Abstract
Two studies examined the interaction between subjective well-being (SWB) and meaning in life (MIL) vis-à-vis self-perceptions of actual or potential threats to one's physical and mental integrity, hereby defined as the hostileworld scenario (HWS). Study 1 (N = 608) showed that the relationship between SWB and MIL strengthened as the HWS increased. Study 2 (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe; SHARE-Israel; N = 1665) similarly showed that SWB and MIL were strongly linked as lifetime cumulative adversity, the ultimate realization of the HWS, increased. Study 2 further showed that when one construct (whether SWB or MIL) was low, the other construct acted as a moderator of the effect of cumulative adversity on functioning. In conclusion, although SWB and MIL are more strongly linked under adverse circumstances, they are likely to compensate for each other, perhaps due to their unique operations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 273-285 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Positive Psychology |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The first wave of the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe was funded by the US National Institute on Aging (no. R21 AG2516901), by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (G.I.F.), and by the National Insurance Institute of Israel. We are grateful to Howard Litwin for facilitating our study with the data.
Funding
The first wave of the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe was funded by the US National Institute on Aging (no. R21 AG2516901), by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (G.I.F.), and by the National Insurance Institute of Israel. We are grateful to Howard Litwin for facilitating our study with the data.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| G.I.F. | |
| Survey of Health, Ageing | |
| US National Institute on Aging | R21 AG2516901 |
| German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development | |
| National Insurance Institute of Israel |
Keywords
- Cumulative adversity
- Hostile-world scenario
- Meaning in life
- SHARE-Israel
- Subjective well-being