Journal of Happiness Studies最新文献

{"title":"Gratitude Training for Promoting Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Journaling to a Personalized Menu Approach","authors":"Conner L. Deichman, Jared S. Warren","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00882-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00882-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Gratitude practices have been shown to increase subjective well-being and other positive outcomes; however, research on gratitude training has focused primarily on the practice of journaling. Further research examining alternative gratitude practices may yield valuable insights on the comparative efficacy of various gratitude interventions, and could suggest additional gratitude practices that warrant further study. This study examined the efficacy of the My Best Self 101 (MBS101) gratitude module: an online training resource that provides psychoeducation about gratitude along with a menu of empirically-based gratitude practices anchored in the research literature. Using mixed effects models of repeated measures, we examined gratitude and subjective well-being outcomes for participants assigned to either the MBS101 gratitude module or a traditional gratitude journaling practice. Participants were 290 adults recruited online from the general population and from a university student research pool. Mixed effects models of repeated measures were also used to analyze the interaction between time spent on gratitude practice, group assignment, and timepoint (post-test). Although both groups showed significant improvements, compared to the gratitude journaling group, the MBS101 group had significantly better outcomes on gratitude and subjective well-being. Additionally, when the time, group, and timepoint interaction was added, the MBS101 group had limited benefits for gratitude and mixed benefits for subjective well-being with increased time spent. These findings support the possibility that using a flexible, menu-based approach to gratitude training may yield improved outcomes and increase the likelihood of ongoing engagement with gratitude practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143575529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wanting to be Happy Fosters Happiness by Promoting Savoring: A Daily Diary Study","authors":"Jean-Baptiste Pavani, Marguerite Larmanou, Sophie Holtzer, Desirée Colombo","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00878-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00878-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The present study examined the effect of happiness goals (i.e., the degree to which individuals want to be happy) on experiences of happiness. A daily diary study was conducted among 100 French participants. Each evening over a 1-month period, participants reported their experience of happiness during the day, their engagement in savoring and rumination during the day, and their wish to be happy tomorrow. Two main results were obtained. First, as expected, at the between-individual level, individuals with higher happiness goals were more likely to experience intense happiness, partly because they engaged more in savoring. Second, as expected, at the within-individual level, when an individual displayed higher happiness goals for tomorrow than usual, the individual was more likely to experience intense happiness during the next day than usual, partly due to stronger engagement in savoring. The results suggest that, on average, happiness goals foster happiness experiences by eliciting happiness-promoting behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does Time Heal All Wounds? Life Satisfaction Trajectories in Australian Middle-Aged Women Before and After Relationship Dissolution","authors":"Olivia Jean Arcangeli, Anastasia Ejova","doi":"10.1007/s10902-024-00853-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00853-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Divorce and separation are some of the most traumatic life events experienced by women, posing serious consequences for wellbeing. The impact of later-life relationship dissolution has been neglected in the literature. This study aimed to compare decades-long life satisfaction trajectories of Australian middle-aged women who did, and did not, experience relationship dissolution, and to examine why some women adjust better than others. Prospective longitudinal data came from nine waves of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Women who divorced or separated during the study (<i>n</i> = 1462) were propensity-score matched to women who remained married or partnered (<i>n</i> = 2587). Results from Bayesian piecewise latent growth curve modelling indicate stable life satisfaction before relationship dissolution, a sudden decline in the years surrounding the event, and long-term increases thereafter. Matched controls showed stability and slight increases in life satisfaction across the observation period, which suggests that at least some change in life satisfaction experienced by divorced and separated women is associated with relationship dissolution. Social support, perceived control, and subjective income were significant positive moderators of women’s adjustment to relationship dissolution. Implications regarding wellbeing interventions for middle-aged women are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does Happiness Foster Social Bonds? A Research Synthesis Using an Online Finding Archive","authors":"Nidhi Sharma, Shruti Agrawal, Ruut Veenhoven","doi":"10.1007/s10902-024-00747-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00747-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>It is widely agreed that social bonds should be strengthened but is not clear how that can be achieved. One way could be to foster happiness, since happiness seems to foster social bonds. If so, two desirables can be achieved together: happier people and stronger social bonds. This raises the following questions: Does happiness really foster social bonds? If so, is that effect universal? How strong is the effect? Does the strength vary across persons and situations? What are the causal mechanisms? To answer these questions we took stock of the available research findings, restricting to longitudinal studies examining the effect of earlier happiness on later social bonds. We used the World Database of Happiness (WDH), a findings-archive consisting of data about happiness in the sense of the subjective enjoyment of one’s life-as-a-whole. To date, the WDH contains the results of 16 follow-up studies on the relation between earlier happiness and later social bonds, which together yield 33 findings. We found strong evidence for a causal effect of happiness on the formation and stability of primary social bonds on happiness, in particular, with marriage, love and friendship. Happiness fosters social bonds and this effect seems to be universal. Consequently, fostering happiness can be used as a means to strengthen social bonds. This is another reason to opt for policies that aim to achieve greater happiness for a greater number.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predicting Subjective Well-Being from Personality: The Effects of Suppression, Confounding, and Mediating Variables","authors":"Catie Chun Wan Lai, Kevin R. Brooks, Simon Boag","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00859-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00859-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article presents a study examining 1) how personality predicts subjective well-being (SWB) and the possible suppression and confounding effects, and 2) the mediating role of fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption. This article addresses the lack of acknowledgment of suppressor variables in psychological research by illustrating the statistical methods and theoretical importance of identifying, classifying, and interpreting suppressor variables. This study employed a cross-sectional sample (N = 893) to identify and classify suppressor and confounding variables in the associations between Big Five personality (Big-5) and SWB. This study also examined the mediating role of FV consumption. The findings provided evidence for the suppression effect of openness and confounding effect of neuroticism in the associations between the Big-5 and SWB. The findings also demonstrated the importance of including all theoretically meaningful variables (including suppressor variables) in a model to accurately assess the contribution of each predictor. This study demonstrated that recognizing the presence of suppressor variables provided essential information for examining and interpreting the mediating role of FV consumption. This study also found that FV consumption significantly mediated the association from conscientiousness to SWB. Conscientiousness was positively associated with FV consumption, while FV consumption was positively associated with SWB. The findings provided preliminary support for targeting FV consumption as a form of intervention to enhance SWB, especially for those who are low in conscientiousness. This is the first article investigating suppression, mediating, and confounding effects in a single research article, and highlights the importance of accounting for these effects when testing models with multiple predictors.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mo Money Mo Problems? Economic Freedom and Subjective Happiness in Europe, 2010–2020","authors":"Pål E. Martinussen, Geir H. Hilland","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00877-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00877-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>It is widely held that economic freedom is fundamental for a society’s prosperity and growth, and neoliberalism has now become the dominant ideology in shaping our world. While a large literature on economic freedom has documented mainly favourable impacts on economic outcomes, only a handful of studies have examined the link between economic freedom and life quality. Building on the most recent data available on European countries, we combined the Index of Economic Freedom from the Frasier Institute with data from the World Bank, Varieties of Democracy and the European Social Survey in the period 2010–2020, allowing for a multilevel analysis of a total of nearly 199,000 respondents from 28 countries. At the individual level, the analysis controlled for the respondents’ demographic background, socio-economic status and social trust. At the country level we controlled for levels of democracy through a composite index. The results for the aggregate models indicate that there is a reversed U-shaped curvilinear association between economic freedom and happiness. However, the results of the disaggregate models, where we tested the associations between each of the individual components of economic freedom and happiness, indicate a reversed U-shape for only one of the five components, sound money. The one-sided focus on minimal government in the research and discourse on economic freedom seems mis-specified. By treating economic freedom as a general composite measure, we run the risk of dramatically over-simplifying the processes at play. Recent developments in multilevel methods and improved access to data should inspire further studies of how economic freedom can serve and benefit citizens’ well-being and thus contribute to well-functioning societies.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"99 37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gender Differences and Physical Limitations in the Association Between Subjective Well-Being and Cultural Consumption Among Older People","authors":"Maria Carella, Roberta Misuraca","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00875-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00875-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The present study examines the association between patterns of cultural engagement and subjective well-being amongst older adults, with a focus on gender differences and physical limitations. We carried out a latent class analysis using Italian data from a 2018 survey to identify the profiles of cultural consumers, exploring the relationship between these profiles and life, leisure, and friendship satisfaction. The results show that allocating more time to diverse cultural experiences was associated with higher levels of subjective well-being, even in the presence of gender differences and physical limitations. Women who engaged in diverse cultural experiences with increased intensity and who participated in highbrow activities exhibited higher levels of leisure and friendship satisfaction than men. Moreover, the analysis emphasizes the potential of cultural participation for aging adults dealing with physical challenges documenting that their participation in a diverse range of cultural activities is positively associated with friend and leisure satisfaction. The findings highlight the importance of cultural participation in enhancing older adults’ well-being; it is hoped that they will be used to inform the development of targeted welfare policies.