Personalizing a positive psychology intervention improves well-being.

A variety of positive psychology intervention (PPI) activities can increase subjective well-being. Still, there is variability in the impact of various PPI activities across people. In two studies, we examine strategies for personalizing a program of PPI activities to efficiently increase subjective well-being. In Study 1 (N = 516), we examined participants' beliefs about and employment of various PPI activity selection strategies. Participants favored self-selection over weakness-based, strength-based, or random activity assignments. When making activity selections for themselves, they reported using the weakness-based strategy the most. The tendency to make weakness-based activity selections related to negative affect whereas strengths-based activity selections related to positive affect. In Study 2 (N = 112), we randomly assigned participants to complete a set of five PPI activities allocated either randomly, based on their skill weaknesses, or based on their self-selections. Completing life-skills lessons significantly increased subjective well-being from baseline to post-test. Furthermore, we found evidence for added benefits in terms of subjective well-being, broad well-being outcomes, and skills improvement of the weakness-based and self-selection personalization strategies compared with the random assignment of these activities. We discuss the implications for research, practice, and the well-being of individuals and societies offered by the science of PPI personalization.

Adherence to emotion norms is greater in individualist cultures than in collectivist cultures.

It is generally assumed that there is greater pressure to conform to social norms in collectivist cultures than in individualist cultures. However, most research on cultural differences in social norms has examined norms for behaviors. Here, we examine cultural differences in norms for emotions. Relative to members of collectivist cultures, members of individualist cultures are more attuned to internal states and value them more. Therefore, we predicted that adherence to emotion norms would be greater in individualist than in collectivist cultures. In four studies with 119 samples from 69 distinct countries and over 200,000 participants, we estimated adherence to emotion norms in different cultures, and how deviation from emotion norms is associated with life satisfaction. As predicted, in countries higher in individualism, emotional experiences of individuals were more homogenous and more concordant with the emotions of others in their culture. Furthermore, in more individualist countries, deviation from the mean emotional experience was linked to lower life satisfaction. We discuss two complementary mechanisms that may underlie such differences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Well-Being Science for Teaching and the General Public.

Research on well-being has exploded in recent years to more than 55,000 relevant publications annually, making it difficult for psychologists-including key communicators such as textbook authors-to stay current with this field. Moreover, well-being is a daily concern among policymakers and members of the general public. Well-being science is relevant to the lives of students-illustrating the diverse methods used in the behavioral sciences, presenting highly replicated findings, and demonstrating the diversity of individuals and cultures. Therefore, in this article, we present eight major findings that teachers and authors should seriously consider in their coverage of this field. These topics include processes such as adaptation, influences such as income, the benefits of well-being, and cultural and societal diversity in well-being and its causes. We also examine how much these topics were covered in 15 of the most popular introductory psychology textbooks. Although some topics such as social relationships and well-being were discussed in nearly all textbooks, others were less frequently covered, including the validity of self-reported well-being, the effects of spending on happiness, and the impact of culture and society on well-being. We aim to ensure more complete coverage of this important area in psychology courses.

Beyond Experiments.

It is often claimed that only experiments can support strong causal inferences and therefore they should be privileged in the behavioral sciences. We disagree. Overvaluing experiments results in their overuse both by researchers and decision makers and in an underappreciation of their shortcomings. Neglect of other methods often follows. Experiments can suggest whether X causes Y in a specific experimental setting; however, they often fail to elucidate either the mechanisms responsible for an effect or the strength of an effect in everyday natural settings. In this article, we consider two overarching issues. First, experiments have important limitations. We highlight problems with external, construct, statistical-conclusion, and internal validity; replicability; and conceptual issues associated with simple X causes Y thinking. Second, quasi-experimental and nonexperimental methods are absolutely essential. As well as themselves estimating causal effects, these other methods can provide information and understanding that goes beyond that provided by experiments. A research program progresses best when experiments are not treated as privileged but instead are combined with these other methods.

Income robustly predicts self-regard emotions.

There is robust evidence that higher income makes people evaluate their lives more favorably, but there is no consistent evidence on whether it makes people feel better. Analyzing data from five large surveys spanning 162 countries, we predicted and found the most comprehensive evidence to date that income reliably predicted greater positive self-regard emotions (e.g., pride) and lower negative self-regard emotions (e.g., anxiety). In contrast, its relationships with other-regard emotions (e.g., gratitude, anger) and global emotions (e.g., happiness) were weaker in magnitude and difficult to replicate. In addition, income predicted higher (lower) levels of positive (negative) self-regard emotions about 10 years later, controlling for the same self-regard emotions at baseline. Sense of control mediated the relationships between income and both positive and negative self-regard emotions. Income predicted self-regard emotions as strongly as it has been known to predict life evaluation. Hence, having more money makes people feel more proud, contented, and confident and less sad, afraid, and ashamed, but does not affect whether they feel grateful, caring, and angry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Are all domains of life satisfaction equal? Differential associations with health and well-being in older adults.

PURPOSE: Growing evidence documents strong associations between overall life satisfaction and favorable health and well-being outcomes. However, because most previous studies have assessed satisfaction with one's life as a whole, we know little about whether specific domains of life satisfaction (e.g., satisfaction with family life, income) might be responsible for longitudinally driving better health and well-being. METHODS: Data were from 13,752 participants in the Health and Retirement Study-a prospective and nationally representative cohort of US adults aged > 50. We evaluated if positive changes in seven individual domains of life satisfaction (between t0; 2008/2010 and t1; 2012/2014) were associated with 35 indicators of physical, behavioral, and psychosocial health and well-being (at t2; 2016/2018). RESULTS: Most domains of life satisfaction were associated with psychological outcomes: satisfaction with family and non-work activities showed the largest associations (sometimes double in magnitude) with subsequent psychological factors, followed by satisfaction with financial situation and income. Further, some domains showed associations with specific physical health outcomes (e.g., mortality, number of chronic conditions, physical functioning limitations), health behaviors (e.g., sleep problems), and social factors (e.g., loneliness). CONCLUSIONS: As countries seek innovative and cost-effective methods of enhancing the health and well-being of our rapidly aging populations, findings from our study suggest that some domains of life satisfaction have a substantially larger influence on health and well-being outcomes than others. Individual domains of life satisfaction might be novel targets for interventions and policies seeking to enhance specific facets of health and well-being.

Culture Moderates the Relation Between Gender Inequality and Well-Being.

Research on the relation of gender inequality and subjective well-being (SWB) has produced inconsistent results. We suggest that culture moderates this relation such that inequality has a greater adverse effect in liberal than in conservative societies. The present studies, using aggregate data from 86 countries (Study 1) and 145,975 individuals' data from 69 countries (Study 2), support this notion. Among liberal countries, inequality was negatively related to SWB for both men and women; there was some evidence that this relation was stronger for women. In conservative countries, the relation was not significant. Previously, the same liberal-conservative continuum moderated the relation between income inequality and SWB for groups with both high and low socioeconomic status (SES) but particularly for the low-SES group. The similarity in results across two different studies strongly supports the notion that the relation between inequality and SWB is contingent on where specific cultures are located on the liberal-conservative continuum.

Citation Metrics in Psychological Science.

We present norms for faculty citation counts based on 811 faculty members at 30 PhD-granting psychology departments in the United States across the range of the National Research Council rankings. The metrics were highly skewed, with most scientists having a low to moderate number of citations of their work and a few scientists having extremely high numbers. However, the median per-year citation count was 149, showing widespread scientific contributions across scholars. Some individuals in lower ranked departments are more highly cited than the average scholar in higher ranked departments, with enormous variation in citation counts in both the low- and high-ranking departments. Citation counts overall have risen in recent years, and the citations of early-career scholars are increasing at a faster rate than their senior colleagues did at the same point in their careers. We found that citation counts at the beginning of scientists' careers substantially predict lifetime citation success. Young scholars' citation counts are associated with obtaining positions at higher ranked universities. Finally, we found no significant differences for subfields of psychology. In sum, although a few highly productive scientists have a very large influence, trends reveal that contributions to psychological science are growing over time, widespread, and not limited to a few stars and elite departments.

Gratitude facilitates obedience: New evidence for the social alignment perspective.

We report four studies that tested the hypothesis that gratitude increases obedience. Four experimental studies (N = 623) found that participants who were induced to feel gratitude obeyed to a greater extent a command to grind worms in a grinder than those feeling neutral. These novel findings demonstrate that gratitude can encourage obeying instructions to exact physical harm, violating moral principles of care. Grateful participants obeyed both benefactors and nonbenefactors. Induced happiness and admiration did not produce the same effect and we found evidence using a manipulation-of-mediator method that the need for social harmony played a mediating role. The findings suggest that gratitude can make a person more vulnerable to social influence, including obeying commands to perform an ethically questionable act. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Abbreviated Three-Item Versions of the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Harmony in Life Scale Yield as Strong Psychometric Properties as the Original Scales.

The cognitive components of subjective well-being can be measured with the Satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) and the Harmony in life scale (HILS), which both comprise five items each. The aim of this article is to abbreviate these scales and examine their psychometric properties and validity. Three datasets including test-retest data are used (N = 787; N = 860; N = 343). The two first datasets were already collected, whereas the third dataset included delivering the three-item scales (SWLS-3; HILS-3) together (in random order) with one shared instruction. The last study was pre-registered, including open data and code. The SWLS-3 and the HILS-3 demonstrate good psychometric properties, including very high internal consistency and item total correlations, strong test-retest reliability, where two-factor models of cognitive well-being tend to yield very good fit indices. Further, the scales demonstrate measurement invariance across time and gender. In fact, the three-item scales demonstrate as strong psychometric properties as compared with the five-item scales. Additionally, the scales demonstrate similar validity by yielding similar correlations to assessments of well-being, mental health problems and social desirability. Thus, the SWLS-3 and the HILS-3 can efficiently be used together with one shared instruction, without compromising (and in most aspects even yielding small improvements) the psychometric soundness of the scales.

Measurement Invariance of the Flourishing Scale among a Large Sample of Canadian Adolescents.

Our aim was to examine measurement invariance of the Flourishing Scale (FS)-a concise measure of psychological wellbeing-across two study samples and by population characteristics among Canadian adolescents. Data were retrieved from 74,501 Canadian secondary school students in Year 7 (2018-2019) of the COMPASS Study and from the original validation of the FS (n = 689). We assessed measurement invariance using a confirmatory factor analysis in which increasingly stringent equality constraints were specified for model parameters between the following groups: study sample (i.e., adolescents vs. adults), gender, grade, and ethno-racial identity. In all models, full measurement invariance of the FS across all sub-groups was demonstrated. Our findings support the validity of the FS for measuring psychological wellbeing among Canadian adolescents in secondary school. Observed differences in FS score among subgroups therefore represent true differences in wellbeing rather than artifacts of differential interpretation.

Does Happiness Improve Health? Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Happier people are healthier, but does becoming happier lead to better health? In the current study, we deployed a comprehensive, 3-month positive psychological intervention as an experimental tool to examine the effects of increasing subjective well-being on physical health in a nonclinical population. In a 6-month randomized controlled trial with 155 community adults, we found effects of treatment on self-reported physical health-the number of days in the previous month that participants felt healthy or sick, as assessed by questions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Questionnaire. In a subsample of 100 participants, we also found evidence that improvements in subjective well-being over the course of the program predicted subsequent decreases in the number of sick days. Combining experimental and longitudinal methodologies, this work provides some evidence for a causal effect of subjective well-being on self-reported physical health.

Improving well-being after traumatic brain injury through volunteering: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of a novel intervention facilitating volunteer activity to improve well-being in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Randomized two-arm controlled trial, with a wait-list control condition (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT#01728350). SETTING: Community-based setting. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-four community-dwelling individuals at least 1-year post TBI, who had completed inpatient or outpatient TBI rehabilitation. INTERVENTIONS: A novel intervention, HOPE - Helping Others through Purpose and Engagement, involving orientation/training and a 3-month volunteer placement for the participant, along with training for community agencies regarding TBI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S: ): Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS); Flourishing Scale (FS); Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18); Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE); Purpose in Life subscale (one of six in the Ryff Scale of Psychological Well-Being - 54 item version). RESULTS: There were significantly greater improvements in life satisfaction (SWLS) and self-perceived success (FS) in the intervention group compared to the control group. There were no significant treatment effects on the additional secondary measures of well-being, although they trended in a positive direction. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports our primary hypothesis that individuals who take part in a volunteer intervention will demonstrate greater psychological well-being in comparison to a control group.

Subjective Well-Being Around the World: Trends and Predictors Across the Life Span.

Using representative cross-sections from 166 nations (more than 1.7 million respondents), we examined differences in three measures of subjective well-being over the life span. Globally, and in the individual regions of the world, we found only very small differences in life satisfaction and negative affect. By contrast, decreases in positive affect were larger. We then examined four important predictors of subjective well-being and how their associations changed: marriage, employment, prosociality, and life meaning. These predictors were typically associated with higher subjective well-being over the life span in every world region. Marriage showed only very small associations for the three outcomes, whereas employment had larger effects that peaked around age 50 years. Prosociality had practically significant associations only with positive affect, and life meaning had strong, consistent associations with all subjective-well-being measures across regions and ages. These findings enhance our understanding of subjective-well-being patterns and what matters for subjective well-being across the life span.

The manipulation of affect: A meta-analysis of affect induction procedures.

Affect inductions have become essential for testing theories of affect and for conducting experimental research on the effects of mood and emotion. The current review takes stock of the vast body of existing literature on affect induction procedures (AIPs; also referred to as mood inductions) to evaluate the effectiveness of affect inductions as research tools and to test theories of affect (e.g., the bipolarity hypothesis, negativity bias, positivity offset, and theories of emotionality and gender) using meta-analytic data. In doing so, we seek to address whether AIPs are effective for inducing affective states, what conditions maximize their effectiveness, for which emotions they are most effective, for whom they are most effective, and whether affect induction findings can provide insight into theories of affect. A meta-analysis of 874 samples and 53,509 participants suggests that affect inductions are effective on average (δ = 1.32), but this effectiveness varies with the type of affect induction, the emotion being induced, and the gender of the participants. Further, results indicate coupled activation where the induction of positive (negative) emotions leads to a corresponding reduction in negative (positive) emotions, which provides support for the bipolar continuum of positive and negative affect. Results also revealed a negativity bias in which individuals display stronger reactions to negative stimuli than positive stimuli. A practical guide in the choice of affect induction procedures for researchers is presented and implications for emotion theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Subjective Well-Being and Health Behaviors in 2.5 Million Americans.

BACKGROUND: Happiness and health behavior are positively related, but most existing research does not distinguish between conceptually and empirically distinct components of subjective well-being-satisfaction with life, positive affect, and negative affect. METHOD: We assessed the associations of each component of subjective well-being and health behavior, such as exercising and not smoking, in a broad, representative sample of nearly 2.5 million respondents from the USA in the Gallup Daily Poll. RESULTS: We found that both life satisfaction and positive affect, but not negative affect, are unique predictors of health behavior, even after controlling for a wide range of variables, including demographics, chronic illness, daily stress and pain, and other relevant factors. Positive affect was linearly related to health behavior, while life satisfaction showed an association only for individuals relatively satisfied with their lives (but not for those dissatisfied with their lives). These associations were not moderated by various factors, occurring across gender and age, personal resources like time and money, and environmental affordances such as access to fresh food and safe places to exercise. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between well-being and health behavior is robust and generalisable in a large cross-section of the US population.

ENHANCE: Evidence for the efficacy of a comprehensive intervention program to promote subjective well-being.

Building from the growing empirical science of happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB), we have developed a 12-week comprehensive intervention program-Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement (ENHANCE)-to increase SWB and enable a thorough examination of the mechanistic processes of program content and administrative structure for SWB change over time. In a randomized controlled trial, participants (N = 155; 55 using the in-person format, 100 online format) were randomly assigned to participate in ENHANCE or to a waitlist control condition. All participants completed assessments of SWB, including non-self-report measures, and process variables at baseline, posttest, and follow-up (3 months). We found evidence supporting the efficacy of ENHANCE for increasing SWB, whether administered in-person or online. Furthermore, development of the skills targeted in the program (e.g., gratitude, mindfulness) accounted for SWB improvements. This study provides initial evidence that ENHANCE can promote SWB and offers insights regarding the processes involved in these changes. To bolster these findings, we present additional data (n = 74) from a fourth assessment showing within-person maintenance of SWB gains over 6 months in the original treatment condition (n = 39) and a replication of the immediate ENHANCE treatment effects in the waitlist condition (n = 36). We discuss potential avenues for the utilization of ENHANCE in basic research and applied disseminations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Young Adult Love Lives of Happy Teenagers: The Role of Adolescent Affect in Adult Romantic Relationship Functioning.

This study assessed early adolescent positive and negative affect as long-term predictors of romantic conflict, anxious and avoidant attachment, romantic and social competence, and relationship satisfaction in adulthood utilizing a longitudinal, multi-informant study of 166 participants assessed annually at ages 14-17, and again at ages 23-25. Positive affect in adolescence predicted greater self-rated social competence during late adolescence and greater self-rated romantic competence and less partner-reported hostile conflict almost a decade later. Negative affect predicted lower social and romantic competence. Results generally remained significant after controlling for personality traits, providing greater support for the hypothesis that affect has a robust, direct relation to romantic development over time.

Psychological well-being in individuals living in the community with traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: Well-being and quality of life issues remain a long-term problem for many individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Meaningful activity is key to developing life satisfaction and a sense of contribution to society, yet individuals with TBI are often unable to return to competitive employment. OBJECTIVE: To describe the self-reported psychological well-being of a cohort of unemployed individuals living in the community at least 1 year post TBI with low life satisfaction. METHODS: Seventy-four unemployed individuals with low life satisfaction at least 1 year post TBI were administered measures of psychological well-being and cognitive functioning. RESULTS: This cohort of 74 participants demonstrated cognitive impairment and elevated levels of emotional distress. Significant bivariate relationships were noted among nearly all measures of well-being, and associations were in the directions as expected. Individuals reported low life satisfaction and well-being. Two newer measures of well-being correlated with established measures used with this population. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with TBI living in the community who are not employed but who seek to be productive reported low life satisfaction and well-being. This study highlights the need for interventions aimed at increasing productivity and meaning in life for individuals with TBI, and a broader understanding of psychological health after TBI.

Religion as an Exchange System: The Interchangeability of God and Government in a Provider Role.

An exchange model of religion implies that if a secular entity such as government provides what people need, they will be less likely to seek help from supernatural entities. Controlling for quality of life and income inequality (Gini), we found that better government services were related to lower religiosity among countries (Study 1) and states in the United States (Study 2). Study 2 also showed that during 2008-2013, better government services in a specific year predicted lower religiosity 1 to 2 years later. In both studies, a combination of better government services and quality of life was related to a particularly low level of religiosity. Among countries, government services moderated the relation between religiosity and two measures of well-being, such that religiosity was related to greater well-being only when government services were low. We discuss the relation between the exchange model and other theoretical approaches to religion.