Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Life satisfaction'

Life Design approach represents a new paradigm for career counseling and development in the 21st century augmenting 20th-century Person-Environment (P-E) fit and developmental models by focusing on making meaning through work. Life Design emerged from work by an international group of scholars and practitioners in seven countries to better account the complexities of work and careers brought about by today’s economic conditions, globalization, and the digital revolution (Savickas et al., 2009; Nota & Rossier, 2015). People today experience a new social arrangement of work that moves from permanent to more temporary jobs, from linear to dynamic career trajectories, and from specific career knowledge to lifelong learning. Moreover, it emphasizes the need to support people to become expert in co-construction and Life Design processes, to anticipate and deal with career transitions, and to consider the hope for a foreseeable future, optimism, future orientation, and resilience, useful to individual’s future planning and behavior, and career adaptability, that is a modern world workers’ essential resource to manage frequent career and life transitions. According to Life Design approach, the research project is articulated in three phases. The first phase was aimed at the validation and development of instruments to assess the variables above described. In this respect two questionnaires were developed: ‘Vision about future’, to assess hope, optimism and negative view towards the future and ‘Design My Future’, to assess the Youth resilience and future orientation. . Explorative and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to analyze factor structure, evaluated convergent and discriminant validity. Multi-group Confirmatory Factor Analysis procedures was conducted to verify the factorial structural across gender. The second phase was finalized to investigate the relationships between career adaptability, positive variable, that is, hope, optimism, future orientation, resilience and life satisfaction. This phase was characterized by the development of different research projects, aiming to test the positive variables mediating role inside the adaptability and life satisfaction report. 1. In the first study, a cross cultural work, in collaboration with the University of Lausanne, 537 young Swiss adolescents and 727 young Italian adolescents were involved in order to assess the mediating role of hope and optimism in the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction relatively to both Countries. The conceptual model across countries was also verified. 2. In the second study 120 adults with disability were involved in order to investigate the mediating role of hope in the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction. 3. In the third study 152 (62 fathers and 90 mothers) parents of children with intellectual disabilities were involved to investigate the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between career adaptability and life satisfaction. Structural Equation Models (SEM) were conducted for the studies to test the models indicated above and to define the structure of the relationships between the considered different variables. The third phase of the project was focused on the development and implementation of an online method based on the Life Design's theoretical principles. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention, a study was conducted with 200 middle school students: 100 of the participants were assigned to the traditional intervention group and 100 were assigned to the on-line intervention group aiming to increase their level of career adaptability and life satisfaction. A variance analysis with repeated measures was carried out to evaluate pre- and post-test differences between the two intervention groups on levels of adaptability, life satisfaction, and wishes toward the future. Results indicated that students in the on-line intervention group showed higher levels of concern, control, curiosity and life satisfaction than those in the traditional intervention group. Also, they suggested that intervention increased students’ narratives wishes, richer in aspects useful for a career design more in tune with our times. Overall, the results underline the importance of preventive career education activities focusing on strengthening career adaptability, which in turn can sustain the development of positive expectations towards future and life satisfaction concerning both adolescents and adults.
L’approccio Life Design rappresenta un nuovo paradigma per il career counseling nel 21° secolo, volto al superamento dei modelli teorici del 20° secolo, fondati sulla ‘corrispondenze persona – ambiente’. Esso si sviluppa dal lavoro di un gruppo internazionale di studiosi, al fine di spiegare la complessità del lavoro e delle carriere professionali, considerando il contesto socio economico attuale caratterizzato da crisi, globalizzazione e rivoluzione digitale (Savickas et al., 2009; Nota & Rossier 2015). In considerazione di ciò, le recenti riflessioni in materia di progettazione professionale, enfatizzano che non si può più pensare che il futuro sia anticipabile, prevedibile e ricco di possibilità e promesse come si credeva in passato. Sono più frequenti cambiamenti, transizioni e forme di lavoro a tempo determinato (Savickas, Nota, Rossier, et al., 2009). Inoltre, l’approccio Life Design, pone l’accento sulla necessità di supportare le persone nel diventare esperte nei processi di co-costruzione e progettazione della vita, di anticipare e gestire le transizioni professionali, e di considerare la speranza, l'ottimismo, l'orientamento futuro, e la resilienza, quali variabili importanti alla pianificazione dei comportamenti futuri dell’individuo e, l’adaptability, quale risorsa essenziale per gestire le frequenti transizioni di carriera e di vita. All’interno dell’approccio teorico del Life Design si sviluppa il presente progetto di ricerca che si articola in tre fasi. Durante la prima fase si è proceduto alla validazione e allo sviluppo di strumenti al fine di valutare le variabili sopra descritte. A questo riguardo sono stati sviluppati due questionari:’Vision about Future’, per valutare la speranza, e l'ottimismo verso il e ‘Design My Future’, per valutare la resilienza e l'orientamento al futuro in un gruppo di giovani preadolescenti. Analisi esplorative e confermative (EFA e CFA) sono state utilizzate al fine di analizzarne la struttura fattoriale e la validità convergente e discriminante degli strumenti. Analisi multi-gruppo sono state inoltre condotte al fine di verificare la struttura fattoriale nel genere. La seconda fase del progetto è stata finalizzata all’analisi dei rapporti tra career adaptability, variabili positive (speranza, ottimismo, orientamento futuro, e resilienza) e soddisfazione di vita. Durante questa fase sono stati sviluppati diversi progetti di ricerca al fine di testare il ruolo di mediazione delle variabili positive considerate nel rapporto tra adaptability e soddisfazione di vita. 1. Nel primo studio, un lavoro interculturale, in collaborazione con l'Università di Losanna, 537 giovani adolescenti svizzeri e 727 giovani adolescenti italiani sono stati coinvolti, al fine di valutare il ruolo di mediazione della speranza e dell’ottimismo nel rapporto tra career adaptability e soddisfazione di vita nei due paesi. 2. Nel secondo studio sono stati coinvolti 120 adulti con disabilità al fine di indagare il ruolo di mediazione della speranza nella relazione tra career adaptability e soddisfazione di vita. 3. Un altro studio è stato sviluppato al fine di studiare il ruolo di mediazione della resilienza nella relazione tra career adaptability e la soddisfazione di vita in un gruppo di 152 genitori (62 padri e 90 madri) con figli con disabilità. Modelli di equazioni strutturali (SEM) sono stati condotti nei diversi studi per testare i modelli sopra descritti e per definire la struttura delle relazioni tra le diverse variabili considerate. Nella terza fase del progetto è stato messo a punto un intervento online fondato sui principi teorici del Life Design. L'efficacia dell’intervento è stata valutata attraverso uno studio condotto con 200 studenti delle scuole medie: 100 dei partecipanti sono stati assegnati al gruppo di intervento tradizionale e 100 sono stati assegnati al gruppo di intervento on-line volto ad incrementare i loro livelli di adaptability e soddisfazione di vita. Un'analisi della varianza a misure ripetute è stata effettuata al fine di valutare le differenze pre e post-test tra i due gruppi di intervento sui livelli di adaptability, soddisfazione di vita e desideri verso il futuro. I risultati hanno messo in evidenza che gli studenti che hanno preso parte al gruppo di intervento on-line hanno mostrato livelli più elevati di preoccupazione, controllo, curiosità e soddisfazione di vita rispetto agli studenti che hanno preso parte all’intervento ‘più tradizionale’ di vocational guidance. In generale i risultati ottenuti dal presente progetto di ricerca hanno messo in evidenza l’importanza di mettere a punto degli interventi di career guidance che possano rafforzare l’adaptability delle persone, la quale a sua volta può sostenere lo sviluppo di aspettative positive verso il futuro e aumentare i livelli di soddisfazione di vita di giovani e adulti.

