ABSTRACT. According to the lifespan perspective, individuals' subjective well-being (SWB) varies during the course of their lives at different phases. While previous studies have shown that individuals of varying ages have variable degrees of satisfaction on multiple dimensions of SWB, there has been less investigation into the interrelationships between these components across ages. This study applied regularized partial correlation network modeling to highlight which SWB items are most critical within the network in age subgroups. Data gathering by the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview system was from March 7th to April 8th, 2023. A total of 801 respondents aged above 20-year-old were successfully conducted. The survey questions comprised 12 items with 10-point scale. In the results, different network structures were observed across age groups. For instance, among individuals under 29, satisfaction with friends and family shows the strongest correlation, whereas in adults over 50, the highest correlation is seen in “current financial status and income” and “security in the future life”. “Happy mood” was the strongest item connected with other nodes and the most influential node in all age groups, except for groups aged 30-49 and aged 60-69. For those aged 30-49, their self-evaluated current achievements take a central role in the network. In the group aged 60-69, the self-evaluated worthwhileness of their actions in their life plays the most important role in the network. This study aids in targeting future policy interventions via identifying significant influencing factors across different life cycle stages, and enhances the theoretical depth of well-being studies.

ABSTRACT. The realization that most behavioral science research focuses on cultures labeled as WEIRD— Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (Arnett, 2008; Henrich et al., 2010; Thalmayer et al., 2021)—has given an impetus to extend the research to more diverse populations. Confucian East Asian societies have relatively strong social and technological infrastructure to advance science and thus have gained much prominence in cross-cultural studies. This has inadvertently fostered another bias: the dominance of WEIRD–Confucian comparisons and a tendency to draw conclusions about “non-WEIRD” cultures in general based on data from Confucian societies. In the proposed presentation, analyzing 1,466,019 scientific abstracts and, separately, coverage of 60 large-scale cross-cultural psychological projects (Nsamples = 2,668 from Ncountries = 153 covering nparticipants = 3,722,940), we quantify the dominance of Confucian over other non- WEIRD cultures in social research. Our analysis also reveals the underrepresentation of non-European Union postcommunist societies and the almost total invisibility of Pacific Island, Caribbean, Middle African, and Central Asian societies within the research database of psychology. We call for a shift in cross-cultural studies toward midsize (7+ countries) and ideally large-scale (50+ countries) cross-cultural studies, and we propose mitigations that we believe could aid the inclusion of diverse researchers as well as participants from underrepresented cultures in our field. People in all world regions and cultures deserve social knowledge that applies to them.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates the linkage between the trajectories of family unsecured debt (including credit card debt, student loan, medical debt, legal loan, family loan, and other debt) and children’s mental health. Analyzing longitudinal data of 2013-2019 Panel Study of Income Dynamics and 2019 Child Development Supplement, I first map out the trajectories of total unsecured debt-to-income ratio between 2013 and 2019 using group-based trajectory modeling and then use the group membership to predict children’s depression score. I include a rich set of covariates to account for the influence of child and family characteristics on children’s depression. I also explore the influence of family structure and conduct separate analyses by marital status of the reference person in the family. The preliminary results suggest distinct patterns of debt over time and a more pronounced impact of debt trajectories on children’s depression among unmarried families.

ABSTRACT. Conflict and peace are products of one and the same type of feelings in different level of availability with the decision maker. When feelings related to trust are in abundance, cooperation and peaceful interaction emerge. When uncertainty, fear and attitudes to others as a threat prevail, we observe conflict and war as a result. Taking this premise, the CBD frameworks offers a game theoretical interpretation of this suggested mechanism employing a full information sequential game for cooperation where association from a trigger from reality as a cultural marker serves as a commitment for the decision maker regarding whom he commits to trust and whom not for cultural identity reasons. In this CBD cooperation game, the cultural context codes the triggers from reality with meaning that is associated with high or low level of trust towards this trigger and the person who uses the trigger as a cultural marker for signaling one's identity. Thus, the local cultural context defines the feeling towards the trigger that ranks the perceived payoffs for cooperation with people associated with this trigger. The sub-perfect Nash equilibrium result of this CBD cooperation game is polarization and conflict when attitudes to trust in some are low and the SPNE is peace when the attitudes to trust to all are high. World Values Survey data for Israel and representative Arabic countries available in the survey are used to empirically test the mechanism behind this CBD cooperation game. The empirical results support the existence of the CBD cooperation game mechanism.

ABSTRACT. Are economic growth and social capital related over time? Previous research found a positive cross-country association between social capital and economic growth. Findings consistently show that higher trust positively correlates with higher growth. However, there are reasons to expect that over time, economic growth can erode social capital. Some empirical evidence supports this hypothesis, finding a negative relation between economic growth and social capital over time. We review this literature, and provide updated empirical evidence on the effects of economic growth on trust over time, a well-established measure of social capital, widely considered in economic studies. Results consistently indicate that economic growth reduces the share of people trusting others. Results consistently indicate that economic growth reduces the share of people trusting others. A number of robustness checks and a test of causality support this conclusion. Hence, trust in others positively correlates with economic growth across countries, but this relationship turns negative over time and within countries. We find that the negative relationship between economic growth and trust is a disease of unequal, rich countries: the relationship between economic growth and trust is only negative and significant in countries with high inequality, whereas it is null elsewhere. We further provide evidence that the joint effect of economic growth and inequality has a negative effect on trust in developed countries, whereas they exert a positive effect on trust in low income, less developed countries.

ABSTRACT. In this article, we investigated the impact of an unexpected crew rescheduling announcement on the well-being of employees at a major airline. We utilized data from a survey that was conducted at the time of the schedule disturbance, and employed propensity score matching methods to examine the relationship between rescheduling and employee well-being. Our results showed that the schedule disturbance had a negative effect on job satisfaction and the promoter score but did not have an effect on life satisfaction. Mediation analyses indicated that the reduction in work-related well-being could be attributed to a decrease in satisfaction with work schedule control, work-life balance and perceived organizational support. Furthermore, our study found that the well-being of part-time cabin crew was more affected by the disturbance than that of full-time employees. These findings suggest that schedule disturbances have real-life well-being consequences for employees, especially those experiencing work-family conflict because of the disturbance.

ABSTRACT. The study aimed to test the positive psychology intervention which is positive reminiscing with the help of the students for their grandparents. The face-to-face biographical interview with focus on what made grandparents happy when hey were children and young adults conducted by the students with their own grandparents resulted in 70% increase of happiness scores measured before and after the intervention. The average happiness score before the interview was 7.9, rising to an average of 9.1 after the interview. The analysis was done on 560 interviews, conducted by the students in 2022-2023 within their course work on “Happiness and Wellbeing” class. The results lead to the practical policy implications that would facilitate the family well-being and diminish the generation gap between young and elder.

ABSTRACT. Drawing upon a case study on the development of the largest crowdfunded healthcare platform in China, this study aims to bridge the hitherto rarely connected scholarship on fintech in developing countries and that on social welfare regimes. ‘Xianghubao’ was launched in October 2018 by Ant Group, and it was a crowdfunded healthcare platform which only covered ‘critical illnesses’. Users of xianghubao were requested to pay flexible contribution rather than fixed premiums, and they were entitled to applying for benefits by submitting the required documents and proof. This platform had been very popular before it was halted due to regulatory warnings from the authorities. Within two years, the platform drew more than one billion users, and 28,000 users claimed medical insurance benefits. This is probably because China’s medical insurance systems have institutional deficiencies that disadvantage socio-economically vulnerable groups, including low-income households and migrant workers. Drawing on the document and policy analysis, as well as expert interviews, this study will reveal the fintech mechanisms of the crowdfunded healthcare platform and evaluate the role of xianghubao in supplementing the social insurance system to seek to enrich the scholarship on social welfare regimes of China. More broadly, this study aims to offer insights into a crucial discussion regarding the extent to which fintech can increase medical resources for the socio-economically vulnerable groups in developing countries.

ABSTRACT. Parenthood is a fascinating developmental stage in the family life cycle. However, during the past two decades, parents are tremendously stressful to take up the role as a “good parent” in order to ensure the happiness and achievements of their children. Parenting perfectionism is defined the degree to which parents possess extremely high standards for their own parenting. Unfortunately, studies examining parenting perfectionism and parent’s wellbeing are severely lacking, particularly in the Chinese context. Moreover, according to family systems theory, fathers and mothers are interdependent with each other. One’s parenting roles and standards may also influence the wellbeing of the spouse. Based on a sample of 641 pairs of parent couples with adolescent children studying in Grades 7 and 8, the spousal interdependent associations of parenting perfectionism with wellbeing (indexed by parental stress, life satisfaction, anxiety and depression) were examined. Results of actor-partner interdependence modelling analyses indicated that while each parent’s parenting perfectionism was positively related to one’s own parental stress (i.e., actor effects), mother’s parenting perfectionism was also associated with paternal stress (i.e., partner effect). For life satisfaction, mother’s parenting perfectionism was negatively related to mother’s life satisfaction, whereas father’s parenting perfectionism was positively linked to mother’s life satisfaction. Regarding anxiety and depression, only actor effects were identified (i.e., one's parenting perfectionism was associated with one's own anxiety and depression respectively). The findings draw for researcher’s attention on the impacts of high parenting expectations and standards among Chinese parents.

ABSTRACT. Background: Excessive parental control has been found to be related to the risk of depression, but there is a lack of longitudinal evidence. Meanwhile, the role of positive youth development (PYD) in this link has not been adequately examined. Objective: This study endeavors to explore the mediating role of adolescents’ PYD attributes in the relationship between parental control (behavioral control and psychological control) and depression. Methods: Two rural schools in western China were chosen for a three-year longitudinal survey, involving 720 middle school students (48.61% girls; Mean Age = 13.68 years) who completed all surveys. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for path and mediation analysis, with the Bootstrap method utilized to test for mediation effects. Results: Parental behavior control positively predicted the PYD attributes but negatively predicted depression. Parental psychological control negatively predicted the PYD attributes and positively predicted depression. PYD attributes negatively predicted depression. Meanwhile, PYD attributes played an important mediating role in both behavioral and psychological control pathways. Conclusions: Our research findings indicate the necessity to integrate the PYD attributes into the mental health prevention and intervention plans of rural adolescents in China, and to increase the proportion of family education.

ABSTRACT. This study examines the existence of the intergenerational persistence of subjective well-being (SWB) such as happiness, general health, and mental health in Japan, by using long-run longitudinal data of both parents and their adult children from the Japan Household Panel Survey (JHPS) and the JHPS second generation supplement (JHPS-G2). After creating proxy variables for the lifetime SWB of parents and children, which are adjusted for age and other factors including transitory disturbances, we compare the percentile ranks of lifetime SWB for parent-child pairs by observing the “rank–rank slope” in the scatter plot and estimating the intergenerational elasticity of SWB. Our findings reveal a significantly positive intergenerational persistence in terms of SWB. The estimated intergenerational elasticity is 0.25, 0.22, and 0.13 for lifetime happiness, general health, and mental health, respectively, suggesting that the status of parents’ lifetime SWB tends to be transmitted to their children to some extent. We also find that the estimated elasticities do not vary significantly depending on factors such as sex, cohabitation status, education, and income level. Additionally, we explore how the intergenerational persistence of SWB is influenced by pathway factors including children’s economic status, lifestyle habits, and personality traits through mediation analysis. Our results indicate that personality traits account for 4 to 12 percent of the intergenerational elasticity of SWB. Given that some of personality trait are influenced by childhood upbringing and family environment, these results suggest the possibility that not only genetic but also non-genetic factors contribute to the intergenerational persistence of SWB.

ABSTRACT. This study uses two cohort datasets to look at the impact on wellbeing in later life based upon whether an individual's parents divorced when she or he was a child. In general, there is a rather consistent difference in wellbeing in adulthood of these two groups. Initial evidence suggests that age of the child when the parents divorced also matters - the younger the child, the bigger the wellbeing demerit in later life - supporting many theories from psychology and the psychotherapeutic literature.

ABSTRACT. Background: Little is known about ‘touch hunger’ (longing for physical contact) during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for people with pre-existing mental health disorders. We aimed to explored the development of touch hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with and without mental health disorders, examining its predictors during lockdown. Methods: Data were aggregated from three Dutch ongoing prospective cohorts with similar methodology for data collection. We included participants with pre-pandemic data gathered during 2006–2016, and who completed up to 9 online questionnaires between October 2020 and February 2022. Touch hunger trajectories were analysed using linear mixed models. Sociodemographics, personality traits, (chronicity of) disorders, and COVID-19-related factors were analysed as predictors of touch hunger using multivariate linear regression analyses. Results: We included 1,061 participants with (n = 811) and without (n = 250) mental health disorders. In all chronicity groups, touch hunger increased during lockdown (Figure). Extraversion (β = 0.256, P <0.001), social distancing due to COVID-19 anxiety (β = 0.122, P = 0.001) and death of a close contact from COVID-19 (β = 0.073, P = 0.02) predicted higher touch hunger, while living with a partner (β = -0.109, P = 0.004) or with a partner and children (β = -0.147, P <0.001) were protective factors for touch hunger. Remarkably, different pre-pandemic mental diagnoses did not predict for touch hunger during lockdown. Conclusions: Touch hunger rose during the lockdown and was widespread regardless of mental health conditions, indicating a fundamental human need for physical contact, especially among extroverts.

ABSTRACT. The global onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has had far-reaching impacts on health, economy, and, notably, household finance. This paper aims to assess and compare the financial vulnerability (FV) of United States (U.S.) households before and during the pandemic, while also delving into the determinants influencing FV. The analysis utilizes data from the 2019 and 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). First, unsupervised machine learning methods are employed for clustering to identify FV households. Subsequently, supervised machine learning techniques, namely eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Logistic regression are harnessed to scrutinize the factors affecting the likelihood of FV. Results unveil a slight increase in the percentage of FV households during the pandemic (32.4%), compared to the pre-pandemic period (30.9%). Notably, education and race emerge as the most important feature predicting FV families in 2019 and 2022, respectively.. The Logistic regression analysis underscores that the pandemic intensifies the probability of FV among young adults compared to the pre-pandemic period. Simultaneously, households characterized by being unmarried with children, having lower educational attainment, non-white racial backgrounds, and lacking stable employment exhibit a higher susceptibility to FV. However, it's noteworthy that gender does not emerge as a significant indicator of FV, both before and during the pandemic.

ABSTRACT. Although the COVID-19 pandemic brought deaths and suffering to everyone, it also dramatically increased anti-Asian hate crimes and racist incidents, mostly against women, in the United States. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the number of anti-Asian hate crimes increased from 188 in 2019 to 753 in 2021. In 2020 and 2021, 10,905 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to Stop AAPI Hate. Using nationally representative data from the 2019-2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance, this paper examines how the mental health of Asians has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, presumably due to the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and racist incidents, relative to that of whites in the United States. Preliminary regression analysis results show that Asians were more likely to report that their mental health, including stress, depression, and problems with emotions, was not good during the past 30 days in 2021. Separate analyses by sex show that this finding is observed only among Asian women, consistent with the fact that women were the primary victims of anti-Asian hate incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted society, especially mental health—the subject of psychology science and the psychology theory related to cultural-bound. There were conceptual differences between Western culture and Eastern culture. Meaning and Happiness concern Gen X and Y, who dominate the workforce to remain productive in the era of double disruption. Aims: This research aims to prove the effect of Meaning with Happiness on Gen X and Y in terms of income, gender, and marital status in the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.Methods: This study uses The Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS). The quantitative method involved 813 subjects. Result: Meaning and Happiness is affected (p = 0.000). Meaning & Happiness Gen X is higher than Gen Y. There is a difference in Meaning and Happiness in income and marital status (p= 0.000), but there is no difference between women and men (p> 0.005), although men are higher. The highest Meaning is in the income of 15-25 million IDR, and the most increased Happiness is at the payment above 25 million IDR. The Meaning and Happiness of those who are married and widowed are higher than those of single (p=0.000). Conclusion: Meaning affects Happiness in Gen X & Y. Gen Y has lower Happiness and Meaning than Gen X. Gen Y is an important key in The New World Order, so it is necessary to build Meaning for Gen Y both at work and in personal life.

ABSTRACT. Mounting an adequate response to climate change is arguably the most important task facing human civilization in the 21st Century. The consequences of climate change itself and the necessary mitigation actions will require people all around the globe to change their way of life substantially. But although this will have a large impact on their quality of life, there has been too little explicit focus on the role of wellbeing in green transition, in both research and public discourse. In the presentation I identify some central questions and distinguish different ways in which the relationship has and can be understood, including reasons for pessimism and optimism. I also highlight the importance of considering wellbeing during, and not only after, green transition. Further considering how the issue should be dealt with, I argue against the popular view that climate change and the prospect of a “broken world” calls for an objectivist conception of quality of life, like the needs or capability approach, defending the relevance of subjective wellbeing for responding adequately to climate change. We should see the tendency of human beings to adapt to new conditions, develop new preferences and cultivate new experiences not as a problem, but as a creative ability that could (and must) be a central part of the solution to the problem of how to carry out green transition in a way that is fast, efficient and humane.

ABSTRACT. Deliberative processes are essential to build sustainable socio-economy. Political and economic democracy is indispensable for our wellbeing. This necessity is highlighted in contemporary climate crisis. Climate assembly (CA), in which citizens participate in exploring pathways for decarbonization, is now attracting much attention. CA arguably supplements drawbacks of mainstream representative democracy. CA has mainly been organized in Europe. The first CA in Japan was held in Sapporo city, Hokkaido in 2020.

Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan, has organized CAs annually since 2021. Ryukoku CAs are the only Japanese example in which deliberation is coordinated by trained student facilitators. After the first CA, in January 2022, Ryukoku declared its carbon-neutrality by 2039 (commemorating the 400th university anniversary). The Ministry of Environment awarded Kyoto as one of the Innovative Examples of Decarbonizing City in 2022. Now, Ryukoku has co-engaged in pioneering local regeneration project serving as a model case for decarbonization.

The Ryukoku CAs generate interesting insights for governance reforms. The success of CAs is enabled by the University President’s belief in which bottom-up deliberation significantly supplements formal decision-making mechanisms. This experience suggests that commitment of top leadership, as well as securing the legitimacy of deliberation within complex decision-making processes, are indispensable for successful reforms.

The Ryukoku experience, moreover, is critical both theoretically and practically in Asia and elsewhere. As democracy is essential for wellbeing, the notion of agency must be critically scrutinized in cultural contexts. More nuanced understanding of agency embedded in social relations may facilitate deliberation more effectively in areas beyond Europe.

ABSTRACT. Studies on motivation to visit for specific activities in urban forests are insufficient, especially in China. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic characteristics and motivational drivers of the Urban Forest Green Movement (UFGEM), and to find the relationship between them. Fuzhou is the capital city of a high-density coastal province in southern China, and mountainous forms dominate its urban forests. A mixed-methods study was planned by conducting field surveys in three urban forests in the Fuzhou area, interviewing 10 visitors with different demographic profiles and randomly selecting 300 visitors for questionnaire surveys. Descriptive statistics describe the diversity of sample profiles and motivations, and multivariate binary logistic regression examines socio-demographic changes. Interviews have now been completed and collated, and it was found that the main motivations varied considerably across age, gender, educational background and health status. Nature and recreational facilities were the main motivators for children, adolescents preferred to observe animals, adults were exercise and family-orientated, and the main motivation drivers for the elderly were health and social interaction. The effects of gender, educational background and health status were significant for the adult and elderly groups. These findings will contribute to the academic development of UFGEM research and the development of practice in helping urban forest managers better plan for urban forest health management with a full understanding of visitor motivations. This improved management will contribute to urban dwellers' social sustainability while providing various benefits.

ABSTRACT. Previous studies have consistently identified socio-economic status as a strong driver of satisfaction across personal and public domains, such as satisfaction with life and democracy. Moreover, research shows that negative status experiences have adverse effects on individuals’ satisfaction in both private and public spheres. However, the role of an individual's personal motivation to strive for higher status in predicting satisfaction levels is still relatively unexplored. As motivational basis of status advancement status seeking may be conducive to satisfaction; however, it might also fuel unattainable aspirations and thus be detrimental. Using data from ten rounds of the European Social Survey for about 360.000 respondents in 25 countries this contribution investigates the relationship between two manifestations of status seeking—striving to be rich and striving to be successful—and satisfaction with life and with democracy. Empirically, striving for success is positively linked to satisfaction with life and democracy, whereas striving to be rich is more ambivalent, being linked negatively to satisfaction with life yet positively with satisfaction with democracy. Cross-level interactions with national affluence reveal that both indicators of status-seeking have an overall lesser impact on life satisfaction in more affluent societies, whereas their effect on satisfaction with democracy is equal across levels of national affluence. Our results suggest that with one exception status seeking is overall beneficial to satisfaction with personal and public domains. However, the negative impact of the more materialistic status seeking component – striving to be rich – on life satisfaction, especially in less affluent countries, cautions against broad generalizations.

