Veljko Jovanović

University of Novi Sad · Department of Psychology

Purpose The validity of the life satisfaction measures commonly used among adults has been rarely examined in adolescent samples. The present research had two main goals: (1) to evaluate the structural validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) among adolescents and to test measurement invariance across gender; (2) to compare the criterion...

Trust is a core component of social capital and it captures two dimensions: interpersonal trust and institutional trust. The majority of previous studies have examined the role of trust in economic and political processes, whereas much less is known about the relationship between trust and subjective well-being (SWB). The present study aimed at exa...

Although the associations between satisfaction with life domains (DS) and global life satisfaction (GLS) are well-documented, the roles of culture and gender in this relationship remain largely unknown. The main aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between DS and GLS among women and men in Iran and Serbia, after establishing me...

Previous research has established robust associations between adolescent subjective well-being (SWB) and internalizing behaviors, such as depression and anxiety. However, most studies have limited their focus to the relations between life satisfaction and internalizing behaviors. The current study examined the unique contributions of both cognitive...

Cross-cultural assessment of affective well-being among adolescents has received scarce attention in positive psychological research. The present study investigated cross-cultural measurement invariance of the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) among adolescents from three countries (India, Poland, and Serbia). The sample included a...

The present paper examines longitudinally how subjective perceptions about COVID-19, one’s community, and the government predict adherence to public health measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Using an international survey ( N = 3040), we test how infection risk perception, trust in the governmental response and communications about COVID-19...

COVID-19 has been a source of fear around the world. We asked whether the measurement of this fear is trustworthy and comparable across countries. In particular, we explored the measurement invariance and cross-cultural replicability of the widely-used Fear of COVID-19 (the FCV-19S) scale, testing community samples from 48 countries (N = 14,558). T...

Before vaccines for COVID-19 became available, a set of infection prevention behaviors constituted the primary means to mitigate the virus spread. Our study aimed to identify important predictors of this set of behaviors. Whereas social and health psychological theories suggest a limited set of predictors, machine learning analyses can identify cor...

Anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement has been associated with adverse health behaviors, such as unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking. However, most studies have been limited by regional sampling, which precludes the examination of behavioral consequences associated with the pandemic at a global level. Further, few s...

Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is important to inform policy decisions and plan vaccination campaigns. The aims of this research were to: (1) explore the individual- and country-level determinants of intentions to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and (2) examine worldwide variation in vaccination intentions. This cross-s...

Measurement of adolescent life satisfaction across cultures has not received much attention in previous empirical research. The present study evaluated measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) among adolescents in 24 countries and regions (N = 22,710; age range = 13-19 years; 53% female). A single-factor model with residual...

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Understanding how individual beliefs and societal values influence support for measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission is vital to developing and implementing effective prevention policies. Using both Just World Theory and Cultural Dimensions Theory, the present study considered how individual-level justice beliefs and country-level social valu...

Trust is an important correlate of well-being, and it plays an important moderating role against adversity. But does this conclusion also hold during pandemics? We address this question by investigating the role of interpersonal and institutional trust for well-being, as measured by five proxies, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia. We also exam...

The present study used the Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) procedure and a bifactor-ESEM framework to evaluate the construct validity of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) among adolescents. We also evaluated measurement invariance and latent mean differences across gender and age, and investigated the convergent validit...

Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from...

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global health crisis. Consequently, many countries have adopted restrictive measures that caused a substantial change in society. Within this framework, it is reasonable to suppose that a sentiment of societal discontent, defined as generalized concern about the precarious state of socie...

The current research examined the role of values in guiding people’s responses to COVID-19. Results from an international study involving 115 countries (N = 61,490) suggest that health and economic threats of COVID-19 evoke different values, with implications for controlling and coping with the pandemic. Specifically, health threats evoked prioriti...

We examine how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. From the PsyCorona database, we obtained longitudinal data from 23 countries, collected between March and May 2020. The results demonstrated that although online contacts help to reduce feelings of loneliness, people...

