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Loneliness is a public health issue among older adults. We designed an intervention offering 10 sessions with diverse artistic methods (ArtGran). This study assessed the effectiveness of ArtGran in reducing loneliness and its negative effects on health in community-dwelling older adults in 2022 in Barcelona. Quasi-experimental study, with an intervention group (IG) and a comparison group (CG). The sample included residents aged ≥70 years from 6 selected neighbourhoods of Barcelona. In each neighbourhood, an IG and a CG was formed with participants who reported loneliness and without special mobility needs. The participants were referred from primary care centres, social services, and community health centres. We included 138 participants (IG = 63, CG = 75). We collected data on loneliness, quality of life (QoL-5D), mood, and self-perceived health before and after the intervention through validated questionnaires. To assess the effect of the intervention, we built Poisson models with robust variance and linear regression models. At the end of the intervention, participants in the IG were more likely than those in the CG to be able to perform their usual activities without problems (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.45). Compared with the CG, participants in the IG attending more than half of the sessions had lower levels of loneliness (aPR = 1.36; 95%CI: 1.07–1.73), a better ability to perform their usual activities (aPR [95%CI] = 1.24 [1.05–1.48]), and higher happiness scores (β = 0.73; P = 0.01). The effectiveness of the intervention was more pronounced when participants had high attendance. Our results suggest that high attendance of the ArtGran program was helpful in shielding older individuals from loneliness, fostering positive moods, and preserving their functional status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative emotions such as depression have been associated with increased absenteeism and presenteeism, contributing to substantial economic loss. However, no study has investigated if positive emotions such as happiness influence absenteeism and presenteeism. Using data from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS), a nationwide survey conducted in September–October 2022 (n = 19,214), we investigated if two major, representative positive emotions (happiness and gratitude) are associated with absenteeism and presenteeism. Absenteeism was defined as reporting more than one day of sick leave in the past one month. Presenteeism was measured with the Work Functioning Impairment Scale. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios. 12.4 % and 21.8 % of subjects reported absenteeism and presenteeism, respectively. Logistic regression estimated that after adjusting covariates, happiness was associated with lower odds of absenteeism (OR = 0.792, 95 % CI [0.706, 0.888]) and presenteeism (OR = 0.531, 95 % CI [0.479, 0.588]) while gratitude was associated with lower odds of presenteeism only (OR = 0.705, 95 % CI [0.643, 0.774]). Furthermore, simultaneous presence of both happiness and gratitude was associated with further lower odds of presenteeism (OR = 0.385, 95%CI [0.338, 0.439]), indicating a synergetic relation. This study is the first to investigate the association between positive emotions and absenteeism and presenteeism. Given the substantial economic loss due to absenteeism and presenteeism, strategies to enhance positive emotions are necessary. • The first study of the relation between positive emotions and absenteeism, presenteeism • Both happiness and gratitude are associated with reduced absenteeism and presenteeism. • Happiness and gratitude synergistically relate to presenteeism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the goals of classical, philosophy-oriented pragmatics studies is to postulate some pragmatic conditions by which we can evaluate a given utterance as successful or not, like the truth conditions by which we can evaluate a given sentence (proposition) as true or not. Speech Act Theory presents a number of felicity/successful conditions as such, while the interaction of the Cooperative Principle and meaning NN (nonnatural meaning) is supposed to do the job in Grice's system. The present paper investigates a type of unsuccessful utterance (which I call an emotionally unsuccessful utterance) that seems to have escaped serious attention thus far. My goal is to show that emotionally unsuccessful utterances are properly accounted for by Grice's system but not by Speech Act Theory (nor by post-Gricean pragmatics and dynamic semantics). Grice's system differs from the others in that a successful utterance is defined not directly in terms of its semantic content but indirectly in terms of the audience response intended by the speaker. I conclude the paper by putting its findings into a wider theoretical perspective. • Some utterances are unsuccessful, even if their contents are new to the audience. • The speaker can intend to induce emotional responses in the audience by an utterance. • Grice's notion of nonnatural meaning is defined on the basis of a response of the audience. • An utterance is unsuccessful, unless the audience's uptake of the intended response is achieved. • Grice's program is unique in putting a substantial emphasis on the audience response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presently, child-specific tools and instruments related to active school travel (AST) are lacking. This methodological shortcoming often contributes to suboptimal AST behaviour evaluations and intervention programming. The aim of this paper was to develop and validate a theoretically informed child-specific scale regarding multiple perceived barriers and enablers known to impact children's participation in AST. Mixed methods. A mixed-methods and multistudy scale development approach featuring the application of social-ecological theory, a validation pilot study (n = 80), and test-retest study (n = 96) was conducted in collaboration with children in Ontario, Canada. In tandem with completing cognitive interviews and online surveys, multiple analyses, including a qualitative thematic analysis, along with weighted Cohen's kappa, Cronbach's alpha, and confirmatory factor analysis were undertaken. Qualitative analyses of the developed tool addressed face validity concerns related to the response options and definitions of terms used. Following the reliability analyses of 40 items, two confirmatory factor analyses were run to assess the construct validation of perceived AST barriers and enablers, and resulted in the development of the 24-item Perceived Active School Travel Enablers and Barriers – Child (PASTEB-C) questionnaire. The developed PASTEB-C questionnaire may be used to inform the programming and development of AST interventions, as well as conduct child-specific AST research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An integrated framework with travel autonomy at its center is empirically tested. • Capabilities, independence, freedom and possibilities are elements of travel autonomy. • Although distinct, it relates to perceived accessibility, happiness, and life satisfaction. • Mental illness plays an important role in how people rate their travel autonomy. • Travel autonomy and perceived accessibility are important mechanisms to target. This study focuses on the association between cognitive, medical, and physical difficulties; mental illness; travel autonomy; and perceptions of the possibilities of participating in desired daily activities; further, we examine their association with happiness and life satisfaction. We present and empirically test an integrated framework with travel autonomy, defined as the prerequisites, freedom, and possibility to travel the way one wants, at its core. We use web survey data (n = 1041) collected in Sweden in 2021. Using partial least squares structural equations, we find a valid and reliable model with travel autonomy as a distinct and reliable latent construct. Furthermore, travel autonomy yields significant paths to perceived accessibility, happiness, and life satisfaction, highlighting the importance of capabilities, independent travel, freedom, and possibilities in the overall construct of travel autonomy. Finally, mental illness plays an important role in how people rate their travel autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conceptual paper outlining the subjective experience process in bike riders. • Subjective experiences consist of thoughts and feelings (e.g.., emotions). • Subjective experiences arise from appraisal – how people interpret events. • Subjective experiences are measurable on valence and arousal dimensions. • Continued research is needed to understand the complexity of subjective experience. Research indicates that subjective experiences such as happiness, joy, anxiety, and fear influence peoples' decisions to bike ride. Negative user experiences in particular are a key barrier to increased bike riding participation. However, existing research has not considered the theoretical mechanisms that give rise to subjective experiences while bike riding. To achieve a more nuanced understanding necessary to enable subjective experiences to contribute to policy and planning, there is a need to both establish theoretically-informed definitions of what subjective experiences consist of, and common approaches to describing how they arise and can be measured. This conceptual paper addresses a translation gap between theory and existing research by applying the transactional model of stress and coping and the circumplex model of affect to demonstrate potential causal mechanisms and measurement approaches of bicycling-related subjective experiences. The transactional model of stress and coping proposes that individuals continuously appraise the demands of their environment relative to their coping abilities, stating that stress and negative emotions occur when an environment exceeds perceived coping abilities. The circumplex model of affect proposes that emotions exist on dimensions of valence and arousal, measuring the unpleasant-pleasantness and degree of activation of an emotion from low to high, respectively. By proposing theoretically-informed definitions and theoretical approaches, this paper establishes a framework that unifies existing research and enables a more nuanced understanding of individual differences in subjective experiences that can contribute to bicycling uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The answer is that people's evaluations of their income situation are based on different considerations when the economy is expanding and when it is contracting. When, in the course of economic growth, incomes generally are rising, evaluations of one's own income—whether it is satisfactory –tend to be dominated by comparisons with the incomes of others—by "social comparison". If one's income is just "keeping up with the Joneses", happiness is unchanged. But in a recession, as incomes decline and people increasingly have difficulty satisfying consumption habits and fixed financial obligations acquired when incomes were higher, the benchmark for income evaluations shifts to comparisons with one's past experience– how current income compares with one's previous peak income. The greater the shortfall, the less one's happiness. The shift when income declines, from comparison with others to comparison with one's past experience, is typically forced on individuals by the growing pressure of meeting fixed financial obligations. There is thus an asymmetry in the psychological roots of income evaluations when income is rising vs. falling, and this causes a corresponding asymmetry in the response of happiness to income change. When income is rising and social comparison is the basis for evaluating one's income situation, changes in income have, on average, a nil effect on happiness. When income falls below its previous peak and past personal experience is the basis for evaluating one's income situation, happiness goes down and up with income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conversational interaction occurs against a layered backdrop of what speakers know in common and what they do not. Expectations of others' knowledge permeate every utterance and are flavored by social considerations of both rights-to and responsibilities-for knowledge in various domains. Speakers adopt an epistemic stance in turns-at-talk through the use of linguistic and interactional resources, and coparticipants hold normative expectations that the assumed stance is a felicitous expression of the speaker's underlying epistemic status. Yet, this norm is sometimes violated. This paper examines cases where conversational participants orient to a mismatch between an inappropriately high epistemic stance and a lower underlying epistemic status and engage in repair or remediation to address this inconsistency. In some cases, participants reformulate their stance in a single turn at talk. In other cases, they are opaquely prompted to lower their epistemic stance and the responsive reformulation has many markers of dispreference, suggesting that epistemic stance lowering is a problematic action for participants. Remediation of epistemic stance is even, on occasion, the topic of narratives, a testament to the salience of such exchanges. We argue that features of these sequences both orient-to and reinforce the expected norm of epistemic felicity. • Conversational participants use mechanisms of repair to alter epistemic stance. • Third turn alterations of epistemic stance appear to be dispreferred. • Remediation of epistemic stance orients to a norm of epistemic felicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In ordinary life, many types of situation occur in which a better-informed agent faces a decision over whether to reveal some bad news to an uninformed counterpart. This paper reports an experiment designed to explore how, in such contexts, the decisions of informed individuals are shaped by intrinsic preferences over information. Impartial spectators are tasked with deciding whether to make initially uninformed subjects aware that their actions have inadvertently generated negative externalities. Knowledge of this consequence is materially useless and reduces the subjective happiness of the externality-generating subjects, as is anticipated by the vast majority of spectators. However, 72% of spectators still choose to reveal the information. This suggests the existence of intrinsic preferences for information possession which are not based on hedonic considerations and indeed are sufficiently strong as to trump spectators' concerns about the negative hedonic consequences of revelation. However, the hedonic impact of information is not completely overlooked, as spectators are less likely to reveal information the more strongly they believe it will damage the recipient's happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Novel theoretical models of depression have recently emerged based on an influential new perspective in neuroscience known as predictive processing. In these models, depression may be understood as an imbalance of predictive signals in the brain; more specifically, a dominance of predictions leading to a relative insensitivity to prediction error. Despite these important theoretical advances, empirical evidence remains limited, and how expectations are generated and used dynamically in individuals with depression remains largely unexplored.Methods: In this study, we induced facial expression predictions using emotion contexts in 34 individuals with depression and 34 healthy controls.Results: Compared to controls, individuals with depression perceived displayed facial expressions as less similar to their expectations (i.e., increased difference between expectations and actual sensory input) following contexts evoking negative valence emotions, indicating that depressed individuals have increased prediction error in such contexts. This effect was amplified by recent mood-congruent yet irrelevant experiences.Limitations: The clinical sample included participants with comorbid psychopathology and taking medication. Additionally, the two groups were not evaluated in the same setting, and only three emotion categories (fear, sadness, and happiness) were explored.Conclusions: Our results shed light on potential mechanisms underlying processing abnormalities regarding negative information, which has been consistently reported in depression, and may be a relevant point of departure for exploring transdiagnostic vulnerability to mental illness. Our data also has the potential to improve clinical practice through the implementation of novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools based on the assessment and modulation of predictive signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The comparisons of mean happiness across groups are valid only under strong assumptions. • We propose focusing on the median to rank happiness outcomes and other ordinal data. • Group rankings reported by statistical softwares can be interpreted through parametric median. • Median estimates from the semiparametric and parametric models are qualitatively similar. • Factors that drive median happiness also affect the lower and upper quartiles. Ordered probit and logit models have been frequently used to estimate the mean ranking of happiness outcomes (and other ordinal data) across groups. However, it has been recently highlighted that such ranking may not be identified in most happiness applications. We suggest researchers focus on median comparison instead of the mean. This is because the median rank can be identified even if the mean rank is not. Furthermore, median ranks in probit and logit models can be readily estimated using standard statistical softwares. The median ranking, as well as ranking for other quantiles, can also be estimated semiparametrically and we provide a new constrained mixed integer optimization procedure for implementation. We apply it to estimate a happiness equation using General Social Survey data of the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health benefits of diets rich in fruits and vegetables (FV) are well established. Recent observational and intervention research suggests that FV consumption may also exert a positive effect on psychological well-being. This study aimed to assess changes in mean Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) scores in response to consuming 2010-2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommended types and amounts of vegetables. It was hypothesized that increased vegetable consumption would increase mean SHS scores. This study investigated a secondary outcome of a randomized, parallel, nonblinded controlled trial with a 1:1 allocation ratio to a provided vegetable intervention or attention control group. Men and women (n = 75) aged 18 to 65 years, body mass index ≥ 25, with low habitual vegetable consumption were recruited from Grand Forks, North Dakota, December 2016 to January 2018, for this community-based study. The vegetable intervention consisted of an 8-week feeding phase during which participants were provided with vegetables in DGA-recommended types and amounts. The attention control group was not provided vegetables but completed the same testing schedule as the vegetable intervention group. Mean SHS scores were assessed before and after the intervention. Mean SHS scores were analyzed using a 2-way factorial mixed linear model analysis of variance. A significant interaction between treatment and visit (P =.015) revealed greater mean SHS scores at week 8 than at baseline in the vegetable intervention group (+0.23 ± 0.11) (mean difference ± SE of the difference) but no change in the attention control group (−0.15 ± 0.11). Greater mean SHS scores were observed after increasing vegetable consumption to meet DGA recommendations, suggesting that adhering to DGA vegetable guidance may help promote psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Influencing consumer food choices has evolved as a multidisciplinary research area that bridges marketing, food science, and sensory experiences. However, little is known about the impact of mixed reality (MR) or interactive content narratives in MR on influencing consumers to make specific food choices. Drawing on narrative transportation theory, the current research examines the effect of MR content narratives on consumer food choice intentions and the underlying mechanism of emotional response. A single-factor between-subjects experiment with four conditions (narrative format: mixed reality, video, audio, text) was conducted with 175 participants. Results revealed a significant indirect effect of media format on food choice intention through emotional response. More specifically, our results demonstrated that, as compared to MR, audio and video narrative formats had negative effects on choice of plant-based foods due to lower levels of consumer happiness and liveliness. Our results also demonstrated that, as compared to MR, audio-based narratives had a positive effect on choice of plant-based foods due to higher levels of consumer distress. The