ABSTRACT. Many countries are focused on enhancing their national wealth and standard of living. However, beyond material prosperity, how do the values that are embraced influence the wellbeing of individuals and communities? In the context of Singapore, we review and present the findings from three Quality of Life Surveys conducted in 2011, 2016, and 2022. These large-scale surveys employ nationally representative samples of at least 1800 Singapore citizens. Across the 11 years, we found that Singaporeans’ wellbeing has been on a decline from 2011 to 2022, despite the country’s GDP per capita increasing from approximately USD54,000 to USD83,000 in the same timeframe. We also found significant variations in wellbeing in the 2022 QOL Survey through a cluster analysis of four distinct groups of Singaporeans by values (i.e. family values, traditionalism, sustainability, and materialism). Contributing to the income-happiness debate, the group of Singaporeans strongest on materialism, and also with the highest income, had the worst reported wellbeing among the four groups. By comparison, the group of Singaporeans that is the most prosocial tended to have better wellbeing. Despite having a lower household income, the prosocial group had a stronger subjective satisfaction with their financial status than the materialist group, suggesting that subjective satisfaction may play a stronger role than absolute income in the income-happiness debate. These findings have important implications for research and policy-making.

ABSTRACT. This research investigates the dynamic interplay between entitlement and life satisfaction among a sample of 6,000 adults in Poland. Utilizing a combination of survey and online methodologies, the study seeks to unravel the nuanced connections between individuals' levels of entitlement and their overall satisfaction with life. The research aims to contribute valuable insights into the psychological factors influencing well-being and welfare-state attitudes. By employing a comprehensive survey instrument, the study delves into the intricate dimensions of entitlement, exploring its impact on various facets of life satisfaction. The findings are expected to inform not only academic discussions in psychology but also practical strategies for enhancing individuals' overall well-being. Entitlement attitude is assigned to various social groups, and calling someone a claimant has an extremely negative consequences. EA is an attitude towards other people, groups, society or state in which the in which the emphasis is put on self-interest (individual or group) (Bishop & Lane, 2002; Exline, et al., 2004). The literature (Baslevent & Kirmanoglu, 2011; Mau, Veghte 2007) suggests that people are motivated to support the welfare recipients as an effect of the mix of their values and self-interest (as Rothstein (1998) call it: dual utility function). EAs are strongly connected to the perception of fairness, reciprocity, civil obligations etc. (Lerner, 1987). Individuals may find themselves morally (and legally) entitled to certain outcomes based on who they are or what they do (for review see: Exline et al., 2004). It is argued that generous welfare state makes people feel psychologically entitled.

ABSTRACT. Background: This sociological paper focusses on two present-day dispositions towards life that aim at achieving subjective well-being: experience seeking (ES) and mindfulness seeking (MS). ES is about enjoying life; well-being is sought indirectly through the accumulation of rewarding experiences. According to Schulze (1992), ES spread in Western societies in the 1980s as a result of increasing prosperity. MS, in contrast, aims at an emotionally balanced life; well-being is sought through the avoidance of stressful situations and focus on oneself (e.g. self-care, self-exploration). We assume the emergence of MS to be a reaction to an accelerated, increasingly insecure and stressful society.

Aim: Our article aims to compare ES and MS regarding their prevalence, socio-demographic structure and association with well-being.

Methods: The analyses are based on the 2023 German Gesis Panel (n=3,795). We employ factor analyses to determine whether MS and ES are empirically distinguishable. Regression analyses further unveil their social structuration and association with life satisfaction, optimism and mental problems.

Results: The preliminary results show that the ES and MS are two distinct dispositions. The socio-demographic structure of MS and ES differs: men, younger and less religious participants are more orientated towards MS. Respondents with lower income and education are more orientated towards ES. With regard to well-being, MS is negatively associated with optimism whereas ES is positively related to both life satisfaction and mental problems.

Conclusion: Overall, our findings point to a fundamental change in the experience society with far-reaching consequences for individuals’ well-being.

ABSTRACT. Mental well-being, which includes life domain satisfaction, overall life satisfaction, psychological well-being, social well-being, and negative affect, is a multifaceted and complex construct. While extensive research exists on these dimensions, few studies have comprehensively examined how much they change and remain stable over time. This presentation will review recent studies using large longitudinal datasets collected over several years to examine the extent of change within dimensions of well-being. Using a statistical method called latent state-trait analysis, the results revealed remarkable stability across all facets of well-being, accompanied by significant amounts of change. Importantly, the degree of stability and change varied across dimensions. These empirical findings provide a basis for assessing expected developmental trajectories of well-being. By quantifying baseline stability, we can better predict potential fluctuations in response to significant life events or targeted interventions. This knowledge facilitates realistic assessments of rates and magnitudes of change and sheds light on dimensions that may be more or less amenable to intentional intervention efforts.

ABSTRACT. Wellbeing and mental health are frequently described as ‘related, but distinct’ despite some items being opposite only in valence. Bi-factor models can test the existence of a general psychological health factor vs. a correlated wellbeing/mental health factor structure. Analyses of data from 15,454 participants, derived from several existing surveys (e.g. university, community and national surveys), determined the extent wellbeing and mental health items simply reflect a ‘g’ (general) factor reflecting psychological health, and the extent to which ‘s’ (specific) factors reflecting the wellbeing and mental health domains are derived. Across studies, wellbeing scales included the Mental Health Continuum, Flourishing Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Satisfaction with Life, and Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scales. Mental health scales included, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale, the Goldberg scales of Depression and Anxiety, and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Regardless of which scales were utilised, Bi-factor analysis consistently identified that items loaded most strongly on a ‘g’ factor; there was some limited evidence for ‘s’ factors, but those reported did not necessarily reflect a-priori hedonic, eudaimonic and mental health dimensions. For example, hedonic items often loaded with some depression items. Exceptions appeared to be for ‘s’ factors reflecting the social wellbeing and anxiety dimensions. In conclusion, wellbeing and mental health items from common scales reflect an overall ‘g’ psychological health construct, and there is limited and consistent evidence for specific a-priori wellbeing and mental health factors.

ABSTRACT. The global burden of excess weight problems poses a major challenge to societal health, as it impacts both physiological and psychosocial of individuals’ well-being. Hypnotherapy is one of the alternative psychological-based therapy, has gained considerable attention in recent years. Thus, this pre-and post-study attempts to evaluate the impact of hypnotherapy on mental health and HRQoL among people with body mass index (BMI)≥25.0 kg/m2 of a public university in Terengganu, Malaysia. Participants were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (IG=53) or control group (CG=54) for 12 weeks. All participants received health education (diet + exercise + behavioural recommendations), while those in IG underwent additional three hypnotherapy sessions, scheduled monthly. Sociodemographic, body weight, Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HADS) and Short Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12) were measured at week 1 and 12. Descriptive and repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed (SPSS 25.0). A total of 104 participants completed the study (age = 26.28±8.01; female = 82.2%; BMI = 31.39±4.89), with significant weight loss between groups (-4.61%, p=0.021) at week 12. Participants in IG showed improvements in both physical (mean difference = -0.72; 95%CI:-1.54, 2.98; p=0.529) and mental (mean difference = 2.79; 95%CI: -0.35, 5.93; p=0.081) components of SF-12 compared to the CG, however, these changes were not statistically significant. Participants in IG also had better anxiety-HADS (mean=1.8 versus 2.2) and depression-HADS (mean=1.3 versus 1.5) compared to CG. The positive outcomes indicated the potential of hypnotherapy as a promising adjunctive tool in improving HRQoL among people with excess weight issues

ABSTRACT. Background: Evidence shows that depression in university students has become one of the major health and wellbeing problems worldwide including Thailand. This study, therefore, aims to assess depression and its correlates among university students across Thailand. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during 2022 using HAPPINOMETER, a self-assessment questionnaire. The HAPPINOMETER includes 11 dimensions on quality of life and happiness. The survey adopted the Clinical Practice Guideline of Major Depressive Disorder for General Practitioners (CPG-MDD-GP), so called 9Q, to assess depressive symptoms. The data on demographic characteristics and health behaviours were also collected. A total of 12826 Thai university students from 23 universities was included in the study. Results:. The majority of the sample were females (70.5%) and lived with their family (67.15%). The 1st- year students participated in the survey (31.9%) more than their seniors. More than half of the students studied in the university campus outside their hometown (55.29%), and were currently a part-time employee (51.87%). On average, Thai university students had 37.89 depression scores (SD = 8.02; IQR = 12). Higher severity of depression symptoms was found among university students who were LGBTQIAN+, studied in their higher years, lived alone, and had no employment. The linear regression analysis results also showed that higher resilience, better relationship, and better attitude were all associated with lower depression. Conclusions: The findings suggest that further actions are needed to promote more soft skills learning in higher educational institutions. Health-related programs to promote healthy lifestyle at university are also recommended.

ABSTRACT. A main goal in official statistics is to develop, produce and disseminate high-quality statistics that can be considered as a reliable portrayal of reality. So, the quality of the underlying data is of central concern. One of the core statistics of Statistics Flanders is the subjective well-being of the inhabitants of Flanders. In conformity with the OECD guidelines, we included several indicators of subjective well-being in our survey. These indicators differ in the terms by which they address the cognitive or affective aspects of SWB. Moreover, in our survey, several potential determinants of subjective well-being are incorporated. Besides the traditional socio-demographic background, we have information about several so-called internal and external buffers, such as optimism, social integration, interpersonal trust, sense of control etc. Doing so, we can depict some main determinants of subjective well-being. Besides the theoretical positioning of those internal and external buffers, we also provide empirical research results on determinants of subjective well-being based on survey data among a general population in Flanders.

In our paper, we also reflect on the survey strategy used to measure subjective well-being. During a decade (2008-2018), we used a large face-fo-face survey to measure, among others, subjective well-being. In 2021 we changed our survey strategy drastically to a mobile first designed web and paper self-completion questionnaire. In our paper we discuss possible differences in life-satisfaction levels and its measurement related to the methods used.

ABSTRACT. Since 2010 the widespread availability of smartphones has lowered barriers to collecting experienced wellbeing (EWB) data through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Examples of this approach include Mappiness (MacKerron and Mourato, 2013) and Track your happiness (Killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010). An alternative approach is proposed by Kitsaras, et. al. (2020) who use a chatbot and instant messaging to implement an EMA study of sleeping behaviour.

This paper uses two New Zealand datasets to explore the impact of different EMA data collection modes on EWB measures. The first – Te Hotonga Hapori – uses a smartphone app to collect information on the EWB of social housing tenants, while the second – Public Housing and Urban Regeneration – adopts an instant messaging approach. Both studies took place in New Zealand in the second half of 2023 and focus on the same target population, allowing investigation of method effects on EWB measures.

We find little evidence of method effects on the diurnal profile of affect or the main correlates of EWB in terms of activity or social context, suggesting that the instant messaging approach replicates the data from EMA apps. In addition, the instant messaging approach achieved better response rates, suggesting that the familiarity of instant messaging may be beneficial for data quality for respondent groups such as social housing tenants. However, although less costly to develop, the instant messaging approach requires more researcher time per interview and cannot collect GPS information on the respondent’s location, sacrificing a major strength of EWB measures.

ABSTRACT. Each individual lives in a changing world facing an uncertain future. Paradoxically, in published measurement and assessment research the application of traditional quantitative methodologies is prevalent, despite the notion that these approaches may be based on determinism. Applying these deterministic procedures is restricted and outdated. In contrast, best practice demands that we apply a methodology that matches the uncertainties that stakeholders can face. One solution to the problem of facing uncertainty is to make use of mathematical probability. Assessment needs measurement. Therefore, we need to select the best measurement process available to us. Quality-of-life research stakeholders will benefit.

Rasch measurement methodology was initiated during the 1950s. The mathematician Georg Rasch developed this probabilistic measurement model-focused approach. Importantly, Rasch measurement analyses transform observed ordinal-scale raw scores into modeled interval-scale measures. The basic Rasch model constructs two independent parameters: person ability measures and item difficulty calibrations. Rasch methodology enables the constructing of interval-scale measures. These linear measures meet the fundamental assumption required for conducting parametric statistical testing procedures. In contrast, other approaches typically violate this crucial assumption which may result in inaccuracy of subsequent interpretations and inferences.

Rasch measurement has greatly contributed to educational, psychological, and medical assessment up until the present day. Rasch measurement has the potential to grow in the field of quality-of-life assessment. However, communicating is vital for making inferences about the future. Therefore, this is an invitation to join this dynamic measurement and assessment dialogue.

ABSTRACT. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in financial challenges for numerous Filipino families. This study examined the financial well-being of Filipino families amid the pandemic, specifically examining their financial situation, security, comfort, freedom, and anxiety. The research also explored the perceived financial challenges arising from the pandemic and described the strategies employed by families to cope with these hardships. An electronic survey questionnaire was distributed to 18 Filipino families across low, middle, and high-income brackets, with responses provided by the primary breadwinner of each household.

The findings indicate that a higher percentage of low-income families perceived their income during the pandemic as stable compared to other income groups. However, low-income families reported insufficient savings, while middle and high-income families demonstrated adequate to more than adequate savings. Additionally, low-income families reported the lowest levels of financial security during the pandemic, while high-income families exhibited the highest levels. Surprisingly, despite this, low-income families displayed the lowest levels of financial anxiety, while high-income families reported the highest. Middle-income families, conversely, reported the highest levels of financial comfort and freedom. Further analysis revealed a connection between higher levels of financial security and increased financial anxiety.

The study identified key themes in the financial challenges faced during the pandemic, including changes in income, reduced savings, and heightened expenses. To address these challenges, families adopted various financial management strategies, such as meticulous budgeting, expense tracking, expenditure reduction, and seeking additional income sources.

ABSTRACT. In the ISCWeB international survey on children's subjective well-being, assessments varied significantly across diverse demographic backgrounds, placing emphasis on intra-country disparities rather than inter-country differences. Notably, the ISCWeB, employing a random sample, exhibited limited representation of children from minority backgrounds, underscoring the necessity for a more nuanced understanding of their subjective well-being. In response to the recognized limitations of quantitative methods, this study adopts a qualitative approach, using expressive art materials and traditional focus groups to explore their efficacy in facilitating children's expression of subjective well-being. Aligned with Taiwan's emphasis on children's rights, particularly their right to be heard, the research aims to delve into how children, especially those from minority backgrounds, perceive well-being within family, school, community, and broader contexts. The study addresses key questions related to the conceptualizations of well-being, significant domains, and the intricate interplay of these concepts with daily experiences of children with minority backgrounds. Seventeen focus groups, encompassing 86 children from diverse backgrounds, revealed their capacity to evaluate personal lives and articulate concrete feelings about subjective well-being. Despite the diversity of their experiences, the dimensions of "relationships" and "freedom" consistently emerged as crucial factors, aligning with earlier quantitative findings. These significant outcomes gleaned from the study offer valuable insights into understanding the nuanced aspects of children's subjective well-being, contributing to a more comprehensive perspective on their overall welfare.

ABSTRACT. The exponential distribution is frequently used to model the time interval between rare events occurred independently at a constant rate. Its application spans various critical domains such as health intervention evaluation, chronical disease onset, and health behavior changes. Analyzing data using exponential distribution helps researchers make informed decisions, optimizing resource allocation and interventions to augment quality of life. However, within the discussion regarding sample size determination for comparing means of exponential distributions, an integrated perspective is notably lacking. Specifically, the accurate determination of required sample sizes necessitates a holistic consideration of testing hypotheses and constructing confidence intervals. This becomes crucial due to the stochastic nature of confidence interval width. This study addresses these gaps by calculating various probabilities across diverse scenarios to ascertain suitable sample size. Moreover, within the constraint of sampling costs, determining the optimal sample size presents another significant challenge. To facilitate practical implementation, we applied the exhaustive search and developed several user-friendly R shiny applications. These tools enable the determination of sample size allocations that minimize total costs for a pre-designated probability level or maximize a probability within given cost constrained. Additionally, the study aims to determine past sample sizes for constructing two- and one-sided prediction intervals given a future sample size. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method with commendable good coverage rates. The interactive and flexible features of the proposed apps offer researchers a valid and straightforward approach to sample size planning, fostering a more robust foundation for decision-making in quality-of-life studies.

ABSTRACT. I study the impact of the COVID-19 shock containment measures on short-term poverty levels in households with people with disabilities. While previous studies have mainly focused on developed countries and some regions of developing countries, the effects in low and middle-income countries remain unknown. In Colombia, the extreme poverty rate before the COVID-19 shock was 9.60%. In 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 shock, it increased to 15.10%. By the end of 2022, during the ongoing shock, it had decreased to 13.80%. However, this positive trend does not extend to households with people with disabilities, mainly due to people with disabilities being a group often overlooked in poverty reduction policies. Using data from repeated cross-sectional quality-of-life surveys, I apply the difference-in-difference method to analyze the differential impact on households with and without people with disabilities. I estimate that the COVID-19 shock causes an increase of approximately 1 to 2 percentage points in both monetary and multidimensional poverty levels for households with people with disabilities.

ABSTRACT. Maternal substance use is a public health concern in South Africa. Low-income rural living presents special challenges for pregnant women using substances. In response to a research study that explored the quality of life (QoL) needs of pregnant women using substances in low-income rural communities in the Western Cape, it was found that a purposively selected sample had difficulty expressing their recovery journeys through semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and even a photovoice exercise accompanied by a narrative. Though the photovoice exercise was a more visual means of expression, the accompanying narratives were still difficult to extract. Following the analysis of the data and review of literature on data collection and intervention strategies for this target group, the research team discovered the importance of alternative data collection techniques such as clay-based activities as both a data collection tool and possible intervention strategy. The following paper provides a rationale for incorporating clay-based activities into research and intervention strategies given that formal data collection methods could potentially be triggering and retraumatising. Alternatives that provide participants with the opportunity to construct their healing journeys through visual representations that reflect contextually grounded symbolic meanings could facilitate authentic narratives for marginalised populations such as the target group of this research. The familiarity with the medium of clay in this context and skill of the researcher to facilitate a safe space for participants could provide a starting point to further explore and co-create the narratives of these women with regard to their QoL and subsequent recovery journeys.

ABSTRACT. Violence occurring in South Africa (SA) is publicised on a global stage. As a country that experienced high levels of violence during Apartheid as well as during its transformation post-1994, the violence often filters through to schools in low socio-economic areas. Educators play a key role in shaping the future of South Africa and violence in their school environments affects their well-being and quality of life as they are exposed to high levels of stress within these work environments. The effects of burnout and attrition of educators are expected to harm the quality of education in a developing SA context. The study therefore aimed to describe and explore educators’ experiences of the effects of violence on their psychosocial well-being. Using exploratory qualitative research incorporating purposive sampling, 4 focus groups each consisting of 6-8 educators from four schools in a low socio-economic context were conducted. Findings included that there were no protocols in place for educators who encounter violence. Furthermore, schools were often targeted by gangs and law enforcement was lacking. Educators also expressed that they were unsupported, and felt unsafe which contributed to their decision to leave the profession. Providing adequate support to sustain the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of educators and prevent burn-out in low socio-economic status communities particularly where violence occurs, is paramount. Protocols should be in place for educator support as the stress affected their well-being and subsequent quality of life which in turn affects the quality of the service they can provide to learners.

ABSTRACT. Purposes: A large body of research suggests that socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation significantly influence individual well-being. This study aims to examine the extent to which socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation influence depression and accordingly life satisfaction of youth in Korea. More specifically, this study sets up a mediational model of depression which mediates the relationships between socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation, and life satisfaction. Methods: The study sample is 714 youth from the Seoul Welfare Survey in 2022. Two independent variables (socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation), a mediating variable (depression), and a dependent variable (life satisfaction) are standardized variables respectively. The research model includes socioeconomic control variables (gender, educational level, marital status, physical health, household types, and labor force participation). To test the research questions, this study employed the SPSS PROCESS Macro with a bootstrapping method. Results: Key research findings are summarized as follows: First, we found negative impacts of youth’s socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation on the life satisfaction. Second, we found that youth’s socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation have positive impacts on depression. Third, we found significant mediational effects of depression on the relationship between youth’s socioeconomic deprivation, social isolation and life satisfaction. Conclusion: This study concludes by proposing several implications to enhance youth’s life satisfaction. In particular, this study highlights that social programs reducing both socioeconomic deprivation and social isolation matter for depression and life satisfaction of youth.

ABSTRACT. As a core element in the definition of subjective wellbeing, negative affect is hardly integrated in mainstream analysis or conceptualization in wellbeing studies. With robust research in psychopathology that associates negative affect with illbeing, it is mostly assumed that negative affect is undesired and impairs wellbeing. Yet negative affect regulates crucial functions whose breakdown is detrimental to wellbeing. The paradox is not fully explored, and it remains unclear if people value negative affect, and if there exists an “optimal level” of negative affect and positive affect for best wellbeing outcomes.

The study explores how people perceive the absence of negative affect and the presence of only positive affect in terms of desirability. It also investigates the association between levels of negative and positive affect and optimal wellbeing outcomes.

The study utilizes a 2x2 within-subject experiment, comprising two phases (positive and negative affect) each with two conditions (aversive and value), totaling four trials. In the negative affect phase, participants choose between minimal negative affect (0% in aversive, 1% in value) and a gradually increasing higher level (increases by 2.5% each time the minimal option is avoided), until they either select 100% negative affect or the minimal option. In the positive affect phase, the choice is between maximum positive affect (100% in aversive, 99% in value) and a progressively decreasing lower level (decreases by 2.5% each time the maximum isn't chosen), concluding when participants opt for 0% positive affect or the maximum option.

The study is ongoing and data will be collected.

ABSTRACT. Yoga has increasingly gained popularity around the world as an alternative form of exercise with a range of physical and mental benefits. However, often only the physical practice of yoga is focused on, omitting or only touching the surface of yoga philosophy as a whole, thereby limiting the full benefits of yoga. Through the lens of grounded theory, the aim of this study is to gain insight on the effects that a dual physical and philosophical approach to yoga may have on individuals’ wellbeing and overall health. Through the analysis several themes were observed but one in particular stood out as substantial: a combined physical and philosophical practice influences feelings of gratitude and humility. The study’s findings suggest that, a complete yoga practice has the potential to unlock greater physical and mental benefits, and open the door for further feelings of wellbeing.

ABSTRACT. More than 85 million persons with disabilities (approximately 6% of the total population) live in China. This number is the highest in Asia and in the world. Of this, the working-age population, aged 15 to under 65, accounts for over 40%. How do persons with disabilities participate in the labor market in China? The Security Act for persons with disabilities in China (enacted in 1990, promulgated in 1991, revised in 2008) advocates the guarantee of the rights of persons with disabilities (the right to education, the right to work, etc.). In order to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities, the government is developing projects for persons with disabilities (proposing and developing policies related to the welfare of persons with disabilities) and taking measures to promote employment of persons with disabilities. In particular, in recent years, efforts have been made to encourage the diversification of working patterns for persons with disabilities and to create an environment that facilitates access to employment. This poster report focuses on employment of persons with disabilities within the field of projects for persons with disabilities and discusses the employment and lives of persons with disabilities.

ABSTRACT. This poster proposal will explore how mentorship and peer relationships contribute to students’ motivation to complete secondary school and attend college. In a country where refugees are barred from attending private and public education and situated in a global context where only one percent of refugees attend tertiary institutions, refugees in Malaysia seeking higher education face seemingly insurmountable challenges to continue their education. Yet, many face and overcome them. The overarching research questions are (1) what is the nature of refugee students’ mentor and peer relationships? (2) how do peers and mentors, such as teachers or parents, influence students’ motivation to complete secondary school and attend college? The sample includes post-secondary pre-tertiary refugee students over the age of 18. The majority of participants are refugees from Myanmar. The method involves semi-structured qualitative interviews with 15 post-secondary students, with interviews taking approximately one hour each. An example of a question is, how did peers play a role in your motivation in secondary school? The interviews are being conducted from December 2023 through February 2024 in Malaysia. The transcripts from these interviews will be coded, inter-rater reliability will be established, and they will be analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes from the interviews will be reported in this proposed poster presentation, with implications for refugee well-being.

ABSTRACT. Background: The concept of well-being has recently been increasingly expanding to encompass multiple dimensions of human life, known as human flourishing. This study differs from traditional single-dimensional subjective well-being measurement, delving into the myriad dimensions of human flourishing and their associated factors. Methods: Data were collected from the Living Environment and Health Survey in Taiwanese Retirees conducted in 2023 (N = 1115). Human flourishing was measured using the 12-item Secure Flourish Index developed by Harvard University. Mixed graphical network analysis was employed, including factors related to social demographics, health and physical functions, productivity engagement, and community environmental characteristics as nodes. Results: The overall network consisted of 104 non-zero edges out of a possible 465 (22% of nodes were directly connected). Among them, 33 edges exhibited non-zero correlations with the 12-item flourishing. Results showed that the determinants of the 12-item flourishing measurements vary. Findings highlighted the positive correlation between education and flourishing dimensions and the association between community cohesion and life satisfaction and virtue. Moreover, positive impacts were observed with good health and family caregiving, albeit negative effects on emotional happiness and financial satisfaction. Employment was positively associated with physical health and character but negatively with material satisfaction. Participation in community organizations also positively influenced life meaningfulness. Conclusion: This comprehensive network analysis unraveled intricate connections among personal, behavioral, and environmental factors, offering profound insights for targeted interventions to foster human flourishing.

ABSTRACT. The COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown measures involving the closure of many nonessential economic activities resulted in adverse socioeconomic impacts on many households around the globe. In South Africa, the complexity of the pandemic implications was worsened by the fact that the already existing inequalities. Many people, especially those employed in the informal sector, in small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), lost their source of income, thus were disproportionately impacted. The South African government introduced the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) to mitigate a pandemic poverty catastrophe. Nonetheless, the quality of life significantly declined during the pandemic period. This study was therefore designed to investigate if the decline in the quality of life was proportional across the population. The analysis was based on two quality-of-life surveys conducted in 2017/18 and 2020/21 in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The Kitagawa-Oscar-Blinder (KOB) regression-based decomposition technique was employed to investigate inequalities in the change of the quality of life index on a sample of 38 505 respondents described in terms of population group, household headship type, sex, household dependency ratios, household income level, employment status, neighbourhood type and neighbourhood satisfaction. The results showed significant inequalities in the quality of life index. Some areas experienced notable decreases in the quality of life index while others realised increases. Pandemic penalties were associated with Black African and Coloured population groups, low-income households, living in a low-income neighbourhood and households headed by a female. The study concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic arguably entrenched inequalities in South Africa.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: Health issues of youth in South Korea have emerged as a critical social problem. While previous research has examined physical, mental, and social health of youth respectively, this study aims to analyze the multi-dimensional health indicators together and to classify the indicators using latent profile analysis. In addition, this study examines the extent to which the latent classes of multi-dimensional health indicators are related to subjective well-being of youth in South Korea.

Methods: Data of this study come from the '2021 Youth Socioeconomic Survey (N=2,041)'. The health indicators have three dimensions: physical (one indicator of subjective physical health status), mental (subjective mental health status and depression), and social (social support and loneliness) health. The outcome variable is subjective well-being which was measured by 11 aspects of life. After the latent profile analysis, this study examined the relationship between the multi-dimensional health and subjective well-being with OLS regression.

Results: This study found that three groups of multi-dimensional health indicators are supported: average group (84.13%), socially unhealthy group (7.45%), and unhealthy groups of the three dimensions (5.17%). The multivariate regression analysis found that, compared to the normal group, the other groups are likely to have lower level of subjective well-being, controlling for covariates.

Conclusion: This study has several implications. First, future studies are needed to examine heterogeneous health dimensions of youth and to analyze how the multi-dimensional health influences multi-dimensional quality of life of youth. Second, programs targeting the multi-dimensional health status will be more efficient to enhance well-being of youth.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. In connection with the socio-demographic situation due to increasing life expectancy, it is necessary to help maintain the well-being and quality of life of a person in old age. The perception of aging is associated with lifestyle and long-term health, that is, it can be an important aspect of a person’s quality of life. Thoughts about aging can be accompanied by both positive and negative emotions. We hypothesized that positive perceptions of aging contribute to emotional well-being, and negative perceptions promote the experience of negative affect. Methods. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule ‘PANAS’; ‘Aging Perception Questionnaire’ (APQ). Subjects of research: 139 respondents aged 45-68 years, 23.7% were men, 76.3% were women. Results. Path analysis showed, that negative emotional representations about aging contributed to increase negative affect and increased the belief that you have no control over your life, which increased the negative effects of aging. Thus, through negative control and negative consequences, a timeline chronic representation of aging is reinforced. Also, negative emotional representations reduced positive affect, which reduced positive control and, subsequently, reduced positive consequences. Reduced positive consequences made the pattern of aging more variable. Conclusion. This study identified that negative perceptions of aging reduced emotional well-being by increasing negative affect and decreasing positive affect. Moreover, positive affect mediated positive representations about aging.

ABSTRACT. Objective: To identify a formation of a community platform that includes the intersectionality of social issues not covered by public support. Methods: Conducted participant observation of people involved in the breakfast gatherings organized by K, a social welfare corporation that provides employment support for the mentally disabled in an area with a high aging population, and then interviewed K staff to extract the impact of involvement in the breakfast gatherings on people's quality of life. Results: Solitary old men, who had been reluctant to go out or interact with others, came to pay more attention to their appearance and contribute to the breakfast gatherings using their hobbies. Middle to older-aged women who lived in the neighborhood became regulars at the breakfast gatherings, aiming at the delicious but inexpensive breakfast. University student volunteers made their activities a daily routine while experiencing repeated failures. K staff, who witnessed those interactions and changes, began to feel empowered, identify new challenges, or conceive ideas for new activities. Discussion: Taking advantage of food, an essential element of human life, led to the formation of a community platform based not on asymmetrical relationships and had a positive impact on the lives of people from different positions. The number of elderly and mentally disabled people continues to increase in Japan and their challenges are compounded. Practical knowledge for living harmoniously with diverse people is an essential research topic.

ABSTRACT. Migration plays a crucial role in rural Southeast Europe, leading to both positive and negative consequences. Positive consequences include rising income through remittance transfers and the acquisition and transfer of skills gained abroad. Negative consequences include declining demographic figures and diminishing quality of life in abandoned. While migration literature commonly highlights factors such as poverty, income disparities, wage gaps between origin and destination countries, and youth unemployment as primary push factors for migration, individual assessments of quality of life have received relatively little attention. Furthermore, the role of place attachment, the emotional and affective bonds of individuals towards locations, in influencing individuals’ staying decisions has been significantly under-researched. Our research examines the multifaceted factors influencing immobility decisions in rural areas of Southeast Europe. We will design an integrated model encompassing well-being, place attachment, and staying decisions with respect to the presence of a “collective migration mentality”. This theoretical model will serve as a foundational framework for an upcoming quantitative household survey spanning four countries - Albania, Kosovo, Romania, and Moldova - comprising a sample size of 2,400 respondents. Through this survey, our goal is to elucidate the role of place attachment in the immobility decisions of rural populations and its interconnectedness with well-being. This study marks the initial presentation of preliminary empirical analysis findings. Our contribution will provide a better understanding of the demographic dynamics of rural areas. Additionally, it can support policymakers in crafting interventions to improve quality of life, foster place attachment, and ultimately mitigate out-migration.

ABSTRACT. Background: Oral health status as the primary factor directly influencing the health of the elderly. The correlation between oral health-related quality of life(OHRQoL) and frailty among elderly patients in Taiwan has yet to be determined. Methods: This research encompassed elderly patients aged 65 and above, both outpatient and inpatient. Exclusion criteria applied to those who were bedridden and incapable of completing frailty-related measurements. The study was conducted from January to December 2023 and involved the collection of data, including body measurements (Height and Body weight), walking speed and grip strength tests, and responses to questionnaires such as the Fried Frailty phenotype, MNA-SF, OHRQoL -7T and oral health status. Results: This study included a total of 260 elderly participants, with 56.2% being female and an average age of 75.6 years. The rates of pre-frailty and frailty among elderly patients, as determined by the Fried Frailty Scale, were 48.8% and 10.8%, respectively. When the mod-REFS frailty scale was applied to assess obvious frailty and overall frailty rates, they were found to be 5.4% and 6.6%, respectively. The analysis of oral health status revealed significant positive correlations between the number of natural teeth (P=0.032), denture function (P=0.012), and chewing problems (P<0.001) with OHRQoL. Additionally, OHRQoL significantly influenced the risk of frailty (P=0.003). Conclusion: Oral health is prevalent concerns among older individuals. This study indicates that the OHRQoL in older adults has an impact on the risk to frailty.

ABSTRACT. The increasing global interest in well-being is evidenced by numerous initiatives emerging from academia, governments, and non-government sectors. Despite extensive efforts, the justification for creating increasingly complex measures of well-being remains a critical question, with well-being literature offering varied conclusions but weaker arguments from comparative analysis. This paper aims to understand how heterogeneity in measurement affects results and to analyse the extent to which existing Well-Being Indices (WBI) approximate well-being according to theoretical consensus. Specific conceptual criteria include the integration of subjective and objective data, consideration of multiple inequalities, an outcomes approach, avoidance of impersonal measures (mainly economic, institutional and environmental), the magnitude, and diversity of information. This paper consists in a comprehensive comparative review of 25 international WBI, complemented by an index assessing the proximity to theoretical criteria. The analysis involves the classification of all indicators used in the 25 WBI based on criteria and well-being domains. There is a considerable disparity in fulfilling criteria, with inequalities and subjectivity being less developed in practice. The outcomes approach is the most widely respected. Health, basic education, and basic services are the most covered domains. Economic measures comprise approximately 18% of the information in well-being measures, while subjective information constitutes 12%. SPI, HLY, SDGI, BLI and BLI-derived indexes best approximate well-being based on established theoretical criteria. Multidimensional well-being approach must seriously address the challenges of aligning with all conceptual standards and to distinguish from GDP. Increasing the incorporation of subjective measures, both cognitive and emotional, represents a great opportunity of improvement.

ABSTRACT. This research presents the outcomes of a client satisfaction survey involving 367 respondents, conducted to empirically assess the satisfaction levels of individuals receiving services from the 52nd Engineer Brigade (EBde) in Eastern Mindanao. The study is anchored in the value percept theory, which posits that satisfaction is an emotional response elicited through a cognitive, evaluative process, wherein perceptions of a service or product offers are compared to one's values, needs, wants, or desires (Westbrook & Reilly, 1983). The results indicate high satisfaction among recipients of the services provided by the 52nd EBde. Additionally, the research investigates clients' socio-demographic profile, awareness of Executive Order (EO) 70, and perception of the 52nd Army engineers to discern any statistical relationships with satisfaction levels. The satisfaction level was found to have no correlation with the awareness level of EO 70. These findings contribute to understanding the multifaceted nature of client satisfaction in implementing government projects and essential services initiated by the 52nd Engineer Brigade for various battalions in Eastern Mindanao. The research provides valuable insights for enhancing client satisfaction and optimizing the delivery of crucial services in the context of governmental initiatives led by the 52nd Engineer Brigade.

Authors: Gomez,A., Mabale, J., Gabinete, J., Sagaosao, C., Tubongbanua, M., Serenas, C., Almaden, R.

ABSTRACT. Different cultural groups have distinct health and wellbeing values. Recognizing these Quality of Life (QoL) issues in minority groups helps to effectively address specific needs across diverse ethnic communities. This study examined the psychometric properties of translated versions into Turkish, Moroccan Arabic and Moroccan Berber of the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) in psychiatric outpatient and Dutch reference groups. Psychometric properties were assessed in four samples: psychiatric outpatients (n=147) and controls (n=100) with Turkish or Moroccan origins, and psychiatric outpatients (n=5419) and controls (n=1140) with native Dutch origins. We evaluated internal consistency, Area Under the Curve (AUC) values, means, standard deviations, percentiles, factorial structure, and measurement invariance across the groups. Participants were on average 38 years old (SD=12), and 63 % were women. Internal consistency of the SF-36 subscales across groups was adequate to high except for the Mental health scale in the Turkish group and the Vitality scale in the Moroccan Berber subgroup. The eight-factor structure of the SF-36 fitted the data adequately in the total sample and each separate group. There was a full configural, metric and partial scalar invariance. Additionally, AUC values showed acceptable to excellent discrimination between psychiatric- and non-psychiatric participants in each group. Remarkably, immigrant groups scores on average lower than Dutch native groups. We can conclude that the translated versions of the SF-36 are valid and reliable instruments for measuring QoL in immigrant groups of Turkish and Moroccan origin, albeit with potentially lower cut-off values compared to the native Dutch group.

ABSTRACT. Rainbow families refer to LGBTIQ+ parents, couples and individuals who have children, or want to become parents, and their families. Although there has been a positive shift in attitudes towards LGBTIQ+ people and the protection of their rights at the global level and in Croatia in the last two decades, discussions about the parental role of LGBTIQ+ people are still often characterized by strong reactions and non-acceptance, which can be related to their quality of life and well-being, as is being discussed on the EU level (within the COST Action CA19103 - LGBTI+ Social and Economic (in)equalities). To gain more insight into the current situation and quality of life of rainbow families in Croatia, the main aim of this study was twofold: (a) to assess public opinion on rainbow families using CAWI methodology among a nationally representative sample of N=1011 Croatian citizens (15 to 75 years old), and (b) to gain in-depth understanding of the experiences of rainbow families using focus group with LGBTIQ+ parents in Croatia, who achieved parenthood using methods of planned parenthood. The data was collected in 2023 and was part of a project entitled “Rainbow Families – empower and connect (CareFor)”. Results from the online panel revealed that most participants (64%) expressed a moderate/neutral to very positive attitude towards rainbow families, while 36% expressed a negative attitude. Results from the focus group showed parents in the study described their quality of life as moderate to high and expressed relatively high levels of internal and external resources.

ABSTRACT. Subjective well-being is fundamental in the approach that Positive Psychology provides to human happiness. One of the components of subjective well-being is the emotional state that a person experiences at a given moment, which can be measured from the predominance of positive affects (optimism, creativity...) over negative affects (sadness, stress...). On the other hand, it has been found that active leisure activities contributes to subjective well-being in adolescence (Oropesa, 2017). The objective of this work was to analyze the relationship between positive and negative affect and different free-time activities practiced during adolescence. The sample consisted of 269 Spanish adolescents who were studying the third and fourth years of Compulsory Secondary Education, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old. The instrument used to measure positive and negative affect was the PANASN (Romero, Sandín and Chorot, 1997; Sandín, 2003) and a questionnaire designed for this research was used to evaluate free-time activities. The results found indicated positive and significant correlations between positive affect and physical-sports activities directed by a monitor and not directed by a monitor, being with friends and going shopping. Furthermore, a positive and significant correlation was found between negative affect and artistic and cultural activities directed by a monitor. Finally, negative and significant correlations were found between negative affect and the practice of physical-sports activities directed by a monitor, as well as working. In conclusion, the findings provide strong evidence of a significant relationship between certain free-time activities practiced by adolescents and their positive and negative affects.

ABSTRACT. KOSTAT has conducted a research to aggregate quality of life frameworks by life cycles, based on age groups in 2023. We first assessed the overall compatibilities of frameworks of quality of life for children·youths, young adults, and seniors. Then, we investigated additional potential frameworks for a life cycles. During this process, the significance of the measurements of infants and middle-aged adults’ well-being had been scrutinized. Furthermore, we had reviewed characteristics of each life cycles —children·youth, young adults, middle-aged adults, and seniors — for aggregation of quality of life frameworks along with recent issues related to quality of life in Korea. With understanding and analysis of the current state of well-being of each life cycles, this research is expected to play a role as an important evidence in the process of revision of quality of life in Korea indicators and of policymaking targeting a particular age group. We also expect it to serve as a significant example of well-being measurement worldwide.

ABSTRACT. Background: The world’s population is aging rapidly. This ageing population leads to increasing demand for health care services to older people, and thus, brings tremendous pressure to the health care workforce. Research showed that the well-being of health care workforces such as doctors, nurses, personal care workers, and health workers were negatively impacted by the job demands in the aged care sector. Current knowledge mainly focuses on the challenges imposed on the well-being of health care workforce, but paying less attention on the opportunities on supporting the well-being of them. Therefore, this study is proposed to comprehensively explore the opportunities and challenges on the well-being of health care workforce in the ageing society.

Methods: The proposed study will adopt a descriptive qualitative approach in order to yield in-depth data regarding individuals’ values, beliefs, knowledge, and concerns. Approximately 30 health care workers who are working in the aged care sector will be recruited for the study. Maximum variation sampling will be adopted to ensure participants with various backgrounds will the recruited. Thematic analysis will be used for data analysis.

Results and Conclusion: Health care workforces are vital assets to the sustainability of the aged care sector globally. It is necessary to better understand the factors affecting the well-being of them. With such understanding, the service stakeholders such as governments, policy-makers, and in-charges of health care institutions, can develop effective strategies and measures to improve health care workforces’ well-being that is essential to the delivery of holistic care to the older people.

ABSTRACT. The study investigated the association between media representation, perceived age stereotype, and aging anxiety in Korean older adults. A total of 600 older adults aged 65 years and older were analysed using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping method, using a cross-sectional, secondary data. Regarding the direct effects, media representation was associated with perceived age stereotype (β=.380,p<.001), aging anxiety on financial factors (β=.145,p<.001), and aging anxiety on psychosocial factors (β=.136,p<.01), whereas perceived age stereotype was associated with aging anxiety on psychosocial factors (β=.205,p<.001). In terms of indirect effects, perceived age stereotype only mediated the relationship between media representation and aging anxiety on psychosocial factors (95% CI: 0.034, 0.121). The study's findings hold significance for alleviating aging anxiety in an aging society, offering practical strategies to mitigate such concerns.

ABSTRACT. The present study aims to investigate the associations between change in communication methods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, frequency of media usage, social connectedness, and depressive symptoms among older adults in Korea. The study analyses a cross-sectional, secondary dataset comprising of 398 older adults aged 65 years and older. The data is analysed using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping methods. The study's findings reveal that older adults who utilized a greater variety of communication methods during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with higher media usage frequency and increased social connectedness, reported lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to their counterparts. Additionally, those who used media more frequently reported heightened levels of social connectedness. Regarding mediating effects, social connectedness mediated the relationships between changes in communication methods during the COVID-19 pandemic and depressive symptoms, as well as between the frequency of media usage and depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that the utilization of diverse communication methods can act as a protective factor against the adverse effects of reduced social interaction during the pandemic, ultimately resulting in reduced depressive symptoms. Interventions using diverse communication methods to enhance social connectedness could be promising to improve the mental health outcomes of older adults during challenging times. These findings carry important implications for public health policies and interventions aimed at addressing the mental health needs of older adults.

ABSTRACT. Loneliness is one of the most common phenomena in modern society. Some people, being alone, experience satisfaction, while others, having an abundance of social connections, painfully experience alienation from other people. Purpose: to study the association between the experience of loneliness and components of psychological well-being. Sample: 230 participants (39.13% men); average age – 42.21 (SD=7.8). Methods: Multidimensional Inventory of Loneliness Experience (Leont'ev, Osin); Scale “Sociotropy-Self-sufficience”; Psychological Well-being Scale by C. Riff. Women perceived loneliness more positively than men (p=0.004). The level of psychological well-being in women was higher than in men (p<0.000). A positive association was revealed between the age and the general experience of loneliness (r=0.159; p≤0.05). Predictors of loneliness were social uncertainty and attachment. The scale “general experience of loneliness” was positively associated to the scales “social insecurity” (r=0.313; p<0.000), “dependence” (r=0.333; p≤0.000), and the general indicator “Sociotropy” (r=0.259; p≤0.001). Negative associations were found between general experience of loneliness and general indicator of psychological well-being (r=-0.184; p≤0.01). People experiencing loneliness were characterized by low psychological well-being, a feeling of their inability to change surrounding circumstances, and a lack of close and trusting relationships. The “Dependence on communication” scale turned out to be closely related to all scales of the “Sociotropy-Self-Sufficiency” questionnaire (0.000≤p≤0.026), with the exception of “Self-sufficiency”. Positive loneliness was positively associated with positive attitude (r=-0.263; p≤0.01) and with self-sufficiency (r=0.335; p≤0.001). Thus, the experience of loneliness was closely associated with a low level of psychological well-being of personality. Support by the RSF, project №23-28-00841 https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-00841/.

ABSTRACT. Objective: To examine the association between lifestyle factors and suicide-related outcomes

Methods: Data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2015 and 2017 were used. We identified lifestyle factors including smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake, and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) in 9,529 eligible subjects. We analyzed the risk of suicidal ideation, plan, attempt, and the composite of suicidality within the past year according to the lifestyle factors. In addition, stratified analyses were performed according to the diagnostic history of depression.

Results: Compared to never-smokers, ex-smokers and current smokers showed an increased risk of suicidal ideation, suicidal plan, and the composite of suicidality. Compared to the low HEI group, those with the highest HEI showed a decreased risk of suicide ideation and the composite of suicidality. Among those with depression, the increased risk of suicide-related outcomes from smoking was more prominent, and heavy drinking was associated with an increased risk of suicide attempts.

Conclusion: Smoking and heavy drinking were associated with an increased risk of suicide-related outcomes, but high-quality diets and non-heavy drinking were associated with a decreased risk. In people with depression, the associations between lifestyle factors and suicide-related outcomes were stronger than in those without depression.

ABSTRACT. This review explores the dynamics of human experience through a discussion of the heart intelligence, subconscious mind and bio-magnetic fields as they connect to the pulse of emotions. By means, with a comprehensive review of the current research, effectively navigate the complex interactions connecting these key components. An overview of emotions, human bio-magnetic fields, heart intelligence and subconscious mind appears at the beginning of this review. Follows with the outline on how emotions affect the body’s bio-magnetic resonance. Further explores the vital role of heart intelligence in regulating these fields while establishing connection between emotional states and physical reactions. Additionally, this review also addresses the relationship between these occurrences and the subconscious mind, providing insight into the subconscious processes that influence emotional experiences and the bio-magnetic fields imprint associated with them. For this study, a thorough literature review is carried out utilizing previous research sources pertaining to emotions and interaction of human bio-magnetic fields through heart intelligence and subconscious mind that shape human experiences. Integrating these factors contribute to novel discoveries that have implications on all areas of life, from psychology to holistic well-being, while deepening comprehension of the complex relation within the human psyche. This preliminary study recommends conducting more in-depth research to develop framework for a contented and holistic well-being.

ABSTRACT. Past studies have found that refugee populations resettled in Western countries experienced high rates of psychological disorders and faced significant challenges to their mental health and wellbeing, even after resettlement. However, there has been limited research focusing on Karen refugees resettled in Australia. The paper will present findings from two qualitative exploratory studies. The first study focuses on the key issues that Karen refugees face in relation to mental health and wellbeing in Victoria, Australia, from the perspectives of service providers. The second study focuses on the perspectives of the Karen refugee community in terms of their experiences with mental health and wellbeing programs, utilising the Diamond Dialogue in semi-structured interviews to facilitate conversation around the impact of such programs on quality of life. Themes discussed include service providers concerns around high levels of mental health issues in the community, perceived maladaptive coping mechanisms, and the parentification of children. Barriers to accessing services are also examined, including difficulty with learning English, understanding of mental health terminology and concepts, navigating Australian systems, as well as mental health stigma. Other themes include cultural responsiveness of service providers, alternative options to counselling, and the key role of bi-cultural workers.

ABSTRACT. Recently, in 2023, the Manipur violence event took place in India. The proximate cause of the violence was a row over an affirmative action measure. Namely, on 3 May 2023, ethnic violence erupted in India's north-eastern state of Manipur between the Meitei people, a majority that lives in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki-Zo tribal community from the surrounding hills. According to government figures, as of 15 September 2023, 175 people have been killed in the violence, 4,786 houses were burnt and 386 religious structures, including temples and churches, were vandalized. The violence left more than 70,000 people displaced from their homes. Unofficial figures are higher. The aim of this study is to identify whether the local population has a higher interest in such violent events when the local population experiences higher levels of deprivation. We quantify the interest in the cultural narrative of violence by using Google search data obtained through the machine learning listening approach. We then use as a proxy for relative deprivation the degree of access to financial services for the most disadvantaged percentile of the population in a region (i.e., the percentage of the population in the lowest percentiles that holds a bank account and uses bank loan services). We employ a difference in differences methodology and explore alternative counterfactual cultural narratives of violence. The findings of this study shed further light on the link between relative deprivation in the inclusion of financial services and increasing preferences for social unrest across the regions of India.

ABSTRACT. Research on migration has demonstrated that migrants arrive in the destination country carrying sticky cultural attitudes from the place where they come from, which at times withholds their local performance and other times benefits the local milieu with alternative problem-solving rationales. This study aims to focus its attention to the cultural stickiness of the cultural attitudes in specific with regard to other-regarding preferences and risky behaviour in the recipient country. We use data from the database provided by the Saudi Insurance Company Altawunyia. We approximate the other-regarding preferences with the propensity to drive safely on the road. We use the place of origin of a driver as an approximation of her or his distance from the cultural attitudes to risk in driving among the incumbent population. Put differently, if someone is from a different country, we expect them to have a different average propensity to behave riskily on the road. The database contains information about the country of origin of the insured person as well as data on the degree of precarious driving that the individual has registered according to the telematics of their car. We employ Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis to establish the degree of other-regarding preferences (approximated by the average degree of propensity to take risk during driving) characteristic for each cultural group. Our findings demonstrate that there is cultural distance and cultural stickiness in the degree of other-regarding preferences in driving among people from different countries who hold a car insurance and live in Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT. Recent entrepreneurship literature has delved into the barriers and motivations of European female entrepreneurs. The current study aims to compare what are the barriers and motivations for female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia in comparison to these for female entrepreneurs in the UK. The presence of cultural distance or cultural proximity in the barriers and motivations across Saudi Arabia and the UK is an empirical question. To address this question, we do two types of data collection. Firstly, we replicate a survey conducted among British female entrepreneurs by asking the translated version of the same questionnaire for Saudi Arabian female entrepreneurs. Thus, we obtain a perfectly comparable set of observations for both countries. We collected all in all over 200 responses from Saudi Arabia and we compare them with the secondary data obtained from the UK survey (114 observations). Secondly, we obtain cultural variables to quantify the local cultural differences. For the UK we use the Understanding Society Survey data on cultural participation. We collected comparable cultural participation indicators for the case of Saudi Arabia. Thus, we ultimately conduct regression analysis using a recursive model, where the female engagement in entrepreneurship is explained with certain barriers and motivations which are on their side explained by local cultural contextualization in the level of cultural heritage and living culture consumed in the locality where the person lives.

ABSTRACT. There is increasing evidence that higher wellbeing (i.e. flourishing) is associated with lower risk for common mental disorders. Considerable effort to develop interventions (e.g. Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI) and other related interventions) that focus on improving wellbeing has been exerted. Meta-analyses suggest the efficacy of PPI in the community is small at best, and more efficacious in clinical populations. In contrast, interventions that focus on the ‘six pillars’ or other key social-determinants of health may have greater impact on improving wellbeing outcomes. This study reports a series of simulations which test the impact of improving individuals’ wellbeing on the 4-year incidence of depression in the community. In line with Rose’s argument for improving population health, Scenario 1 tested the impact of improving the whole population. Scenarios 2-5 specifically tested the impact of improving the wellbeing of 2) Languishers, 3) those with moderate wellbeing, 4) Flourishers, and 5) those with depression. Each scenario tested a range of effect sizes derived from published PPI and other interventions. Scenarios 1, 3 and 4 had only marginal reductions in the depression burden. Languishers and those with depression reported the greatest benefit for reduction in depression risk through an increase in wellbeing. The effect sizes needed for substantial reductions in depression prevalence were higher than those reported in PPI studies, but comparable to the effects reported for broader social-determinants on wellbeing. Policy makers may be better focused on known pillars and determinants of health which would impact, not just on wellbeing, but broader health outcomes.

ABSTRACT. In 2017, the Taiwan government introduced the "Saving Accounts for Future Education and Development of Children and Youth" program, a pioneering anti-poverty policy. It establishes personal savings accounts for children from low-income families, offering monthly deposits until they reach eighteen. This initiative aims to combat wealth inequality, foster child development, and promote higher educational attainment among economically disadvantaged children. Participation is voluntary, and since its launch in 2017, approximately 60% of eligible children have opened accounts by the end of 2022. The second wave data were collected in 2023, involving face-to-face interviews conducted by social workers. A total of 1,026 interviews were conducted with parents or legal guardians of children who had opened accounts, and 1,007 with those who had not opened accounts by the end of 2022. The data collection process focused on various aspects, including family economic conditions, employment status, parental working conditions, parental emotional well-being (optimism and depression levels), educational expectations for their children, and administrative details. The findings showed significant differences between account holders and non-account holders in financial pressure, positive attitudes, and parent-child relationships. These distinctions were also evident between tracking cases and new cases. The findings suggest a focus on financial literacy programs, resources for financial planning and empowerment, and educational campaigns emphasizing long-term savings for children's education, especially targeting parents with younger children.

ABSTRACT. Objectives: This study quantifies the economic value of knowing a close family member or friend who attempted or died by suicide, using the Well-being Valuation Method (WVM).

Background: Prior research has varied in assessing the valuation of suicide prevention, often not comparing it with other mortality causes. Our study presents a pioneering exploration into quantifying the economic value of experiencing a close family member or friend’s suicide attempt or suicide death using the Well-being Valuation Method (WVM), also known as the life satisfaction approach (LSA).

Methods: Data from an online survey of 1,000 Swedish adults were used to apply the WVM. This included information on life satisfaction, knowing someone who attempted or died by suicide, household income, and healthcare resource allocation attitudes. We estimated life satisfaction equations and the implicit marginal rate of substitution between income and the experience of knowing someone who attempted or died by suicide.

Results: Knowing a close individual who attempted or died by suicide significantly reduces life satisfaction. The monetary compensation to maintain life satisfaction varied, ranging from 6.4-9.6 thousand Euros for those knowing someone who died by suicide, to 8.1-9.9 thousand Euros for knowing someone who attempted suicide.

Discussion: The study highlights the significant economic burden and varying compensation needs based on different suicide-related experiences. It emphasizes the importance of incorporating these individual experiences into healthcare policy and suicide prevention strategies, reflecting the broader economic and social implications of suicide.

ABSTRACT. The Indian sense of well-being is essentially experiential. That is the reason when scholars write about them, they source their arguments from scriptures and ancient texts. The Indian view on well-being holds that the physical reality is fluid, temporary, and transitory; that happiness lies within the individual; it can neither be possessed nor accumulated due to the dynamism of circumstances; and that it is about seeking and pursuing truth. Therefore, there is an emphasis on the importance of looking inward. According to the Indian sense, a state of well-being can be reached when the individual becomes one with his/her true self through reasoning, reflection, and meditation, and becomes consciously knowledgeable about one’s self and interactions with the surrounding environment. It is about transcending the self to connect with the true self and higher universe through raising awareness and the highest levels of one’s consciousness, which ultimately leads to salvation. In essence, the interconnections among these concepts form a holistic framework for achieving happiness. The pursuit involves harmonizing the gunas (attributes of an individual), practicing yoga and meditation, and delving into the wisdom of the Vedas and Vedanta. As individuals move closer to realizing their true nature, they align with the inherent bliss encapsulated in sat-chit-ananda (three qualities of ultimate reality). This paper aims to discuss the different Indian concepts, traditions, and frameworks in which the concept of well-being is embedded and establish a case for the potential implications this understanding can have for the science of well-being and its policy.

ABSTRACT. In a randomized intervention among 32,135 federal employees who were not saving, we tested several strategies from the behavioral literature, including personalization, reciprocity, and social norms.

We randomly assigned everyone into one of five groups: Group 1 received a personalized estimate of how much money they had missed in matching that year. Group 2 (reciprocity) was informed that their retirement accounts contained money from their employers; participants were then invited to contribute too. Group 3 was given an estimate of how much other non-contributors had missed in matching on average, a new approach that we have pioneered. Group 4 (social norms) learned that 90% of federal employees contribute to their retirement accounts. The fifth group received no outreach at that time.

After three months, we determined the total in each group who had started saving, using Chi square and two-sample proportion tests (two-tailed) to determine significance. All treatment groups were significantly more likely (14% to 21%) to be saving than those who received no outreach (p < 0.0001).

The unique design of the plan we studied allowed us to test reciprocity in what appears to be its first application in a retirement context. It was significantly effective, as were traditional social norms, running contrary to findings from the literature. To our knowledge, this is also one of the first randomized interventions to test the effects of personalization on retirement saving, and results suggest it can be very effective. Finally, the “what others missed” approach also made a difference.

ABSTRACT. This study critically examines the definition and measurement of the American middle class by proposing an Expenditure Middle-Class (EMC) measure derived from household expenditures, in contrast to the prevalent Income Middle Class (IMC) definition. Analyzing data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) with a sample of 11,923 households from the 2017-2021 Interview Survey, our research reveals significant disparities in classifying households—63.54% fall within the EMC middle class, compared to 46.08% in the IMC. Detailed analysis of mean pre-tax income, total expenditure, and achievement indicators underscores the superiority of EMC, particularly in capturing homeownership, health insurance coverage, family vacation, and emergency savings. Exploring the factors contributing to these disparities, we conduct a seven-category unordered logistic regression, identifying key variables such as employment status, education, and public assistance. Our ongoing research delves into the role of debt in the EMC measure, examining both conceptual implications and empirical impact. This comprehensive approach aims to refine our understanding of the American middle class, potentially influencing policy discussions and contributing to socioeconomic classification debates. We anticipate presenting our nuanced findings at an upcoming conference, pending acceptance.

ABSTRACT. Informal bankruptcy is defined as a situation in which a family has a negative net worth and is also late in debt payment for 60 or more days (debt delinquency). It is an indicator of financial-illbeing since bankruptcy is considered the end of financial life by experts. The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with informal bankruptcy during the COVID-19 pandemic using data from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finance collected in the U.S.. Logistic regression results showed that health factors were not related but employment factors were associated with the chance of being informally bankrupt. Specifically, beginning a new telework schedule, continuing reporting a place of business, and increasing work hours significantly reduced the chance of being informally bankrupt compared to those who lost a job permanently. In addition, holding a student loan increased and being a home owner decreased the chance of informal bankruptcy. Further analyses with subsamples by student loan holding statuses showed variations of informal bankruptcy determinants. Among consumers having student loans for themselves and graduated from college, holding a mortgage, temporary unemployment, increasing work hours (vs. losing a job permanently), and income were negatively, while being a black was positively associated with informal bankruptcy. Among consumers having student loans for themselves and not graduated from college, performing desirable financial behavior, having student loan for others, being other race, working (vs. losing a job permanently) decreased, while having other loans and child presence increased the chance of informal bankruptcy.

ABSTRACT. Family socioeconomic processes are one of the significant causes of individuals’ mental health outcomes. Stress process theory elucidates how stressors, particularly in economic adversities and risks, impair health and well-being. Resilience theory further identifies a wide range of protective and counteractive factors at individual, family, and community levels in the stress coping process. Previous empirical literature has mainly focused on the psychological meanings of resilience while neglecting the importance of financial coping capabilities and resources. Financial resilience, as a specific financial capability to cope with uncertainties and shocks, is being actively discussed. However, little is known about how financial resilience impacts the family socioeconomic process of mental health and its population heterogeneity. This study used data from the China Family Panel Studies to conduct multi-group path analyses. The proposed model with a full sample showed a good fit in which family financial resilience significantly mediated the effects of economic adversity on psychological distress, subjective happiness, and life satisfaction. This model applied to different population subgroups in sex, age, migrant, and development contexts. Two age subgroups had significant differences. Those mediating mechanisms were surprisingly nonsignificant in the older population aged 65 years old and above. This study brings financial resilience to a protective position in the family socioeconomic process and stress–health nexus. It provides prevention and intervention implications for enhancing financial resilience to address economic adversities and mental health problems. Future directions are also suggested for exploring the uniqueness of the aging population in family well-being, finances, and health issues.

ABSTRACT. Amid the challenges experienced by married couples and families, the need to examine the factors contributing to marital satisfaction is recognised across various communities and backgrounds. Nevertheless, research on Malaysian Christians remains limited. Therefore, this study sought to provide a deeper understanding of marital satisfaction among Malaysian Christians and its association with factors such as the level of religiosity, the impact of the family-of-origin and interactions between spouses (i.e., displays of generosity, altruism, and forgiveness). 303 participants responded to self-report scales (i.e., Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Interpersonal Generosity Scale, Compassionate Love of Close Others Scale and Marital Forgiveness Scale) and open-ended questions on marital satisfaction experience and marital views, values, and attitudes development. A one-sample t-test analysed the marital satisfaction level of Malaysian Christians and some amount of marital distress was indicated. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis established that religiosity, the impact of the family-of-origin and the negative dimension of forgiveness significantly predicted marital satisfaction. The open-ended responses were analysed thematically and the identified themes pertaining to how married Malaysian Christians experience marital satisfaction and develop views, values and attitudes within marriage complemented the quantitative findings. These findings could inform the development of Church-based programmes on marriage and family life and assist marriage counsellors, family therapists and other mental health professionals to work more effectively with the Malaysian Christian community. Christian couples and families may also gain awareness, insights, and inspiration towards enriching their experiences within marriage and family life.

ABSTRACT. Since the first Covid-19 incidence announced in March, Indonesia was the hardest hit country in Asia only after India by June 2021 in terms of cases and mortality rates. Riddled with complexities such as low testing rates, lack of testing capabilities, the actual number of infections and death tolls were under reported. One of the religious sectors severely impacted, primarily due to its size, are megachurches which can be defined as any Protestant congregation of over 2000 attendees (Thumma and Travis 2007). Megachurches, in particular the Pentecostal types are undoubtedly one of the most prominent growth drivers of Christianity in Indonesia especially thriving among the middle class. Predominantly located in large, urbanized, metropolis cities many megachurches exceeding 10,000 in size saw operations and practices severely handicapped due to crowd restrictions and lockdowns for over two years of the pandemic. Highly reliant on their charismatic senior pastor, ‘mega’ identity and the collective effervescence generated through the presence of ‘bodies’ and connectedness of human networks, megachurches are highly challenged where this form of materiality and experience were no longer possible due to ongoing covid risk. Based on two megachurch case studies in Indonesia, data was collected from 834 church respondents on their beliefs, lifestyle, and attitudes during the pandemic periods of 2021 - 2022. Findings revealed how churchgoers leaned on selective beliefs to cope, changed their lifestyles and desired community building activities while the megachurch harnessed both technology and offering forms of ‘lifestyle Christianity’ for the well-being of its congregation.

ABSTRACT. This study, encompassing over 50 countries from various cultural zones, establishes an expanded model of subjective well-being (SWB) that incorporates four components: happiness, meaning, harmony, and spirituality. Our methodology involves surveying respondents on their assessments of both actual and ideal levels for these components, exploring their relative rankings. This poster presents the outcomes of the latent profile analysis at the average country level, unveiling two distinct profiles characterized as 'spiritual and valued spirituality' and 'non-spiritual and not valued spirituality.' It is noteworthy that the average differences between countries within the identified profiles are minimal, particularly in terms of actual happiness levels. The prioritization, with an emphasis on placing spirituality above other components, underscores the importance of expanding the SWB definition to include spirituality for a comprehensive understanding within this profile. Countries falling under the 'spiritual and valued spirituality' category exhibit a lower average declared ideal level and a smaller disproportion between actual and ideal levels for all components. This poses a challenge to the pursuit of maximizing happiness (Kryś et al., 2024). The study significantly contributes to a diverse, cross-cultural exploration of SWB by illuminating the pivotal role of spirituality in shaping perceptions of a fulfilling life.

ABSTRACT. The article presents the results of studying perception of happiness and subjective well-being by believers and non-believers in Kazakhstan. The purpose of the study is to reveal influence of religiosity on self-assessment of well-being and satisfaction with various material and non-material (spiritual, social) aspects of life. The results of the study help to understand how religiosity affects level of perception of subjective well-being in a secular state with a multicultural and multi-confessional society with unestablished social norms of religiosity. The analysis was conducted from positions outside confessional approach. Depending on type and nature of religious commitment, groups of convinced believers, nominally believers, and non-believers were compared. The results were measured in linear regression 1) with some indicators of perception and assessment of happiness and subjective well-being in projection on life circumstances and socio-demographic characteristics, and 2) with assessment of religion as a value and religiosity as a significant self-identifying status of a person. In the course of the study, research tasks on effectiveness of applying the methodology created in foreign scientific practice were verified, which led to an opportunity to compare the results obtained. It was revealed that the results obtained are commensurate with world, European, Asian studies and open up prospects for further study of the subject in view of ethnicity, confessional affiliation, generational cohorts, education level, socio-professional status of respondents, etc. indicators introduction.

ABSTRACT. Living in an aging society constitutes urgent questions about mechanisms and strategies that could help to create a better aging. Futurization of aging suggests that one can modify own behavior in adulthood to develop resources that would prevents development of negative consequences related to aging. Still mechanisms of futurization of aging remain understudied. We hypothesized that strategies of futurization of aging could be related to healthy lifestyle and affect psychological well-being. Participants: we examined 134 middle adults aged 45 – 65 (67% females). Methods: Psychological well-being scale (Zhukovskaya, Troshikhina, 2011), questionnaire “Health-promoting lifestyle profile” (Petrash et.al., 2018), questionnaire “Strategies of construction of aging” (Strizhitskaya et.al., 2024). “Strategies of construction of aging” included four types of strategies: health strategies, metacognitive strategies, self-development strategies and generative strategies. Results confirmed, consistent with previous studies, that healthy lifestyle (HL) predicted psychological wellbeing (PW). We also found multiple correlations of HL and PW with strategies of construction of aging (strategies). We used Hayes PROCESS analysis to investigate if strategies could be mediators of the HL to PW path. Analysis revealed that metacognitive strategies and self-development strategies mediated association between HL and PW. We found no effect for health and generative strategies. Results suggest that futurization of aging is associated with well-being; it mediates association between healthy lifestyle that promotes health in general and psychological well-being. One of the important conclusions in our study was that not only health promoting behaviors are important for successful aging, but also such psychological factors as self-awareness and self-development.

ABSTRACT. When analyzing determinants of subjective well-being, there’s usually a strong focus on the actual socioeconomic position of the individual (e.g., education, occupation, income, wealth) while some research emphasizes past and present social and cultural factors (e.g., childhood, relationships, neighborhood, discrimination, norms). In contrast, the impact of life courses and especially of (non-)employment biographies receives only little attention although people in the same actual position may have experienced a varying number, length, and timing of working episodes (e.g., full-time/part-time work, domestic work, unemployment) resulting in different well-being levels. In Bismarckian welfare states like Germany, old-age provision largely depends on (non-)employment biographies (subject to social contributions), too, and it is – especially in times of demographic change – a general determinant of life satisfaction.

Using survey and administrative data of the German study on “Life courses and old-age provision” (LeA) for people aged 40 to 59, we analyze the interplay of (non-)employment biographies, old-age provision, and subjective well-being for various domains (health, work, income, housing). To examine what raises or lowers satisfaction, we consider – in addition to comprehensive life course information – different aspects of old-age provision: 1) the type of statutory, occupational, and private pension scheme, 2) the mix of different schemes (e.g., statutory pension insurance, civil servants and farmers pensions), and 3) the accumulated amount of pension entitlements. Finally, we include indicators of the actual socioeconomic position and further sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, sex, partnership, parenthood, health, housing, region) to control for other effects in our multivariate models.

ABSTRACT. Introduction. Modern studies of the quality of life of older people have shown that a predictor of quality of life in late adulthood is a positive perception of aging, which is associated with the ability to control the events of one’s own life in old age. The aging period is often associated with stereotypes. Our research has shown that at the intersection of stereotypes about aging and learned helplessness there is a little-studied mechanism - stereotypical helplessness. We assumed that stereotypical helplessness depends on the ability to control the events of one’s own life in old age and can have a negative impact on quality of life. Methods. “Aging perception questionnaire”, “Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile”; “Healthy Aging”; Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scales; Stereotype-Based Helplessness questionnaire. Participants: 168 respondents aged 50-76 years. Results. “Quality of life” is presented as a latent variable associated with observed variables (“psychological well-being”, “health assessment”, “health lifestyle”, “social activity”). Structural equation modeling showed a negative impact of stereotype-based helplessness (SBH) on quality of life. Positive control reduces the severity of SBH and improves quality of life. A direct effect of age on positive control was revealed, which makes it possible to control the events of one’s own life in old age, including lifestyle and SBH. Conclusions. The study found that stereotype-based helplessness has a negative impact on quality of life late adulthood and aging. The ability to control the events of one's own life reduces stereotype-based helplessness and has a positive effect on quality of life.

ABSTRACT. Depopulation happens all over Europe but is most pronounced in Southeast Europe. Data from the Gallup World Poll indicates that, for example, 68 % of Albanians and 38 % of Moldovans would like to move permanently to another country. This pattern is even more pronounced in rural areas threatened by a vicious cycle. As populations decrease, the well-being of those who stay back also declines, further fueling out-migration. While extensive research has been conducted on the causes of rural out-migration, there is a significant lack of studies examining the motivations of individuals opting to stay in these communities. Our contribution addresses this gap in research by employing the concept of place attachment. In particular, it sheds light on why some people choose to stay, the role of place attachment in this decision-making process, and the effects of such decisions on individual well-being. We utilize qualitative data gathered through multi-sited ethnography conducted in four research sites in Southeast Europe: Albania, Kosovo, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania. Through in-depth qualitative data analysis, we developed a typology that identifies four distinct types of stayers: active, dependent, critical, and reluctant stayers. This typology offers a nuanced understanding of the diverse motivations and experiences underlying individuals' decisions to remain in a specific locale. It provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay between well-being, place attachment, and contextual dynamics. The results of our study will contribute to a deeper comprehension of why certain rural regions are more, or less, affected by out-migration.

ABSTRACT. Many cities face urban health risks alongside climate change effects, such as flash floods. The rapid urban development, coupled with limited land availability, presents challenges in providing sufficient open spaces to meet population needs and address climate issues. While Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) offers various benefits to urban ecosystems, its potential for leisure and recreational activities remains largely unexplored. This study aims to examine the relationship between GSI and the leisure and recreational potential of retention ponds (RP) in Kuala Lumpur. It investigates global trends in GSI use for leisure, public utilization, and constraints of RP for recreation, and offers recommendations for RP planning. A mixed-method approach including observation, surveys, and in-depth interviews will be conducted in five study areas meeting specific criteria. 500 respondents will participate, with questionnaires developed based on the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM). Data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Anticipated outcomes include identifying alternative recreational sites for urbanites, enhancing RP design for leisure and recreational use, bridging scientific knowledge with recreational needs, and recommending design strategies for effective RP planning benefiting both the environment and human well-being.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates how trajectories and events in occupational life affect happiness in various Asian societies. Understanding happiness/unhappiness as an outcome of life course events has gained traction, but quantitative comparative analysis is challenging in Asia, where panel data is scarce.

Our methodology involved analyzing data from the "Social Well-Being Interview in Asia," which retrospectively asked about life course events and changes in happiness. The interview was conducted in 2019-22 in seven Asian societies – Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam. Approximately 24 participants from each society aged 40-69 were selected to ensure diversity in gender, age, residential area, and current happiness level. Each country's research team conducted approximately two-hour semi-structured interviews following a standard protocol.

Findings indicate significant differences in occupational trajectories across societies. In Japan and South Korea, employed individuals predominated, whereas self-employment was more common in other societies, with diverse career changes observed regardless of gender. The impact of occupational life on happiness was twofold: in self-employment, business success/failure significantly affected happiness. For instance, a Vietnamese man recounted significant profits from embroidery sales over 7-8 years. On the other hand, factors like promotions and workplace relationships influenced happiness in employment. A South Korean man reflected on a subordinate's resignation due to work pressure.

In conclusion, while the impact of typical occupational events on happiness is common across societies, the varying weight of occupational life due to labor market structures contributes to the uniqueness of each society's relationship between occupation and happiness.

ABSTRACT. Background: Robinson(1941) proposed SQ3R as part of a training program on learning methods. It stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. People use metaphors in everyday life, as Lakoff & Johnson (1980) pointed out in their book Metaphors We Live By. Conceptual metaphor theory is used to better understand an idea because metaphor is defined as understanding one thing in terms of another. For example, we understand the argument more clearly from the metaphor argument is war. Study as systematic linguistic activities, includes thinking, reading, speaking, listening, remembering, talking, writing, etc., and that learning is fishing. Fishing is catching fish with a hook and bait. Study is question and answer. TQRAR (Title, Question, Read, Answer, Review) is my approach to studying compared to SQ3R. Methods: Literature review on SQ3R, metaphor, metaphorical analysis of language and linguistic activities, Results: Fishing Idea based on systematic metaphor is explored as follows: Title is a hook. The question is a hook with bait. The sentence is fish. The paragraph is a school of fish. The topic sentence is big fish. The supporting sentence is small fish. Thinking is fishing in deep water. Reading is fishing in shallow water. writing is keeping fish in the aquarium. Remembering is fish migration. Discussion: “Study is fishing” is used for a better understanding of the study. TQRAR is helpful for readers just as SQSR is so for them. Based on the fishing idea, TQRAR helps readers understand why and how to study than SQ3R.

ABSTRACT. It is now 50 years since the pioneering Philippine Social Indicators Project (Mangahas 1976 and 1977), and 40 years since the first national survey of Self-Rated Poverty or SRP (Mangahas 1995). From 1983 to date, there have been 100-140 statistically representative national surveys of key dimensions of the Well-Being (WB) of Filipino families and individual adults. The methodology of these surveys has been consistent, statistically and substantively, over time. Their original raw data are archived. This private, non-profit research enterprise is intended to continue indefinitely (Mangahas and Guerrero 2008). These surveys have produced quarterly data on both economic and non-economic aspects of WB, as told by the people to survey interviewers. They have also generated annual data on happiness, life-satisfaction, and satisfaction with the working of democracy. These data will enable construction of scientific, data-driven, histories of the people’s WB over the past decades (Mangahas and De Jesus 2017). This paper will focus on the indicators of Economic Well-Being (EWB): SRP status (Poor versus Borderline versus Not-Poor), the SRP threshold, and the SRP gap; hunger; joblessness; the perceived change in personal WB from a year ago, and its expected change a year hence. It will show how EWB conditions relate to each other (Mangahas 2018). It will compare the EWB time-trends with those in official statistics – the “told history” – which tend to understate problem areas and hence overstate government achievements. This is groundwork for the forthcoming creation and testing of econometric forecasting models for EWB.

ABSTRACT. Sleep's critical role in maintaining good health and overall well-being is widely acknowledged. Despite this, the connection among sleep, health, and well-being in the Philippines has been underexplored in survey research. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the relationship between quality of sleep and well-being among Filipino adults.

The study was carried out as part of the March 2023 nationwide survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS) in the Philippines. Face-to-face interviews involved a representative sample of 1,200 adults aged 18 years and above, covering four major study areas: Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The survey utilized a stratified multi-stage probability sampling design, selecting sample provinces and barangays based on their population size. Within each chosen barangay, households were randomly selected using the random route procedure, with an adult respondent randomly chosen within each household.

The survey included inquiries on the different aspects of sleep, including quality, duration, difficulty in falling and staying asleep, feeling energized after waking up, and feeling relaxed after waking up. In addition to standard SWS questions on quality of life, life satisfaction, happiness, and self-assessed health, the survey delved into the experience of enjoyment, stress, worry, and physical pain. The study aims to explore the relationships between these factors and the sleep patterns.

ABSTRACT. Non-communicable disease (NCDs) risks and mental health problems are increasing. In Indonesian adolescents, little is known about how NCD risks are related to current mental wellbeing. We aim to describe the prevalence, sociodemographic distribution, and co-occurrence of risk-factors and describe how wellbeing indicators vary among adolescents experiencing risk. This school-based cross-sectional study sampled 16-18-year-olds in Jakarta and South Sulawesi (N=1337). NCD risks were obtained from anthropometric measures and self-report survey. Validated measures of quality of life (QoL; Youth QoL Instrument and Pediatric QoL Inventory-Physical Function) and psychological distress (Kessler-10) were used as indicators of wellbeing. We produced summary statistics for risk-factors (prevalence), wellbeing outcomes (means), and estimated risk-ratios within sociodemographic groups. Linear regression was used to estimate associations between co-occurring risk count and wellbeing. Of the five risk domains examined (adiposity, substance use, physical activity, excess sedentary, and diet) 58.9% of adolescents had risks in 3 or more domains. We found psychological distress was positively associated with every domain; physical function QoL was negatively associated with adiposity, physical inactivity, and excess sedentary; and general QoL was negatively associated with substance use, physical inactivity, and diet. A higher count of co-occurring risk factors was associated with increased psychological distress and decreased QoL. NCD risk factors are very prevalent, and their co-occurrence has an important relationship to wellbeing in our adolescent sample. Longitudinal research is needed to better understand the direction of these relationships. Investment in NCD risk prevention may improve the current and future health and wellbeing of Indonesian adolescents.

ABSTRACT. Optimism holds intrinsic value for individuals as it shapes their resilience, coping mechanisms, and overall well-being. Social Weather Stations (SWS) documented a notable shift in the Filipino perspective on future quality of life, revealing an increased level of optimism over the last decade compared to preceding ones. During this period, the improving trend of those foreseeing an improvement in their quality of life in the next twelve months coincided with the increase in internet usage in the Philippines. This paper explores the possible relationship between optimism and internet use, investigating the potential impact of online behaviors and experiences on peoples' positive outlook. Additionally, the study explores various facets of internet use, including social media interaction and relevant demographics, to explain how these factors may contribute to hopefulness. The influence of cyberspace on various aspects of our lives is undeniable, and this study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the psychological consequences of our increasingly connected digital existence.

ABSTRACT. An increasing number of countries are turning to multidimensional wellbeing indicators as fundamental measures of success in their populations. Over the last 10 years, the New Zealand Treasury has established the Living Standards Framework (LSF) as the primary reference for monitoring and evaluating the impact of public policy on the lives of its citizens. The LSF categorises wellbeing into 12 domains, encompassing health, knowledge and skills, safety, social connections, leisure and free time, cultural identity, civic engagement and governance, environmental quality, and subjective wellbeing. Alongside these developments, New Zealand has invested billions of dollars into major urban regeneration projects to ameliorate the housing crisis and build community cohesion. However, the link between urban regeneration and population wellbeing outcomes remains unclear.

Te Hotonga Hapori – Connecting Communities – is a five-year research programme exploring the complex relationship between major urban regeneration and multidimensional wellbeing. It includes five distinct but related projects ranging from longitudinal analysis of government administrative data to a study using survey and ecological momentary assessment data to evaluate the impact of a natural experiment in urban regeneration on individual and community wellbeing. Te Hotonga Hapori represents an opportunity to integrate multi-level wellbeing research into the planning and execution of urban regeneration initiatives using a high-level government framework to engage policy-makers and urban developers. This presentation discusses the overall structure of the Te Hotonga Hapori programme, the process of engagement with key stakeholders, and our strategic approach for incorporating multidimensional wellbeing outcomes into national urban development policy and practice.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the intersection of maternal well-being and the broader concept of quality of life, focusing on the Banggi islanders of Malaysia in the context of an increasingly uncertain world. This paper employs a dual lens, investigating the efficacy of community-centric approaches to maternal health while concurrently examining the impact of societal uncertainties on the overall quality of life within this unique cultural context. The community-centric approach emphasizes collaborative efforts between healthcare providers, local authorities, and Banggi islanders, integrating traditional knowledge with modern healthcare strategies to address maternal health challenges. Through participatory action research and ethnographic methods, the paper highlights the cultural relevance, community empowerment, and sustainability of these interventions. Simultaneously, the paper delves into the multifaceted concept of quality of life in the face of global uncertainties. By examining the dynamic interplay between external factors such as societal, economic, and environmental uncertainties, and individual and community resilience, the study seeks to understand how Banggi islanders navigate challenges in their daily lives. Preliminary findings suggest positive shifts in maternal health indicators and community engagement, emphasizing the potential of community-centric interventions in improving maternal well-being. Additionally, insights into adaptive strategies and community resilience contribute to a nuanced understanding of the factors shaping the quality of life in this uncertain world.

ABSTRACT. Social sciences have traditionally viewed societal development through a one-dimensional lens. In empirical research, Inglehart's theory of post-materialism, emphasizing values from survival to self-expression, and Welzel's theory of emancipation have garnered significant attention. Implicitly, these theories convey that the West is more advanced, with recommendations favoring the Western trajectory as the optimal global development path.

Recent years have seen a macro-psychological shift towards cultural sensitivity in understanding societal development. Acknowledging that development is not uniform but should align with each society's unique values and context, a gap remained in comprehensive cross-cultural evidence. The proposed presentation addresses this gap by sharing findings from a multi-laboratory study covering 60 countries. We assessed lay people's preferences for 31 societal development goals, revealing support for post-materialistic values across cultures. However, our study introduces a novel perspective challenging post-materialism theory, suggesting a two-dimensional understanding of societal development.

ABSTRACT. A good life is more than just being happy. If one adopts the assumption that happiness is not tantamount to well-being but consists of various—probably interdependent—components like, for instance, harmony, meaning, spirituality, and happiness, then several questions arise that can be targeted empirically: What is the ideal level of happiness for people around the world? How important is happiness relative to meaning, spirituality, and harmony, and what cultural or ecological factors might influence their relative prioritization? How to study, measure, and compare subjective well-being across cultures in a way that will reflect indigenous visions of good life? Our research consortium, covering 60 countries, addressed these research questions. As of the current abstract submission, we have collected data from over 18,000 participants from 53 societies, and by the time of the proposed presentation, we hope to have data from over 20,000 participants from ~60 societies. Based on the collected data, in the proposed presentation, we will outline the idea of a culturally sensitive approach to subjective well-being measurement, covering four components of the good life: happiness, meaning, harmony, and spirituality. Our findings based on these four components are, of course, just an incremental step towards a better understanding of the cultural nuances of the good life. Further studies are needed, and with the planned presentation, we hope to stimulate efforts in that direction.

ABSTRACT. Several factors linked to average happiness levels are recognized at both individual and national levels. Our aim is to contribute to developing theories and strategies that foster happier societies. The study proposes two pathways to societal happiness: an individualistic path emphasizing self-expression and a communal path emphasizing attitudes that benefit others. Data from the 7th wave of the World Values Survey, involving participants from 59 countries, are analyzed using multilevel modeling (MLM). The findings underscore the significance of satisfying basic needs and providing a sense of security for individual happiness. On a national level, happiness is connected to the fair distribution of goods, access to education, science, democracy, human rights, and diversity. Acceptance of individual traits, the preservation of opportunities, and openness to social issues characterize happy societies. Comprehending happiness dynamics at both individual and societal levels is crucial for policymakers, social scientists, and those pursuing enhanced well-being. By exploring the interplay between individual factors and cultural contexts, our study offers insights into the contributors to happiness and proposes strategies for cultivating happier societies. We also present a mechanism where, for efficient national functioning, it is required to loosen the bonds within lower units of affiliation, both formal and informal, such as family, neighborhood, as well as city or region.

ABSTRACT. This presentation will discuss the foundations of mental well-being in Islamic culture as outlined in classical texts, Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and modern Islamic scholarship. It also aims to compare and contrast perspectives on well-being rooted in Islamic conceptualizations with those derived from Western frameworks. Based on empirical research and conceptual analysis of Islamic and Western culture, this presentation will explore the different ways in which mental well-being is conceptualized in these two different cultural contexts. The aim is to stimulate a more culturally sensitive and inclusive dialogue on mental well-being. The resulting insights will contribute to the development of culturally sensitive mental health models and interventions that resonate with Islamic populations. Beyond mere academic exploration, the intention is to pave the way for meaningful intercultural dialogue.

