The aim of the study was to understand aspects of life that men and women associate with happiness and to explore the connections between these associations and well-being (measured as positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction) in different periods of life. Participants were 785 people who were asked to list associations that came to mind on hearing the word 'happiness'. The moderating roles of gender and period of life (adolescence/adulthood, transition/no transition) were analysed. Participants associated happiness mostly with health and relationships. Other categories included knowledge, work, material goods and freedom. Those who associated happiness with work had higher levels of positive affect. