Journal of Happiness Studies

Does money bring happiness? To answer this question, I study the consequences of income fluctuations caused by commodity price changes on well-being patterns in regions specializing in export agriculture. Using nationally representative survey data in a difference-in-differences framework, I investigate the effects of the 2010/11 short-term increase in the global price of cotton. I demonstrate that it can be viewed as a positive income shock for the cotton-producing communities of Tajikistan. The main results indicate that the net subjective well-being effects of the cotton price increase are negative: exposure to the shock at the aggregate level is associated with a notable decrease in the reported levels of financial and life satisfaction. To explain this paradox, I consider split sample analyses, which suggest that the shock led to within-community occupational sorting and that its well-being effects are negative among households that were in the agriculture sector before the shock and barely positive for newly become farmers. Observing the increasing volume of remittances in the world and their significance to the economy of Tajikistan, I also study how remittances affect the relationship between income volatility and happiness. Further estimations reveal that family remittances are not significantly affected by and can partially mediate the negative effects of short-term income changes. The mediating effects of remittances only affect financial satisfaction, suggesting that a mere compensation of losses does not fully restore the quality of life.

The current study examines the relationship between achievement goals (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and mastery-avoidance goals) and flourishing (emotional, social, and psychological well-being) in three countries with comparable human development but with different cultural values: USA, Japan, and the Netherlands. Previous research provided an indication for the relationships between achievement goals and well-being but does not allow to draw conclusions on these relationships across cultures. We used a comparable sample of adults (N = 919) of the three countries to examine differences between those countries in the relationship between achievement goals and well-being. Results showed that the relationships between mastery-approach goals and well-being were the same for the three countries while different relationships were found for performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. These findings could be partly explained by the cultural value of competitiveness and collectivism.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the Multi-Component Positive Psychology Intervention (MPPI) on adolescents’ risky behaviors and psychological flexibility. The study utilized a convergent parallel design, a mixed-method research design. While the quantitative phase included a 2 × 3 factorial design, the qualitative phase included a descriptive phenomenology approach. The study group consisted of 26 adolescents (experimental group = 13, control group = 13) selected using the simultaneous/nested sampling method (Ranjage=14–17, Mage=15.35, SDage=1.09). While the adolescents in the experimental group received a ten-week MPPI program online, the adolescents in the control group were administered no interventions. Quantitative data were collected through the Risky Behavior Scale and the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory-Short Form. Qualitative data were collected through individual interviews conducted with the adolescents after the experimental procedure. The quantitative results showed that MPPI enabled a significant decrease in adolescents’ antisocial behaviors, suicide tendency, risky behaviors total and psychological inflexibility scores and an increase in their psychological flexibility scores. This effect was found to continue in the follow-up measurements taken three months later. On the other hand, MPPI was found to have no significant effects on reducing adolescents’ alcohol use, smoking, nutrition habits, and school dropout scores. Qualitative findings indicated the positive effects of MPPI on decreasing adolescents’ risky behaviors and increasing their psychological flexibility levels. Findings from quantitative and qualitative data assessing the effectiveness of MPPI were found to support each other.

Objectives The study aimed to identify different trajectories of personal growth (PG) following the transition to parenthood, as well as factors that predict these trajectories. Method Parents (n = 788) completed self-report questionnaires in three phases: when infants were 3–12 months-old, six months later and again six months later. Latent Class Growth Analyses (LCGA) and Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM) were used to identify latent subgroups of individuals based on common trajectories of PG. Stepwise multinominal regression models were used to identify significant determinants of personal growth trajectories. Results Four trajectories were found: (1) constructive; (2) high-stable; (3) low-stable; and (4) moderately delayed. Being a woman and higher coping versatility were related to the high-stable trajectory, higher economic status was related to the low-stable trajectory, and higher parental distress was related to the moderately-delayed trajectory. Conclusions The study offers insights into growth in first-time parents of young infants by distinguishing between four trajectories and showing that economic status, as well as the psychological variables of parental distress and coping flexibility, might differentiate between different growth patterns. The results contribute to the theoretical understanding of the complex experience of personal growth, which, in turn, can serve professionals in the design of appropriate personalized interventions for new parents.

Previous research has established the central role of an individuals’ locus of control (LoC) in influencing subjective well-being. However, earlier studies have predominantly omitted an exploration of potential moderating factors at the country-level and have rarely delved into the influence of LoC on an important yet often-overlooked dimension of well-being—namely, subjective well-being inequality. Addressing these gaps, this study examines the association between individuals’ LoC and subjective well-being, considering both the mean and inequality aspects. Additionally, it explores the moderating influence of country’s social values, particularly the individualism-collectivism dimension. Utilizing data from the Integrated Values Survey, comprising 170,000 observations across 37 countries from 1996 to 2022, our study confirms a strong positive relationship between LoC and subjective well-being while also unveiling a strong negative relationship with subjective well-being inequality. Moreover, it demonstrates that country’s social values exert significant moderation effects on the relationship between LoC and subjective well-being, affecting both the mean level and inequality aspects, albeit in opposing directions. By employing the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, our findings support the importance of structural effects. Understanding how increasing LoC shapes people’s wellbeing in a society holds implications for policymaking and contributes to ongoing discussions on collective choice and inequality.

In this study, we constructed a new database to investigate the complex relationship between hazy weather, heightened air pollution concerns due to elevated PM 2.5 levels, and residents’ well-being in China. Our study concludes that the results of the baseline regression showing that PM2.5 significantly increases the well-being of the population is at odds with common sense, which is attributed to potential endogeneity issues, including reverse causation and omitted variables. For this purpose, first, we used the instrumental variables method to exclude the endogeneity problem and obtained a causal relation between objective air pollution and well-being, that is, objective air pollution significantly and negatively affects residents’ well-being. Second, we also considered the effect of individual differences and verified the mechanistic pathways by which objective air pollution affects well-being through residents’ subjective air pollution. Specifically, we found that in the air quality evaluation process, “pessimistic” residents have a lower level of well-being, and “optimistic” residents have a higher level of well-being. Finally, we verified that the level of household income can weaken the negative impact of objective air pollution on residents’ well-being and has a positive moderating effect. By integrating macro and micro-level data through innovative technology, our research provides policy recommendations for effective pollution management and improved overall well-being in China.

There exists a significant difference between the life satisfaction of people with and without disabilities, to the disadvantage of the former. The present work investigates the association between environmental accessibility and life satisfaction by disability status. The environmental accessibility index is built based on the results of the 2012 Eurobarometer survey on accessibility, while empirical analyses are conducted using data from the EU-SILC 2013, which includes an ad hoc module on wellbeing. We test the following hypotheses using Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions: 1. Coeteris paribus, environmental accessibility is associated with a reduction of the difference between the life satisfaction of people without disabilities and people with disabilities; 2. The negative association of environmental accessibility with the difference in life satisfaction by disability status is greater in absolute value among women and people in the lowest income quartile. Both hypotheses are fully supported.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on life satisfaction has been a topic of worldwide research, mostly indicating a drop in individual’s life satisfaction with some differences between subgroups. However, literature on related mechanisms is scarce. This study examines whether the sense of social belonging is a mechanism that explains pandemic-related changes in life satisfaction across different age groups. Using a rich longitudinal data set of the adult cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study and employing fixed effects panel regression models, we show that the COVID-19 pandemic is, on average, negatively associated with individual life satisfaction and social belonging. Yet, mediation and sensitivity analysis questions the general importance of social belonging as a relevant mechanism irrespective of individuals’ age. The results also suggest that the negative effects of the pandemic on social belonging were indeed significant for individuals with average or high pre-pandemic social belonging, while individuals with low pre-pandemic social belonging experienced an increase in their sense of social belonging. This leads to an expanded discussion of which groups of people are most affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and what other mechanisms can be hypothesized to explain this negative impact on people's life satisfaction.