ABSTRACT. Considering that trust is an important determinant of life satisfaction, economic growth and firm performance, we profit from the specific context provided by Luxembourg to investigate the transmission of social norms from the high-trust Germans to the low-trust French. Our contribution is tackling social norms transmission in a controlled experimental setting and using a third country as the “mixing bowl”, as opposed to studies on assimilation into the predominant culture. Through our five-treatment experiment, we expect to identify a convergence in trust between the French and the Germans, with the final equilibrium being slightly higher than Luxembourg’s trust levels. Cultural diversity and internationality conditional on non-segregation are advanced as the main mechanism behind this expected convergence. Other potential mechanisms are investigated. Rather than being a geolocated research question, we argue that this study has applications and policy implications for most countries in all continents. At ISQOLS 2023, I presented the experimental design without any results during poster sessions; I received important feedback and had the honour to be voted among the three best posters out of fifty-three. Data collection is under way, and at ISQOLS 2024, I'd be thrilled to present all the results and their implications for policy makers and business leaders.

ABSTRACT. The rapid economic growth in South Korea has been accompanied by increasing social conflicts, making the importance of social cohesion more prominent than ever. Intersex and intergenerational conflicts, and deepening economic polarization are particularly noticeable, negatively impacting both the quality of life and societal well-being. OECD(2011) suggests that social cohesion is composed of social inclusion, social capital, and social mobility. This study examines disparities by gender, age group, and income level in perceptions of social inclusion, social capital measured by social trust, and social mobility measured by fairness in opportunities. The data were collected through a survey in 2021-2022, targeting a total of 2,079 adults aged 20 to 59 nationwide. First, gender and income-level disparities are pronounced in the perception of social inclusion, social trust, and fairness in opportunities. Women have a lower likelihood than men in perceived social inclusion, social trust, and fairness in opportunities(OR 0.56-0.69). With a one-unit increase in income level, the likelihood of social inclusion, social trust, and fairness in opportunities has increased(OR 1.09-1.27). Second, when controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, women tend to have an increased level of perceived social inclusion and a lower level of social trust compared to men. Young women exhibit the most negative perception of fairness in opportunities. This study underscores the importance of addressing gender and economic inequality for improving social cohesion in South Korea, and provides directions for public policies for enhancing individuals’ well-being and promoting social qualities.

ABSTRACT. The broad conceptualisation of well-being has allowed researchers to establish subjective well-being as a valid indicator of social development. However, changing social patterns and values suggest changes in how social determinants may predict subjective well-being. The current analysis tests a serial mediation hypothesis in which social participation and social resources mediate the effect of general trust on subjective well-being (SWB). Data from 8725 participants were pooled from the German part of the European Social Survey (ESS) Wave 10. Structural models estimated the path from general trust to SWB. Three separate mediation analyses were performed to test 1) indirect effect of general trust on SWB through social participation, 2) through social resources 3) through social participation and social resources. A full mediation model indicates the direct and indirect paths in predicting SWB through general trust, social participation, and social resources with standardised estimates. Gender, age, education, and household size were included in the model as control variables. The full mediation model suggests significant results for the direct paths from general trust to social participation, social resources and SWB. The direct paths from social participation to social resources and SWB were also significant. However, the path from social resources to SWB became non-significant. These results highlight general trust as a critical predictor of SWB. The finding that social participation is significant while social resources are not significant in a mediator model suggests that social participation directly affects wellbeing, independent of the effect of social resources.

ABSTRACT. Very much work in progress at the moment (an updated abstract to be provided), but this work tests some theories from psychotherapeutic literature regarding midlife unhappiness and narcissism. it also investigates a common perception that midlife unhappiness is associated with affairs.

A central aim of this paper is more understanding of why midlife lows exist.

ABSTRACT. Background: The surge in personal care assistants (PCAs) serving older adults in South Korea, post the 2008 enactment of the National Long-Term Care Insurance (NLTCI), is notable. PCAs, constituting over 90% of long-term care providers, commonly resort to physical restraints (PR) for protective measures. However, the efficacy and benefits of PR lack conclusive evidence, prompting this study to scrutinize PCA attitudes and behaviors surrounding PR. Methods: Utilizing 2017 data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare's National Survey on Human Rights for Older Adults (n=4,447), latent variables of PCA perception and PR experience were gauged through seven binary indicators. These indicators included practices like restraining limbs, administering psychotropic medicine, and isolating older adults. Results: Latent Class Analysis identified four groups: High-risk (HRG; 4.85%), with lower PR perception and the highest experience; Middle awareness (MPR; 35.34%), exhibiting moderate perception despite lower experience; Lowest awareness (LPR; 18.13%), having minimal perception but moderate experience; Desired (DG; 41.68%), boasting the highest perception and the lowest experience. Multinomial logistic regression revealed PCA age, education, employment, and human rights education as influential factors in determining PR patterns. Conclusion: This study, delineating PCA attitudes and behaviors on physical restraints, offers insights into identifying at-risk PCA groups. These findings can inform tailored education programs promoting person-centered care in day care centers, mitigating clinical risks associated with overused PR practices.

ABSTRACT. The complex relationship between Entrepreneurship and wellbeing is well documented. Our goal is to analyze the relationship between an important entrepreneurial segment, social entrepreneurs, and wellbeing. Social entrepreneurs represent a highly heterogeneous group and therefore at best partially captured in entrepreneurship studies. By their very nature social entrepreneurs pursue a mission that creates and sustains social value and relentlessly pursue opportunities to serve that mission. Due to their heterogeneity social enterprise data is scarce and inconsistent across countries, if available at all. Social enterprises’ ability to operate and succeed, however, is highly contingent on history, cultural attitudes, policy environment, financing, and other resources available, among others, that helps them operate and fulfill their missions (“social enterprise ecosystem”). Various country studies established the connection between the robustness of the social enterprise ecosystem and social entrepreneurial activities. We analyze the relationship between wellbeing and the robustness of the social enterprise ecosystems through mixed methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches with the PLS-SEM method. Finally, we analyze the policy implications and make policy recommendations.

ABSTRACT. In traditional Malaysian society, males have traditionally been regarded as the primary breadwinners, while females have assumed the role of homemakers. However, contemporary trends indicate a shift in this paradigm. With increased support and opportunities, more women are actively participating in the labor market, being recognized as equal contributors to sustaining their family's livelihood. While this societal transformation is considered a notable achievement, it has also given rise to a myriad of challenges, particularly concerning family well-being.

This paper utilizes data from the 2019 Malaysian Well-Being Index Study, encompassing 1,415 respondents from dual-earner families with children aged between 3 to 24 years old. The objective is to analyze the well-being levels of these families and assess the challenges they encounter in maintaining their livelihoods. The analysis reveals that the well-being level of dual earners in the country is moderate. Furthermore, the study indicates that nuclear families and those with higher incomes tend to have better well-being scores compared to their counterparts.

However, a noteworthy finding in the Economic Domain suggests an inverse relationship between higher income and well-being levels. Despite these insights into the characteristics and challenges faced by dual-earner families in Malaysia, this study advocates for better policy interventions in the near future. By addressing the identified issues, policymakers can contribute to the overall well-being of dual-earner families and ensure a more balanced and sustainable societal framework.

ABSTRACT. Different age groups have unique characteristics, and attitudes because of sociocultural changes, and they bring personal experiences to the workplace. Managing multigenerational workforce to achieve organizational goals is challenging. Currently, the organizational structure has four generations in a workplace: Baby Boomer, Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. This study explores the relationship between job satisfaction and engagement of a multigenerational workforce in universities in Thailand. The HAPPINOMETER survey includes 6038 individuals from 29 universities from January to August 2022. Among the participants, Generation Y is the largest, at 49.4%, and Generation X is 41.5% of the total participants. Also, Baby Boomers represent 4.9%, and about 4.1% of participants are Generation Z. The results indicate that four factors for engagement in all generations are challenging work, workplace environment, welfare, and communication. Even though different factors affect engagement in a multigenerational workforce, career plan and job security are essential for Generation X, Y, and Z, which are the large and future workforce. The findings from each generation are that career plan, labor protection, and wages and risks are crucial factors for enhancing engagement in Baby Boomers. Other factors associated with Generation X's engagement are job security, labor protection, negotiated salary, and family culture. Engagement in Generation Y related to career plan, job security, labor protection, career growth, wages and risks, and a family-like work culture. Factors influencing the engagement of Generation Z are career plan. The universities may consider the findings as engagement strategies that could lead to higher employee performance.

ABSTRACT. urban greenways is a form of 21st century landscape planning and design that has the potential to address the challenges and opportunities of both expanding and contracting cities, It is therefore of increasing interest to scholars around the world. China is currently building urban greenways at a very fast pace, adding 4,000 kilometres of new greenways in 2023 alone. The research objectives of this paper are: to explore the usage patterns of urban greenways by Shenzhen residents. To Analysis of the constraints on the use of urban greenways by Shenzhen residents for physical activities. To Determine the preferences of Shenzhen residents for using urban greenways for physical activities. To Propose greenway design strategies that are conducive to physical activities. This paper adopts a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, in Shenzhen is to select six typical representative of the urban greenways as the site of their own research, and then through the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews to obtain data, through the linear regression and chi-square test methods to deal with and analyse the data, and finally to draw empirical conclusions of the study. In conclusion, it is hoped that the results of this study will improve the efficiency of the use of urban greenways and promote the physical health level of urban residents through the use of greenways, as well as provide innovative theoretical research value and effective guiding experience for the construction of urban greenways.

ABSTRACT. Background: Healthy city is a city that is continually creating and improving physical and social environments and expanding community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all functions of life and in developing to maximum potentials (Hancock & Duhl, 1988). Healthy city is defined a city that is striving for holistic health of citizens (Cho, 2015). The Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC), which includes Australia, Japan, China and Korea, has 194 cities as members.. In Korea, the Healthy Cities Act will come into effect in December 2023. The new city of Naepo, located on the border of Hongseong-gun and Yesan-gun, has been recognized as an excellent healthy city by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Promotion Development Institute. Obu City is known as a model healthy city through Wellness Valley. In this context, Naepo calls for a better healthy city development strategy. Methods: Literature review, SWOT analysis, Comparative analysis Results: 22 projects for health city Naepo including Sports Center, Arts Center, Naepo Citizen Healthy City Forum, and Climate and Atmosphere Center are categorized by physical health, mental health, social health, environmental health. Holistic health concept is identified as useful concept to understand healthy city. The strategy of Healthy City Plaza as a happiness cluster is proposed. . Discussion: more innovative strategies such as the creation of a healthy city plaza, are required to achieve project outcomes. A holistic health approach is useful for these strategies to understand, communicate and systematize healthy cities projects.

ABSTRACT. It has been well established that Urban Design has the potential to positively impact mental health. Also, college students have been identified as a vulnerable population with regard to overall wellness, and specifically the doctoral researchers, who more than often tend to feel stressed due to time pressure and uncertainty about doctoral processes. This study explores the potential of university campus designs to be restorative for students, through the design of “happy routes” as destressors, specifically considering the case of doctoral researchers. ‘Happy Routes’ implies the design of streets [for walking and cycling], which possess experiential qualities that arouse positive emotions. Through a literature review, this exploratory study presents inferences on the plausibility of “happy routes” on campus, being therapeutic for doctoral scholars. This study is a contribution towards the development of a methodology for assessing university campus design for student wellness and happiness.

ABSTRACT. The urban environment is increasingly being regarded as a potential motivator of emotional well-being. Emotional well-being is described as the presence of positive emotions, such as joy and affection and the absence of negative emotions, such as sadness and anger. Previous studies indicate that facades, which are known to be one of the visually most dominant components of a city, may impact the emotional well-being of the citizens. It has also been well established that colour and its physiognomies promote dynamism and vitality in people. It may also be conjectured that the colour specifications of facades, also have a significant role to play with regard to emotional wellbeing. Thus, the study delves into analysis at the intersection of colour psychology, focusing on the association of emotional well-being with façade colour. The study adopts a mixed method approach combining the elements of Façade colour mapping, Emotional well-being survey and interview method to unravel the profound impact of façade colour on emotional well-being of residents in the historic district of Fontainhas, Panjim, Goa. Fontainhas, is a neighborhood that features narrow streets aligned with facades in traditional tones of yellow, red, green and blue. Preliminary findings suggest a nuanced relationship between façade color and emotional well-being. This study provides practical insights for urban planners, architects, and policymakers aiming to create healthy communities. By understanding the impact of façade colour on emotional well-being, this research paves the way for informed design decisions that enhance the overall well-being in urban environments

ABSTRACT. Since the promulgation of the Charity Law in 2016, the nonprofit sector has been developing vigorously, especially in Guangdong, China, that has witnessed significantly increased in nonprofit organizations. However, while attention is widely focused on the organizational development level, nonprofit employees often face high job burnout and have intention to leave the current position. This will be detrimental to the development of nonprofit professionals in China. Drawing from the Job Demand and Resource theory, this study utilized 318 nonprofit employees in Guangdong in 2022 to analyze the factors of job burnout and the intention for leaving the position. The findings show that job demand and resources were key factors for job burnout, especially job resources (beta=-0.51). On the other hand, intention for leaving for the position was related to personal factors such as young age and higher education, job conditions, including wage and benefits, and job resources. The findings of this study call for improving job demand and resource to reduce job burnout, and for enhancing wage and benefits, along with promotion opportunities, to reduce the intention for leaving the position for nonprofit employees in China.

ABSTRACT. As the population ages, works longer and disease treatments continue to improve, there are more people in the UK working with terminal illness. This research, in partnership with Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end of life charity explored what is known about the experiences of employees working with terminal illness, and how workplace policies can be designed and deployed to provide effective support. In the UK, around 25,000 people a year of working age die in poverty. A scoping review of the literature on the experience of terminal illness in working age people identified three core and inter-related themes: social, welfare and legal needs; financial stress and mental wellbeing. If unmet, these needs have important impacts on whether a person continues to work. An online survey of 1,016 Human Resources (HR) professionals in the UK highlighted that employees with a terminal illness receive wide-ranging employer support. This depends in part, on organisation size and industry sector. Support provided includes flexible working, paid time off to attend appointments and manage the demands of illness/treatment, and managing terminal illness outside of standard sickness reporting processes. A six-month peer mentor support and action learning programme was developed recruiting HR leaders from ten organisations drawn from the public, private and charity sector. A guide to workplace policies and practice was co-developed covering six areas: attendance flexibility, adjustments to work arrangements, managing absence, sources of support, financial wellbeing and stopping & leaving work. Three principles for effective implementation were identified: compassion, communication and consistency.

ABSTRACT. In this study, we examine the relationship between undesirable behaviour in the workplace, psychological safety and employee well-being. To this end, we utilize three waves of data from an employee well-being survey that was administered at an hospital in the Netherlands. We find that being victim of undesired behaviour at work is negatively associated with employee well-being. At the same time we find, however, that the relationship depends on the type of undesirable behaviour (i.e., unwanted sexual attention, intimidation, violence, bullying and discrimination) and perpetrators (i.e., colleagues and patients). Furthermore, we find that that psychological safety fully mediates the relationship between undesirable behaviour in the workplace and employee well-being. This study will provide a better understanding of the relationship between undesirable behaviour in the workplace, psychological safety, and employee well-being which could be useful for organizations to help victims of undesirable behaviour and perhaps even prevent or reduce serious damage to mental well-being.

ABSTRACT. This is a qualitative research study focused on a novel intervention aimed at empowering medical students with the necessary competencies for conducting mental health consultations in secondary schools in Sabah.

The primary objective of this study is to assess the intervention's impact on enhancing mental health awareness and support among both medical and secondary school students. The intervention involves a carefully structured training program for medical students, incorporating theoretical knowledge with practical skills development and supervised hands-on experience in mental health consultations. Through interviews, focus group discussions, and engagement with key stakeholders, this study seeks to offer detailed insights into the context-specific effectiveness of the program.

The research investigates the perceived effectiveness of the intervention in enhancing the mental health literacy of medical students and their ability to engage with secondary school students on mental health issues. Additionally, it explores the experiences and perspectives of the secondary school students who receive these consultations. The findings aim to contribute valuable information on the feasibility, challenges, and potential benefits of integrating medical students into mental health initiatives within secondary school settings in Sabah.

This study aligns with the conference's overarching theme of advancing quality of life through innovative approaches. The outcomes of the research may inform future strategies for mental health education and support in schools, ultimately contributing to the overall well-being and quality of life for both medical students and the secondary school population in the Sabah region.

ABSTRACT. The socioeconomically better off tend to report higher levels of well-being, with inconsistent roles ascribed to objective socioeconomic status (SES), subjective SES (SSES), and personal relative deprivation (PRD). We tested a comprehensive model of social status indicators as determinants of subjective well-being (SWB) by a) including PRD, SSES, income, and education as predictors, b) assessing SWB as well as interdependent happiness (happiness in relation to significant others), c) testing the model in Japan, Germany, and the US—countries with comparable societal structure (e.g., educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) but diverging cultural dimensions, and d) testing an explanatory variable: feeling excluded from society. Cross-culturally (N = 2,155), PRD and SSES independently and strongly predicted well-being, while income and education exhibited negligible direct effects. SSES emerged as the predominant predictor in Japan compared to the US and Germany, whereas PRD was the predominant predictor in the US. This was largely accounted for by culture-specific links of social status with perceived social exclusion—the extent to which people feel unable to keep up with society as a whole. In Japan, perceived social exclusion was more strongly linked to SSES and in the US to PRD, while Germany occupied an intermediate position. Overall, we find that relative standing itself and the fairness with which that standing is perceived are independently linked to well-being, partially via inducing feelings of social exclusion. The role of perceived social exclusion as an explanatory variable in the relationship between social status and SWB merits further investigation.

ABSTRACT. Up to now, previous international comparative research has focused on social capital and social policy as crucial factors in promoting self-rated health. Although these studies have contributed to the understanding of this issue, we still have much to learn. First, whereas previous studies have examined the health impacts of social capital and social policy, little research has explored their interaction effect on self-rated health. Second, in terms of the proxies of social policy, earlier publications may jumble up the levels and distribution of welfare provisions. To overcome these limitations, this study adopts several indicators of welfare transfers, such as transfer share, low-income targeting, and universalism, as proxies of social policy to analyze the cross-level interaction effects of welfare transfers and social capital on self-rated health. For the analysis, this study utilizes data from the World Values Survey including multiple rounds and the two-way fixed-effects model. The dependent variable is the dummy for poor health status. The individual-level key variables related to social capital are the dummy for social trust and the score of civic participation. The macro-level key variables are transfer share, low-income targeting, and universalism computed by adopting the Luxembourg Income Study Database. Through an international comparative analysis, it is clarified that transfer share may strengthen the health impact of social trust, whereas low-income targeting may weaken the association between civic participation and self-rated health. These results may suggest that social policy varies the meaning of social capital.

ABSTRACT. The academic community challenges the "hegemony of the economic growth paradigm," recognizing that, at a certain stage of development, economic growth no longer guarantees a positive impact on people's quality of life. The emphasis shifts from merely producing and consuming more to producing and distributing better. The current imperative is a meticulous examination of institutional and economic structures to maximize overall well-being. This article responds to this objective by exploring the key characteristics of institutional settings and economic systems globally. As a dependent variable, a measure consistent with an extended Social Progress Index (SPI) has been introduced, incorporating subjective and emotional well-being measures, among others. Various regression models have been employed, with an emphasis on the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model with fixed country effects, as well as Structural Equations Modelling (SEM). The dataset consists of a panel spanning from 2011 to 2020, covering over 140 countries. The findings demonstrate significant variations based on the level of social development, affirming that public institutions exert a more considerable influence than the economy on people's well-being. The most important variables include government integrity, government effectiveness, rule of law, economic dynamism, market competition, and consumption levels. Unemployment and poverty remain consistent as the main detractors of well-being. Government size and cooperation in labour-employer relations behave differently depending on specific groups of countries.

ABSTRACT. A large and growing body of research has focused on the association between interpersonal relations and health outcomes, both physical and mental. According to the literature on social determinants of health, social ties and embedded resources largely have a salubrious effect. In this study, I shift the analytic focus toward the ‘dark side of social capital’ by investigating the potentially deleterious implications of network embeddedness. Specifically, I examine how and the extent to which stress and pressure from social ties (acquaintances, friends, family) negatively impact health outcomes. In addition, I empirically test whether this focal link varies in magnitude across the macro-cultural context (along the dimension of individualism and collectivism). Data are drawn from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2017, the latest version containing the special module on ‘Social Networks and Social Resources,’ across more than 30 high- and low-income countries. Based on this probability cross-national sample, I test a number of hypotheses related to the above discussion. Results from multilevel models indicate that, conditional on individual- and country-level confounders, greater relational stress is associated with worse physical and mental health. Moreover, this relationship is more pronounced in individualistic societies as measured by the Hofstede index. That is, in societies where the self is defined as an independent (not interdependent) entity, pressures and burdens from others have a stronger negative influence.

ABSTRACT. Background: Appreciation of beauty (AOB) is one of the least studied character strengths. Appreciation of beauty can be experienced through formal, expressive, and symbolic qualities. As such, these qualities can arouse emotions in human sensory experiences (express and evoke emotions) and generate pleasure and satisfaction. Limited studies showed that these experiences were connected with well-being and quality of life. Thus, the present study hypothesizes that there is a positive correlation between the character strength of appreciation of beauty and the subjective well-being (SWB) of medical school students. In addition, we also expected to see gender differences. Method: This study collected data from medical students (mean age = 20.7) from a public medical university in Northern Taiwan (n = 298). Mandarin VIA-120 gauged character strengths. The three-fold subjective well-being was measured: positive emotion (self-esteem), low negative emotion (depression and anxiety), and life satisfaction. Several important demographic variables and personal characteristics were also included. Results: The SEM model fitted data acceptably, and we found that AOB was significantly associated with SWB (β = 1.01, p < .05). In addition, we conducted multiple group analyses and found that the path was not significantly different between the two gender groups (Δχ2 = 2.1 (1)). Conclusion: This study illuminates the positive effect of appreciation of beauty and excellence on medical students’ well-being. In addition, there were no significant gender differences. Hence, general education, such as aesthetic courses, may improve medical students’ SWB, which is at the core of higher education.

ABSTRACT. Every freshman of UMS is invited to participate in a Student Happiness Index Survey on UL03202 Marine and Community Development course. The objective of the survey is to improve the quality of course content and student learning experience. Online survey on the study and learning experience focusing on student accessibility, mobility, economic constrains and social hindrances. The results of this study provide important information on course content improvement.

ABSTRACT. This paper extends previous literature about creative wounding which negatively impacts on a person’s sense of self and life-force, arguing that Seminaria poetry writing is powerfully medicinal. Seminaria is a form of mindfulness writing with a structure of seven lines and 27 syllables and was introduced to a class of third year student teachers at a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. In addition, the student teachers were asked to be mindful of their inner-feelings through interoceptive awareness. The student teachers recorded their experiences of seminaria writing in a personal creative journal and contributed to class discussions about their experiences in relation to their professional development. Their reflections indicated that Seminaria contributed to improved wellbeing and positive identity, positive dispositional effects such as curiosity, strengthened relationships, and in some cases, cartharsis.

ABSTRACT. Moving from primary to secondary school is an important, but often challenging, life-course transition which can have implications for young people’s wellbeing. Using state-wide school census data, we aimed to identify the impact of the school transition on student wellbeing, and to explore how school belonging and school connection influenced wellbeing outcomes. Participants (n=14,156) were from the Wellbeing Engagement Collection, which is administered annually by the South Australian Department of Education and measures comprehensive aspects of student wellbeing using validated instruments. Data from grades 5 and 6 (primary school) and 7 (secondary school) were used in mixed linear regression models with wellbeing variables (happiness, life satisfaction, sadness, worry) as the outcomes, and school grade as the predictor, adjusting for clustering within participants and within schools. Interactions between school belonging/school connection and school grade were added. Compared with the worsening in wellbeing observed between grade 5 and 6, each wellbeing measure worsened at a much steeper rate between grade 6 and 7 (all contrasts p<0.001, losses were up to 0.12 standard deviations). School belonging and school connectedness modified the relationship between school grade and all four wellbeing measures (all interactions p<0.001). Students exhibiting higher school belonging and connectedness (one standard deviation above the mean) did not show reductions in wellbeing during the transition from primary to secondary school. The primary to secondary school transition is a sensitive window in the life-course where young people are vulnerable to experiencing poorer wellbeing. Fostering school belonging and school connection may be protective.

ABSTRACT. In this Sharing Session, editors of the following journals on well-being will reflect on their views on well-being research papers submitted to their journals, particularly on the quality of paper submission. Each editor will use 10 minutes to share their experience followed by around 40 minutes of discussion.

Editors:

Jing Jian Xiao, Editor, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning

Rui Yao, Editor, Journal of Consumer Affairs

Stephanie Rossouw, Co-Editor, Journal of Happiness Studies,

Ferdi Botha, Associate Editor, Social Indicators Research,

Daniel Shek, Editor of the Applied Research in Quality-of-Life Journal

ABSTRACT. Development and validation of a happiness index using Google Trends^TM.

Talita Greyling, Stephanié Rossouw, Frederic Boy

Abstract It is well-established that a country's economic outcomes, including productivity, future income, and labour market performance, are profoundly influenced by the happiness of its people. Increased national happiness has positive spillover effects, benefiting a nation's social and health sectors. Traditionally, survey data have been the primary source for determining people's happiness. However, this approach faces challenges as individuals increasingly experience "survey fatigue"; conducting surveys is costly, data generated from surveys is only available with a significant time lag, and happiness is not a constant state.

To address these major limitations of survey data, Big Data collected from online sources like Google Trends™ and social media platforms have emerged as a significant and necessary data source to complement traditional survey data. This alternative data source can provide policymakers with more timely information on people's current state of happiness and well-being (in general on any issue). In recent years, Google Trends™ data has been leveraged to discern trends in mental health, including depression, anxiety, and loneliness and to construct robust predictors of subjective well-being composite categories.

Therefore, we aim to use a novel methodology to construct a near real-time happiness index using Google Trends™ data for different countries. Our study is the first to develop a comprehensive, near real-time measure of population-level happiness using information-seeking query data extracted and constructed continuously as a constant measure of happiness in countries. We use a basket of English-language emotion words suggested to capture positive and negative affect based on the literature reviewed. We refine the selected basket of words by developing gradient-boosting regression Machine Learning (ML) models to predict happiness and validate our high-frequency happiness index using the UK's ONS (weekly and quarterly) and mental health from EARS data.

To demonstrate the cross-cultural applicability of our methodology, we apply the same sample of emotion-related search terms (translated into Dutch) and ML models to predict happiness levels in the Netherlands, validated using daily survey data from the Dutch population. Furthermore, we apply our ML models to South African emotion-related search terms and add country-specific terms to predict happiness validated using Gross National Happiness index data. By successfully replicating our approach in different cultural and linguistic contexts, we present a real-time tracking of the mood of a country, which can inform policymakers for effective decision-making.

JEL Classification: C55, C53, I31

Keywords: Happiness, Big Data, Google Trends™, PANAS, XGBoost, machine learning

[1] School of Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; Honorary Adjunct Academic, School of Social Sciences & Humanities, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, email: talitag@uj.ac.za ORCID: 0000-0002-3777-7003.

[2] Corresponding author: School of Social Sciences & Humanities, Auckland University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand; senior research associate, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, email: stephanie.rossouw@aut.ac.nz, telephone number: +64 9 921 9999 ext. 5710. orcid: 0000-0003-3538-9215.

[3] Network for Artificial Intelligence, the Arts, the Digital Economy and Society (NAIADES) & Zienkiewicz Institute for Modelling, Data and AI, Swansea University, Swansea SA2 8EN, UK, email: f.a.boy@swansea.ac.uk ORCID: 0000-0003-1373-6634

ABSTRACT. Already in the year 1954, Abraham Maslow mentioned the term “Positive Psychology” to stress the importance of positive emotions next to negative ones. New research topics like mindfulness, spirituality, or work-life-balance, arose in the quality-of-life related scientific literature, to better understand what makes life most worth living and to determine the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish. To determine whether there is a measurable research trend pointing towards increased human happiness in the sense of preventive movements, or whether uncertain times overrule the pursuit of increased wellbeing and quality-of-life research therefore primarily focuses on the treatment of negative effects that are already present and dominate the fields of interest, the following text mining techniques were applied to >1,000 papers published in the Journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life (ARQOL) since 2006, and >5,000 papers published in the Quality of Life Research (QLR) since 1997. First, polarity trends of verbal expressions are analyzed by means of sentiment detection at the coarse level (positive vs. negative) and at the fine-grained level of basic emotions (joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, and anticipation). Second, topic detection is used to spot emerging/disappearing latent research streams that have become more/less dominant over the years. Third, longitudinal distributional comparisons between positive and negative polarities of the identified topics tackle the question whether long-lasting research streams are discussed from a more negative or a more positive point of view over time.

ABSTRACT. Our study "Beyond 10,000 Miles: Extending Happiness Walks with LLMs & AI" innovates traditional interview methodologies in happiness research by integrating AI. Building on GNHUSA's "Happiness Walk" (2012-2019), which collected happiness insights from 3,000 individuals across the U.S., we employ AI for global-scale online interviews.

Led by GNHUSA co-founder Paula Francis, the original walk's qualitative data, focused on "What matters most in life?", forms the basis of our research. Our approach, using AI-driven online interviews, overcomes geographical limits, enriching the study with diverse global perspectives on happiness and well-being.

AI interviewers engaged with varied populations worldwide, offering a wider spectrum of viewpoints. This expansion, enhancing the dataset with numerous voices, showcases AI's role in qualitative research, particularly in human psychology and societal values.

The study juxtaposes the original data with new AI insights, deepening our understanding of happiness as a complex concept. It not only breaks new ground in happiness research but also demonstrates AI's potential in evolving traditional research methods.

ABSTRACT. This article delves into the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and social inequality by examining the "Savings Accounts for Future Education and Development of Children and Youth." The initiative establishes individual savings accounts for children from poor families, providing monthly deposits until the child turns eighteen. Aligned with asset-building theory, the policy offers a 1:1 matched funds incentive to parents, aiming to facilitate investments in higher education. The goal is to empower these children to break free from the cycle of poverty. While the policy encourages voluntary account enrollment and savings, it mandates social worker intervention after six months of non-savings. This approach has resulted in a noticeable increase in the workload of social workers, hindering their ability to promptly address the diverse needs of these families. In response, the study revisits the policy implementation process, examining the potential role of intelligent technology in aiding public sector personnel in predicting the future savings behavior of service recipients. The research aims to determine whether recommendations from different external sources, such as AI versus other human experts, influence the decisions of policy implementers. Due to practical constraints, an alternative experimental approach involves public administration and social work students (N = 177). Through nine diverse case scenarios, the study explores how these students evaluate savings needs, possibilities, recommend account openings, and suggest savings amounts. The ultimate goal is to derive insights informing policy recommendations that enhance social worker effectiveness and contribute to the broader objective of promoting well-being through this poverty alleviation policy.

ABSTRACT. Research consistently shows a positive link between strong social bonds and subjective well-being. However, many studies rely on existing theories on happiness. Our aim was to provide a platform for lay perspectives without imposing additional assumptions. This mixed-methods study combined qualitative and quantitative techniques to explore lay definitions of a good life, including its five components: happiness, harmony, meaning, religiosity, and spirituality. In the next step we also examined the relationship between social connections and well-being components. We analyzed written responses from over 1,000 native English speakers from the UK. Participants shared their views on a good life. Additionally, we used human judges' assessments and AI algorithms to create dictionaries of terms related to social affiliations. While there is linguistic overlap among components, our mixed analysis suggests quantitative methods effectively uncover subtle nuances. Well-being, in its various forms, is fundamentally relational. Spirituality is tied to the self, while happiness is linked to close family and in-group connections. Belonging to different groups or communities emerges as pivotal for perceiving life as religious, meaningful, or harmonious. This study highlights the nuanced dimensions of a good life and the essential role of social connections in subjective well-being. Results challenge the assumption that happiness is exclusively self-centered and meaning entirely altruistic. This nuanced understanding offers a fresh perspective on the interplay of social connections and a fulfilling life, including subtle cross-cultural differences. The study advances our understanding of well-being by amplifying the voices of individuals in diverse cultural contexts.

ABSTRACT. Happiness and meaning in life have been extensively studied by social, clinical, and positive psychologists. Despite extensive research, a clear distinction between these constructs remains undefined. Our project proposes that the effort involved in an experience differentiates its perception as either happy or meaningful. We aimed to understand how perceived effort affects experiences' happiness and meaningfulness. Additionally, we examined how effort, happiness, and meaning interplay when goals are either altruistic or personal.

We conducted five experimental studies with 2369 adult participants. Each participant read a story about someone undertaking an activity for either personal or charitable reasons, with the effort involved being high or low. The studies followed a 2 (low vs. high effort) x 2 (social vs. personal goal) design. Participants rated the experience's meaningfulness, happiness, and social usefulness. The last two studies explored potential mechanisms behind these effects.

The findings revealed that experiences with higher effort and social goals were deemed more meaningful than those motivated by personal goals or requiring less effort. Activities aimed at personal goals with lower effort were seen as happier but less meaningful. Interestingly, greater effort decreased happiness during the activity but increased post-goal achievement happiness.

ABSTRACT. There have been some important developments through the last 15 years regarding the issue of discrimination between happiness (positive affect, satisfaction) and meaning as targets of psychological research. 1. Both constructs have both shared variance and specific one (Huta & Ryan, 2010). 2. Both constructs are not uniform; they include heterogenous components (Martela & Steger, 2014; George & Park, 2016; Leontiev, 2017) 3. Both constructs may covariate or not covariate depending on moderation variables (King & Hicks, 2012). To sum up: 1. Meaning and happiness as complex constructs cannot be compared directly. 2. Their shared component seems to be positive emotion (sense of significance). 3. The specific component of happiness seems to be need gratification (well-being). 4. The specific component of meaning is connectedness (coherence). A combined model of both multidimensional constructs will be presented.

ABSTRACT. This research aims to analyze the influence of life meaning on the happiness levels among Generation Y individuals. Against the backdrop of understanding the determinants of youth happiness, this study explores how life meaning contributes to their sense of well-being. The hypothesis posits a significant positive relationship between life meaning and happiness within Generation Y.

The methodology employed simple linear regression analysis with 'Meaning' as the independent variable and 'Happiness' as the dependent variable. The sample consisted of individuals categorized within Generation Y, with data collection conducted through surveys and processed using statistical software.

The results indicate that the life meaning variable significantly influences happiness, with an R-value of .353 and an R-squared value of .125, suggesting that approximately 12.5% of the variability in Generation Y's happiness can be explained by life meaning. The ANOVA analysis yielded an F-statistic of 73.711 with a significance level of p < .001, affirming the regression model's predictive solid power.

In conclusion, this study reveals that the pursuit and interpretation of life's purpose are crucial aspects impacting the happiness levels of Generation Y. These findings suggest that interventions to enhance youth happiness should consider bolstering life meaning as a primary focus. This research contributes to the existing literature by emphasizing generational nuances in studying happiness and emotional well-being.

ABSTRACT. This study examined the relationship between mindfulness and job performance in a multinational corporation and investigated whether the relationship mediated by intercultural communication competence (ICC) and job burnout and moderated by nationality of the workers. The data were collected from a Chinese multinational corporation in Brunei in 2022 (n=1,064). The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicate that mindfulness was positively associated with ICC (β=0.28), negatively related to job burnout (β=-0.21, p<.001), and positively associated with job performance (β=0.17). The indirect effect of mindfulness and job performance via ICC and job burnout was (β=0.14). The findings of moderation analyses suggest that nationality moderated the relationships studied. Mindfulness has larger effects on ICC and job burnout for Chinese workers, while ICC has larger effects on job burnout and performance for local employees. The findings call for mindfulness and ICC trainings for employees in multinational corporations.

ABSTRACT. This study aimed to describe the topic of shift worker’s quality-of-life and well-being concerning recommendations and work regulations. Certain types of jobs like shift work have a negative impact on the human body affecting worker’s not only health but also other life domains. The permanent negative effects of shift work on health are noticed after 5 years of work. In this paper, the focus is on the occupations in general that perform shift work. With the health and well-being of employees in mind, work regulations are created to impose appropriate rules included in the labor law. The desk research method was used, specifically content analysis. In this analysis guidelines from world health (WHO), labor (ILO) organizations, and official, national documents (e.g., reports, labor codes, acts) were included. National documents refer to Polish regulations- the home country of the author, selected as a source for exploratory research, which can be an example for future comparative studies. The results of the analysis show that most documentation controls ongoing risks from shift work: current safety and state of physical health. Recommendations are delivered for the personal use of shift workers. Most of the recommendations relate to specific domains, such as physical and mental health, rest time, and family. What's missing is that the most important risk factors the disruption of circadian rhythm and day and night life swap have implications for future workers' lives and future well-being consequences and needs should be protected.

ABSTRACT. Background: Assuming salary is not the unique factor that affects the satisfaction of medical personnel in their professional life, we aimed to investigate a wide range of personal and socio-demographic factors that might be associated with the well-being of nurses. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in one of the largest hospitals in Latvia. We assessed nurses’ well-being using Rife psychological well-being scale (PWB) which includes five sub-domains: autonomy, environment, personal growth, relationships, and self-acceptance. We calculated the total PWB as an average of all five sub-domains. Multiple linear regression models were built for the association between total PWB and personal, professional, and socio-demographic data. Results: Altogether 123 women nurses aged from 22 to 71 years (median work experience 20 years) participated in the study. Most worked in two workplaces (45.6%), but 21.6% worked in three or more places. Most (42.4%) frequently worked more than 40 h/week, while 24.0% worked overtime regularly. Only four of them (3.2%) mentioned that their work environment was non-satisfactory, and most (53.6%) were satisfied with their work environment. Thoughts about career growth were in 72.8% of nurses, 49.6% were looking for higher education than they had. In multiple linear regression models, factors associated with total PWB were satisfaction with the work environment (effect estimate, β=1.41 [95% confidence interval 0.23; 2.58]), current educational level (β=1.41 [-0.02; 1.63]), and number of workplaces (β=-0.97 [-2.05; 0.11]). Conclusions: Changes in nurses' work environment, and the possibility to increase the level of education can substantially improve nurses’ well-being.

ABSTRACT. Despite substantial research on how pet ownership is associated with individual well-being, there is no causal evidence on the effects of pets on well-being. This paper addresses this shortcoming and estimates the causal effect of pet ownership on several well-being outcomes, including life satisfaction, loneliness, mental health, and physical health. Using longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey with information on pet ownership, well-being, and other individual characteristics, we exploit exogenous variation in pet ownership based on implementation of a rental tenancy law in the State of Victoria that prohibited landlords from refusing tenants’ applications to keep a pet. We circumvent the problem of self-selection into pet ownership by utilising a stability-controlled quasi experiment (SCQE) method, which allows us to parse out the average treatment effect on the treated under self-selection for a range of underlying treads in outcome levels. We further assess the plausibility of these trends using a synthetic A/B testing approach.

ABSTRACT. Character strengths have been widely applied to studying well-being in different life domains. Tourism offers rich opportunities for individuals to apply their character strengths in travel. However, how character strengths are associated with tourist well-being is rarely examined in tourism literature. This study examined the effect of character strengths on tourist well-being and the mediating effect of character strength application in the relationship between character strength and tourist well-being. 430 respondents completed validated assessments of character strengths, strengths application, and tourist well-being. Bootstrapping mediation results indicate: (1）the predictive direct effect of most character strengths on tourist well-being was positive and significant (except for the strength of honesty and prudence); (2）the predictive effect of character strengths on strength application in travel was significant, and the predictive effect of strength application on tourist well-being was also significant (except for humor and zest); (3）most character strengths applied in travel mediate the relationship between character strengths and tourist well-being (except for love, humor, and zest); and (4) bravery, gratitude, and zest have the highest total effect (β>0.6), which means these are the strongest predictors of tourist well-being. This study examined how character strengths contribute to the formation of tourist well-being. Findings confirm that character strengths not only directly affect tourists' well-being but also influence their well-being through the mediating effect of applying strengths. Findings shed light for the tourist well-being experience design based on character strengths interventions which can be tailored to suit individual needs.

ABSTRACT. The urban-rural divide continues to influence community well-being in Southeast Asian nations. In Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, tourism has entered the equation to provide solace in select rural areas through the development of rural tourism. Farming communities have embraced the government led community-based tourism model as a mode to earn supplementary income. Village communities have organized into cooperatives to develop, manage and operate tourism products in their vicinity. These include experiential packages related to community conserved areas (tagal), farming, jungle trekking, wildlife viewing, indigenous culture offered as part of the homestay experience (staying with a village host family). The varied nature of products and attractions have found success and brought income flow to these communities, alleviating poverty for some and providing employment opportunities for the local youth. However, above and beyond these aspects is that tourism has improved the well-being of these communities by empowering them to preserve the environment and local traditions. Local communities as custodians of traditional knowledge systems and customary laws have found a sense of purpose through rural tourism development. This paper applies the PERMA Theory of Well-Being to evaluate community well-being through tourism using three case studies. Each case study focuses on a village community, namely Tambulion Ulu, Taun Gusi and Padas in the West Coast of Sabah. We conclude that tourism has enhanced the quality of life for these rural communities, spreading prosperity and happiness.

ABSTRACT. There is a need to understand the key usability factors of river corridors in Klang Valley to provide better user leisure experiences among urban residents in Klang Valley. This study investigates these factors, addressing the underutilisation and deteriorating relationship between communities and urban rivers. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research integrates sensory assessments, ecological continuity, geomorphic insights, and socio-economic factors with environmental psychology. Through literature reviews and user surveys, the study identifies preferred outdoor conditions, design elements, and key usability components. Statistical analysis will be performed using STATA to evaluate the collected data. Expected outcomes include improved user satisfaction, equitable and economically beneficial designs, enhanced psychological well-being, and sustainable ecological health. This research aims to develop a theoretical framework for integrated design strategies, contributing to better user engagement and optimised leisure experiences in Klang Valley's river corridors.

ABSTRACT. Research in wellbeing transcends traditional metrics of success and prosperity, delving into subjective experiences and life satisfaction. Understanding factors influencing wellbeing is crucial for policymakers, and communities aiming to cultivate environments that foster flourishing lives. While the field of well-being studies in geography is nascent, numerous scholars have already discerned spatial variations in well-being and underscored the pivotal role of the context tied to specific locations in influencing well-being. Utilizing the Social Progress Index data spanning from 2016 to 2020 at the European NUTS2 level, we employ a Multi-Weighted Geographic Regression to unveil the dynamic and bandwidth effects of national and regional wellbeing pillars.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents the results of a research project in which inequalities in the quality of urban life were analysed, disaggregating, and relating the dimensions: community life, urban mobility, and personal well-being. A questionnaire constructed specifically for this purpose and presenting new indicators was applied, containing closed and multiple-choice questions and a Likert scale. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of 221 university students, between 18 and 21 years old. The convenience sampling modality was used, which is a type of non-probability and non-random sampling used to create samples considering the ease of access and the availability of people to be part of the sample, in each time interval. A descriptive and inferential data analysis was carried out using the SPSS 25.0 statistical program. The questionnaire contains closed and multiple-choice questions and a Likert scale. An electronic format, designed specifically for this research, was used through the Google Forms application, which is a tool that allows anonymous information to be collected through personalized questionnaires. The information was collected and automatically connected to a spreadsheet hosted in an email account. With this application, the surveys were distributed through a URL address (link). Likewise, this paper reflects on the role of researchers in the application of the online questionnaire considering the particularities of the population under study. It is expected that the application of this questionnaire to measure inequalities can be used by research teams from other countries and regions. Its results will be transferred to international research networks.

ABSTRACT. Rural depopulation springing from out-migration is a significant policy concern in Germany. It jeopardises equivalent living conditions mandated by "§72 paragraph 2 Grundgesetz" by amplifying regional disparities, undermining social cohesion, and exacerbating education deficits in rural areas, thereby adversely affecting the well-being of residents. A nuanced understanding and rigorous assessment of rural life constitutes an essential initial step in addressing rural flight by gaining insight into the well-being of rural residents. Conventional economic measures to capture well-being relying on single-item measures like self-reported happiness are criticised for oversimplifying the reality of human life. Multidimensional approaches, in contrast, also encounter challenges: Most lack a clear theoretical-conceptual basis, mix indicators across analytical levels, and employ aggregation strategies that prioritise averages, potentially neglecting well-being distribution. Drawing from Sen’s Capability Approach, we propose a novel Index of Well-being (IoW) for Germany's rural areas. We use individual-level data from the German Socio-economic Panel Study (GSOEP), leveraging its variables on the relative importance of dimensions to ascertain the weights attributed to each dimension within the index. Unlike current indexes, the IoW considers the joint distribution of well-being and incorporates clear theoretical foundations. Our methodological strategy encompasses a combination of principal component analysis, multiple correspondence analysis, and the Alkire Foster method. Findings depict the current state of different individuals and population sub-groups, shedding light on their respective well-being levels in relation to their mobility statuses. The IoW has the potential to offer a valuable tool for shaping policies that foster holistic development and well-being in rural Germany.

ABSTRACT. Mental health is increasingly becoming a significant issue for a large part of the population. Reports indicate that nearly 10.7 per cent of the world suffers from some form of mental illness. Studies also indicate a clear association between urbanization and mental health. In fact, urbanization particularly in developing countries involves changes in social support and life events which have been shown to affect mental health. This research attempts to measure the impact of urban environments on mental well-being, through the identification of various urban indicators. The research involved understanding the complex relationship between urban environments (the physical environment i.e., housing, infrastructures, greenspaces, transportation, socio-cultural spaces; and social environment i.e., social connectedness, life satisfaction, sense of community) and mental well-being and identify the indicators associated (promoters/barriers) with the mental well-being. The methodology of the research incorporates mixed method approach including exhaustive literature reviews, reviewing existing healthy built environment tools, engaging different stakeholder perceptions, expert opinion, and various specialists, to investigate and determine the relevance and importance of key urban environment indicators associated with the mental well-being. Four different areas/Zones of Delhi, the capital city of India, have been considered as a case study.

ABSTRACT. Background: Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) seek to enhance well-being and positive emotions, with potential impacts on both physical and mental health, e.g., by mitigating stress and inflammation. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to consolidate evidence regarding the effects of PPIs on physical health parameters. Specifically, we investigate the potential of PPI participation to reduce stress and inflammation. Data Sources: A comprehensive search of five electronic databases spanning from 2000 to June 2023 was conducted. Methods: Eligible studies, e.g., randomized controlled trials’ effects of PPIs on adults, encompassing diverse clinical and non-clinical adult populations, were assessed for the following outcome measures: cortisol, C-reactive protein (CRP), Interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-1ß, IL-8, and IL-10. Physical exercise and mindfulness trials were excluded because there is a vast literature supporting the efficacy of these interventions. Study selection was undertaken independently by two reviewers, and we used the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool to assess evidence quality. In this ongoing project, two independent reviewers will extract data, and the results will be analyzed through a meta-analysis or a narrative approach, depending on the nature of the data. Effect sizes will be expressed as Mean Difference (MD), Standardized Mean Difference (SMD), or Hedge’s g, with evaluations at post-test and follow-up. Results: Preliminary work indicates that data extraction will be based on 35 eligible studies. Common interventions include music, kindness, nature, optimism, social support, and meaning. Conclusions: PPIs may demonstrate potential effectiveness in reducing stress and inflammation, contributing significantly to prevention of ill-health.

ABSTRACT. There is an important role of quality of government and its policies in determining the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of their citizens. The goal of this research is to examine the effects of government welfare programmes on individual’s subjective well-being. 400 respondents were chosen through multi-stage sampling from rural regions of Jharkhand State of India. The ordered probit model was used for the estimation. The dependent variable is the SWB measured through the Diener et al. (1985) Satisfaction with life scale. The independent variables are the Social Security Satisfaction Index (SSI) and control variables. SSI is constructed through the principal component analysis which incorporates satisfaction from pension schemes, employment allowances, the performance of government schools, child care and timely ration accessibility. For the analysis, households are divided into three quantiles based on wealth ownership which are poor households, middle, and rich households. Our results reveal that people with a higher level of social security satisfaction are likely to have a higher level of SWB. The impact of social security programmes is stronger in poor households than in richer households. Moreover, those who are female, married, healthy, have social trust and do not migrate have higher SWB. Based on these findings, the study recommends that both central and state governments need to monitor and encourage social audit of the welfare programs for their effective implementation in the low social security satisfaction areas.

ABSTRACT. This article presents the results of a study of the influence of Buddhist philosophy on success and work-life impact during the Covid-19 pandemic by using indicators from a survey of happiness of 25,955 employees in organizations from all regions of Thailand. The authors classify the factors into four practices according to the doctrine of Buddhist philosophy. The results of a double-blind logistic regression analysis indicate that love of work (Adjusted odd ratio: AOR = 0.73; P-value < 0.01), commitment to effort (AOR = 0.97; P-value <0.05), concentration on work (AOR = 0.97; P-value <0.05), and review of one’s work (AOR = 0.94; P-value < 0.01) were influential in reducing the likelihood of negative impacts on the worker's overall performance during a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic. When analyzed by sector of employment, it was found that the love of work, commitment, and the focus on the job reduces the likelihood of having a negative impact work by employees in government and state enterprise organizations. The Buddhist philosophy can help reduce the chances that a crisis will have a negative impact on performance of people working in private organizations. This study highlights the benefits of applying Buddhist philosophy in human resource management to help workers cope with changes in the organization and adapt to a new way of life.

ABSTRACT. Introduction The purpose of this study was to see the effect of mobile app-based training on the quality of life(QoL) in women with breast cancer.

Methods Breast cancer patients, after 3 months of completion of their treatment were randomized to routine care or routine care plus access to the mobile phone app–based training support for 6 months. QoL was measured at baseline, at 3 months and 6 months. The mobile app-based training also provided basic information about breast cancer, symptoms diary and lifestyle recommendations (adequate and balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, exercises). QoL was assessed using EORTC QLQ-30, BR-23 scale. Visual CTCAE scale was used to measure fatigue and vaginal dryness. LENT-SOMA scale was used to measure lymphedema. The protocol was cleared by the institute ethics committee and it was registered in CTRI/2018/06/014638.

Results Total 170 breast cancer survivors were randomized, 85 each in the control and app the group. At 3 months, QoL score was better in the app group compared to the control group. No significant difference was seen in fatigue and vaginal dryness in any of the groups at 3 months. At 6 months, app group demonstrated statistically significant improvement in all functioning scale. Fatigue, lymphedema and vaginal dryness improved significantly in the app group. 90% users quickly learned how to use the application and 93% said that they would definitely recommend this app to other patients.

Conclusions Mobile application for breast cancer survivors was effective in improving the QoL, fatigue, lymphedema and vaginal dryness.

ABSTRACT. It seems plausible that to motivate people towards constructive behaviour, their possible worries for the future should be combined with a perspective on how they could work towards achieving a better future. Moreover, for mental health, people most likely need to balance hopes for a better future with constructive ways of coping with the inevitable challenges and disappointments we endure during a lifetime. Thus, hope and coping could work together to help us both invest in a better future and deal with the disappointment if we fail. Also, hope and coping show marked similarities, as both are determined by context, are meaning-based, dynamic and both affect wellbeing in difficult circumstances. Indeed, both hope and coping have been studied as ways in which people deal with adversity, but little is known about how the two work together. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate how hope and coping are related in a cross-sectional sample of 954 adults from the US. It appears that constructive forms of hope and coping can be substitutes to some degree, but that a combination of both leads to the best outcomes for subjective well-being. However, we have to be careful about adopting a ‘more is always better’ perspective, as both hope and coping could also lead to worse mental health or life outcomes, especially once they no longer fuel a constructive, active attitude.

ABSTRACT. Nearly 60 years have elapsed since Cantril (1965) published The Pattern of Human Concerns. His line of inquiry has stood the test of time. In 2012, the South African Social Attitudes Survey replicated Cantril’s 1960s questions and methodology to elicit South Africans’ hopes and aspirations and worries and fears for self and country and their ratings of self and country - past, present and future. This was replicated in 2022 to determine whether a shift in predispositions occurred amid a context of declining satisfaction with democratic performance. The two surveys represent rare replications of Cantril’s full line of preliminary questioning. Our research found that South African personal aspirations remain mainly material ones for a decent living standard and the means to achieve this goal. Hopes for the nation concentrated on economic and political progress to consolidate democracy. Many hopes were mirrored in fears that these aspirations might not be met. Cantril’s method allowed us to review the main concerns and ratings across diverse groups of citizens that constitute the ‘rainbow nation’. Substantial consensus exists on top hopes and fears, but Cantril ladder of life ratings still reflected apartheid-era inequalities, with black South Africans scoring lower than other race groups. While the majority rated their present life better than 5 years ago and projected life to get better in future, the optimism has diminished over the decade. This is placing intensifying pressure on the state to deliver on personal and societal hopes as the countys enters its fourth decade of democracy.

ABSTRACT. Why analyzing the determinants of subjective well-being? First of all, it enables us to test assumptions about the human preferences affecting subjective well-being. After all, there is evidence of a widening range of factors affecting life satisfaction. The results of this research can also provide us information and evidence in the debate about well-being, as we see that several (institutional and other) actors are searching for possible factors explaining subjective well-being. In several countries the economic focus is broadened by the inclusion of well-being factors.

Last decades, there is a wide range of studies available studying several specific determinants of subjective well-being: health, socio-demographic characteristics, social relations, perceived economic status, … In this paper, special attention is paid to the so-called skills/capabilities as self-efficacy, locus of control, optimism, autonomy, connectedness and competences.

Besides the theoretical positioning of those internal and external buffers, we also provide some empirical research results based on survey data among a general populations.

For the Netherlands, we use data of the Netherlands Institute for social research (SCP). The survey ‘Cultural changes in the Netherlands’ (n=2.600) includes life satisfaction and measures of the above mentioned determinants. With this survey we look at which determinants are the most important for explaining differences in SWB. These results are compared with similar data from Flanders. Here we use the survey “Social-Cultural Changes”, N= 1025, a research project of Statistics Flanders). Inspired by the OECD guidelines, different measures of subjective well-being are used.

ABSTRACT. Background and Aims The relationship between luck beliefs, causal attributions about whether the occurrence of an event is due to luck or one's own ability, and levels of well-being is examined.

Method General belief that the phenomenon of luck exists (BinL) and the belief that one is lucky (PL) are measured using the BILLS scale and the levels of hedonic well-being are measured using SWLS and SPANE. In addition, with a card game, Concentration, the extent to which one thinks that an event, in this case the acquisition of a pair of cards, is due to luck or one's own ability is measured. In the experiment, participants played the game in an experimental environment in which the ability of the opposing computer agent was controlled.

Results We found that BinL contributes negatively to the levels of well-being, while PL contributes positively, which is consistent with the previous studies. In the game, participants' BinL contributes to the causal attribution to luck, while PL contributes to the causal attribution to ability. Based on the structural modeling analysis, the overall results indicated that the causal attribution tendency to luck contributes negatively to the levels of well-being, while the causal attribution tendency to ability contributes positively to the levels of well-being.

Conclusions General beliefs in luck contributed negatively and beliefs in personal luckiness contributed positively to the levels of well-being. The nature of causal attributions to luck or ability in a card game is consistent with this relationship.

ABSTRACT. Previous research has identified a significant correlation between urban spatial patterns and active mobility (including walking or cycling). Until recently, cities in the European Union and Singapore have promoted active mobility through urban planning tools, aiming to enhance public health and achieve low carbon goals. While there is considerable research on the association between health and spatial planning, studies focusing on the relationship between urban spatial patterns and health outcomes for specific groups i.e. youngsters remain limited. Hence, this study focuses on college students in Southern Taiwan, where the tropical weather might influence their lifestyle and commuting preferences. Most university campuses in Taiwan are located with well-developed surrounding facilities, and most students live within a 10-minute bike ride from the campus, it is noteworthy motorcycle use is prevalent. The research aims to investigate whether the current spatial patterns meet the needs of college students for active commuting. Additionally, the study seeks to understand the environmental factors influencing students' willingness for active commuting and determine whether differences in commuting behavior affect the health outcomes like BMI. We adopt a mixed-method approach. The quantitative research utilizes GIS to analyze the current state of active mobility spaces around the campus and calculate walkability indicators. The qualitative research involves a questionnaire survey to gather information on college students' daily commuting habits and their willingness for active commuting. The study then compares objective and subjective outcomes to provide insights on improving the surrounding spaces of the university to enhance physical activity and promote overall well-being.

ABSTRACT. Every employee of UMS is invited to fill in a survey of UMS Happiness Index in his/her HROnline v4.0 portal annually and will be rewarded a 1 Individual Development Plan (IDP) score. The aim of this exercise according to Performance and Psychology Sector, Human Resources Division of UMS is to improve the quality of governance services in UMS. This survey comprises a total of 47/48 items segregated in 5 parts namely life evaluation, affect measures, job satisfactions, job engagement, and gratitude (rasa syukur). The general objective of this study is to examine this survey using a Reader Response Theory (Rosenblatt,1982). Rosenblatt view reading as a transaction, albeit a two-way process, involving a reader and a text at a particular time and under certain settings. The result of this study produced vital discussion topics related with the basic premise of this theory. As a result, this study has achieved its general objective as anticipated.

ABSTRACT. Inclusive education in Singapore has evolved since the early 1960s, when children with disabilities were excluded from mainstream education. The compulsory Education Act, which mandates most children to attend school for at least ten years, was legislated in 2003 to ensure children have a strong foundation for further education. Children with special needs and disabilities were exempted from the Act until 2017. Given the educational disadvantages associated with disability, students with disabilities may experience dissonance in mainstream education where there is an emphasis on students without disabilities. In this article, we provide an overview of inclusive educational concepts and the development of inclusive education in Singapore by reviewing international and local scholarly evidence. We trace the evolution of inclusive education in the region from its inception to the present day. Additionally, we analyse and compare the terms "disability" and "inclusion" with the medical and social models of disability. We also delve into the enabling factors of inclusion, such as the proximity and presence of students, which are the key indicators of successful inclusive practices.

ABSTRACT. Purpose: There is limited knowledge about how time spent in physical activity and sleep behaviours impact experienced wellbeing. This study aimed to explore the relationship between daily time-use compositions and momentary affective states related to experienced wellbeing.

Methods: A total of 191 New Zealand adults were equipped with a wrist-worn Axivity AX3 accelerometer and engaged in smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) over seven consecutive days. Accelerometer data provided 24-hour time-use compositions (sedentary, light activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA] and sleep), while the EMA protocol captured happiness, tiredness, and anxiousness on a 0-10 scale. Daily averages of these affective states and contexts were calculated and merged with the time-use data. A multilevel compositional analysis using the 'multilevelcoda' R package quantified the associations between daily activity compositions and affective states.

Results: Valid data for 959 individual days were obtained. Preliminary analysis revealed significant findings related to happiness: reallocating time from sedentary activities to sleep positively influenced happiness levels. While not statistically significant, there were notable trends suggesting that increasing time spent in MVPA, at the expense of any other activity, might be associated with a reduction in anxiety. These trends only emerged at the within-person and not the between-person level.

Conclusions: The study highlights the potential psychological benefits of optimising daily activity compositions, although the concurrent analysis make it difficult to identify causal pathways. Future prospective research is needed to further clarify these associations and facilitate the development of targeted mental health interventions based on optimal daily activity compositions.

ABSTRACT. The Technology we need for the Future we want.

Aspirations, emotions, thoughts and sensations influence our personal experience of the world. Individuals, communities, countries and the planet influence our collective experience in it. Micro, meso, macro, meta - Technology increasingly impacts each of these dimensions, and their interplays. Whether that influence is positive or harmful is not a foregone conclusion.

The point of departure for this panel is simple - ‘Garbage in, garbage out’. We cannot expect from the technology of tomorrow to live up to values that the humans of today do not manifest.

We have five fantastic speakers on this panel, who will look at technology in their respective arenas of expertise, and the influence it has on humanity across the m4-matrix. Micro-meso-macro-meta, everything is connected in a hybrid world.

Our experiences, and the resulting behavior, are shaped by emotions, thoughts, aspirations and physiological sensations; vice-versa, the resulting experiences influence individuals (micro), communities and institutions (meso), countries and economies (macro) and the Planet (meta) that we are part of. Technology is part of both arenas, it influences how we experience the world and ourselves and how we express this ‘self’. This connection between humanity and technology is increasingly blended. Whether that blend is feeding a vicious or virtuous feedback loop, depends on those who shape and use it. Artificial intelligence (AI) is extrapolating whatever streams of influence are underway. Whether that influence is colored by human values, or commercial interests, is a choice that we can still influence, as both clients, coders and investors. Eventually it will take on a dynamic of itself.

End: Everything is connected within a continuum of constant change, where one component is completed by others and completing them in return. The causes and consequences that influence who we are today started yesterday; they influence who we will be in the future; unknowingly because we are immersed in the buzz of the presence. A collateral outcome of this inside-out/outside-in, offline-online, past-prospective arch is that those who live today shape the environment, including the technology that is part of it, which in turn shapes our lives, and those of future generations. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Every sound has an echo - missteered technology transforms living in a harrowing echo-chamber.

Key Message: The point of departure for this panel is simple - garbage in, garbage out. We cannot expect the technology of tomorrow to be aligned with values that we do not manifest, as humans, today. Individual change is the cause and consequence of collective transformation.

In the interaction with technology, the weight of human values is amplified.

Our present moral footprint is the moral social blueprint of the future. We can consciously and proactively render it kind. Making the future a place where everyone gets a fair chance to fulfill their inherent potential requires human leadership for humane technology.

Moderator Cornelia C. Walther, PhD, Senior research fellow. Center for social norms and behavioral dynamics, University of Pennsylvania. Following two decades with the UN, and the publication of various books on social change via individual transformation, Cornelia launched POZE@global, a thinktank for unlike-minded thinkers and doers.

Starter Questions How can we use AI to lift individuals to fulfill their inherent potential ?

How can we leverage technology to bring out the best in humankind ?

Take-away Call to action - let's use Today as a point of departure for a new perspective on the online and offline reality that we inhabit.

The future is either a black box about to reveal its Pandorian nature; or, it is a sparkling treasure chest. Which lid would we rather lift ?