International Journal of Wellbeing

Exploring the contribution of animal companionship to human wellbeing: A three-country study

2023-08-26T11:58:20-07:00

While it is often assumed that animal companions unilaterally contribute to the wellbeing of their human companions, research has to date been equivocal. At best it appears to be that animal companionship may add an extra dimension to human lives, and thus human wellbeing. In this paper we report on a quantitative study conducted in 2021 that surveyed 2090 people with animal companions living in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Participants responded to measures asking about their wellbeing and psychological distress, their connectedness to other humans, and their interactions with and attachment to animals. Regression analysis found that relationships with humans was associated with reduced psychological distress (β = -.594, p = .001), while relationships with animals (β = .205, p = .001), particularly cats (β = .077, p = .001), was associated with increased psychological distress. Regression analysis also found that relationships with other humans (β = .522, p = .001), interactions with animals (β = .142, p = .001), and bonds with animal companions (β = .128, p = .001) were associated with increased wellbeing. We conclude by considering the groups for whom relationships with animals are most likely to offer unique benefits, and suggest the importance of continuing to examine why it is that relationships with animals are both intertwined with, yet distinct from, human-human relationships.

Subjective well-being and chronic illnesses: A combined survey and register study

2022-11-01T18:02:19-07:00

Populations are ageing, and higher proportions live with chronic illnesses. Understanding the association between health and well-being and being able to predict who may experience the largest detriment in well-being is essential if societies are to maintain high levels of social welfare. Our study places itself in the limited literature examining the association between chronic illness and subjective well-being (SWB). We offer a unique contribution to the literature by studying different domains of SWB and by investigating variation in SWB. A cross-sectional survey of a representative group of Danish citizens aged 50-80 is linked with national register data containing comprehensive information on health and social issues. We identify six common chronic illnesses. In addition to general life satisfaction, we also measure SWB in seven domains of life, including health, using the Personal Wellbeing Index. Health state is measured by EQ-5D-5L. We use OLS and adjust for socio-demographics, lifestyle, personal skills, preferences, and personality traits. In a range of heterogeneity analyses we explore the role of 22 personal characteristics as predictive factors of SWB when being chronically ill. We also examine two possible sources of variation in SWB. We find robust evidence of negative associations between chronic illness and older individuals’ SWB beyond the health domain. When ascertaining the influence of personal characteristics, we find that some factors predict vulnerability. Interestingly, heterogeneity in SWB across personal characteristics stem from differential health state and in some cases from differences in the association between SWB and health.

Metrics for education for flourishing: A framework

2023-08-29T18:05:08-07:00

The present paper puts forward a framework for the development, use, and selection of metrics concerning education for flourishing, intended to assist with the assessment of educational efforts to promote student flourishing. These metrics pertain to education policies and practices aimed at both traditional cognitive and epistemic aims and aspects of flourishing that extend beyond those aims, and to both present and subsequent flourishing. Various methodological considerations are discussed and three sets of individual and systems-level metrics are put forward. Both the individual and the systems-level metrics are structured around three broad, interrelated categories: (i) present flourishing; (ii) academic achievement; and (iii) social, emotional, and character-related capacities. We focus on metrics that are constitutive of and/or causally efficacious for present and subsequent flourishing and that also fall within the purview of what an educational system can reasonably alter. Discussion is given to the uses, implications, and limitations of this framework and how it might be helpful in advancing efforts at education for flourishing.

The influence of psychological climate for caring and perceived insider status on the relationship between managerial caring and positive employee well-being

2023-08-17T18:20:14-07:00

Learning the factors that positively impact employee well-being is not a new stream of study. The care and support provided by managers can influence employees’ motivation and overall well-being. The positive emotional environment created by a caring climate can significantly impact how individuals feel and function in their professional lives. Additionally, perceived insider status, which reflects a sense of belonging and integration, can positively affect self-esteem and well-being. Social identity theory posits that positive well-being occurs when individual employees feel that they are surrounded by a climate of care signaled by the direct manager and overall employee acceptance within the organization, which ultimately influences their overall positive well-being. This study collected data from 197 employees working in the service sector in different industries within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through survey questionnaires using a convenience sampling technique. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) version 4 was used to analyze the dataset and test the hypotheses. The results indicate that managerial caring relates positively to positive employee well-being. Furthermore, a psychological climate of care and perceived insider status serially mediate the relationship between managerial caring and positive employee well-being. Thus, this study offers new insights into the importance of managerial care in employees’ positive well-being within their organizations, as well as the caring model among managers and employees. Managers who show and develop an atmosphere of care toward employees enhance their positive well-being.

Embodied emotional expressions for intuitive experience sampling methods: A demographic investigation with Japanese speakers

2022-12-08T16:47:46-08:00

Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is a research procedure for monitoring ever-changing subjective emotions in our daily lives. A typical method asks participants, several times a day, to report and rate their emotions in terms of pre-defined adjective scales (e.g., “2 for sad,” and “5 for happy”). When a scale includes many adjectives, rating time is increased for participants. However, when few adjectives are provided, respondents may struggle to find descriptors that truly match their internal state, making it difficult to express the complex nuances of multiple emotions. This paper reports the development of a novel approach to ESM in which participants choose only a single word that intuitively expresses common emotion categories and intensities with minimal demands on their time. To achieve this capability, we conducted a survey with 14,321 Japanese speakers that presented a list of intuitive and embodied emotional expressions such as mimetics (e.g., “thump-thump”) and interjections (e.g., “wow”) in Japanese, categorized according to the eight primary emotions and three levels of emotional intensity used in the Plutchik model, and asked them to choose the expressions they use in their daily lives. The results showed that the most frequently used expressions were generally consistent irrespective of gender or age, and that people differentiated their use of expressions according to the category and intensity of their emotions. Our findings indicate that it is possible to create a single common list of expressions that can be used by all genders and ages to efficiently and intuitively express nuanced emotions appropriate to their inner states without the person having to think deliberately.