How Friendship Network Characteristics Influence Subjective Well-Being

This article explores how friendship network characteristics influence subjective well-being (SWB). Using data from the 2003 General Social Survey of Canada, three components of the friendship network are differentiated: number of friends, frequency of contact, and heterogeneity of friends. We argue that these characteristics shape SWB through the benefits they bring. Benefits considered are more social trust, less stress, better health, and more social support. Results confirm that higher frequency of contacts and higher number of friends, as well as lower heterogeneity of the friendship network are related to more social trust, less stress, and a better health. Frequency of contact and number of friends, as well as more heterogeneity of the friendship network increase the chance of receiving help from friends. With the exception of receiving help from friends, these benefits are in turn related to higher levels of SWB. Only the frequency of meeting friends face-to-face has a remaining positive direct influence on SWB

A longitudinal investigation of repressive coping and ageing

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Aging & Mental Health on October 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2015.1060941.Two studies investigated the possibility that repressive coping is more prevalent in older adults and that this represents a developmental progression rather than a cohort effect. Study 1 examined repressive coping and mental health cross-sectionally in young and old adults. Study 2 examined whether there was a developmental progression of repressive coping prevalence rates in a longitudinal sample of older adults.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Cultural Aspects of Attachment Anxiety, Avoidance, and Life Satisfaction: Comparing the US and Turkey

Attachment insecurity can interfere with the experience, expression, and benefits of positive emotions, including happiness and life satisfaction (LS). However, both the pattern and effects of insecure attachment orientations on LS vary across cultures. Considering that attachment anxiety is higher in collectivist cultures and attachment avoidance is relatively high in individualistic cultures, the present chapter elaborates on the idea that anxious and avoidant attachment would have varying effects on LS in individualistic and collectivistic cultural contexts. Study 1 (N = 2456) involved a community sample of married couples in Turkey and demonstrated that attachment avoidance was a stronger predictor of LS than attachment anxiety in Turkish collectivist context. Study 2 tested the hypothesis that the roles of attachment anxiety and avoidance in predicting LS would vary between collectivistic and individualistic cultures. Mothers’ adult attachment dimensions and LS in Turkey (N = 89) and the United States (N = 91) were measured. As expected, results indicated that LS was predicted only by attachment avoidance in Turkey and by attachment anxiety in the United States. These findings are in line with the cultural fit hypothesis, suggesting that culturally incongruent attachment orientations have a stronger negative impact on individuals’ LS

Design and Culture in the Making of Happiness

Design responds to the needs of individuals, being happiness and wellbeing the subject of an increasing number of studies, which gave rise to a new discipline, Positive Psychology. From these new approaches and concerns related to subjective well-being comes Positive Design, whose objective is to promote the well-being of individuals and communities in connection with a culture of innovation. The cultural routes made accessible through wayfinding systems, make it possible to put Heritage in dialogue, emphasize the culture, memory and history of communities, providing citizens with meaningful experiences that will have an impact both in the short and long run, thus becoming agents for the happiness of individuals. This article discusses the concept of Positive Design based on Positive Psychology, analyzes the evolution and importance of Heritage in the Culture of peoples and communities, questioning how the Wayfinding Systems developed for cultural promotion can integrate the practice of Positive Design and how this contributes to the subjective well-being of individuals

Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being

According to the hedonic treadmill model, good and bad events temporarily affect happiness, but people quickly adapt back to hedonic neutrality. The theory, which has gained widespread acceptance in recent years, implies that individual and societal efforts to increase happiness are doomed to failure. The recent empirical work outlined here indicates that 5 important revisions to the treadmill model are needed. First, individuals ’ set points are not hedonically neutral. Second, people have different set points, which are partly dependent on their temperaments. Third, a single person may have multiple happiness set points: Different components of well-being such as pleasant emotions, unpleasant emotions, and life satisfaction can move in different directions. Fourth, and perhaps most important, well-being set points can change under some conditions. Finally, individuals differ in their adaptation to events, with some individuals changing their set point and others not changing in reaction to some external event. These revisions offer hope for psychologists and policymakers who aim to decrease human misery and increase happiness

Measuring subjective well-being from a multidimensional and temporal perspective: Italian adaptation of the I COPPE scale

Background: The objective of this study is to present the psychometric and cultural adaptation of the I COPPE scale to the Italian context. The original 21-item I COPPE was developed by Isaac Prilleltensky and colleagues to integrate a multidimensional and temporal perspective into the quantitative assessment of people’s subjective well-being. The scale comprises seven domains (Overall, Interpersonal, Community, Occupation, Psychological, Physical, and Economic well-being), which tap into past, present, and future self-appraisals of well-being. Methods: The Italian adapted version of the I COPPE scale underwent translation and backtranslation procedure. After a pilot study was conducted on a local sample of 683 university students, a national sample of 2432 Italian citizens responded to the final translated version of the I COPPE scale, 772 of whom re-completed the same survey after a period of four months. Respondents from both waves of the national sample were recruited partly through on-line social networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and SurveyMonkey) and partly by university students who had been trained in Computer-Assisted Survey Information Collection. Results: Data were first screened for non-valid cases and tested for multivariate normality and missing data. The correlation matrix revealed highly significant correlation values, ranging from medium to high for nearly all congeneric variables of the I COPPE scale. Results from a series of nested and non-nested model comparisons supported the 7-factor correlated-traits model originally hypothesised, with factor loadings and inter-item reliability ranging from medium to high. In addition, they revealed that the I COPPE scale has strong internal reliability, with composite reliability always higher than .7, satisfactory construct validity, with average variance extracted nearly always higher than .5, and and full strict invariance across time. Conclusions: The Italian adaptation of the I COPPE scale presents appropriate psychometric properties in terms of both validity and reliability, and therefore can be applied to the Italian context. Some limitation and recommendations for future studies are discussed

