findings from the Gallup World Poll

Research on life satisfaction in non-Western countries has grown somewhat in recent years, but still lags far behind that of developed countries. The present study was aimed at investigating determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia, a developing country that has experienced a number of difficulties over the past three decades. A large, representative Serbian sample (a total of 11,618 participants; 54.6% females, Mage = 47.02) from the Gallup World Poll was used. The results showed substantial gender differences in life satisfaction only among the oldest old (aged 81-99), with elderly women reporting substantially lower life satisfaction than elderly men (Cohen’s d = 0.38). Life satisfaction showed a steady, progressive decline among women, whereas men’s life satisfaction declined until approximately 50 years of age, and then remained relatively stable. The relationship between income and life satisfaction was positive, but much stronger at lower income levels. Robust predictors of life satisfaction in both men and women and across age groups were satisfaction with standard of living and household income, negative affect, and social support

Predictors of life satisfaction in a large nationally representative Japanese sample

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. Life satisfaction (LS), as a major indicator of subjective well-being, is a rapidly growing concern all over the world. Despite their country\u27s powerful economic status, Japanese people experience relatively low levels of LS. This paper investigates demographic, social and psychological variables associated with Japanese people\u27s life evaluation, and identifies important factors in each age and gender group. Using a representative annual survey of Japanese respondents, we find that material well-being (household income satisfaction, satisfaction with standards of living) is most strongly associated with LS. Other factors such as marital status, affective experience, and education, are also significant predictors. The data show that LS decreases over the life course and that individuals in late adulthood are the least satisfied with their lives. Furthermore, there is evidence that a gender gap exists for levels of LS at each stage of life. We identify important factors associated with LS across gender and age groups and, overall, our intensive analysis of a wide range of potential factors provides a comprehensive model of life evaluation in Japan. We conclude with the argument that follow-up studies will benefit from a consideration of key social issues in the context of Japanese society such as relative wealth, ageing, and gender inequality

Four fundamental distinctions in conceptions of wellbeing across cultures

One of the key roles of culture is to shape how human groups pursue personal and collective wellbeing, and thus each culture contains prescriptions and customs about how to achieve optimal functioning and wellbeing. This chapter identifies four fundamental differences in the conceptualizations of mental wellbeing across cultures. The identified differences are in the centrality of hedonic experience, self-enhancement, autonomy, and the relevance of contextual factors in determining wellbeing. These overlapping dynamics provide a framework for categorizing and making sense of existing cross-cultural findings on mental wellbeing. The chapter discusses the theoretical and empirical implications of the reviewed cross-cultural findings for international measurements of wellbeing. We argue that various measures of wellbeing may function differently in different global regions, with crucial implications for how countries are ranked based on wellbeing. Our review also highlights the relevance of cross-cultural variations in the concepts of wellbeing for designing interventions and policies and evaluating their effectiveness across cultures

Fear of happiness across cultures: A review of where and why are people afraid of happiness

Abstract One of the basic postulations of contemporary Western culture is that pursuing personal happiness is among the highest values guiding individuals' lives. For example, in American culture it is believed that failing to appear happy is cause for concern. These cultural notions are also echoed in contemporary Western psychology (including positive psychology and the field of subjective well-being). However, some important facets of the experience of happiness have been overlooked so far in the psychological research on the topic. One of these cultural phenomena is that, for some individuals, happiness is not a supreme value. In fact, some individuals across cultures are afraid of happiness for several different reasons. This article presents the first review of the concept of the fear of happiness. Implications of the outcomes are discussed, as are directions for further research

A two-dimensional conceptual framework for understanding mental well-being

The complex nature of mental well-being is reflected in the great diversity of variables thought to represent aspects of mental flourishing. Discovering the underlying structure of mental well-being is important for a full understanding of this complex construct. Using data from 3 countries (the United States, Japan, and Iran), we performed multi-dimensional scaling to analyze the representation of 9 hedonic and eudaimonic well-being variables in a 2-dimensional psychological space. The analyses revealed 2 interpretable underlying dimensions across cultures and gender groups. The first dimension—eudaimonic well-being versus hedonic well-being—is well-known to well-being researchers. The second dimension—existential relatedness versus Epicurean independence—has not been recognized before. Existential relatedness is the characteristic of being meaningfully interconnected with things other than oneself, and is mainly based on the variables positive relations with others, personal growth, purpose in life, and life satisfaction. Epicurean independence is the characteristic of being relatively free of painful experiences and not feeling the need to have ones’ views accepted by anyone but oneself. Epicurean independence is mainly based on the variables autonomy and absence of negative affect. We explain these dimensions in detail and discuss the implications for well-being research and policy

Burnout, depression, efficacy beliefs, and work-related variables among school teachers

The present study investigated burnout and its associated factors in school teachers. We tested the relationships between burnout, depression, efficacy beliefs (self and collective), school climate, and organizational justice in a sample of 609 Italian school teachers. Using path analysis and controlling for age and gender, we found that collective efficacy, school climate, and organizational justice were significantly associated with burnout and depression. The relationships between these variables and depression were mediated by burnout. Results suggest that planning development programs to reduce teachers’ malaise and improve their evaluation methods involves taking into account the buffering effect of efficacy beliefs, school climate, and organizational justice against burnout and depression

Personality and the happiness of others : a study among 13- to 15-year-old adolescents

This study was designed to assess the level of concern for the happiness of others among a sample of 13- to 15-year-old adolescents in England (N=3,095) and to test the theory that concern for the happiness of others occupies a different psychological space (within Eysenck’s three dimensional model of personality) from the space occupied by personal happiness. The data demonstrated a high level of concern for the happiness of others, with 84% of the adolescents saying that, ‘It is important to me to make other people happy’. While high levels of personal happiness are generally shown to be associated with low neuroticism and high extraversion (stable extraversion), these data demonstrated high levels of concern for the happiness of others tend to be associated with high neuroticism, high extraversion, high social conformity, and low psychoticism

Review of The Oxford Handbook of Happiness

The Oxford Handbook of Happiness is the most comprehensive single volume on the subject of happiness. This long-anticipated landmark collection, along with the similarly ambitious Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research (A. Michalos, ed. 2013, Springer) shows happiness scholarship coming of age and spreading outward into new themes and disciplines as well as forward into policy and practice. The book takes a broad definition of happiness and its contents span positive psychology and interdisciplinary (but psychology-focused) happiness studies. On the whole, the handbook is a remarkable achievement in that it covers most of the basic contemporary knowledge about happiness as well as giving glimpses of more advanced and specific findings

Predictors of Life Satisfaction: A Nationwide Investigation in Iran

Iran is a developing country with low levels of economic development and globalization and is ruled by a theocratic government. To address the lack of national research on well-being in Iran, this retrospective observational study aims to examine life satisfaction and its main determinants among Iranian adults. Using World Gallup Poll data collected between 2006 and 2017, we examined life satisfaction as a cognitive aspect of subjective well-being in relation to various factors. Our results show that income is the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, followed by standard of living, gender, social support, age, negative affect, and education. In developing countries such as Iran, which face significant economic, political, and social challenges, individuals prioritize the satisfaction of basic needs by emphasizing factors such as the socioeconomic status. In contrast, developed countries with established welfare systems may emphasize other values such as social connections and healthy lifestyle behaviors as key factors in life satisfaction. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the determinants of life satisfaction in Iran and provides insights for future research and policy making