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143485720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mental Health Profiles Among Swedish High School Students: Relationships to Environmental Sensitivity and Coping Self-Efficacy","authors":"Mia M. Maurer, Eva Hoff, Daiva Daukantaitė","doi":"10.1007/s10902-024-00847-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00847-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Dual-factor models of mental health integrate both positive and negative indicators to provide a more comprehensive understanding of mental health profiles. In this cross-sectional study, we explored the mental health profiles of Swedish high school students by examining five positive indicators of well-being—connectedness, perseverance, optimism, happiness, and engagement—alongside three distress indicators: symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. We further investigated how these profiles related to gender, environmental sensitivity, coping self-efficacy, and the experience of pandemic-related distress. Utilizing latent profile analysis on a sample of 846 students (<i>M</i>_<i>age</i> = 18, <i>SD</i>_<i>age</i> = 0.85), five distinct mental health profiles emerged: <i>Complete mental health</i> (42.9%) exhibited above-average well-being and below-average distress<b>;</b> <i>Moderate mental health</i> (37.8%) showed average well-being and distress levels<b>;</b> <i>Vulnerable</i> (9.8%) had below-average well-being with slightly elevated distress; <i>Symptomatic but managing</i> (5.4%) reported below-average well-being and high distress; and <i>Troubled</i> (4.0%) displayed significantly below-average well-being with very high distress. Gender played a significant role in differentiating these profiles, with girls particularly overrepresented in the <i>Troubled</i> and <i>Symptomatic but managing</i> profiles, suggesting a higher prevalence of mental health challenges among female students. As expected, students in the <i>Complete mental health</i> profile exhibited higher aesthetic sensitivity and greater coping self-efficacy, while those in the <i>Troubled</i> profile showed the highest ease of excitation and lowest coping self-efficacy, indicating a stark contrast in emotional regulation and resilience between the profiles. Interestingly, despite clear variations in well-being and distress, no significant differences were found between profiles in terms of distress experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, although girls reported higher levels of pandemic-related distress overall.</p><p>These findings offer critical insights into the diverse mental health experiences of adolescents, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions. Addressing the specific needs of students in compromised mental health profiles is essential to promoting a healthier and more supportive educational environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How Social Desirability Influences the Relationship between Measures of Personality and Key Constructs in Positive Psychology","authors":"Hampus Persson, Fredrik Björklund, Martin Bäckström","doi":"10.1007/s10902-025-00879-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00879-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Does socially desirable responding produce exaggerated correlations between self-ratings of personality and positive psychology constructs? We operationalized social desirability as the tendency to react to evaluative content in questionnaire items and related one standard measure and one evaluatively neutralized measure of the Big Five to measures of five key positive psychology constructs (optimism, purpose in life, satisfaction with life, well-being and sense of coherence). Structural equation modelling (<i>N</i> = 439) revealed substantially different relationships between the Big Five and positive psychology constructs when the evaluative factor was accounted for. The results indicated that although the Big Five still predict the positive psychology constructs when the evaluative factor is accounted for, their influence is strongly reduced and the evaluative factor itself a major predictor. Arguably, this suggests that when the evaluative factor is not accounted for, the use of self-ratings invites social desirability to inflate the estimated relationships between personality traits and evaluatively loaded constructs in positive psychology. Alternative interpretations of the evaluative factor are discussed, as well as the importance of probing different solutions to measurement issues surrounding evaluative psychological constructs.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143470599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analyzing Skill-Challenge Interaction and Flow State: Insights From Response Surface Analysis Among Board Gamers","authors":"Marcin Wojtasiński, Przemysław Tużnik, Tomasz Jankowski, Andrzej Cudo","doi":"10.1007/s10902-024-00846-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-024-00846-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In research on flow as a constitutive trait, alongside appropriate levels of attention and motivation, the balance between task challenges and individual skills is emphasized. However, accurately determining the optimal balance to maximize the intensity of the flow state remains a complex task. It is evident that both variables, task challenge and individual skills, are interrelated. Nevertheless, how to precisely express the degree of matching between these variables in explaining the flow state remains an open question. One of the recent proposals for analyzing the (mis)matching of predictor variables explaining outcomes is Response Surface Analysis (RSA). In this study, we employed RSA to verify whether the skill-challenge balance could indeed occur in a configuration that best explains the flow state. We measured flow using the Flow Short Scale, which consists of two subscales: fluency and absorption. The study included 528 participants who were online board game players and were asked to assess their perceived skill levels and the current challenge of the game. RSA revealed two intriguing phenomena concerning both the fluency scale and absorption: firstly, flow is higher when the perceived level of skills exceeds task challenge compared to situations where perceived skills are lower than task challenge; secondly, flow is higher when both perceived skill levels and task challenge are higher compared to when they are at low levels. These findings shed light on a crucial aspect of the occurrence of flow, related to perceived skill levels and subjective task challenge.</p>","PeriodicalId":15837,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Happiness Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143473442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}