The recent economic recession has led to a large number of dual-income families losing their second income or having a smaller overall household income as a result of hourly wage cuts. Previous research has examined how job satisfaction can spill over into home life satisfaction; however, literature on how life satisfaction can affect job satisfaction is scarce. Based on theories of job satisfaction, personality, conservation of resources, and affective spillover, this study examined whether job satisfaction of the working partner was affected when the other became unemployed. Measures of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, personality, spousal status, and some demographic data were collected from 99 participants, recruited via various social media sites, who were a dual earning couple and had a significant other who had lost their job in the prior six months. Analysis of covariance was used to compare job and life satisfaction of single- versus dual-earner families, with these covariates: age, education level, income, and the personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness. A multivariate analysis of covariance found that the covariates did not account for any significant variance in the analyses, and there were no significant differences between single- and dual-earner family status for either life or job satisfaction. While no empirical support was found for the hypotheses, supplemental analyses revealed that having a partner who worked part-time was preferable to having one who worked full-time, suggesting that part-time work allows for more family/spouse involvement. The social change implications for individuals and organizations include the exploration of how significant life events can impact job satisfaction. Continued research in this area could assist in increasing overall job satisfaction and performance.

The present study assessed the relationship between differing views of time perspective and satisfaction with life among college females. Time perspective was measured according to the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999) and life satisfaction was assessed along a temporal continuum with the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale (Pavot, Diener, & Suh, 1998). It was found that the positive time perspective of the past, present, and future were related to life satisfaction along the same temporal frames with the exception of the future subscale. The negatively oriented time perspective scales had a negative relationship with life satisfaction as was expected. Levels of balance between the past positive, present hedonistic, and future subscales were measured which created four categories of balanced or unbalanced, positive or negative perspectives. It was found that the greater the amount of positive scores among the three time perspective scales, the greater the total life satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The analysis of use of time during the week and the weekend provides an appropiate measure of the lifestyle. We describe the characteristics of the different groups and they are studied in relation to the lifestyle and work and family satisfaction. The concept of Congruence/Incongruence is used for analyzing the relationship between work and family environments. The conclusion is that those worlds are not independent. Moreover, lifestyle and satisfaction show some associations with demographic variables such as sex, kind of couple, and vital cycle (the age and the fact of having children).
El análisis de la distribución del tiempo que realizan las personas durante la semana y el fin de semana proporciona una adecuada medida del estilo de vida. Se describen y estudian las características de diferentes grupos de personas en función del estilo de vida y la satisfacción en el ámbito laboral y familiar. A través del concepto Congruencia/Incongruencia se analiza la relación entre el entorno laboral y familiar, donde se comprueba que ambos, mundos no son independientes. A su vez, el estilo de vida y la satisfacción muestran determinadas relaciones con variables demográficas como sexo, tipo de pareja y ciclo vital (edad y tener/no tener hijos).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-05, Section: A, page: 2168. Adviser: Ruth V. Russell. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2008)."