Children’s discourses of natural spaces: considerations for children’s subjective well-being

Based on the evidence provided in the literature, it is manifest that increased time spent in nature increases various aspects of children’s well-being. Using discourse analysis on focus group interviews with 28 children between the ages of 12 and 14 years old from three socio-economically diverse communities in the Western Cape of South Africa, the study aimed to explore how children construct and assign meaning to natural spaces. More specifically the study explored how children use specific discursive resources and repertoires to construct and assign meaning to their engagement with natural spaces, and the extent to which this influences their subjective well-being. Several pertinent discourses emerged from the participants’ accounts within four themes of: Safety and natural spaces, Appreciation for natural spaces, Degradation of Nature: Thinking environmentally, acting pro-environmentally, and Natural spaces and children’s subjective well-being. The study highlights the critical role that children’s engagement in natural spaces has on their subjective well-being, and how these benefits can be harnessed to better children’s overall quality of life.IS

How are time-dependent childbearing intentions realized? Realization, postponement, abandonment, bringing forward

Our study aims to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit the realization of fertility intentions. The analysis uses data collected in the first two waves of a Hungarian longitudinal survey. Fertility intentions recorded at the first wave pertain to the subsequent 3-year period, just similar to the behavior variable measuring the realization of intentions, i.e., a birth within the 3-year period in question. For this analysis, we used the respondents’ demographic, socio-structural, and orientational traits recorded at the first interview. Our findings show that age, parity, and partnership play a determining role in the realization of fertility intentions, but employment status, religious affiliation, and overall life satisfaction all exhibit significant effects. A marked gender difference was detected not only with regard to employment status but in the area of values and orientations as well.L’objectif de notre étude est d’identifier les facteurs qui facilitent ou inhibent la réalisation des intentions de fécondité. L’analyse s’appuie sur les deux premières vagues d’une enquête longitudinale menée en Hongrie. Les intentions de fécondité recueillies dans le cadre de la première vague concernent la période des trois années à venir, de la même façon que la variable de comportement mesurant la réalisation des intentions, à savoir, une naissance survenue au cours de cette même période. Les caractéristiques démographiques et socio-structurelles, de même que certaines dispositions personnelles recueillies lors du premier entretien ont été utilisées dans l’analyse. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à la fois l’âge, la parité, et la situation de couple jouent un rôle capital dans la réalisation des intentions et aussi que la situation d’emploi, l’appartenance religieuse et le niveau de satisfaction par rapport à la vie exercent une influence significative. Une différence prononcée entre hommes et femmes est mise en évidence en matière de situation d’emploi et également dans le domaine des valeurs et des dispositions personnelles

Low-Volume High-Intensity Interval Training in a Gym Setting Improves Cardio-Metabolic and Psychological Health.

BACKGROUND: Within a controlled laboratory environment, high-intensity interval training (HIT) elicits similar cardiovascular and metabolic benefits as traditional moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). It is currently unclear how HIT can be applied effectively in a real-world environment. PURPOSE: To investigate the hypothesis that 10 weeks of HIT, performed in an instructor-led, group-based gym setting, elicits improvements in aerobic capacity (VO2max), cardio-metabolic risk and psychological health which are comparable to MICT. METHODS: Ninety physically inactive volunteers (42±11 y, 27.7±4.8 kg.m-2) were randomly assigned to HIT or MICT group exercise classes. HIT consisted of repeated sprints (15-60 seconds, >90% HRmax) interspersed with periods of recovery cycling (≤25 min.session-1, 3 sessions.week-1). MICT participants performed continuous cycling (~70% HRmax, 30-45 min.session-1, 5 sessions.week-1). VO2max, markers of cardio-metabolic risk, and psychological health were assessed pre and post-intervention. RESULTS: Mean weekly training time was 55±10 (HIT) and 128±44 min (MICT) (p<0.05), with greater adherence to HIT (83±14% vs. 61±15% prescribed sessions attended, respectively; p<0.05). HIT improved VO2max, insulin sensitivity, reduced abdominal fat mass, and induced favourable changes in blood lipids (p<0.05). HIT also induced beneficial effects on health perceptions, positive and negative affect, and subjective vitality (p<0.05). No difference between HIT and MICT was seen for any of these variables. CONCLUSIONS: HIT performed in a real-world gym setting improves cardio-metabolic risk factors and psychological health in physically inactive adults. With a reduced time commitment and greater adherence than MICT, HIT offers a viable and effective exercise strategy to target the growing incidence of metabolic disease and psychological ill-being associated with physical inactivity