study contributes to literature in immersive technologies and consumer choice by providing empirical evidence of the role of emotions in food choice intentions that can be triggered through mixed reality technology. This can assist restaurateurs and food marketers in leveraging immersive technologies to stimulate the food experience and choice. • A single-factor between-subjects experiment with four narrative media conditions was conducted with 175 participants. • The study identified a significant indirect effect of emotional response of MR content narratives on consumer food choice. • Compared to MR, audio formats negatively affect plant-based choice due to lower happiness levels. • Compared to MR, video and audio formats negatively affect plant-based choice due to lower liveliness levels. • Compared to MR, audio formats positively affect plant-based food choice due to higher levels of consumer distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual influencers, digitally-created characters with realistic human-like appearances, have emerged as a distinctive type of virtual humans prominently featured in various virtual environments, with a notable presence on social media. They emulate human behaviors, including displaying emotions, to enrich their narratives. Yet, limited research has assessed how users interpret these virtual influencers' emotions as well as whether these emotional cues affect users' perceptions and attitude towards these virtual entities. To address these research gaps this research draws upon the Computers as Social Actors (CASA) paradigm. In study 1, sentiment analysis of a life-like virtual influencer's Instagram posts (N = 1196) conveyed a higher frequency, proportion, and intensity of positive (vs. negative) emotions. Study 2 utilized a U.S.-based Generation Z and Millennial sample from a large online platform to conduct a between-subjects online experiment (N = 142), examining whether Instagram posts conveying a virtual influencer's emotion (vs. no emotion) impacted users' attitude towards the virtual influencer. Findings indicate that the virtual influencer's perceived emotional intelligence, anthropomorphism, and authenticity are significant and serial mediators of the relationship between the virtual influencer's display of emotions in the social media posts and users' attitude towards the virtual influencer. Further, when looking at individual emotional effects (happiness vs. sadness vs. love vs. lust vs. no emotion), the expression of happiness in the virtual influencer's social media posts is greatly recommended for high perceptions and a positive attitude towards the virtual influencer while the display of sadness and lust are recommended to be avoided. • The virtual human's Instagram posts conveyed a higher frequency and intensity of positive (vs. negative) emotions. • Perceived emotional intelligence, anthropomorphism and authenticity mediated the relationship stimulated by emotional cues. • Users responded more favorably when the virtual human displayed happiness (vs. sadness and lust) in Instagram posts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how personality impacts people's experiences of their thoughts in terms of experienced happiness and worthwhileness. Over two weeks, 483 participants completed over 20,000 experience sampling questionnaires including reports of hedonic and eudemonic well-being, and type and content of thoughts. Using multi-level modelling we show that personality traits recorded prior to the start of the study for all participants interact with thought variables to significantly predict experiences of worthwhileness. Openness was the personality trait with the greatest impact on how content and type of thoughts affected worthwhileness. Predictions of happiness were not significantly improved by the addition of interactions between personality and thoughts. Implications for the broader literature on the relationship between personality and well-being are discussed. • We find individual differences in the relationship between thoughts and well-being. • Big 5 personality traits do not explain this difference for happiness. • Openness moderates the relationship between thoughts and worthwhileness. • Agreeableness also moderates the relationship between thoughts and worthwhileness. • Most of the individual-specific variance remains unexplained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study integrated variable- and person-centered approaches to explore how happiness motives and their profiles relate to mental health through the mediation of eudaimonic activity (i.e., mastery behavior) and maladaptive hedonic activity (i.e., smartphone addiction). A total of 623 Chinese undergraduates completed an online survey package. Structural equation modeling revealed that hedonic approach motives (i.e., seeking pleasure) had a positive direct effect on well-being. Hedonic avoidance motives (i.e., avoiding pain) were negatively related to mastery behavior and positively related to smartphone addiction, leading to worse mental health. Eudaimonic motives (i.e., seeking growth and meaning) were positively related to mastery behavior and negatively related to smartphone addiction, leading to improved mental health. Latent profile analysis identified four profiles: average motives, low motives, approach motives, and high motives. A multi-categorical mediating model revealed that, compared to high motives profile, approach motives profile was related to more mastery behavior and less smartphone addiction, indirectly improving mental health; low motives profile had a negative indirect effect on mental health through mastery behavior and a positive indirect effect through smartphone addiction. These results indicate that combining high hedonic approach and eudaimonic motives with low hedonic avoidance motives is the most functional way to achieve happiness. • Hedonic avoidance motives are related to maladaptive behavioral patterns. • Hedonic approach motives are not related to maladaptive behavioral patterns. • Latent profile analysis reveals high, average, low, and, approach motives profiles. • The approach motives profile shows the best mental health condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing is determined by happiness and both positive and negative affects. These constructs are, in turn, related to emotional intelligence and play an important role in individual behaviour. This study examined the relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and positive and negative affects in a sample of 344 (121 men 35.17 % and 223 women 64.83 %) trainee teachers, with an average age of 22.36 years. Happiness and affects yielded lower values, which may be related to the age of the participants. All variables under study were found to be correlated, which suggests that they are measuring the same construct: subjective wellbeing. Network analysis indicated that the self-regulation of emotions was the axial factor in the relationship. Finally, it was found that only the factor of emotional intelligence that measures the self-regulation of emotion and affects (both positive and negative) can be used to predict happiness. The present investigation reveals that more research is needed that takes more variables into consideration to describe the effect of these variables on personal wellbeing. The study offers empirical support to models that argue for a relationship between happiness, emotional intelligence, and affects, and emphasises the need to work on future teachers during their training to address their psychological wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preference weights are widely used to score generic health states into utility indexes for estimation of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and to aid health care funding decisions. To date, health state utilities are predominantly derived using stated preference methods based on decision utility. This paper tests an alternative and generates preference weights using experienced utility for children based on the Child Health Utility 9D (CHU9D) descriptive system. We estimate the relative values of the CHU9D health states with regard to experienced utility, where experienced utility is approximated by self-reported happiness. A nationally-representative longitudinal survey was used including 6090 Australian children aged 12–17 years surveyed over 2014–2018. The derived weights were then applied to calculate the utility decrements for a few common child health conditions. We found that the estimated utility decrements are largely similar to those estimated using the published CHU9D Australian adolescent weights based on decision utility, except for pain and depression. A smaller utility decrement for pain and a larger utility decrement for depression were indicated by experienced utility. We contribute to the literature by showing that using experienced utility methods to generate preference weights for health states is possible, and we discuss some important methodological challenges for future studies such as the impracticability of anchoring to 'dead' when utilizing experienced utility. • Established methods of valuing health states rely on decision utility. • We use experienced utility to generate preference weights for children. • The estimated decrements for health conditions are similar to published weights. • We see smaller impact for pain, larger for depression compared to published weights. • Feasibility is demonstrated using child experienced utility for preference weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The types of social networks, their prevalence, and their relationship to health outcomes in older age have been different across countries and cultures. Most of the literature has focused on USA or in European countries and little is known about the social network typologies among older adults from Japan. This study aimed to identify these patterns of social network typologies and examine the differences in sociodemographic and related to health variables. 