There are many questions about the long-term effects of college athletic participation that have not been studied, especially issues regarding gender. Because of socialization and the structural differences in men's and women's sports, the long-term effects of sports participation may be different for men and women athletes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of competition through college sports participation on job satisfaction and life satisfaction of former men and women athletes. Research was conducted on men and women who participated at the college level in basketball, track and field, swimming and diving, and tennis from 1983-1988 at Virginia Tech. Data were collected using a mail survey adapted from the Sports Orientation Questionnaire (Gill & Deeter, 1988), the revised and abridged version of the Life Satisfaction Index-A ( Kleiber, Greendorfer, Blinde, & Samdahl, 1987) and the Index of Job Satisfaction (Brayfield & Rothe, 1951). Data were analyzed using t-tests and regression models to determine the relationship between the independent variables of gender and level of competitiveness and the dependent variables of job satisfaction and life satisfaction. No significant difference was found between gender and its relationship to job satisfaction and life satisfaction. This result may have great importance given that women experience discrimination in sports participation. It seems that women are able to overcome these adverse conditions and achieve levels of job satisfaction and life satisfaction equal to men. Level of competitiveness was not statistically significant either; however this may be due to a small variance among the sample's level of competitiveness.
Master of Arts

This thesis examines the relationships between housing, housing satisfaction and quality of life using the capabilities approach developed by Sen and others as a theoretical framework. This approach is used to engage with housing-related themes and as a way of thinking about how housing contributes to quality of life. It also analyses the scope for heterogeneity in these relationships by looking at the housing experiences of migrant communities in Western Europe and the Irish Traveller community. Despite, the growth of interest in the capabilities approach as a way of structuring social science and policy analysis, there is relatively little substantial research that applies the capabilities approach to housing. This is surprising in view of the fact that the neighbourhood in which a person lives and other characteristics of their housing are likely to be associated with their experienced quality of life as well as the opportunities a person has, objectively speaking. Consequently, this thesis is an attempt to address this gap by applying the capabilities approach to the field of housing research. The thesis is divided into four substantive chapters, each one dealing with a specific aspect of the relationship between housing, housing satisfaction and quality of life. Chapter 2 sets the scene for this study by presenting the results of a critical, broad-based review and summary of the literature with regard to housing, happiness and capabilities. The following chapters build on the foregoing in an empirical context; Chapters 3 and 4 do so primarily with quantitative analyses and Chapter 5 uses a mixed-methods approach including offering some original qualitative research. Chapter 6 summarises what has been achieved and the main contribution of the thesis whilst offering some remarks regarding what might be done in future research and the policy implications of these findings.

Objectives. Social Networking Sites (SNSs) have exploded in popularity around the world and are composed of hundreds of millions of users. SNSs give the ability to communicate, share photos, send files, and update personal information instantaneously and continuously. Research is now being done on these sites to determine their usefulness and study whether or not its existence can enhance learning and the lives of people. The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not Facebook use has an effect on life satisfaction through Facebook identity salience and Facebook role enactment. Methods. Using data acquired at the University of Texas at Austin, this research uses a path model to identity relationships between Facebook use and life satisfaction. Results. My research finds that identity theory can be applied to learning the effect Facebook use has on life satisfaction. Overall, greater Facebook identity salience and more Facebook friends are associated with greater life satisfaction. We also find that for females, the more time spent on Facebook, the lower the reported life satisfaction. Conclusion. My research has demonstrated that identity theory can be used to examine roles that are voluntary and not highly central to one's overall life functioning. The model designed can be used as a blueprint to examine other roles relating to social media. My hope is that future research looks at the importance of the social media roles for younger generations and how they compare to older generations with more salient roles.
Master of Science

Although the importance of studying central constructs across different levels of experience has long been recognized, most research on psychological need satisfaction has focused on general need satisfaction or need satisfaction in specific, isolated domains or situations. The present thesis aims to address this problem by investigating the role of psychological need satisfaction in multiple domains simultaneously for motivational and well-being outcomes at different levels of generality, as well the interplay among domains. The first article examines the associations between psychological need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and subjective well-being simultaneously across multiple domains. Results show that need satisfaction is strongly related to both autonomous motivation and well-being in multiple domains, and that motivation acts as a partial mediator of the path between need satisfaction and well-being. The second article investigates how domain need satisfaction influences the adoption of self-concordant goals, laying the foundation for successful goal pursuit. Both these articles use an idiographic approach to look at the differences and similarities between the many important life domains in which individuals are involved, and consider the within-person variability between domains. The third article directly looks at the effects of experiencing such variability on school and overall adjustment. Overall, the three articles reveal new information about the variability and relative role of psychological needs in important life domains obscured by the previous focus on global need satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of examining psychological need satisfaction in multiple life domains.
Bien que l'importance d'examiner des concepts centraux dans différents niveaux d'expérience soit reconnue depuis longtemps, la plupart des études sur la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques mettent l'accent sur la satisfaction des besoins en général ou dans des domaines ou des situations isolés. Le but de la présente thèse était de remédier ce problème en examinant le rôle de la satisfaction des besoins dans plusieurs domaines simultanément ainsi que l'interaction entre les domaines sur la motivation et le bien-être à plusieurs niveaux de généralité. Le premier article examine les liens entre la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques, la motivation autonome et le bien-être subjectif simultanément dans de multiples domaines. Les résultats démontrent que la satisfaction des besoins est liée à la fois à la motivation autonome et au bien-être dans plusieurs domaines, et que la motivation agit comme un médiateur partiel de la voie entre la satisfaction des besoins et le bien-être. Le deuxième article examine la façon dont la satisfaction des besoins dans les domaines influence l'adoption de buts autonomes, établissant un fondement pour l'accomplissement des buts. Ces deux articles utilisent une approche idiographique pour examiner les différences et les similitudes entre les nombreux domaines importants et considèrent la variabilité intra-personnelle entre domaines. Le troisième article examine les effets de cette variabilité sur l'expérience scolaire et l'ajustement global. Ensemble, les trois articles révèlent de nouvelles informations sur le rôle des besoins psychologiques, soulignant l'importance d'examiner la satisfaction des besoins dans de multiples domaines.

