Happy You, Happy Me? Couple Interrelations in Subjective Well-Being from a Descriptive, Functional, and Life Span Perspective

The present dissertation focused on one of the most immediate developmental contexts in adulthood—the romantic relationship—and examined the interrelations in couple members’ experiences of subjective well-being. At the intersection of personality, social, and life span psychology this work sought to corroborate and expand our current understanding regarding the nature and the relational implications of couple interrelations in subjective well-being until the end of the romantic life span. To that end, three studies were conducted, all of which relied on representative panel data (i.e., SHP, pairfam, SOEP). Couple-level analyses were employed to disentangle the intra- and interpersonal ties between romantic partners’ subjective well-being on the one hand, and their implications for relationship happiness and stability, on the other. Insights derived from these studies can be organized along a descriptive, functional, and life span perspective. Regarding the descriptive perspective, this dissertation applied the bottom-up model of life satisfaction (Diener, 1984) to the developmental unit of the couple. Findings suggest that couple members’ overall evaluations of life are shaped not only by their own but also by their partners’ satisfaction with various life domains. Taking a closer look at the strength of association between domain and life satisfaction, it was revealed that couple members are more similar than randomly paired individuals in the importance they place on their satisfaction with life together in the household. These similarities in domain importance illustrate that romantic partners are already interdependent in the way they arrive at their overall evaluations of life. Regarding the functional perspective, this work investigated the role of couple interrelations in subjective well-being for relationship happiness and stability. By disentangling different indicators of couple interrelations and their unique contributions to relationship outcomes, it became evident that stronger couple interrelations in subjective well-being are not universally beneficial. Instead, the present findings suggest that a stronger susceptibility to the romantic partner might be unfavorable in challenging times, facilitating a transactional downward spiral toward separation. By contrast, couple similarities in domain importance and in the strength of romantic partners’ susceptibility to each other predicted higher levels of relationship happiness. These findings illustrate the necessity to capture different indicators of couple interrelations when trying to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of its relational implications. Finally, and regarding the life span perspective, this dissertation examined couple interrelations in subjective well-being in an end-of-life context. The current results suggest that couple members approaching the death of one partner, as opposed to couples that did not experience this stressful phase of life, showed increasing disparities and weaker between partner correlations in their changes in life satisfaction. However, these diverging developmental trajectories were not rooted in a diminishing transmission of romantic partners’ life satisfaction. Instead, to-be-deceased and to be-bereaved partners remained susceptible to each other’s declining levels of life satisfaction. These findings illustrate that romantic partners seem to co-produce each other’s well- and ill-being until the end of their shared life span as a couple. Insights gained from this cumulative dissertation will be used to derive an overarching update regarding the understanding of couple interrelations in subjective well-being and to provide an outline of important steps for future research

How healthy did older people feel during the Pandemic: Who had not experienced Covid-19 themselves?

This chapter examines the extent to which people in the second half of life felt threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, whether there were differences between middle-aged and older individuals, and the role of self-rated health. This chapter also addresses how people perceived their influence on contracting COVID-19

Partnership quality in the Covid-19 pandemic: People in the second half of life are adaptable in their couple relationships

This report investigates the role of the corona pandemic for the quality of partnerships of people in the second half of life. The present findings on partnership quality refer to people who participated in the DEAS surveys in 2017, summer 2020 and winter 2020/21. To examine the course of partnership quality, only people who did not separate from their partner between 2017 and the winter of 2020/21 are considered. Main questions adressed are: 1. What changes in perceived partnership quality were seen for people in the second half of life during the Covid-19 pandemic? 2. How do changes in perceived partnership quality differ between certain population groups (age groups, gender and education groups)? Key messages: The Covid-19 pandemic was accompanied by a temporary deterioration in the perceived partnership quality of people in the second half of life. By winter 2020/21, the situation for couples had improved again. The perceived partnership quality of people aged between 42 and 59 years deteriorated more during the first pandemic phase than the partnership quality of people aged 60 years or older. The Covid-19 pandemic widened gender gaps in perceived partnership quality to the disadvantage of women. People from different educational groups reported comparable changes in perceived partnership quality during the Covid-19 pandemic

Introduction: Ageing in times of the pandemic: Findings from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS)

This book contains reports written by scientists from the German Centre of Gerontology (DZA) on the situation of people in the second half of life during the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus is on the first two waves of the pandemic, summer 2020 and winter 2020/2021, in Germany. The analyses are based on the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), a longitudinal study that has been running since 1996 and, hence, allows us to compare the pre-pandemic situation with the situation after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings concern people aged between 46 and 90 living in private households (residents of long-term care facili-ties could not be included in these analyses; see Kaspar et al. (2023) for more information on this topic). The book describes different facets of the living situ-ations of people in the second half of life, from work and income to subjective well-being and social support to societal participation. Although the book was originally written in German for the public discourse in Germany, we felt it was important to also publish our findings in English to contribute to international research discussions on ageing and policies for older people. In this introductory chapter, we describe (1) the epidemiological, social and political situation in Ger-many at the beginning of the pandemic, (2) the research questions that guided our reporting, (3) the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), which forms the basis of our empirical analyses, and (4) central findings of the chapters in this book