23894 participants from the JAGES project (2019), aged 65 or older (M = 74.74, DT = 6.39) from Japan. Statistical analyses included Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) followed by ANOVAs, Chi square and multinomial logistic regressions tests to compare the profiles. Four profiles were identified: family (66.9%), spouse (16.6%), diverse (14.5%), and neighbor/others (1.9%). The profiles differ statistically (p < 0.001) in all sociodemographic characteristics and in the means of depression, loneliness, self-perceived health, and happiness. Compared with the "family" network, younger men, with fewer chronic illnesses but higher levels of depression and loneliness were more likely to be in the "spouse" profile, older women with lower socioeconomic status, but less lonely and happier in the "diverse" profile and adults who still working, have lower socioeconomic status and are less happy into the "neighbors/others" group. We discuss the differences between the profiles found, the potential differences with previous studies and the specific cultural Japanese nuances that may explain the characteristics of the network types founded. • Familial, spouse, diverse and neighbor/others social networks profiles were identified. • Differ statistically in depression, loneliness, self-perceived health, and happiness. • The diverse group presents the best health outcomes, followed by "family". • Spouse group has protective sociodemographic factors but poor health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sense of hopelessness is rising at alarming levels among adolescents in the United States. There is urgent need to understand the potential implications of being hopeful on adolescents' future health and wellbeing. This study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 11,038, mean age at baseline = 15 years) to prospectively examine the relationship between baseline hope and a wide range of outcomes 12 years later. Thirty-eight outcomes were examined in the domains of physical health, health behavior, mental health, psychological well-being, social factors, and civic and prosocial behavior. Regression models were used to regress each outcome on baseline hope separately. Models controlled for a wide range of factors as well as prior values of the exposure (hope) and outcomes. Having hope for the future in adolescence was associated with improvements in 11 subsequent outcomes after Bonferonni correction, including higher cognition and self-rated health, less physical inactivity, fewer depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, and improvement on a number of psychological and social factors including greater happiness, more satisfaction with parenting, and increased voting and volunteering in adulthood. There were also a number of associations that were close to the null, which are equally important to explore and understand. The results of the study may have important implications for hope-based efforts and programs aimed at improving the lives of young people and promoting their current and future well-being. • This study examines hope in adolescence and health and well-being 12 years later. • Hope positively predicted several outcomes, especially psychological well-being. • There were also a number of outcomes with no association. • Increasing hope during adolescence may promote longer-term well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic adolescents are at increased risk of developing mental health problems. Improving psychological well-being could reduce the likelihood of such problems developing. Research has tended to prioritise the voices of non-autistic people and has neglected to consult autistic young people themselves. Our meta-synthesis aimed to systematically review qualitative research on the perspectives of autistic young people and their parents on the lived experience of psychological well-being. We conducted a pre-planned systematic search which identified 2552 papers, with 37 of those meeting full inclusion criteria. Included papers were published between 2008 and 2023, with three-quarters published since 2018. We extracted qualitative data from each paper pertaining to the lived experience of psychological well-being in autistic young people and conducted a thematic synthesis. We identified three themes; Walking a tightrope: the need for growth versus recharging through rest and familiarity; Developing a positive sense of self in the social world; Internally driven sources of happiness. Psychological interventions aiming to improve well-being in autistic young people should respect their autonomy and need for rest whilst encouraging growth and skills development, provide opportunities to understand social needs and differences, and promote opportunities to enjoy special interests. • A systematic review of the lived experience of well-being in autistic adolescents. • 37 papers published between 2008 and 2023 were included in a thematic synthesis. • Results give new insights into factors contributing to psychological well-being. • Psychological interventions should be designed based on lived experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World Values Survey data is used to test the association between urbanization, operationalized as population size, and subjective well-being, operationalized as life satisfaction, in the case of Egypt. Regression results show that the smallest settlements have the highest positive effect on subjective well-being compared to the large urban centers. These results are persistent even after controlling for an extensive set of socio-demographic variables. Another important finding is that the two main urban and economic centers of the country, the Greater Cairo and Alexandria regions, generate lower subjective well-being when compared to the more rural regions (Lower and Upper Egypt). These results are both unexpected and compelling, especially in the context of a developing country such as Egypt—previous research argues that cities should generate higher subjective well-being when compared to rural and township settlements in such a context. Our empirical findings show otherwise and provide a novel and crucial contribution to the literature on the subjective wellbeing- urbanization nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior literature suggests that social media may increase older adults' well-being because they use social media to communicate with close social ties, such as family members. Despite this potential being recognized and associations between social media and well-being being established among older adults, the role of social media contact (SMC), particularly with family members, as a source of well-being has been little explored. In this study, we tested whether SMC with family members increases happiness for older (68–74 year-old) and younger and middle-aged (19–56 year-old) adults. Using population-based data from Finland, we examined the extent to which self-rated happiness is dependent on the respondents' sustenance of SMC with given family members. This analysis involved 2807 social media users. The family members examined were children and siblings for both generations; in addition, grandchildren for the older generation and parents for the younger generation. Propensity score matching was used to improve the credibility of the estimated associations. Partially supporting the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), the results show that the older generation has more SMC with family members than the younger generations does; however, SMC with family members did not increase happiness among older adults, as SST suggests. Conversely, for younger adults, SMC with some family members was associated with increased happiness, suggesting that social media may gratify some family-related needs more specific to middle-aged adults than to older adults. This study adds to the knowledge about life-stage specific factors that contribute to subjective well-being in the digital era. • We explore whether family communication via social media is a source of happiness. • We use a multi-generation dataset and control for size of social networks. • We find partial support for the socioemotional selectivity theory. • Older adults' social media use is family-driven but it does not increase happiness. • We use propensity score matching to improve the credibility of the causality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in social media sites may be attractive to millions of users as it offers many social and emotional rewards. However, relying on social media sites for relief from everyday stress, anxiety and loneliness involves risks of an unhealthy dependence. Understanding addiction behaviors on social media-addiction to social media as well as addiction to brands and impulse buying on social media, is important in order to identify ways to protect consumers' well-being. This research is among the first to examine the relationships between social media addiction, brand addiction, impulse buying and psychological well-being states in the context of social media. We conduct an online survey with social media users (18–44 years of age), and we analyze the tested relationships using structural equation modelling. Results reveal that social media addiction and brand addiction/impulse buying on social media are distinct addiction types. Social media addiction is predicted by anxiety/loneliness and emotional suppression (negative well-being states). Brand addiction/impulse buying, meanwhile, is positively predicted by social media addiction as well as a positive psychological route (mindfulness, happiness, self-esteem). Implications for theory and practice are discussed. • Excessive levels of social media engagement can elicit addiction to brands and buying on social media: Social media addiction predicts brand addiction/impulse buying. • There is also a positive psychological route to brand addiction/impulse buying where mindfulness, self-esteem and happiness positively predict brand addiction/impulse buying, indicating that psychologically healthy individuals may also be prone to brand addiction/impulse buying on social media. • Anxiety/loneliness and emotional suppression have a strong positive effect on social media addiction, whereas the direct effects of low mindfulness, low self-esteem and unhappiness on social media addiction are not statistically significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A whole-brain correlation analysis provided early evidence that higher levels of SCC was associated with increased fALFF/ALFF in the right precentral gyrus (PreCG) and with increased DC in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG). • Functional connectivity analyses indicated that SCC was associated with decreased RSFC of the right PreCG and left inferior parietal lobe (IPL). • Results from the 574 randomly selected fully independent participants partly supported the above findings. Self-concept clarity (SCC) focuses on the internal consistency and stability of individual self-concept and is assumed to be a critical indicator for one's subjective well-being (SWB), which is assumed to include emotional well-being (EWB) and cognitive