Aquesta tesi se centra en el concepte de la satisfacció amb la vida en el context de Xile. Després de revisar múltiples factors que influeixen sobre el nivell de satisfacció general amb la vida de les persones, es proposa un model de satisfacció amb la vida basat en el nivell de satisfacció amb múltiples aspectes importants de la vida com són la salut, la família i la feina. Comparant la importància que els treballadors xilens atorguen a cadascun d'aquests aspectes, aquesta tesi contribueix a millorar la comprensió de l'estructura del concepte de la satisfacció amb la vida a la població xilena i, en particular, de la importància relativa que la satisfacció amb la feina té sobre la satisfacció general amb la vida pels treballadors xilens. En primer lloc, es tracte sobre el mesurament del constructe de la satisfacció general amb la vida en el context de Xile. Es presenta una nova operacionalització en espanyol d'una de les escales més comunament utilitzades pel mesurament de la satisfacció general amb la vida. L'escala es valida psicomètricament sobre una mostra representativa de la població xilena. S'aporten suficients evidències de la validesa de l'instrument i de la seva fiabilitat pel mesurament de la satisfacció general amb la vida entre la població xilena. A continuació, s'identifiquen set aspectes de la vida considerats importants per gaudir d'una vida satisfactòria: salut, família, situació financera, relacions socials, autoestima, temps lliure i feina. S'examina la contribució de cadascun d'aquests aspectes sobre la satisfacció general amb la vida. Seguidament, s'aprofundeix en la relació existent entre la satisfacció amb la feina i la satisfacció amb la vida per millorar la nostra comprensió de la complexitat d'aquesta associació. Finalment, un capítol de conclusions resumeix la contribució d'aquest treball de recerca, identifica algunes de les seves limitacions, suggereix futures investigacions, i presenta algunes implicacions pràctiques. Tot i haver-hi arguments filosòfics i ideològics que sostenen la centralitat de la feina per a la satisfacció amb la vida, aquesta tesi conclou que la satisfacció amb la feina té una contribució relativament petita sobre la satisfacció general amb la vida dels treballadors xilens. Altres aspectes de la vida tenen una influència predominant sobre la satisfacció general amb la vida en el context cultural i socioeconòmic de Xile. Per a alguns treballadors, com els autònoms, els quals, suposadament, valoren més la feina en les seves vides, la satisfacció amb la feina té una influència major sobre les seves avaluacions de satisfacció amb la vida.
Esta tesis se centra en el concepto de la satisfacción con la vida en el contexto de Chile. Tras revisar múltiples factores que influyen sobre el nivel de satisfacción general con la vida de las personas, se propone un modelo de satisfacción con la vida basado en el nivel de satisfacción con múltiples facetas importantes de la vida como son la salud, la familia y el trabajo. Comparando la importancia que los trabajadores chilenos otorgan a cada una de éstas facetas de la vida, esta tesis contribuye a mejorar la comprensión de la estructura del concepto de la satisfacción con la vida en la población chilena y, en particular, de la importancia relativa que la satisfacción con el trabajo tiene sobre la satisfacción general con la vida para los trabajadores chilenos. En primer lugar, se aborda la medición del constructo de la satisfacción general con la vida en el contexto de Chile. Se presenta una nueva operacionalización en español de una de las escalas más comúnmente utilizadas para la medición de la satisfacción general con la vida. La escala se valida psicométricamente sobre una muestra representativa de la población Chilena. Se aportan suficientes evidencias de la validez del instrumento y su fiabilidad para la medición de la satisfacción general con la vida entre la población Chilena. A continuación, se identifican siete facetas de la vida consideradas importantes para gozar de una vida satisfactoria: salud, familia, situación financiera, relaciones sociales, autoestima, tiempo libre y trabajo. Se examina la contribución de cada una de dichas facetas sobre la satisfacción general con la vida. Seguidamente, se profundiza en la relación existente entre la satisfacción con el trabajo y la satisfacción con la vida para mejorar nuestra comprensión de la complejidad de esta asociación. Finalmente, un capítulo de conclusiones resume la contribución de este trabajo de investigación, identifica algunas de sus limitaciones, sugiere futuras investigaciones, y presenta algunas implicaciones prácticas. A pesar de argumentos filosóficos e ideológicos que sostienen la centralidad del trabajo para la satisfacción con la vida, ésta tesis concluye que la satisfacción con el trabajo tiene una contribución relativamente pequeña sobre la satisfacción general con la vida de los trabajadores chilenos. Otras facetas de la vida tienen una influencia predominante sobre la satisfacción general con la vida en el contexto cultural y socio-económico de Chile. Para algunos trabajadores, como los autónomos, los cuales, supuestamente, valoran más el trabajo en sus vidas, la satisfacción con el trabajo tiene una influencia mayor sobre las evaluaciones de satisfacción con la vida.
This thesis focuses on the concept of life satisfaction in the context of Chile. After reviewing multiple factors that influence people’s overall satisfaction with life, this thesis proposes a life satisfaction model based on the level of satisfaction with multiple important life domains, such as health, family, and work. Comparing the different importance Chilean workers place on these life domains this thesis contributes to improve our understanding of the structure of the life satisfaction concept in the Chilean population and in particular of the relative importance of work satisfaction to overall life satisfaction for Chilean workers. First, the measurement of the construct of overall life satisfaction in the context of Chile is addressed. A new operationalization into Spanish of one of the most commonly used scales for measuring overall life satisfaction is presented and psychometrically validated on a representative sample of the Chilean population. Sufficient evidence is provided of the validity of the instrument and its reliability for measuring general satisfaction with life among the Chilean population. Then, seven life domains considered to be important to a satisfactory life are identified: health, family, financial situation, social relationships, self-worth, leisure time, and work. The different weight Chilean workers place on these life domains when making life satisfaction judgements are examined. After that, we go deep into the relationship between work satisfaction and life satisfaction to better understand the complexity of this association. Finally, a conclusions chapter summarizes the contributions of this research, identifies some of its limitations, suggests some avenues for future research, and presents some practical implications. Despite appealing philosophical and ideological arguments claiming the centrality of work to life satisfaction, this thesis concludes that work satisfaction has only a relatively minor contribution to Chilean workers’ level of life satisfaction. Other life domains have a predominant influence on life satisfaction judgments in the cultural and socio-economic context of Chile. For some type of workers, like self-employed, who presumably value work more in their lives, work satisfaction have a stronger influence on their overall life satisfaction appraisals.