A consistent empirical finding is that Scandinavian countries by international standards score steadily high in terms of subjectively reported levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Intrigued by previous findings in Denmark (Lolle and Goul Anderson in Metode Og Forskningsdesign 1:95–119, 2013, in Journal of Happiness Studies 6:1–14)), this paper confirms that this is partly due to language effects. In this paper, Sweden serves as a case study that, similar to the Danish study, seeks to determine whether it is possible to establish semantic equivalence between translated survey items. By using randomized experiments on a representative sample of Swedish citizens with fluent skills in English, we test the effects of different designs in question wordings and response scale labels implemented by international surveys. The results reveal significant differences in answers on happiness. While the mean differences are very small, the distribution of answers is substantial enough to confirm a strong semantic threshold between the English term happy the Swedish term lycklig. Hence, it requires something more to be “very happy” in Swedish than in English. Notably, language appears to have a lesser impact on the distribution of responses across language groups when using a numbered response scale with endpoint labels, indicating that a particular question design either mitigates or intensifies translational effects. Happiness, it is concluded, is not easily translated and survey practitioners should bear this caveat in mind when operationalizing the concept across countries and cultures.

This paper advances an individual-based hybrid well-being theory and argues that it is able to overcome the main drawbacks of existing objective list theories and avoid the shortcomings of hedonism and desire-fulfillment theories. The individual-based hybrid well-being theory has characteristics of perfectionist objective theories in that it recognizes objective goods and explains the commonality of goods from the perspective of perfectionism, but it also differs from existing objective list theories insofar as it provides not a single list of goods for everyone but plural lists of goods based on each individual for each individual. In addition, it represents a hybrid theory rather than a pure objective list theory because it recognizes the individual’s desire as a factor influencing the contribution of objective goods to well-being and the individual’s experiences of pleasure as a component of well-being outside the list of goods.

Evidence suggests that family is a cornerstone of youth’s purpose development. However, relevant findings were largely derived from Western contexts. The current research aims to investigate the effects family interest support and parents’ autonomy support (i.e., promotion of independence and promotion of volitional functioning) have on youth’s purpose exploration and commitment over middle adolescence in Taiwan. A total of 369 Taiwanese vocational high school students (45% females; mean age = 15.82 years old at the first investigation) partook in this study. Participating youth rated family interest support, parents’ autonomy support, and youth’s purpose exploration and commitment through questionnaires during the fall of their tenth and eleventh grades with approximately a one-year interval. A cross-lagged analysis showed that family support for interests was associated with youth’s increased purpose commitment one year later and parents’ promotion for independence was associated with youth’s enhanced purpose exploration one year later. Parents’ promotion of volitional functioning was not associated with youth’s purpose exploration or commitment one year later. In line with prior studies conducted in Western cultures in demonstrating the significant role of the family in cultivating youth’s purpose development, the current research shows that various aspects of family support may yield different effects on the two purpose dimensions. Parents’ promotion of independence fosters youth to explore their purpose in life, particularly during adolescence where independence is of great concern. When youth become gradually aware of their interests, supporting youth’s interests helps youth sustain their commitment to purpose over time.

Balancing policy subsidies and employment support is crucial for developing effective assistance policies for disabled veterans. This study conducted an empirical investigation in China using 315 survey questionnaires. The findings indicate that, first, subsidies have a positive impact on the well-being of disabled veterans, but this effect diminishes as disability severity increases. Second, employment emerges as a crucial factor that surpasses subsidies in contributing to overall well-being. As disability severity increases, the relative impact of employment on well-being strengthens. Third, employment enhances well-being by improving self-identity, while the influence of subsidies on self-identity is relatively minimal. Additionally, a policy model demonstrates that subsidies enhance individual well-being but increase group uncertainty, whereas employment support improves individual well-being and reduces group uncertainty. These insights are valuable for governments when formulating policies related to social security, employment stability, and welfare protection.

While problematic gaming (i.e., experiencing negative life consequences from video game use) has been positively associated with flow, its relationship to dispositional mindfulness remains unclear. However, research in a related area suggests dispositional mindfulness is negatively associated with problematic gambling. Thus, the present study sought to examine whether dispositional mindfulness would predict problematic gaming when controlling for dispositional aspects of flow (sense of control and absorption) while playing a favourite game, weekly hours spent gaming, and gender. Frequent adult gamers (N=1015; 29.7% female; Mage=23.29 years, SD=4.58) completed an online survey. Results from hierarchical multiple regression revealed lower dispositional mindfulness significantly predicted greater problematic gaming when controlling for flow, gender, and hours spent gaming. These results demonstrate the importance of mindfulness and flow on reports of problematic gaming. Implications are discussed in light of research suggesting mindfulness may be useful in the prevention of problematic behaviours.

Previous studies have consistently found that hedonic and eudaimonic motives positively predict subjective well-being. In this study, we emphasized the importance of considering curvilinear effects alongside main effects and interactions to fully understand these relationships. Using polynomial regression models, we examined the relationships between hedonic motives, eudaimonic motives, and subjective well-being. To examine both trait-level and momentary-level relations with well-being, we used experience sampling methodology to collect real-time data from 161 participants over a 7-day period. Our findings suggested that engaging in activities towards fulfilling both motives was associated with positive experiences, and individuals with high levels of hedonic and eudaimonic motives in their daily lives generally reported higher subjective well-being. Nevertheless, we also identified negative interaction effects between both motives on subjective well-being, which imply that there may be a limit to the positive contributions of combinations of both motives to subjective well-being. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the nuanced relationships between hedonic and eudaimonic motives and subjective well-being.

Past work has suggested a need for a theme of purpose in life surrounding activism, defined as one’s purpose in life concerning the pursuit of social or political change. However, the combination of activism and purpose research yields the potential for conflicting predictions regarding the wellbeing of individuals in this pursuit, given activists often report lower wellbeing while sense of purpose is linked to better psychological wellbeing. The current study (n = 1975; Mage = 49.23) examined the wellbeing correlates of activist purpose commitment, to gain better insights into how activists continue toward their purposeful pursuits. Results demonstrate that activist purpose commitment, as expected, are relatively low in the general public. Of interest, activist purpose levels positively correlate with indicators both of wellbeing and psychological concerns, underscoring the duality of this construct. For instance, individuals with a stronger activist purpose tend to report better resilience and hope, as well as greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Future work is needed to better understand what factors predict activist purpose development, as well as the consequences that activist purpose has for the individual.

There is robust evidence that social relationships are positively associated with self-esteem, but little is known about how changes in social relationships and self-esteem are associated within individuals. This longitudinal study examined the within-person association between social relationships and self-esteem and the association across developmental stages and gender. A total of 1,240 middle and high school Chinese students (636 girls; initial Mage = 13.4 years) completed measures of self-esteem and paternal, maternal, peer attachment, and teacher-student relationship three times over one year (five-month and six-month interval). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that bidirectional, within-person association between social relationships and self-esteem among adolescents varied depending on relationship sources, developmental stages, and gender. Specifically, within-person effects indicated that increases in social relationships predicted increases in self-esteem among early adolescents, while increases in self-esteem predicted increases in social relationships among middle adolescents. Moreover, within-person effects suggested that increases in maternal attachment and teacher-student relationship predicted increases in self-esteem among early male adolescents, while increases in teacher-student relationships and paternal attachment predicted increases in self-esteem among early female adolescents. These findings have important theoretical implications regarding the association between self-esteem and social relationships in adolescents and practical implications for improving adolescents’ self-esteem and social relationships.