well-being (CWB). However, the neurobiological basis of SCC and the neurological mechanisms underlying the relationship between SCC and SWB have not been well defined. Thus, this study explored the neural basis of SCC by correlating the fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with the self-reported SCC in 574 healthy first-year university students. A whole-brain correlation analysis indicated that higher levels of SCC was associated with increased fALFF in the right precentral gyrus (PreCG). Additionally, SCC was associated with decreased RSFC of the right PreCG and left inferior parietal lobe (IPL). Furthermore, mediation analysis demonstrated that the fALFF in the right PreCG and PreCG-IPL connectivity strength might be associated with EWB and positive affect through SCC. Our findings contribute to understanding the neurobiological basis of SCC and the neural mechanism underlying the relationship between SCC and EWB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A person's well-being depends heavily on forming and maintaining positive relationships, but people can be reluctant to connect in ways that would create or strengthen relationships. Emerging research suggests that miscalibrated social cognition may create psychological barriers to connecting with others more often. Specifically, people may underestimate how positively others will respond to their own sociality across a variety of social actions, including engaging in conversation, expressing appreciation, and performing acts of kindness. We suggest that these miscalibrated expectations are created and maintained by at least three mechanisms: differential construal, uncertain responsiveness, and asymmetric learning. Underestimating the positive consequences of social engagement could make people less social than would be optimal for both their own and others' well-being. Connecting with others increases well-being, but people may be reluctant to reach out due to concerns about how a recipient might respond. Recent research suggests that these concerns may be misplaced: people tend to underestimate how positively others respond to social outreach. Miscalibrated expectations can stem from three mechanisms: people evaluate their own actions in terms of competence but are evaluated by others in terms of warmth (differential construal), anticipate a broader range of outcomes than is actually probable (uncertain responsiveness), and receive less feedback when expectations encourage avoidance (asymmetric learning). These mechanisms can lead people to undervalue several forms of sociality including conversations, expressions of appreciation, and acts of kindness, especially with less familiar others. People may therefore be less social than would be optimal for their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life satisfaction surveys are increasingly being used as a measure of welfare (Stiglitz et al., 2009), and even proposed as a primary measure (Layard, 2005). On average worldwide, surveys consistently find that women report higher life satisfaction than men. Yet, women are worse off in many ways: less education, lower incomes, worse self-reported health, and fewer opportunities. Why do they report higher life satisfaction? Using Gallup World Poll survey data from 102 countries including anchoring vignettes, I show that the gap is consistent with women and men systematically using different response scales, and that once these scales have been normalized, women appear less happy than men on average. I find that the effects of other characteristics commonly studied (income, education, marital status, etc.) are at least directionally the same after vignette adjustment, reinforcing previous findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper develops a speech act-based model of verbal irony. It argues, first, that ironic utterances are speech actions performed as conforming to a socially accepted procedure and, second, that they are best understood as so-called etiolated uses of language. The paper is organized into four parts. The first one elaborates on Austin's doctrine of the etiolations of language and distinguishes between the normal or serious mode of communication and its etiolated mode. The second part discusses the dominant approaches to verbal irony and argues that the irony-as-a-trope theories can be viewed as attempts to describe ironic utterances as cases of normal speech, whereas the metalinguistic theories seem to treat them as etiolated uses of language. The third part proposes a set of felicity conditions for ironic acts and puts forth a hypothesis that echo and overt pretence are complementary techniques of linguistic etiolation used for ironizing. The fourth part uses the proposed model to discuss the social dimension of ironizing and argues that utterances intended as acts of ironizing may trigger the accommodating process of context-repair. The take-home message is that ironic utterances are essentially social actions : acts performed by invoking a socially accepted procedure. • Ironic utterances are speech actions performed as conforming to a socially accepted procedure. • Ironic utterances are etiolated uses of language that involve echo and overt pretence. • There are felicity conditions for ironizing whose violation results in misfires or abuses. • At least some felicity conditions for ironic utterances are subject to accommodation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by a high psychopathological heterogeneity, the underlying psychological mechanisms that result in different clinical profiles are unclear. This study examined the cognitive processing of emotional faces (angry, happy, neutral, and sad) by means of assessing inhibitory control (antisaccade task) and attentional engagement (prosaccade task) with the eye-tracking paradigm. Firstly, two clinical SZ subgroups classified according to the predominance of positive (PSZ; n = 20) or negative symptoms (NSZ; n = 34) and a control group of 32 individuals were compared. Secondly, the association between prosaccade and antisaccade measurements and the severity of positive and negative symptoms were analyzed. The PSZ group showed slower antisaccades when angry faces were displayed, and higher positive symptoms were associated with slower prosaccade latencies to ones. Conversely, the NSZ group made overall slower prosaccades with an emotional advantage for angry faces, and higher negative symptoms were associated with faster antisaccade latencies to ones. Hence, whereas positive SZ profile is related to a lack of attentional engagement and an impaired inhibitory control to threatening information; negative SZ profile is linked to a lack of attentional engagement to faces, mainly with non-threat ones, and with an advantage to ignore distracting threatening stimuli. These findings support affective information-processing theories suggesting a hypersensitivity to threat for positive SZ profiles, and a desensitization to socio-emotional information for negative ones. Consequently, characterizing psychological mechanisms of SZ may allow improving current treatments to threat management when positive symptoms are predominant, or emotion sensitization when negative symptoms prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study proposes an indicators framework and explores the impact of national parks on users' happiness. • Landscape elements, including surfacing, resting seats, and water bodies, are the leading factors that influence the users' happiness. • Ecosystem Services have a mediating effect between landscape elements and users' happiness. • Landscape elements and ecosystem services have a consistent impact on users' happiness among user groups. • Socioeconomic factors have different impacts on happiness among user groups. In the context of improving living standards, the management of people's mental health is gaining increasing attention. Despite the proven significance of urban green space in stress alleviation and mental well-being, research on the link among perception-based landscape elements, perception-based ecosystem services and users' happiness in national parks remains further studied. This study focused on Beijing, one of the world's most densely populated cities, to study factors influencing happiness among park users for management. Based on cognitive appraisal theory, this study proposed the indicator framework for park management and used the structural equation model to explore how perception-based landscape elements and perception-based ecosystem services directly or indirectly affect the well-being of national park users. The results showed that the happiness of park users was relatively high (4.3 out of 5). Landscape elements such as surfacing (0.632), resting seats (0.567), water bodies (0.555), and vegetation (0.549), as well as ecosystem services such as inspiration (0.691), rest (0.649), and cool climate (0.649), had a stronger association with happiness. The study reveals that landscape elements in the national parks directly and indirectly affect users' happiness, including directly affecting their happiness and indirectly affecting their happiness through ecosystem services. There are three types of user groups, including solo park wanderers (38.5%), social frequent users (29.7%), and independent casual users (31.8%), with consistent impact pathways of landscape elements and ecosystem services on happiness. However, there are variations in the magnitude of impact and the pathways influenced by socio-economic factors. Based on these findings, this study provided targeted suggestions for national park planning and design, and served as a reference for the study of users' happiness in other urban spaces. Furthermore, this study consolidates the cognitive evaluation theory, and sheds light on the role of perception-based appraisal landscape elements and ecosystem services in user happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is conceptual overlap between mental toughness and resilience, self-efficacy, and grit, although few studies have empirically examined the overlap between them. In addition, little research has examined the extent to which there is an empirical advantage of using the mental toughness framework to predict outcomes of interest. The current study therefore explored the predictive validity of mental toughness, specifically in terms of the extent to which it predicts happiness over and above the cognate constructs of resilience, self-efficacy, and grit. Three hundred and sixty-seven participants completed measures of mental toughness, resilience, self-efficacy, grit, and happiness. The