Life review involves a systematic, chronological review of an individual’s life from birth to death as well as an examination of the meaningfulness of life experiences and events. The purpose of the current study was to discover the effects of life review on happiness and life satisfaction in the older population. Participants from 71 to 85 years of age completed a demographics questionnaire, the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). SHS and SWLS were completed every other day from the beginning to the end of the data collection process. Once a consistent baseline was reached for the individual, the life review process began. Participants shared experiences from childhood and adolescence, adulthood, and older adulthood during the course of three sessions. At the end of the third session, participants were asked to write a letter to their younger self. It was hypothesized that engaging in the life review process would increase life satisfaction and happiness in the elderly. Results revealed that the life review intervention did not affect participants’ levels of life satisfaction and subjective happiness, with the exception of participant four who displayed increases in these variables.

Previous literature substantiates that military spouses have a direct impact on reenlistment decisions of active duty service members. Studies state that life satisfaction and family support are interrelated, and a military spouse’s life satisfaction with the military is conceded as the key predictor in reenlistment decisions. Previous research on military spouses focuses on the female spouse population and there is a lack of research concerning the growing male spouse population. This dissertation research study utilized a quantitative experimental design with the primary goal of investigating the relationship between civilian male military spouses’ life satisfaction, sense of community, social support, and utilization of U.S. Air Force overseas base agency support and community services. Data was collected from 81 completed surveys through an online format using SurveyMonkey using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), Sense of Community Index-2 (SCI-2) (Chavis, Lee, & Acosta, 2008), Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) social support survey (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991), and a dichotomous survey. The gathered data was subsequently analyzed utilizing simple linear regression and ANOVA. No statistically significant correlation between participating in base community services and life satisfaction was found. Sense of community and social support were found as statistically significant predictors of life satisfaction. There was no statistically significant correlation in life satisfaction, between those that do actively utilizing base agency services compared to those that do not. Military leadership can use the knowledge gained from the findings of this study to identify and construct support services and programs to adequately support the male spouse population.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between religiosity and life satisfaction among Latter-day Saints (LDS) college students. The scales used were the religiosity scale by Chadwick and Top (1993), and the life satisfaction scale by Neugarten, Havighurst and Tobin (1961). The analysis was based on data obtained from 222 students (55.5%) who responded. A prediction model was used to develop a regression equation. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between religiosity and life satisfaction. The regression equation is as follows: life satisfaction = 1.436815592 + 0.045915152 (spiritual experiences) + 0.042888274 (integration in congregation). A significant correlation of 0.0230 (p<.05) was found for spiritual experiences, and 0.0215 (p<.05) for integration in congregation. But no significant correlation was found between life satisfaction and the other factors such as gender, age, religious beliefs, private religious behavior, attendance/public behavior, and family religious. Spiritual experiences and integration in congregation were the only factors correlated with higher life satisfaction scores.

The purpose of this study was t o examine the relationship between the types o f activities people engage in after they retire, how often they participate , how or with whom they participate , and how these independent variables influence the dependent variable of life satisfaction. The majority of the research done to date on postretirement activity focuses primarily on recreational activities. This study examined the effects of including some type of substantive or service activity in addition to hobbies and recreational act i vity. Participants were surveyed concerning their health, mobility, and financial conditions so that these variables could be controlled for in determining life satisfaction. They were questioned about their activities, and given the Life Satisfaction Index to measure life satisfaction. The results indicate that those who have no activities t hat they participate in on a regular basis--no hobbies, no forms of recreation , and no service-related activities-have a relatively high level of life satisfaction. Also those who have a high level of hobby and recreational activity combined with regular service activities have a higher level of satisfaction. Those who only occasionally engage in hobby and recreational activity and have no service-related activity have a moderate level of satisfaction. The results of this study confirm the hypothesis that life satisfaction is positively influenced by both hobbies and service activities. Age and gender of respondents are not important variables, but the issues of mobility, health, and economic status do impact life satisfaction. The importance of hobby and recreational activity has been frequently studied under the guise of activity theory, and found to be of significance in feelings of well-being and in life satisfaction. The role of service activity has not been thoroughly explored, but is believed to fill the need for exchange as postulated in exchange theory.

This research examines the quality of work life in a selection of pharmaceutical companies in Egypt. It aims to test the relationships between the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life and; their perceptions of the degree of participation in decisionmaking available to them, their perceptions of their level of job satisfaction, their perceptions of their level of affective, continuance, and normative commitment, and the ownership form of the company. It uses a sample of 1270 employees in three different ownership forms; public, private, and multinational pharmaceutical companies in Egypt. The total sample size is proportionately distributed (i. e. the actual 'sample size has been distributed between the three ownership forms based on the percentage of employees in each ownership form to the total size of the population) among' , the three, forms Of ownership (public companies 889, private companies = 165, and multinational companies = 216 employee). The number of employees surveyed in each company has also been proportionately distributed. The perceptions of the targeted employees are surveyed using a questionnaire that contains 81 items. The collected data are analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. The findings of the study indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life and; their perceptions of the degree of participation in decision-making available to them, and their perceptions of their level of job satisfaction. A significant positive and partial relationship is found between the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life and their perceptions of III their level of affective, continuance, and normative commitment, as it is expected, by the researcher, that the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life may positively affect their perceptions of their level of affective, continuance, and normative commitment through affecting their perceptions of their level of job satisfaction. A significant relationship is found between the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life and the ownership form of the company. The results also indicate that employees perceive their quality of work life to be greater or better in the multinational pharmaceutical companies than are the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life in both the private and public pharmaceutical companies in Egypt. Furthermore, the results indicate that the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life in the private phan-naceutical companies are better than the employees' perceptions of their quality of work life in the public phan-naceutical companies in Egypt. A set of quality of work life criteria that seems important to employees in the pharmaceutical companies in Egypt, and which might therefore be productively addressed by employers/organisations has been identified. In addition, some implications for HR practices in Egypt have been raised and discussed. Finally, a set of models that could clarify the interactive relationship between the variables that have been investigated in this research in the Egyptian context has been developed. It is suggested that the set of quality of work life criteria as well as the models might fon-n the basis for future researches of this type.

