Towards a multidimensional measure of well-being: cross-cultural support through the Italian validation of the well-being profile

Background The Well-being Profile (WB-Pro) is a multi-item and multidimensional instrument with strong psychometric properties and a solid theoretical grounding. It includes aspects of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being that can be used at the individual and social levels.MethodWe developed the Italian version through back-translation procedures. The aim of this study is to validate the WB-Pro in Italian as well as to better understand its multidimensionality through bifactor analysis. A sample of 1451 participants (910 = women, 62.7%; age range: 18-70, M-age = 32.34, SD-age = 13.64) was involved.ResultsThe 15-factor structure was confirmed with CFA and ESEM and was invariant across gender, age, and education. We examined convergent and discriminant validity and a bifactorial representation. Short versions of the WB-Pro were tested.DiscussionEven though a few items of the Italian version of the WB-Pro might benefit from revision (e.g., clear-thinking scale), this study confirms the theoretical and empirical strength of the WB-Pro.ConclusionsThis study supports the WB-Pro validity and usefulness in studying well-being and for professional psychological applications to assess well-being in both individuals and groups

Közművelődési jelenségek és jelentések. Az ÁMK

Many classroom climate studies suffer from 2 critical problems: They (a) treat climate as a student-level (L1) variable in single-level analyses instead of a classroom-level (L2) construct in multilevel analyses; and (b) rely on manifest-variable models rather than on latent-variable models that control measurement error at L1 and L2, and sampling error in the aggregation of L1 ratings to form L2 constructs. On the basis of an analysis of 2,541 students in Grades 5 or 6 from 89 classrooms, the authors demonstrate doubly latent multilevel structural equation models that overcome both of these problems. The results show that L2 classroom climate (a higher-order factor representing classroom mastery goal orientation, challenge, and teacher caring) had positive effects on self-efficacy and achievement. The authors conclude with a discussion of related issues (e.g., the meaning of L2 constructs vs. L1 residuals, the dimensionality of climate constructs at L2) and guidelines for future research

Italian validation of the Approach-avoidance Temperament Questionnaire

Our aim is to contribute to the Italian validation of the Approach-Avoidance Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ), an instrument devoted to evaluate approach and avoidance temperaments according to the Approach-Avoidance Temperament Model (Elliot & Thrash, 2002, 2010). We performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in an university students’ pilot sample (Sample 1, n = 98) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in an adults’ convenience sample (Sample 2, n = 360). We evaluated the invariance across gender and education and we explored the convergent validity with the BIS-BAS scale. The ATQ reported an a-priori two-factor structure in the EFA, that was confirmed in the CFA, satisfactory internal reliability, invariance across gender and education and convergence with the BIS-BAS scale. Even though our results await to be confirmed in larger and diversified samples, the ATQ appears to be a valid, reliable and parsimonious instrument to measure approach-avoidance temperaments

Health Risk Behaviour Inventory Validation and its Association with Self-regulatory Dispositions

We put forward a validation of the first instrument to measure the big four health risk behaviours (World Health Organization, Global status report on non-communicable diseases 2014, WHO, 2014) in a single assessment, the Health Risk Behaviour Inventory (HRBI) that assesses physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking and alcohol in Italian- and English-speaking samples. Further, we investigate the instrument's association with self-regulatory dispositions, exploring culture and gender differences in Italian and US subgroup samples. Overall, 304 English- and 939 Italian-speaking participants completed the HRBI and the self-regulatory questionnaire. We explored the factorial structure, convergent validity, invariance and association with self-regulatory dispositions using structural equation modelling.The HRBI has a robust factorial structure; it usefully converges with widely used healthy lifestyle measures, and it is invariant across the categories of age, gender and languages. Regarding self-regulatory dispositions, the promotion focus emerges as the most protective factor over physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, smoking and alcohol, whereas the prevention focus is associated mainly with smoking and alcohol reduction. Results are consistent across genders and US subgroup-Italian samples. The HRBI is a valid instrument for assessing the big four health risk behaviours in clinic and research contexts, and among self-regulatory measures, the promotion and prevention foci have the greatest efficacy in eliciting positive health behaviours