correlations between the variables were explored, and a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which mental toughness predicted happiness over and above resilience, self-efficacy, and grit. There were significant correlations between mental toughness, resilience, self-efficacy, and grit. When resilience, self-efficacy and grit were entered into the regression each of them was a significant predictor of happiness, but when mental toughness was added they were no longer significant predictors, with the commitment, control of emotion, control of life, confidence in abilities, and interpersonal confidence components of mental toughness being significant predictors. Therefore, despite conceptual overlap, if the aim of research or practice is to identify individuals at risk of poor wellbeing, then this aim is better met when using the construct of mental toughness. The role of mental toughness in happiness also suggests value in examining the impact of mental toughness interventions in the domain of wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time is a critical resource, because how we spend the hours of our days sums up to the years of our lives. Yet are there individual differences in the way people think about their time, and how do such differences relate to subjective well-being? In the current research, we developed and empirically validated a 4-item scale to assess the extent to which people take a broad view of time—typically thinking more in terms of their years and life overall, rather than by hours and days. We provide evidence that those with a broad view of time report greater subjective well-being (i.e., more positive emotion, satisfaction, and meaning in life), and they spend their time in more meaningful ways (i.e., by dedicating more time to important activities, and not merely urgent ones). • Individuals vary in the extent to which they take a broad view of time. • People who take a broad view of time think in terms of years and life (vs. hours). • Developed and validated the 4-item Broad View of Time scale. • Taking a broad view of time predicts happiness, meaning, and life satisfaction. • Taking a broad view of time predicts spending on important (vs. urgent) activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering recent research and reports, much attention has been given to understanding and addressing issues of abuse in sport. Similarly, attention has been given to enhancing children's psychosocial experiences within sport. However, to-date, consideration of these two elements together, that is minimising abuse and enhancing enjoyment, has been minimal. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore perceptions of the process through which an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience can be created for young people. A Straussian grounded theory methodology was used to develop a substantive theory detailing the process through which an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience is created for young people in sport. Interviews were conducted with 19 young people, six parents, nine coaches, and five individuals in safeguarding roles. The interviews were analysed through open and axial coding, followed by theoretical integration. The resultant theory highlighted that establishing positive relationships between all young people and key individuals in a physically and developmentally safe environment was a fundamental requirement for fostering an optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experience. Achieving this required consideration of factors both in the immediate and broad sporting context. Specifically, support from sports organisations, access to continuing professional development opportunities, and a network of safeguarding experts are required in the broader environment. While within the immediate sporting environment, visibly displayed and appropriately implemented safeguarding policies and procedures; open, honest, and respectful interactions; shared goals and expectations between parents, coaches, and young people, and; trusting and supportive friendships with shared experiences are required. • This study developed a grounded theory of optimally safe and enjoyable sporting experiences. • Positive relationships in developmentally appropriate and physically safe environments underpin such experiences. • Factors in the broader and immediate sporting context influence the experience. • NGB support and networks of individuals involved in safeguarding are useful. • Accessible policies, opportunities for interactions, shared experiences, and aligned goals and expectations are important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loneliness is quickly becoming an enormous problem among individuals of all age groups. The onset of Covid-19 has worsened this situation. Therefore, there is urgent need for a practical intervention, which may improve the social well-being of an individual addressing the root cause of loneliness. In this study we examine the benefits of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY), a yogic breathing practice to enhance social connectedness among individuals by reducing stress. 473 participants registering for the SKY program enrolled in the current open feasible trial. Assessment of social connectedness was done using Social Connectedness Scale (SCS). Stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) pre- and post- SKY intervention. Outcomes were measured at three different time points namely, baseline (pre-program), post-program, and day 40. Day 40 was 40 days after the completion of the Sudarshan Kriya program. Significant increase in SCS scores (p value <0.001) was found immediately after the SKY intervention. The SCS scores improved positively with regular practice of the intervention with a large effect size (p value <0.001, measured on day 40). The Stress scores significantly reduced post-intervention (p value <0.001). The study suggested a positive connection between the SKY practice and subsequent improvement in social connectedness. The reduction in stress levels post SKY program as indicated in the study may be a reason of enhanced social connectedness. Large scale studies with inclusion of control group can further affirm the study results. • In the era of internet usage, prevalence of online work culture and smartphone use has reduced face-face interaction leading to loneliness. • An open trial with 473 participants was conducted to examine the benefits of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga on social well-being of individuals. • The study highlights the positive connection between Sudarshan Kriya Yoga and social connectedness. • The study demonstrates an inverse relationship between stress and social connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Learning enjoyment and learning effort decreased during the pandemic. • Student-perceived consequences of the pandemic predicted the decreases. • Parental ability to provide learning support predicted the decrease in enjoyment. • The strength of this link depended on prior student achievement. This study investigated changes in learning enjoyment and learning effort, two central yet under-researched aspects of school-related emotion and motivation, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also verified whether selected aspects of the home environment predicted changes in the two aspects. To this end, we used data gathered from 4240 German lower secondary school students surveyed before (Grade 7, 2018/19) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Grade 8, 2019/20 and Grade 9, 2020/21). The analyses, which involved latent change score models with covariates, revealed a decrease in student learning enjoyment and learning effort between Grades 7 and 9. Moreover, the student-perceived consequences of the pandemic predicted a decrease in both of these constructs, whereas parental ability to provide learning support during distance learning predicted a decrease in learning enjoyment. The strength of this relationship depended on prior student academic achievement. The results highlight the role of environmental factors for the development of learning enjoyment and learning effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) and subjective well-being (SBW) through the lens of cultural values. Using data from a global sample of individuals from the World Value Surveys, we show that there is a strong positive link between PEBs and SWB. Importantly, we highlight the role that culture plays in this relationship. We show that the positive link between PEBs and SBW is less pronounced for people with a more individualistic value system. We argue and demonstrate empirically that individualists display higher levels of PEB, and this translates into lower marginal SWB from PEB due to diminishing marginal utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the authentic happiness theory, this study proposes a model that links audience involvement, hedonic happiness, eudaimonic happiness and travel intention to better understand how travel vlogs stimulate online users to travel offline. The model conceptualizes three dimensions of audience involvement, namely narrative involvement, media personae identification, and parasocial interaction, based on the social characteristics of travel vlogs. Data collected from 454 participants were used to test the proposed hypotheses. The results show that (1) travel vlog audiences members' authentic happiness has a hierarchical structure, with narrative involvement, media personae identification, and parasocial interaction all having a positive and significant impact on hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness; (2) narrative involvement and media personae identification have a stronger impact on hedonic happiness, while parasocial interaction has a stronger impact on eudaimonic happiness; (3) hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness fully mediate the impact of narrative involvement, media personae identification and parasocial interaction on travel intention. This study enriches the literature on audience involvement and deepens the theoretical understanding of authentic happiness in the context of tourism social media. It also provides guidance to tourism destinations on how to engage in vlog marketing. • Audience involvement is broken down into three dimensions. • Travel vlog viewers' authentic happiness has a hierarchical structure. • Audience involvement has a positive impact on hedonic and eudaimonic happiness. • The impact of audience involvement on two types of happiness is asymmetric. • The