With dual-career couples comprising the most common family type, it is important for mental health professionals, employers, and policy makers to understand the unique challenges of this population (Haddock et al., 2001; Saginak & Saginak, 2005.) Numerous researchers have studied the consequences of family and work role strain for dual-career couples. However, when dual-career couples are able to share responsibilities and negotiate degendered roles they experience the benefits of dual-career couples. The literature clearly supports the importance of egalitarian roles for marital satisfaction and life satisfaction of dual-career couples. While researchers have studied social role strain, gender role strain, marital satisfaction, and life satisfaction and discussed the importance of degendered roles and responsibilities for dual-career couples, no studies have examined gender ideology. Saginak and Saginak (2005) called for researchers to investigate how gender ideologies and the gender socialization process perpetuate the challenges faced by dual-career couples in balancing work and family. This study investigated the associations between gender ideology and gender role strain, job-family role strain, marital satisfaction, and life satisfaction among 70 individual members of dual-career couples. A multivariate analysis of variance was utilized to investigate the relationship between gender ideology and the criterion measures. Gender ideology was partially associated with gender role strain with the androgynous gender ideology group scoring significantly lower on gender role strain than the masculine or undifferentiated gender ideology groups but not significantly lower than the feminine gender ideology group. Gender ideology was not associated with job-family role strain or marital satisfaction. In addition, gender ideology was also partially associated with life satisfaction with the androgynous gender ideology group scoring significantly higher on quality of life than the masculine or undifferentiated gender ideology groups but not significantly higher than the feminine gender ideology group. Thus, the current study indicates there are partial associations between gender ideology and gender role strain and life satisfaction for dual-career couples. Mental health professionals, employers, and policy makers working with dual-career couples should assess the socially constructed gender norms and expectations internalized by individuals into a gender ideology as the possible source of challenges experienced by the dual-career couple.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family leisure satisfaction and satisfaction with family life. Zabriskie's Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP) was used to measure core, balance, and total family leisure satisfaction. The Satisfaction With Family Life Scale (SWFL) an adaptation of Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin's satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), done by Zabriskie and McCormick, was used to measure satisfaction with family life. The sample consisted of 898 parent and youth pairs from throughout the United States. Results indicated that there was a relationship between all family leisure satisfaction variables and satisfaction with family life. Data collected from both parents and youth in families provided insight into the nature of the relationship between family leisure satisfaction and satisfaction with family life. At the parent, youth, and family levels, core family leisure satisfaction had the most significant relationship with satisfaction with family life. These findings provide specific implications for researchers, parents, and professionals who work with families.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of leisure satisfaction, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction among selected faculty in higher education institutions whose specialty teaching subject area was therapeutic recreation. This study also investigated the relationship of specific demographic variables to leisure satisfaction, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. The variables included age, gender, education, income level, health, tenure, marital status, type of institution where employed, and participation in therapeutic recreation organizations. The population for this study consisted of 162 faculty whose specialty teaching subject area was therapeutic recreation. Subjects were selected from colleges and universities of the United States listed in the curriculum catalog published by the Recreation and Park Association, Society of Park and Recreation Education for the year 1993-1994.

ABSTRACT THE DETERMINANTS OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN POST-SOVIET AZERBAIJAN Galip, Hilal MSc., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Dr. Adnan Akç
ay September 2007, 99 pages The study aims to investigate main determinants of life satisfaction in newly independent country, Azerbaijan. Taking into consideration of local and cultural characteristics of the region, this research will give the opportunity for making cross-cultural analysis to understand subjective well-being of people living in the country in transition. Moreover, it provides deeper interpretation of daily experiences of people in different fields of life compared to Soviet period. In the survey, 1030 households were selected according to multistage cluster sampling and face to face interviews were conducted with those families. In addition, fifty in-depth interviews were applied to people who are coming from different social backgrounds. All macro societal changes influences subjective well-being of the Azerbaijani people and the further analysis of data will help to taking picture of the society and individuals in a closer perspective. Within this framework, this paper attempts to figure out the quality of life in Azerbaijan from the eyes of Azerbaijani people.

A review of literature on life satisfaction in retirement has revealed a number of factors which offer contradictory results. This thesis is an investigation of the relationship between psychological control and several predictors of life satisfaction in retirement, viz., perceptions of health, attitude towards retirement, planning for the future, leisure activity, perceptions, and expectations. Of special interest is the degree to which psychological control interacts with and, thus, moderates the impact of these predictors on life satisfaction. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a socio-economically homogeneous population of retired iron workers on pension plan in the Greater Vancouver area in British Columbia (n=190). The 85 respondents were all male. Pearson Correlation Coefficients and a two-way analysis of variance were used in the statistical analysis. The main findings are as follows: a) with the exception of perceptions and expectations, the correlations were positive and significant at the .05 level; b) in the analysis of variance the predicted interaction effects were not significant; c) a significant main effect at the .05 level on life satisfaction was found only for perceptions of health; d) the level of life satisfaction in retirement was independent of socio-economic status. The study results support the importance of psychological control in life satisfaction in retirement.
Arts, Faculty of
Social Work, School of
Graduate

Thesis (M.S. in Ed)--Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2005.
"Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-35). Also available online.

