When Happiness is Both Joy and Purpose: The Complexity of the Pursuit of Happiness and Well-Being is Related to Actual Well-Being

People differ in how they define and pursue happiness and well-being (HWB). Previous studies suggested that the best way to achieve a high level of well-being might be to pursue different facets of HWB simultaneously. We expand on this idea and introduce the concept of complexity of HWB definitions to describe how many HWB definitions people endorse simultaneously, and the complexity of HWB-related intentions to describe how many unique facets of HWB people intend to pursue in everyday life. To operationalize these novel concepts, we developed two parallel measures that integrate psychological and philosophical definitions of HWB. In two independent studies (total N = 542), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed eight reliable and valid factors for both parallel scales: absence of negativity, positive attitude, tranquility, personal development, luck, joy and desires, purpose, and belonging. Complexity of HWB-related intentions was positively associated with all facets of well-being, whereas complexity of HWB definitions was only positively associated with some facets of well-being. HWB-related intentions and their complexity emerged as more important for the experience of well-being than HWB definitions and their complexity. These studies highlight the importance of a multifaceted conceptualization of HWB when investigating how the pursuit of HWB is related to actual levels of well-being

Measurement invariance of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience Across 13 countries

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is widely used to measure emotional experiences, but not much is known about its cross-cultural utility. The present study evaluated the measurement invariance of the SPANE across adult samples (N = 12,635; age range = 18-85 years; 58.2% female) from 13 countries (China, Colombia, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, and the United States). Configural and partial scalar invariance of the SPANE were supported. Three items capturing specific negative emotions (sad, afraid, and angry) were found to be culturally noninvariant. Our findings suggest that the SPANE's positive emotion terms and general negative emotion terms (e.g., negative and unpleasant) might be more suitable for cross-cultural studies on emotions and well-being, whereas caution is needed when comparing countries using the SPANE's specific negative emotion item

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

Die Dunkle Triade in einer deutschen repräsentativen Stichprobe

The so-called "Naughty Nine" is a psychometrically optimized German version of the "Dirty Dozen," a scale designed to assess the Dark Triad. This article examines different psychometric features of the Naughty Nine using a representative German sample. We compared several factor structures discussed in the literature and investigated measurement invariance across sex and age, using confirmatory factor analyses and locally weighted structural equation models. Further, we provide reference values for the Naughty Nine to rank individual raw values relative to a German reference population. The results show that bifactor models with Machiavellianism as the reference construct that defines the content of the general factor (the “Dark Core”) best represent the Naughty Nine. We found limitations of metric invariance across sex, which can mainly be attributed to indicators of psychopathy. Partial metric invariance was supported. Across age, we found evidence for metric invariance but also found limitations of scalar and strict invariance. Finally, we discuss the implications of investigating the Dark Triad using the Naughty Nine or the Dirty Dozen

Die Dunkle Triade in einer deutschen repräsentativen Stichprobe

<jats:p> Zusammenfassung. Die „Niederträchtigen Neun“ ist eine psychometrisch optimierte deutsche Version des „Dreckigen Dutzends“ zur Erfassung der Dunklen Triade. In dieser Studie betrachten wir diverse psychometrische Eigenschaften der Niederträchtigen Neun mit einer repräsentativen deutschen Stichprobe. Es wurden verschiedene Faktorstrukturen miteinander verglichen sowie Messinvarianzanalysen über das Geschlecht und über das Alter anhand von konfirmatorischen Faktoranalysen und lokal gewichteten Strukturgleichungsmodellen durchgeführt. Außerdem stellen wir Normwerte zur individualdiagnostischen Interpretation von Rohwerten zur Verfügung. Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Niederträchtigen Neun durch Bifaktor-Modelle mit Machiavellismus als inhaltlicher Anker des allgemeinen Faktors (dem „dunklen Kern“) am besten repräsentiert wird. Über das Geschlecht ergaben sich Einschränkungen der metrischen Invarianz, die hauptsächlich auf Indikatoren von Psychopathie zurückzuführen sind. Partielle metrische Invarianz konnte jedoch belegt werden. Über das Alter konnte metrische Invarianz belegt werden, jedoch ergaben sich Einschränkungen der skalaren und strikten Invarianz. Implikationen für die Erfassung der Dunklen Triade mit der Niederträchtigen Neun oder dem Dreckigen Dutzend werden diskutiert. </jats:p&gt

Many paths lead to happiness

Kann das Streben nach Glück erfolgreich sein und wenn ja, unter welchen Voraussetzungen? Ratgeber zum Glücklichsein suggerieren oft, dass Glück kontrollierbar ist, wenn man denn bereit ist, sich dafür anzustrengen. Frühere Studien liefern jedoch widersprüchliche Antworten auf diese Frage. Um diese Widersprüche aufzulösen, wurde in dieser Dissertation Glücksstreben auf eine differenziertere Weise untersucht als in vorangegangenen Studien. Es wurde untersucht, ob Glücksstreben allgemein förderlich oder schädlich für das empfundene Wohlbefinden ist und ob erfolgreiches Glücksstreben davon abhängt, wie Menschen Glück definieren und wie genau sie danach streben. Insbesondere wurde betrachtet, ob die gleichzeitige Befürwortung verschiedener Glücksdefinitionen und das gleichzeitige Streben nach verschiedenen Glücksfacetten zu einem höheren Wohlbefinden beiträgt als die Konzentration auf wenige Glücksfacetten. Die Ergebnisse von sieben Studien werden in vier Fachartikeln vorgestellt