mediating effects of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health emergencies such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic force policymakers to implement appropriate measures including social distancing to curb the spread of the virus. Although most people assume that such measures impact mental health, the extent of the impact may vary considerably between individuals. Using data from a 30-day diary study that captured daily happiness ratings (N = 611; 15,607 observations) during the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, we used multi-level modeling to test whether the Big Five personality factors moderated the relationship between enforced social distancing and happiness. We observed that people's happiness was stable throughout the enforcement and easing of social distancing. During the study period, both extraversion and agreeableness were found to be positively associated with happiness. Those high in extraversion were less happy when the distancing measures were enforced than when they were lifted. Our findings point to extraversion as a risk factor in public health emergencies and the importance of identifying people at risk to ensure immediate intervention during a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public health has been associated with environmental pollution and regulations. With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the real effects of environmental regulations and mechanisms on public health remain uncertain. We develop a theoretical model of individual utility and investigate how environmental regulations affect public health from a social welfare perspective. By using the panel data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019, we find that environmental regulations positively influence public health. This positive effect is attributable to a boost in employment and an improvement in individual happiness. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that environmental regulations are more likely to affect groups with low education, middle-aged, living in eastern China and rural areas. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of the heterogeneous effects of environmental regulation on health and offer a new perspective for policy-makers to balance social welfare with environmentally sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Household is an important physical activity resource in older adults' daily life. • Older adults' HPA and SWB had a positive association. • Engaging in HPA is a good approach for increasing old adults' self-rated health. • HPA is recommended for old couples to maintain marital satisfaction. • Older adults living in China and South Korea had higher HPA than others. Engaging in lifelong physical activity has multiple health benefits for older populations. Household physical activity occupies older adults' awake time, and they can be an important energy expenditure during the day. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between older adults' household physical activity and subjective well-being in four East Asian societies. The study design was a secondary data analysis. Data were retrieved from the module of Families 2016 in the database of the East Asian Social Survey. Participants were community-dwelling older adults with a mean age of 70.30±7.50 years and who lived in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Data were collected by interviews via structured questionnaires between 2016 and 2018. Descriptive analyses, independent t -tests, and an analysis of covariance were performed for the statistical analyses. In total, there were 3,432 valid responses. Participants who lived in Taiwan had significantly lower levels of total household physical activity than those living in other societies. Older adults' household physical activity was found to significantly differ by age, educational degree, gender, religion, marital status, occupation, and whether living alone. Older adults with high levels of household physical activity had significantly higher self-rated health and marital satisfaction than those with low levels. Household physical activity has potential benefits for subjective well-being across international older adult populations. Increasing household physical activity is recommended for older married couples to maintain marital satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Being single was positively associated with current smoking among men and transitioning to widowed or divorced was associated with incident current smoking among women. • Being single or widowed was positively associated with underweight and negatively associated with obesity among women. • Men who were divorced, single, or widowed had higher odds of having depressive symptoms and among women, transitioning to being widowed or divorced or separated was associated with incident depressive symptoms. • Among both men and women, being divorced, single or widowed were positively associated with poor quality of life/happiness. The aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal association between marital status, marital transition, mental ill-health, and health risk behaviours among middle-aged and older adults in Thailand. We analyzed prospective cohort data of participants 45 years and older from three consecutive waves in 2015, 2017, and in 2020 (analytic sample, n = 2863) of the Health, Aging and Retirement in Thailand (HART) study. Sociodemographic and health variables were assessed by self-report. Being single was positively associated with current smoking among men and transitioning to widowed or divorced was associated with incident current smoking among women. Divorced or separated was positively associated with current alcohol use among men and transitioning to marriage was associated with incident alcohol use among women. Being single or widowed was positively associated with underweight and negatively associated with obesity among women. Men who were divorced, single, or widowed had higher odds of having depressive symptoms and among women, transitioning to being widowed or divorced or separated was associated with incident depressive symptoms. Among both men and women, being divorced, single or widowed were positively associated with poor quality of life/happiness, and among men being divorced, single or widowed was positively associated with loneliness, and among women, being single or widowed was positively associated with loneliness. Among men, being single was positively associated with having an emotional or psychiatric disorder. We found among men and/or women that being unmarried was associated with several health risk behaviours and mental-ill health indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the Implicit-Affect-Primes-Effort model (Gendolla, 2012) found that priming happiness or anger in challenging tasks results in stronger sympathetically mediated cardiovascular responses, reflecting effort, than priming sadness or fear. Recent studies on action shielding revealed that personal task choice can attenuate affective influences on action execution (e.g., Gendolla et al., 2021). The present experiment tested if this action shielding effect also applies to affect primes' influences on cardiovascular response. Participants (N = 136) worked on a cognitive task with integrated briefly flashed and backward masked facial expressions of sadness vs. happiness. Half of the participants could ostensibly choose whether they wanted to work on an attention or on a memory task, while the other half was assigned to one task. Our findings revealed effects on cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), which align with the expected outcomes for a task of unfixed difficulty where participants establish their own performance standard. Most importantly, task choice shielded against the implicit affective influence on PEP that was evident when the task was externally assigned. Effects on systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity largely corresponded to those of PEP. • Participants could choose or were assigned to a cognitive task. • Briefly flashed happiness vs. sadness primes were presented during the task. • When the task was assigned, sadness primes led to stronger cardiac PEP reactivity than happiness primes. • This priming effect was no longer observed when participants could personally choose their task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Childhood psychological maltreatment predicts fear of happiness via external shame. • CPM predicts FoH through family communication. • External shame and family communication were the serial mediators in the association. It is known that childhood psychological maltreatment has an adverse influence on the present and future lives of individuals as well as on their past lives. Individuals exposed to psychological maltreatment avoid positive emotions throughout their lives, and their fear of happiness is triggered. Considering that other factors may have an effect on this link, this study aims to examine the mediating role of external shame and family communication in the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and fear of happiness. In total 390 Turkish individuals participated from 51 different cities in Türkiye. Research data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. The findings of the study indicated that external shame and family communication played a full mediating role in the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and fear of happiness. The results revealed that external shame and family communication are important variables to change the beliefs about the happiness of individuals who are exposed to psychological maltreatment. All findings were discussed and interpreted in detail in light of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing various panel data analyses including threshold panel model, this paper has examined how economic status determines the relationship among democracy, macroeconomic variables and happiness. Considering panel data of 83 countries over the time period from 2010 to 2016, this study tries to establish that, factors determining subjective well-being (SWB) or life satisfaction has different effects differently for low and high income countries. This study has found that though per capita GDP has no direct impact on happiness, it establishes the role of other variables in determining happiness. It has been found that countries with higher level of income democratic quality and inflation have significant impact on happiness. The impact of democratic quality is positive whereas