Maturity and Well-Being: Consistent Associations Across Samples and Measures

Introduction: Researchers have noted an association between maturity and well-being. However, this body of research uses different measures and conceptualizations of maturity (e.g., ego development, psychosocial maturity) and often only a few indicators of well-being. In the present research, we examined associations between a single self-rated measure of maturity and a variety of different indicators of well-being. Furthermore, we examined this association across a variety of samples. We hypothesized that maturity will show a positive relationship with measures related to well-being. Methods: Samples of college students (Studies 1, 3, 4), Star Wars fans (Study 2), and individuals in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Vietnam, and India (Study 5) completed a short measure of maturity and measures related to well-being. Results: Across the studies, self-rated maturity was consistently positively correlated with various indicators of well-being (e.g., psychological, physical) and related constructs (e.g., self-compassion, empathy). Conclusion: The results highlight the association between maturity and well-being. Furthermore, the results address the fragmented nature of this association in the literature by showing consistent relationships with a variety of well-being indicators with a single measure of maturity. Assessments of maturity may be beneficial in hiring decisions and student evaluation in the healthcare profession

The hibernating mobile phone: Dead storage as a barrier to efficient electronic waste recovery

© 2016 The Authors Hibernation, the dead storage period when a mobile phone is still retained by the user at its end-of-life, is both a common and a significant barrier to the effective flow of time-sensitive stock value within a circular economic model. In this paper we present the findings of a survey of 181 mobile phone owners, aged between 18–25years old, living and studying in the UK, which explored mobile phone ownership, reasons for hibernation, and replacement motives. This paper also outlines and implements a novel mechanism for quantifying the mean hibernation period based on the survey findings. The results show that only 33.70% of previously owned mobile phones were returned back into the system. The average duration of ownership of mobile phones kept and still in hibernation was 4years 11months, with average use and hibernation durations of 1year 11months, and 3years respectively; on average, mobile phones that are kept by the user are hibernated for longer than they are ever actually used as primary devices. The results also indicate that mobile phone replacement is driven primarily by physical (technological, functional and absolute) obsolescence, with economic obsolescence, partly in response to the notion of being ‘due an upgrade’, also featuring significantly. We also identify in this paper the concept of a secondary phone, a recently replaced phone that holds a different function for the user than their primary phone but is still valued and intentionally retained by the user, and which, we conclude, should be accounted for in any reverse logistics strategy