This dissertation combines three contributions to the literature on the determinants of well-being and the social nature of preferences. Departures from self-centred, consumption-oriented decision making are increasingly common in economic theory and are empirically well motivated by a wide range of behavioural data from experiments, surveys, and econometric inference. The first two contributions are focused on the idea that reference levels set by others’ consumption may figure prominently in both experienced well-being and in decision making. In the first paper, the well-being question is addressed empirically through the use of self-reported life satisfaction and high-resolution census and survey data in Canada. Strong income externalities are found at multiple spatial scales after controlling for various confounding factors. The second paper explores the general equilibrium consequences of a utility function having an explicit comparison with neighbours’ consumption. The question is investigated in a model in which decision makers knowingly choose their neighbours — and hence their consumption reference level — as well as their own consumption expenditure, thereby helping to set the reference level for nearby others. For both discrete and continuous distributions of types in an economy with a heterogeneous population undergoing such endogenous formation of consumption reference groups, there exist general equilibria in which differentiation of neighbourhoods occurs endogenously. The novel welfare implications of growth in such economies are described. The final paper addresses econometric reservations about the use of subjective reports as dependent variables. The date and location of survey interviews are combined with weather and climate records to construct the random component of weather conditions experienced by respondents on the day of their interview. Standard inferences about the determinants of life satisfaction remain robust after taking into account this significant source of affective bias.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
社會工作學研究所
101
In recent years, Taiwan''s fertility rate has decreased annually as more and more couples decide not to have children, and the number of childless couples increases every year. This study using life course theory as a research framework, aimed to understand the life satisfaction of childless couple to further analyze the factors associated with their life satisfaction. The findings should provide useful information forpractitioners and the community. This study employed a quantitative research method, and the data were collected by questionnaire survey. Childless couples married for more than one year were selected by snowball sampling. The measurements included self-concept scale, couple’s support scale, pregnancy value scale, social judgement scale, sexual satisfaction scale, marital satisfaction scale, life satisfaction scale, and personal information. Data analysis adopted individual analysis and dual analysis to understand the childless couple’s life satisfaction. In total, 211 effective questionnaires were received from 86 couples. In individual analysis, the results showed that couple’s support, sexual satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and age at marriage significantly predicted the life satisfaction of the childless husband or wife. The level of satisfaction was higher when the couple’s support was better, sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction were better, and the age of marriage was younger. In dyadic data analysis, couples’ overall marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction predicted the childless couple’s life satisfaction, indicating that when a couple’s overall marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction are better, their life satisfaction will be better. The study found that the quality of life of the husband and wife was not affected by not continuing the family line. Instead, marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction were the key factors that affected a childless couple’s life satisfaction. It is recommended that couples pay attention to the quality of their sex life and marital quality in order to maintain a good quality of life.

碩士
國立高雄大學
國際高階經營管理碩士在職專班(IEMBA)
100
This study aims to examine the relationship among the life adaptation, leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction for senior high cadets, and to offer some suggestions based on the analysis so as to provide references for educational training, life management and other aspects to the decision-making officials. In this study, the target school is the only military high school in Taiwan. In the proportion, and number of the sample student extracted, there are 130 students in the first grade, accounted for 36.9%, 115 students in the second grade, accounted for 32.4%, and 105 students in the third grade, accounted for 30.7%. The proportion is analogous to the concurent percentage of students in every grade of the objective school. Finally, we conducted the statistical analysis based on the results obtained from the questionnaires, and acquired the main conclusions as follows: 1. The senior high cadets with various demographic statistics mostly show significant differences in the “life adaptation.” 2. The senior high cadets with various demographic statistics bear no significant difference in the “leisure satisfaction.” 3. The senior high cadets with various demographic statistics possess no significant difference in the “life satisfaction.” 4. Part of “life adaptation” and “life satisfaction” of senior high cadets exhibit significantly positive correlation. 5. The “leisure satisfaction” and “life satisfaction” of senior high cadets show significant and positive correlation. 6. The “life adaptation” reveals significantly positive correlation with “leisure satisfaction” for senior high cadets. Concluding from the results above, we found that if it is to enhance the life satisfaction of senior high cadets effectively, though it cannot be directly reached, we can enhance the life adaptation of senior high cadets with a considerable extent through leisure satisfaction promotion, or the cadets with good life adaptation usually have higher leisure satisfaction and their life satisfaction may be improved to a certain degree. The school administrators can put more effort on this in the future.

碩士
中國文化大學
觀光休閒事業管理研究所
94
With the improvement of the living standard, the extension of the national average life span is general, as to the senior, the free time obvious increasing that can be controlled after retiring, the research shows, participate in continuously through the leisure activity, and there are good health , could help adapting and supporting the life satisfaction, improving self- definite, and mood of the senior to solve, decline that can also strengthen physical stamina, slow down the body function. This research aims at probing into leisure satisfaction, meaning in life and life satisfaction with the causality between the three. Raise residential organization in order to investigate samples, demographic variables as control variables, a hierarchical regression analysis is used to validate the casual relationship accordingly. The result of study, personal attribute, participating in continuously everyday, the higher education degree, religious belief, and regular work before retiring people in leisure satisfaction, meaning in life, and life satisfaction have apparent relations, but it doesn’t have apparent relation that demography of spending of life in the sex, age and pocket money etc. between leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction. The meaning in life doesn’t have apparent relation in the sex and age. Overall, leisure satisfaction with life satisfaction and the meaning in life is having the apparent relation. It also has the apparent relation that the meaning in life is to the life satisfaction. The meaning in life plays a mediator between the leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction. Further, the meaning in life can play a mediator in various degree that in relaxing, education and aesthetic feeling of leisure satisfaction to the mood state, life interesting, consistency and self- concept of life satisfaction. This research has proved that leisure satisfaction, meaning in life and life satisfaction with the theory structure among the three, find out that the senior wants lasting leisure to be participated in , it must be long , live healthily and happily to live, and the life is meaningful, dignified, reach the goal of succeeding in ageing .