the impact is negative in case of inflation. Moreover, inequality and health expenditure per capita by the government respectively have negative and positive impact in case of low income countries. It is also evident that unemployment has a strict negative impact across all type of countries but the magnitude is higher in low income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• With 32.2% of participants exhibiting moderate to low resilience and only 21.9% of participants reported a high level of happiness. • We found a strong positive correlation between happiness and resilience (r = 0.351) and a negative correlation between happiness and depression levels (r = -0.410). • Resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between intrinsic capacity and happiness, with approximately 6.6% of the variance in happiness being mediated by resilience. The core of healthy aging is intrinsic capacity (IC) that consists of major elements, i.e., cognition, locomotion, vitality, sensory capacity, and psychological aspect. This cross-sectional study analyzes data of the Gan-Dau Healthy Longevity Plan, targeting community-dwelling adults aged 50 years or older. The participants completed the assessment, in addition to WHO IC, including the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) for cognitive performance, 6 m walking speed (m/s),timed up-and-go test (s) and hand grip strength (Kg) for locomotor assessment, Cardiovascular health study (CHS) for frailty assessment, Mini Nutrition assessment short form (MNA-SF) for nutrition. Psychological aspect including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality, the Geriatric Depression Scale-5 (GDS-5) for depressive symptoms, the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) for resilience, and the Chinese Happiness Inventory (CHI) for happiness levels. The study enrolled 810 participants (mean age of 68.45 ± 8.05 years, 32% male) and revealed that 94.7% of participants exhibited impairments in IC, with visual capacity and cognition being the most common deficit items of IC. Resilience levels varied, with 37.4% of men and 33.5% of women exhibiting moderate to low resilience. Only 23.4% of male participants and 21.1% female participants reported a high level of happiness. Resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between intrinsic capacity and happiness, with approximately 6.6% of the variance in happiness being mediated by resilience. In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the connections between psychological aspect, IC, and healthy aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive Psychology has reconstructed how we understand happiness. The practices and discourses it presents to perform that reconceptualization appear as if free from political interest or intentionality. However, this article will show that its proposals define a subtle new form of government which we will call Psychopolitics. Instead of placing the population or the body of the citizen at the centre of political struggles, it focuses on the psyche. Through an extreme defence of positive emotions and happiness as the key to a good life, Positive Psychology promotes a type of friendly power relations, which instead of punishing motivates and empowers the individual's creativity. To illustrate all of this, we conducted a case study with a Positive Psychology training course taught in a Spanish state university. Content analysis was used to explain the recurring themes and practices of this new discipline of positivity, showing how health is redefined around the happiness axis, and how happiness becomes an individual responsibility. We conclude that all these dimensions are simply a categorical definition of a new type of power relations which may characterise the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding affect as a determinant of physical activity has gained increased attention in health behavior research. Fluctuations in affect intensity from moment-to-moment (i.e., affective variability) may interfere with cognitive and regulatory processes, making it difficult to engage in goal-directed behaviors such as physical activity. Preliminary evidence indicates that those with greater trait-level affective variability engage in lower levels of habitual physical activity. However, the extent to which daily fluctuations in affect variability are associated with same-day physical activity levels is unknown. This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate day-level associations between affective variability (i.e., within-subject variance) and physical activity. Young adults (N = 231, M = 23.58 ± 3.02 years) provided three months of smartphone-based EMA and smartwatch-based activity data. Every two weeks, participants completed a 4-day EMA measurement burst (M = 5.17 ± 1.28 bursts per participant). Bursts consisted of hourly randomly-prompted EMA surveys assessing momentary positive-activated (happy, energetic), positive-deactivated (relaxed), negative-activated (tense, stressed), and negative-deactivated (sad, fatigued) affect. Participants continuously wore a smartwatch to measure physical activity across the three months. Mixed-effects location scale modeling examined the day-level associations of affective variability (i.e., positive-activated, positive-deactivated, negative-activated, and negative-deactivated) and physical activity, controlling for covariates such as mean levels of affect, between-subject effects of physical activity, time of day, day of week, day in study, and smartwatch wear time. There were 41,546 completed EMA surveys (M = 182.22 ± 69.82 per participant) included in the analyses. Above and beyond mean levels of affect, greater day-level variability in positive-activated affect was associated with greater physical activity on that same day compared to other days (τ = 0.01, p <.001), whereas greater day-level variability in negative-deactivated affect was associated with less physical activity on that same day compared to other days (τ = −0.01, p <.001). Day-level variability in positive-deactivated affect or negative-activated affect were not associated with day-level physical activity (p s >.05) Individuals were less active on days with greater variability in feeling sad and fatigued but more active on days with greater variability in feeling happy and energetic. Understanding the dynamic relationships of affective variability with day-level physical activity can strengthen physical activity interventions by considering how these processes differ within individuals and unfold within the context of daily life. Future research should examine causal pathways between affective variability and physical activity across the day. • Smartphone and smartwatches assessed affective variability and physical activity. • Day-level positive-activated affect variability predicted greater physical activity. • Day-level negative-deactivated affect variability predicted less physical activity. • Positive-deactivated affect variability was not associated with physical activity. • Negative-activated affect variability was not associated with physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The semantic incorporation of nouns into predicates, like give a hug , is not morphologically marked in English, and how syntactic incorporation strategies like light verb constructions influence the discourse-prominence structure of an utterance has not yet been studied systematically. One hypothesis is that since semantically incorporated nouns are not morphosyntactically incorporated in English, they can function like any other noun as prominent and accessible referents for anaphora. Another hypothesis is that their semantic status and their predicative meaning influence their discourse prominence, and hence their accessibility by anaphoric means. We tested these two hypotheses in two experimental studies on different anaphoric preferences of English pronouns. Our studies demonstrate that the felicity patterns for the two different pronominal reference strategies are determined at different linguistic levels: For it , we found an impact of morphosyntactic form; for that , the semantic type of the referent (object vs. event) seems to play a role. Crucially, the degree of semantic incorporation does not affect discourse prominence and pronoun choice to the extent that we had expected. • Discourse prominence is measured by choices of subsequent reference in English. • Not only reference to objects, but also reference to events. • Anaphoric reference with simple pronouns correlates with morphosyntactic forms of referent. • Anaphoric reference with demonstratives depends on the semantic kind of the referent. • Evidence from two forced-choice tasks, replicating and extending previous work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Network analyses have been applied to understand the relationships between individual symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, little is known about which symptoms are most strongly associated with "positive" indicators of mental health, such as happiness. Furthermore, few studies have examined symptom networks in participants from low- and middle-income countries.Methods: To address these gaps, we applied network analyses in a sample of Indian adolescents (Study 1; n=1080) and replicated these analyses in a pre-registered study with Kenyan adolescents (Study 2; n=2176). Participants from both samples completed the same measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and happiness.Results: Feeling sad and feeling like a failure had the strongest (negative) associations with happiness items. These two symptoms, as well as worrying and feeling nervous, had the strongest associations with other symptoms of depression and anxiety. Symptoms of depression and anxiety formed a single cluster, which was distinct from a cluster of happiness items. Main findings were consistent across the two samples, suggesting a cross-culturally robust pattern.Limitations: We used cross-sectional data, and we administered scales assessing a limited subset of symptoms and happiness items.Conclusions: Our findings support the idea that some symptoms of depression and anxiety are more strongly associated with happiness. These findings contribute to a body of literature emphasizing the advantages of symptom-level analyses. We discuss how efforts to understand associations between individual symptoms and "positive" mental health indicators, like happiness, could have theoretical and practical implications for clinical psychological science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]