Regionale Unterschiede in den Lebensbedingungen älterer Menschen

In diesem Fact Sheet werden regionale Unterschiede nach Siedlungstyp und Landesteil (d. h. Stadt-Land-Unterschiede, Ost-West-Unterschiede sowie Stadt-Land-Unterschiede innerhalb von Ost und West) zu den Lebensbedingungen älterer Menschen berichtet. Dabei werden die wahrgenommenen Versorgungsangebote am Wohnort, die Kenntnis von seniorenspezifischen Dienstleistungsangeboten und das wahrgenommene nachbarschaftliche Miteinander beleuchtet. Die Auswertung basiert auf DEAS 2020/2

Wie viele Menschen in der zweiten Lebenshälfte sind in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von Einsamkeit betroffen?

In diesem Fact Sheet werden die folgenden Fragen beantwortet: Wie viele Menschen in der zweiten Lebenshälfte sind in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von Einsamkeit betroffen? Wie haben sich diese Zahlen seit 2014 entwickelt? Auf Grundlage des Deutschen Alterssurveys (DEAS) wurden die Einsamkeitsquoten für die Jahre 2014, 2017, Sommer 2020 und Winter 2020/21 ermittelt. Einsamkeitsquoten nach Altersgruppen; Altersgruppenunterschiede in der Einsamkeitsquote innerhalb der Erhebungsjahre; Altersgruppenunterschiede in den Veränderungen der Einsamkeitsquote; Einsamkeitsquoten nach Geschlecht; Geschlechterunterschiede in der Einsamkeitsquote innerhalb der Erhebungsjahre; Geschlechterunterschiede in den Veränderungen der Einsamkeitsquote; Einsamkeitsquoten nach Region; Regionale Unterschiede in der Einsamkeitsquote innerhalb der Erhebungsjahre; Regionale Unterschiede in den Veränderungen der Einsamkeitsquote; Einsamkeitsquoten nach Raumtyp; Stadt-Land-Unterschiede in der Einsamkeitsquote innerhalb der Erhebungsjahre; Stadt-Land-Unterschiede in den Veränderungen der Einsamkeit

Partnerschaftsqualität in der Corona-Pandemie: Menschen in der zweiten Lebenshälfte sind in ihren Paarbeziehungen anpassungsfähig

Die Corona-Pandemie ist mit einer temporären Verschlechterung der wahrgenommenen Partnerschaftsqualität von Menschen in der zweiten Lebenshälfte einhergegangen. Bis zum Winter 2020/21 hat sich die Situation für Paare wieder verbessert. Die wahrgenommene Partnerschaftsqualität von Menschen im Alter zwischen 42 und 59 Jahren hat in der ersten Pandemiephase stärker gelitten als die Partnerschaftsqualität von Personen, die 60 Jahre oder älter waren. Die Corona-Pandemie hat Geschlechterunterschiede in der wahrgenommenen Partnerschaftsqualität zuungunsten von Frauen vergrößert. Menschen aus unterschiedlichen Bildungsgruppen berichteten vergleichbare Veränderungen der wahrgenommenen Partnerschaftsqualität in der Corona-Pandemie

Was tun wir für unsere Gesundheit? Gesundheitsverhalten in der zweiten Lebenshälfte

Im Jahr 2014 bestehen deutliche Alters- und Bildungsunterschiede hinsichtlich der sportlichen Aktivität. Die sportliche Aktivität hat zwischen 1996 und 2014 kontinuierlich zugenommen. Der Anteil der Raucherinnen und Raucher ist zwischen 2008 und 2014 angestiegen. Personen, die im Jahr 2014 Vorsorgeleistungen in Anspruch nehmen und Personen, die nicht rauchen, sind auch häufiger sportlich aktiv. Personen, die 2014 nicht rauchen, sind deutlich häufiger regelmäßig sportlich aktiv als es Nicht-Raucherinnen und Nicht-Raucher im Jahr 2002 waren

Heißt krank zu sein sich auch krank zu fühlen? Subjektive Gesundheit und ihr Zusammenhang mit anderen Gesundheitsdimensionen

Ein Großteil der 40- bis 85-Jährigen bewertet die eigene Gesundheit im Jahr 2014 als gut, wobei jedoch deutliche Alters- und Bildungsunterschiede bestehen. Nur bei den über 65-Jährigen zeigt sich zwischen 1996 und 2014 ein positiver Wandel der subjektiven Gesundheitsbewertung. Die subjektive Gesundheitsbewertung hängt im Jahr 2014 eng mit Erkrankungen, funktionalen Einschränkungen und depressiven Symptomen zusammen. Im Jahr 2014 zeigen sich deutliche Bildungsunterschiede in der subjektiven Gesundheitsbewertung bei mehrfach Erkrankten und Personen mit mindestens leichten depressiven Symptomen. Im Jahr 2014 zeigen sich deutliche Bildungsunterschiede in der subjektiven Gesundheitsbewertung bei mehrfach erkrankten und Personen mit mindestens leichten depressiven Symptomen