This study aimed to examine the impact of a pilgrimage on the Way of St. James on psychological distress and subjective well-being, and to compare these outcomes with a control group on non-pilgrimage vacations. Additionally, the study explored psychological process variables that may mediate the pilgrimage's beneficial effects. A nonrandomized pretest-posttest design was used, involving 444 pilgrims and 124 controls. Participants completed baseline and post-experience self-reported measures of psychological distress, subjective well-being, and psychological processes (i.e., mindfulness, nonattachment, engaged living). A 3-month follow-up was conducted only in the pilgrim group. Mediation analyses examined psychological processes as potential mediators of pre-post change in the pilgrim group (vs. control). Within-group analyses revealed that the pilgrim group experienced improvements in psychological distress, subjective well-being, and psychological processes immediately post-experience, with most measures sustaining improvement at the 3-month follow-up. Compared to the control group, pilgrims showed significantly greater increases in positive affect, life satisfaction, and valued living, alongside greater reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. Valued living partially mediated the relationship between pilgrimage and positive affect, and fully mediated the effects on perceived stress, negative affect, life satisfaction, and subjective happiness. Pilgrimage on the Way of St. James effectively reduced psychological distress and enhanced subjective well-being, with greater benefits observed compared to a non-pilgrimage vacation control group. Consistent with the concept of pilgrimage as a transformative experience, significant improvements in valued living were noted, which mediated some of the positive outcomes post-pilgrimage. The Way of St. James may serve as a valuable complementary approach for alleviating distress and promoting well-being. Further studies exploring the effects of this pilgrimage on specific populations and using more robust study designs are warranted. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04141813.

The present study examines the efficacy of Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) on psychological well-being, happiness, and satisfaction with life. We investigated people suffering from different kinds of depressive disorders, comparing it to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). PPT is an empirically validated intervention targeting positive resources and personal strengths. It aims at amplifying well-being while also ameliorating the impact of symptoms. In a controlled two-center-study, we randomly assigned 92 out-patient participants with a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder and/or Dysthymia to 14 sessions of manualized PPT or CBT group therapy. We assessed outcomes related to well-being using the Flourishing Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Positive Psychotherapy Inventory (PPTI). The PPTI represents the five components of Seligman’s PERMA-model of flourishing, encompassing positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. We took measurements before and after the intervention, and at a 6-months follow-up. Moreover, we considered a list of moderators that may impact the efficacy of PPT. PPT resulted in significant improvements in all measures, and these improvements remained stable for up to 6 months. Using 2 × 2 mixed-effects models (T1 vs. T2), we found significant interactions for all three main scales and two out of the five PPTI subscales. These interactions depicted significantly better outcomes for PPT at post-treatment. Regarding the follow-up (T1 vs. T3), we did not find significant interactions, and thus, there were no differences between the two therapies. No demographics or characteristics of the treatments were significant moderators. Summarized, these findings provide support for the effectiveness of PPT in increasing happiness, well-being, and quality of life. We can confirm that PPT is an additional tool for the enhancement of positive mental health.

A large body of literature highlights the benefits of being religious in terms of subjective well-being. We examine changes to these so-called religious well-being benefits during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and address the role of (formal and informal) social integration when explaining these changes. We empirically test two contrasting scenarios: The first scenario predicts a decrease in religious well-being benefits (convergence hypothesis), while the second scenario predicts an increase in religious well-being benefits (divergence hypothesis). We adopt a potential outcomes framework and apply marginal structural models and inverse probability of treatment weighting to nationally representative, longitudinal data including both pre- and during-pandemic periods. Thereby, we show that initial religious well-being benefits declined during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. This decline was partly due to religious individuals’ perception of decreasing social integration. Our results challenge the widespread idea that religious individuals are better protected against crises.

In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis on firms’ investment in happiness and the associated benefits of doing so. In this paper, we discuss the agency problem regarding investments in happiness. The agency problem occurs when managers’ motivations for investing in happiness differ from shareholders’ motivations, leading to a conflict of interests that affects every key corporate decision. To investigate this problem, we propose a theoretical framework that integrates financial incentives with behavioral aspects, and use it to analyze the decision-making process of managers and shareholders. We also provide a detailed account of their anticipated benefits and utilities arising from investing in happiness. We explain the financial implications of the value gap that results from the inherent conflict of interests and provide appropriate solutions for reducing the gap in a variety of circumstances.