Approach-Avoidance Assessment: Comparison and Validity of the Measures Related to Three Theories

We provide an overview of instruments related to the three most representative theories of approach-avoidance (Monni et al., in Personality and Individual Differences 166:110163, 2020): The Regulatory focus theory (Higgins, in American Psychologist 52:1280-1300, 1997; Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 30:1-46, 1998), the Reinforcement sensitivity theory (Gray, in Behaviour Research and Therapy 8:249-266, 1970; The psychology of fear and stress, CUP Archive, 1987; as reported by Gray & McNaughton (The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of Septo-hippocampal system, Oxford University Press, 2000), and the Approach-Avoidance temperament theory (Elliot & Thrash, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82:804-812, 2002; Journal of Personality 78:865-906, 2010). We examined published peer-reviewed empirical studies guided by three aims: (1) providing a brief description and comparison of the basic constructs of the three theories; (2) offering an overview of the approach-avoidance assessments that have been used in the literature; (3) discussing the strengths and weaknesses of these methodologies and suggesting which might be the most effective technique according to the constructs' operationalization and the psychometric-procedural quality to help researchers choose the reference theory and method best suited to their research focus

Determinanti personali del benessere soggettivo: uno studio empirico = Predictors of subjective well-being: an empirical study

Il presente lavoro si propone di esplorare la relazione tra il benessere soggettivo e differenti aspetti della personalità quali tratti di personalità, sistemi di attivazione e inibizione comportamentale e temperamenti di approccio e di evitamento. Per questo scopo, un campione di 107 studenti universitari, ha completato la Scala della Soddisfazione per la vita, il Questionario sul Benessere eudaimonico, le scale della Stabilità Emotiva e dell’Estroversione del Big Five, le scale BIS/BAS, e una versione italiana del Questionario sui Temperamenti di approccio ed evitamento. Sono state condotte analisi di regressione gerarchica per verificare gli effetti di diversi aspetti della personalità sul benessere soggettivo. I risultati mostrano un importante ruolo del temperamento di approccio sia sulla soddisfazione di vita che sulla dimensione globale del benessere eudaimonico. Per le dimensioni specifiche del benessere eudaimonico si osserva un ruolo differenziato dei fattori di personalità, con un influsso negativo della dimensione fun seeking del BAS sul senso di scopo e un effetto positivo dell’energia sull’impegno.This study aims to explore the relationship between subjective well-being and different aspects of personality, such as personality traits, behavioural inhibition and activation systems, and approach and avoidance temperaments. For this purpose, a sample of 107 University students completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale, The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Wellbeing, the Emotional Stability and Extraversion scales of the Big Five Questionnaire, the BIS/BAS scales and a pilot Italian version of the Approach-Avoidance Temperament Questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analyses have been performed to verify the effects of various personality aspects on subjective wellbeing. Results show an important role of approach temperament on both satisfaction with life and global eudaimonic wellbeing. In relation to the specific components of eudaimonic wellbeing, a differential role of personality factors appeared, with a negative effect of the fun seeking dimension of BAS on sense of purpose and a positive effect of extraversion on effortful engagement

Individually Weighted-Average Models: Testing a Taxonomic SEM Approach Across Different Multidimensional/Global Constructs Because the Weights “Don’t Make No Nevermind”

<p>From the time of William James, psychologists have posited individually importance-weighted-average models (IWAMs) in which weighting specific attributes by individual measures of importance improves prediction of the global outcome measures. Because IWAMs cause much confusion, we briefly review a general taxonomic paradigm and structural equation models for testing IWAMs, and demonstrate its application for 2 simulated and 3 diverse “real” data applications (multidimensional measures of self-concept, quality of life, and job satisfaction). Consistent across the real data applications and previous research more generally, there is surprisingly little support for IWAMs when tested appropriately. In these diverse tests of IWAMs we integrate new approaches such as exploratory structural equation modeling (SEM), alternative approaches to constructing latent interactions, application of bifactor models, modeling method and item-wording effects, and the juxtaposition of model evaluation in relation to goodness of fit (typically used in SEM studies) and variance explained (typically used in multiple regression tests of IWAMs).</p