The literature on subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness, life satisfaction, and positive affect, is reviewed in three areas: measurement, causal factors, and theory. Psychometric data on single-item and multi-item subjective well-being scales are presented, and the measures are compared. Measuring various components of subjective well-being is discussed. In terms of causal influences, research findings on the demographic correlates of SWB are evaluated, as well as the findings on other influences such as health, social contact, activity, and personality. A number of theoretical approaches to happiness are presented and discussed: telic theories, associationistic models, activity theories, judgment approaches, and top-down versus bottom-up conceptions.

Subjective Well-Being

https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2651&context=soss_research

Subjective Well-being

Three studies are reported that examine the relations between personality and happiness or subjective well-being. It is argued that (a) one set of traits influences positive affect or satisfaction, whereas a different set of traits influences negative affect or dissatisfaction; (b) the former set of traits can be reviewed as components of extraversion, and the latter as components of neuroticism; and (c) personality differences antedate and predict differences in happiness over a period of 10 years, thus ruling out the rival hypothesis that temporary moods or states account for the observed relations. A model of individual differences in happiness is presented, and the separate and complementary roles of trait and adaptation-level theories in explaining happiness are discussed.

Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: happy and unhappy people.

Meta-analysis is used to synthesize findings from 286 empirical studies on the association of socioeconomic status (SES), social network, and competence with subjective well-being (SWB) in the elderly. All three aspects of life circumstances are positively associated with SWB. Income is correlated more strongly with well-being than is education. The quality of social contacts shows stronger associations with SWB than does the quantity of social contacts. Whereas having contact with friends is more strongly related to SWB than having contact with adult children, there are higher associations between life satisfaction and quality of contact with adult children when compared with quality of friendships. Moderating influences of gender and age on the effects of SES, social network, and competence on SWB are also investigated.

Influences of socioeconomic status, social network, and competence on subjective well-being in later life : A meta-analysis

This paper provides a concise but comprehensive review of research on religion/spirituality (R/S) and both mental health and physical health. It is based on a systematic review of original data-based quantitative research published in peer-reviewed journals between 1872 and 2010, including a few seminal articles published since 2010. First, I provide a brief historical background to set the stage. Then I review research on R/S and mental health, examining relationships with both positive and negative mental health outcomes, where positive outcomes include well-being, happiness, hope, optimism, and gratefulness, and negative outcomes involve depression, suicide, anxiety, psychosis, substance abuse, delinquency/crime, marital instability, and personality traits (positive and negative). I then explain how and why R/S might influence mental health. Next, I review research on R/S and health behaviors such as physical activity, cigarette smoking, diet, and sexual practices, followed by a review of relationships between R/S and heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, immune functions, endocrine functions, cancer, overall mortality, physical disability, pain, and somatic symptoms. I then present a theoretical model explaining how R/S might influence physical health. Finally, I discuss what health professionals should do in light of these research findings and make recommendations in this regard.

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Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications

Longitudinal analyses were performed on changes in life satisfaction among a sample of 378 community residents, aged 46-70. There were no significant changes in the mean life satisfaction scores for any age-sex cohort and no significant differences between the sexes, although there were some individual changes. Life satisfaction at the end of a 4-year-period was significantly related to initial levels of self-rated health, social actiivty, and sexual enjoyment. Attempts to predict residual change in life satisfaction by initial levels or by changes in these variables were largely unsuccessful.

Change in Life Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of Persons Aged 46-70

The Grandparent-Grandchild Connection

Discriminators of Loneliness Among the Rural Elderly: Implications for Intervention

The present study analyzed data from 99 grandfathers living in a rural transitional area with regard to patterns of association and helping and levels of affect. The data showed the grandfather role to be of little relative importance as seen through low levels of interaction and priority as a role. This was despite the fact that older men had relatively high expectations for assistance from grandchildren in times of need. Geographical proximity was the factor most consistently related to the grandfathergrandchild relationship. The data suggest the low instrumental value of grandfathergrandchild roles and the areas in which they possibly may be strengthened.

Grandfathers and Grandchildren: Patterns of Association, Helping, and Psychological Closeness.

This research was in response to the needfor more information on the ethnic diversity of the grandmother role and the implications for strengthening the support network of older black women. The subjects consisted of 79 black grandmothers and 87 white grandmothers 65 years of age or older. The results of the research show cultural distinctions in the grandmother role and suggest ways in which this diversity can be used to strengthen the support system of older rural black women, a significant percentage of whom fall below the poverty level.

Vira R. Kivett

Papers

Change in Life Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of Persons Aged 46-70

The Grandparent-Grandchild Connection

Discriminators of Loneliness Among the Rural Elderly: Implications for Intervention

Grandfathers and Grandchildren: Patterns of Association, Helping, and Psychological Closeness.

Racial Comparisons of the Grandmother Role: Implications for Strengthening the Family Support System of Older Black Women.