An individual's financial situation positively impacts her subjective well-being (SWB) according to the literature. However, most existing studies focus solely on income, neglecting other aspects of an individual's financial situation such as wealth. In this paper, we empirically examine the relationship between SWB, income, household wealth, and its components. Additionally, we explore the significance of one's wealth relative to others' for SWB. Our contribution expands the limited literature on absolute and relative wealth and SWB by utilizing unique microdata from a German wealth survey, the German Panel on Household Finances (PHF). Our findings indicate that both assets and debts, alongside income, are associated with an individual's SWB. In particular, a similar relative increase in financial assets is associated with a greater increase in SWB than the same percentage increase in real assets, and SWB decreases as the level of unsecured debt increases. Furthermore, individuals tend to experience decreased SWB when comparing themselves to others with more assets or less debt. Interestingly, we observe divergent effects of relative wealth on SWB among younger and older individuals. These results underscore the significance of considering wealth, in addition to income, when analyzing determinants of SWB.

A well-known finding in the happiness literature is that Latin Americans report, on average, high happiness. It is not only high, but higher than expected for their socioeconomic situation, as portrayed by commonly used indicators. High happiness in Latin America is a puzzle, and some scholars consider it a paradox, which calls for new and fresh research to understand high happiness in the region. In fact, the high-happiness-in-Latin-America phenomenon constitutes an excellent opportunity to further understand the drivers of happiness, as well as to highlight some drivers that have not received the attention they deserve. This paper argues, and empirically shows, that person-based interpersonal relationships are important in explaining people’s happiness, that they are abundant in Latin America, and that they are uncorrelated with income. In consequence, it is reasonable to observe high happiness in Latin America, as well as happiness that is higher than what would be predicted according to socioeconomic indicators. The empirical analyses are based on information from three high-happiness Latin American countries. Abundance and good quality of interpersonal relationships positively impact on affective and evaluative experiences of being well, as well as on life satisfaction. The Latin American phenomenon indicates that the interpersonal relationships people create and maintain in their journey of life are fundamental for their happiness. Person-based interpersonal relationships allow for the joint enjoyment of life.

In spite of extensive research that links the absence of pain with happiness, it remains puzzling why possessing beliefs equating the absence of pain with happiness (negative hedonic beliefs) undermine experienced happiness and what underlying mechanisms can explain this paradox. We conducted five studies to address these questions. The participants who had more negative hedonic beliefs exhibited decreased well-being, including subjective well-being and psychological well-being, alongside heightened depression and physical symptoms (Study 1a), an effect that persisted after controlling for behavioral inhibition/activation systems (Study 1b). Hypersensitivity to negative experiences, which reflects a reduced inclination to engage in negative experiences, even when positives exist, mediated the links between negative hedonic beliefs and poor well-being both cross-sectionally (Study 2) and longitudinally (Study 3). Moreover, the propensity to avoid negative experiences was observed in behavioral intention, primarily due to heightened anticipated negative affect when an event was manipulated to include negative aspects (Study 4). Together, the effort to eliminate negative experiences, as adhered to by individuals with negative hedonic beliefs, tends to prevent them from recognizing the potential benefits of unpleasant experiences, inadvertently depriving themselves of opportunities for the enhancement of their well-being.

Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we examine the impacts of retirement on subjective well-being (SWB) among formal sector workers in China. Retirement negatively affects formal sector workers’ life satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and satisfaction with children, as well as worsens depression. We compare the impacts of retirement based on labor force participation with those based on statutory retirement under the mandatory retirement policy on SWB. Both retirement criteria exhibit negative impacts on SWB; however, because many workers continue to work even after being classified as retired statutorily, the negative effect of retirement on SWB is underestimated when using the statutory retirement definition. Additionally, the analyses of gender, regional, and occupational heterogeneity indicate that different subgroups exhibit the same negative impacts of retirement on SWB; however, the significance levels vary across different outcome variables. Finally, by discussing the push and pull factors on retirement decisions and conducting a mechanism analysis, we enrich the narrative on the impact of retirement on SWB and provide evidence for the reform of retirement postponement policies in China.