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is widely used to measure emotional experiences, but not much is known about its cross-cultural utility. The present study evaluated the measurement invariance of the SPANE across adult samples (N = 12,635; age range = 18-85 years; 58.2% female) from 13 countries (China, Colombia, Germany, Greec...

This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N = 25,435). The main predictors were (1) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (...

The present study examined the structure of subjective well‐being (SWB) using a person‐centered approach, and tested whether SWB profiles differed in a number of self‐reported negative life events, emotional distress, and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. The sample included a total of 945 undergraduate students from Serbia (78% female, Mage...

Cross-societal differences in cooperation and trust among strangers in the provision of public goods may be key to understanding how societies are managing the COVID-19 pandemic. We report a survey conducted across 41 societies between March and May 2020 (N = 34,526), and test pre-registered hypotheses about how cross-societal differences in cooper...

Background The effective implementation of government policies and measures for controlling the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires compliance from the public. This study aimed to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with the adoption of recommended health behaviou...

The present study investigates the relationship between two types of positive expectancies—dispositional optimism and general self-efficacy—and four indicators of subjective well-being—life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depression—at three time points over a 2-year period. In addition, the moderating role of positive expectanc...

The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) is one of the most frequently used measures of positive expectations, but its psychometric properties have been rarely examined using a prospective design. The research presented here evaluated the validity (construct, convergent, predictive), reliability (internal consistency, test-retest), and measurement inv...

The present study evaluated the assumptions of stress sensitization and stress immunization hypotheses about the role of perceived negative childhood experiences on adult adjustment. The study used a longitudinal design with three waves spaced six months apart. The final sample consisted of 293 undergraduate students aged 19 to 30 years. We examine...

Background Although there are increasing concerns on mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, no large-scale population-based studies have examined the associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and subsequent mental health. Methods : This study analysed cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the PsyCorona Survey that...

People rely on their recent emotional experiences when constructing life satisfaction judgments. However, the role of positive and negative affect in life satisfaction across different age groups has rarely been examined in prior research. This study sought to investigate the contribution of positive and negative affect to life satisfaction across...

The Coronavirus is highly infectious and potentially deadly. In the absence of a cure or a vaccine, the infection prevention behaviors recommended by the World Health Organization constitute the only measure that is presently available to combat the pandemic. The unprecedented impact of this pandemic calls for swift identification of factors most i...

In this work, we study how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. We draw on cross-national data, collected across four time points between mid-March until early May 2020. We situate our work within the public debate on these issues and discuss to what extent the public...

According to health behavior theories, perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors determine motivation to follow these recommendations. Because the U.S. President Trump and U.S. conservative politicians downplayed the risk and seriousness of contracting COVID-19 and the effectiv...

The PsyCorona collaboration is a research project to examine processes involved in the COVID-19 pandemic, such as behavior that curbs virus transmission, which may implicate social norms, cooperation, and self-regulation. The study also examines psychosocial consequences of physical distancing strategies and societal lockdown, such as frustration o...

Mapping the Moods of COVID-19: Global Study Uses Data Visualization to Track Psychological Responses, Identify Targets for Intervention

This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N=25,435). The main predictors were (i) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (ii...

Previous studies suggested that public trust in government is vital for implementations of social policies that rely on public's behavioural responses. This study examined associations of trust in government regarding COVID-19 control with recommended health behaviours and prosocial behaviours. Data from an international survey with representative...

This study sought to examine gender differences in life satisfaction globally and across demographic groups. The grouping variables included age, global region, marital status, employment status, education, and income. A sample of 1,801,417 participants across 166 countries was drawn from the Gallup World Poll. Given the hierarchical nature of the...

This project involves more than 30 researchers from 25 countries in more than 15 languages. This is a brief presentation highlighting current phase of data collection with the measures we've been using and overall data collection sites and expected sample sizes. I've also provided some brief expected results or anticipated findings. I am still Data...

This study sought to explore differential relations between the hedonic (life satisfaction, negative affect, and positive affect) and eudaimonic (psychological well‐being and social well‐being) components of well‐being and five criterion variables: long‐term planning, self‐control, sensation‐seeking, grit, and intellectualism. The study used a samp...

The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the measurement invariance and the convergent validity of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) across clinical and nonclinical samples. A total of 216 psychiatric patients (47.7% females; Mage = 44.56) and 235 participants from the general population (54.5% females; Mage = 43.11 years) were recru...

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is a self-report questionnaire designed to assess positive and negative emotions. In Study 1 ( N = 4,250, 61.95% females, M age = 28.56 years), we evaluated measurement invariance of the SPANE across gender and age using moderated factor analysis. In Study 2 ( N = 200, 52.5% females, M age = 21....

Social scientists have been interested in measuring the prosperity, well-being, and quality of life of nations, which has resulted in a multiplicity of country-level indicators. However, little is known about the factor structure of these indicators. We explored the structure of quality of life, using country-level data on tens of subjective and ob...

Data files containing Socio-economic progress, Psycho-social functioning, and Negative affectivity scores for nations.

This study investigated the moderating roles of trait positive affect (PA) and trait negative affect (NA), both separately and conjointly, in the relationship between negative life events and life satisfaction. The final sample consisted of 654 students (83.3% females; mean age = 19.58 years) who completed measures of dispositional PA and NA at Tim...

The role of negative life events and personality traits in adult life satisfaction has been widely investigated, but has received less attention in adolescent samples. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the relationships between the Big Five personality traits, negative life events, and life satisfaction in adolescents. In additi...

Research on life satisfaction in non-Western countries has grown somewhat in recent years, but still lags far behind that of developed countries. The present study was aimed at investigating determinants of life satisfaction in Serbia, a developing country that has experienced a number of difficulties over the past three decades. A large, represent...

Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitivanje psihofizičkog i socijalnog blagostanja starih osoba nakon nedavnog gubitka supružnika. Istraživanje blagostanja starih ožalošćenih je sprovedeno poređenjem grupe tugujućih (64 ispitanika) i netugujućih starih osoba (104 ispitanika). Starost ispitanika obe grupe kretala se od 65 do 89 godina. Dobijeni rezultati...

The comparison of subjective well-being scores across countries is increasingly being used as an indicator of societal progress. In this study we examined measurement invariance for the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), which measures subjective well-being, across Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. The sample included a total of...

Previous studies have rarely examined the cross-national equivalence of instruments aimed at assessing domain-specific life satisfaction. The present study evaluated the cross-national measurement invariance of the Personal Wellbeing Index-Adult (PWI-A), an instrument designed to measure levels of satisfaction with seven domains of life: standard o...

This study investigated the relationships between subjective health, hedonic wellbeing (i.e. positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction), and eudaimonic wellbeing (i.e. psycho-social functioning). The sample was drawn from the Gallup World Poll and included a total of 1,567,295 individuals in 165 countries. We found that both hedonic a...

This study used multi-level modeling in a sample of 952,739 adults across 150 countries to investigate age differences in demographic, psychological, and social predictors of life satisfaction. Based on percentiles of age distribution, the sample was categorized into five age groups (15–24, 25–33, 34–43, 44–57, and ⩾58). The predictors were general...

The aim of this research was to examine the validity of a single-item life satisfaction scale by comparing it with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Three studies were conducted on a total of six samples of Serbian undergraduate students, adults, and elderly (total N = 2822). We examined: 1) correlations between a single-item measure of life...

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) across five European countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia; (2) to investigate mean differences in life satisfaction in these five countries; (3) to examine associations between SWLS an...

We are pleased to announce the inaugural volume of the Journal of Well-Being Assessment, a new journal dedicated to the advancement of the well-being assessment theory, research and practice across domains and cultures. The journal aims at including different assessment topics and theories within the common topic of well-being. A new journal on wel...

The Mental Health Continuum–Short Form (MHC-SF) is a widely used scale aimed at assessing three components of well-being: emotional, social, and psychological. The factor structure of the MHC-SF has been under debate over the past 10 years. The main goal of the present study was to examine the dimensionality of the MHC-SF. Confirmatory factor analy...

The present research aimed at examining measurement invariance of the Serbian version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) across age, gender, and time. A total sample in Study 1 consisted of 2,595 participants from Serbia, with a mean age of 23.79 years (age range: 14-55 years). The final sample in Study 2 included 333 Serbian undergraduate...

The main goal of the present research was to examine the predictive and convergent validity of the newly developed Serbian Life Events Check-list - Student Form (SLEF-SF; Gavrilov-Jerković, Žuljević, Jovanović i Brdarić, 2012). The SLEC-SF consists of 54 life events, experienced over a 6-month period. Participants rate the valence (positive or nega...

Corrigendum for Joshanloo M and Jovanović V (2018) Subjective health in relation to hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Journal of Health Psychology. DOI: 10.1177/1359105318820104

The structure of affective well-being and the relationship between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) have rarely been examined among adolescents. The aim of the present research was to investigate the question of bipolarity versus independence of PA and NA as measured by the PANAS across three studies in adolescent samples. The results...

Background: The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a brief measure to assess emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Aims: We examined the factor structure of the MHC-SF in Serbia. A secondary goal was to examine measurement invariance and latent mean differences across gender. Method: The methods of Confirmatory Factor Analysi...

Indikator strategija prevladavanja (Coping Strategy Indicator – CSI: Amirkhan, 1990) je empirijski deriviran instrument namenjen proceni stilova prevladavanja stresa, odnosno nivoa zastupljenosti tri velika stila prevladavanja – rešavanja problema, traženja socijalne podrške i izbegavanja u ponašanju osobe suočene sa stresorom. Uprkos popularnosti...

Introduction: Excess bodyweight and obesity are widespread health problems throughout the world. In Serbia, over 50% of the adult population is overweight and the Province of Vojvodina is one of the regions with the highest percentage of obesity. The relationship between obesity and health complications has been consistently demonstrated. However,...

The present research has aimed to extend the previous research on the structure of subjective well-being (SWB) by applying the bifactor model. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered to two large samples of Serbian young adults (N 1 = 1669, N 2 = 1522). The bifactor model of SW...

Najveći broj modela koji se bave efektima negativnih iskustava u detinjstvu, pretpostavlja da rana averzivna iskustva imaju ulogu moderatora koji menja način na koji će osoba reagovati na aktuelne životne stresore. Osnovni cilj ovog istraživanja je provera osnovnih postavki modela senzitizacije na stres i modela inokulacije stresa. Istraživanje je...

The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) is a recently developed measure of affective well-being, which can be considered an alternative to instruments commonly used to assess positive and negative affect. However, no previous research has tested whether the SPANE explains variance in important outcomes that is not accounted for by the...

Osnovni cilj ovog istraživanja je bio provera konstrukt i konvergentne validnosti srpskog prevoda Skale socijalne podrške Studije medicinskih ishoda (MOS-SSS; The Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey: Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991). U Studiji 1 (N = 604, 74% žena, prosečna starost = 20.60 godina) ispitivana je konstrukt validnost skale korišće...

The Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) is a growingly popular questionnaire designed to assess three components of well-being: emotional, social, and psychological. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate the structural validity of the MHC-SF and test the bifactor model of the MHC-SF, which includes one general factor and three...

The goal of the present study was to test the validity of a Serbian version of the Perceived Stress Scale. The PSS was administered to 157 psychiatric outpatients, 165 adults from the non-clinical population, and 283 university students. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactor model of the PSS with one general factor an...

The main aim of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Lyubomirsky and Lepper in Soc Indic Res 46:137–155, 1999) in a sample of young adults in Serbia (N = 605, mean age = 21.99). The SHS demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and homogeneity. Exploratory and Confirmatory fac...

The past few years have seen increased theoretical and applied research on the relations between constructs related to positive expectations. However, instruments capable of distinguishing positive expectancy constructs are still lacking. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the 18-item Personal Optimism Scale and Self-Efficacy Optim...

Osnovni cilj ovog istraživanja, koje se sastoji od dve studije, bio je provera psihometrijskih karakteristika Skale depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa–21 (DASS–21) na uzorku studenata. U Studiji 1, na uzorku od 1374 studenta Univerziteta u Novom Sadu, proverena je konstrukt validnost DASS–21, putem konfirmativne faktorske analize. U okviru ove st...