碩士
中國文化大學
生活應用科學研究所
98
This research is mainly focus on the relation of orrespondence in the leisure life satisfaction and life satisfaction with the ingle middle age. The objects of the research were conducted with 415 single middle ages that who are the age of 35 to 55 years old with unmarried, divorce or widow in Taipei. The research has been gathered information by using questionnaire investigation which is including two parts - close and open questionnaire. The analyses of statistics are using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, LSD and frequency distribution. The findings are: 1.There is not significant difference between the leisure satisfaction and social variables with the gender, age, single situation, live alone, etc. 2.There are significant differences between life satisfaction and social variables for those who believe in a religion or where they live. The research has been stated the signal middle who live in Taipei City or believe in a religion are higher the life satisfaction and social variables than the people who are living in Taipei County or have no religions. 3.There is not significant difference between the life satisfaction and social variables for the single situations, such as unmarried, divorce or widow. 4.There is a positive relationship between the leisure satisfaction and the life satisfaction. 5.The leisure life presents physiological, psychical, social, educational, relaxing, beauty and entire satisfaction aspects. In physical point of view, the part of satisfaction is recovery; from psychical point of view, the part of satisfaction is sense of achievement; from social point of view, the part of satisfaction is friendship, from educational point of view, the part of satisfaction is vision development; from relaxing point of view, the part of satisfaction is relief; in beauty point of view, the part of satisfaction is upgrade appreciation; finally in the entire leisure life satisfaction point of view, the part of satisfaction is relaxation. 6.The life satisfaction presents three aspects, they are the happiest, the most safety, and the entire satisfaction. In the happiest point of view, the part of satisfaction is happiness; in the safety point of view, the part of satisfaction is peace, as for the most satisfaction point of view, the part of satisfaction is satisfactory. The studies & suggestions have been stated in the thesis which could apply for people reference in the future.

博士
國立臺灣師範大學
人類發展與家庭學系
95
Housewives are usually a group of persons that are neglected in academic studies and when policies are made. Since housewives account for approximately half of married women, their voices should be heard. Most of the studies on housewives in the past were usually feminism-oriented. The feminism-oriented studies focused more on the reliance and restriction of housewives, but less on the independence of housewives. The life course theory pays close attention to the impact on life by the social and historical contexts, and emphasizes the performance of personal self agency under the social and historical contexts. Thus, in this study, the life course theory is used to investigate the satisfaction of housewives in the hope of achieving a profound understanding of the aspects of the housewife’s life. In this study, the mixed methods approach is used. For the quantitative information, the secondary data analysis is used. The effective sample size of 418 persons in total is used for constructing the model of the housewife’s life satisfaction by using structural equation modeling (SEM). For the qualitative information, the combination of life history interview and life chart is used and the judgment sampling is used for the selection of 7 participants from 418 persons. Each participant was interviewed 2 times in the study, and the whole process was recorded and transcribed into a transcription for further analysis. Combining the quantitative and qualitative data in this study, the following results were discovered: I. The transition of housewife's life trajectory: From the life chart, it shows that marriage causes the transition of the satisfaction of life for most of the people and the satisfaction of life drops all the same. Hence, it can be shown that marriage is the important transition event for the housewife’s life satisfaction trajectory. Besides marriage, there are influences coming from the factors of linked lives principle that reduce the housewife’s life satisfaction. While the factor that increase the housewife’s life satisfaction is the performance of independent agency. II. The factors that influence the housewife's life satisfaction are organized and listed as follows, according to the principle of the life course theory: 1. The principle of timing: It is discovered that the timing of becoming a housewife has a negative effect on the housewife’s life satisfaction, while the timing of getting married and the timing of giving birth have positive effects on the housewife’s life satisfaction. 2. The principle of linked lives: it is discovered that the housewife's family social economic status, the consciousness of the evaluation to housewives by the family, the consciousness of the evaluation to housewives by society, the family relations and the support from the spouse have positive effects on the housewife’s life satisfaction. 3. The principle of historical time and place: It is discovered that if the social economic status of the family of origin is higher and the social value of the housewife’s grow-up age is more modern, then the housewife's life satisfaction is higher. 4. The principle of self agency: It is discovered that if the housewife voluntarily chooses to become a housewife, has positive self-concepts and has active role adjustment, then the housewife's life satisfaction is higher. In the SEM model, “the self-concept”, “the agency of choosing to become a housewife”, “the family social economic status”, “the social evaluation of housewives” and “the family relations” can be used to explain the housewife’s life satisfaction with effectiveness up to 39%. Among them, the linked lives and the self agency principles give a more accurate explanation of the life satisfaction, while the role adjustment does not support the influences of the life satisfaction. The timing and the historical time and space principles have indirect influences on the life satisfaction through the self agency. In the qualitative data, it is also discovered that the self agency has influences on the housewife’s life satisfaction and has interactive influences with the linked lives principle. Hence, from the general viewpoint, it is discovered that the self agency has important influences on the housewife's life satisfaction. Finally, according to the results of this study, suggestions are proposed for the housewives, schools, family education, other promotion organizations, the public and government, and the research studies in the future.