current studies
current studies
Embedded Files
Characterizing the psychologically rich life:
Personality traits, daily activities, and goal pursual
Characterizing the psychologically rich life:
Personality traits, daily activities, and goal pursual
The idea of a ‘good life’ has traditionally been thought of as one filled with happy, pleasurable moments of comfort (hedonic), or one filled with meaningful dedication to personally valued goals (eudaimonic). Moving beyond the eudaimonic–hedonic divide to conceptualizing well-being, a new pathway has been proposed: well-being via pursuing a psychologically rich life. The psychologically rich life is characterized by a variety of interesting and perspective-changing experiences. The purpose of this study is to identify the individual and contextual factors that characterize the psychologically rich life in an everyday context. This cross-sectional quantitative pilot study is to understand how the personality traits, positive psychological functioning, and daily activities characteristic of those who pursue a life of richness differ from those who pursue a life of pleasure, meaning, or engagement. These findings will inform a larger hypothesis-driven daily diary study on psychological richness in 2025.
Equitable community mental health promotion in the Central Lowlands:
Co-designing a well-being research agenda
Equitable community mental health promotion in the Central Lowlands:
Co-designing a well-being research agenda
This project aims to improve community mental health in the Scottish Central Lowlands through co-designing a population survey to evaluate and monitor well-being. The co-design component engages residents from diverse contexts and backgrounds (i.e., those who experience multiple and intersecting health/social inequities) in the selection of factors to measure. This pilot study is the first phase of a 5-year research plan, where the end goal is for strong enough community connections to scale up a sustainable mental health promotion research network in Scotland. We will utilize a systems science approach, embedding co-design principles in primary data collection, analysis, and knowledge translation. We will work with community organizations to identify the levels, needs, and assets of community well-being, which will create the foundation for public mental health survelliance and the development of healthy public policy, practices, and programs.
Measure what matters: An environmental scan and quality appraisal of population well-being surveys
Measure what matters: An environmental scan and quality appraisal of population well-being surveys
Population well-being surveys collect information from large, representative groups of people living in a defined geographic region on various social, emotional, and psychological factors that contribute to overall quality of life. Surveys provide relevant data to shape policies and practices to improve overall quality of life, such as informing the development of national quality of life frameworks. Ensuring that high-quality measures are being used in surveys is essential, because population level data inform policies that affect entire populations. The purpose of this study was to identify all existing population well-being surveys and analyze the quantity and quality of the established measures used in each survey. We conducted an environmental scan and identified 14 population well-being surveys, representing four continents, administered at monthly to 5-year intervals, and on samples of 3,928 to 65,000 individuals. We systematically appraised both the psychometry and pragmatism of each measure used in population well-being surveys through double-blind extraction using an established quality assessment tool. Overall measure quality was 33.05 (range: 20-46) and we found comparable domain scores for psychometric (M = 16.21) and pragmatic quality (M = 16.84). Psychometrically, measures tended to have high convergent validity and lower predictive validity. Practically, measures tended to have high readability scores and be briefer rather than longer. Our findings should be interpreted with our quasi-systematic method in mind, and our English language restriction. By highlighting how survey measures can be improved or refined in order to better measure population well-being, we hope these findings can support future population well-being surveys conducted across the world.
The quality of one’s life depends on the life qualities they value:
Personal definitions, levels, and trajectories of well-being across a decade of nationally representative social surveys
The quality of one’s life depends on the life qualities they value:
Personal definitions, levels, and trajectories of well-being across a decade of nationally representative social surveys
The 'Values & Trajectories' project investigates how UK residents personally define what contributes to their well-being, how personal definitions are linked to reported level of well-being, and identify trajectories of well-being across a decade of social surveys. Data were drawn from a) 10 years of the British Household Panel Study with almost 28,000 residents (N = 27,962) and b) 13 years of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, a UK-representative household panel established in 2009 with approximately 40,000 households. To assess intra-individual and inter-individual trajectories in life satisfaction over 13 years, we used growth curve models. Well-being values were measured with an open-ended question (“Would you take a moment to think about what 'quality of life' means to you, and tell me what things you consider are important for your own quality of life?”) which were content coded. Survey respondents tended to differ in baseline level of life satisfaction, with a negligibly small but significant decrease over time. Initial levels of life satisfaction did not influence rate of change in life satisfaction over the following 13 waves, and the respondent’s life satisfaction did not tend to converge in time. Leisure satisfaction was the strongest and most consistent predictor of global life satisfaction. While average levels of well-being were nearly identical across the years, people’s well-being did differ based on how they valued well-being. In other words, the main value people describe for their own level of well-being did tend to shape the well-being they reported. Within each year, those who valued personal characteristics had higher well-being than those who valued material characteristics; personal characteristics was also the most commonly reported value in each wave. We learned that people value well-being in different ways and enjoy different levels of baseline well-being; current well-being seems to come down to how it is valued at any given point in one’s life instead of fluctuating much over time. This pattern of findings seem to say: people matter more than things.
How does it feel to pursue personally important goals?
Affective appraisals and well-being benefits of self-concordant goals
How does it feel to pursue personally important goals?
Affective appraisals and well-being benefits of self-concordant goals
The purpose of this study is to: a) investigate the feelings people experience when pursuing self-concordant goals and b) how the stage of progress and control exercised in these pursuits are linked to eudaimonic well-being. In two pre-registered studies spanning three existing personality and well-being datasets, we draw on open data to test theoretical premises of the Self Concordance Model and Eudaimonic Activity Model. In Study 1, drawing on an existing daily diary dataset, we: a) tested if daily activities predict eudaimonic well-being more strongly when the activities are contributing to a broader goal, and b) identified which types of activities tended to be part of one’s goal pursuit. In Study 2, we expected that too easy and too hard projects will not be enjoyed, rather, there is a ‘just right’ level (i.e., a curvilinear relationship between goal progress and eudaimonic well-being in the pursual of self-concordant goals).
Investigating the links between personality and well-being in the UK by leveraging linked population survey data
Investigating the links between personality and well-being in the UK by leveraging linked population survey data
This project unpacks the relationship between personality and well-being, by linking two representative population survey datasets in the United Kingdom. The Global Flourishing Survey is the largest gobal well-being dataset in the world, covering 22 countries and >200,000 people. The Understanding Society dataset is the largest longitudinal representative population well-being dataset in the UK. This project advances knowledge of well-being by testing psychological theory on the database arising from linking these two resources. The main purpose of the planned analyses are to test premises of basic psychological need mini-theory (e.g., satisfying the need for competence is linked to greater well-being in those high in conscientiousness). Further exploratory analyses are planned to highlight regional patterns in personality and well-being, and compare these patterns across regions of the UK (e.g., how much variation is there in the main personality traits across regions of Scotland?). Overall, the results of these analyses will help propel further cross-national research on personality and well-being.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse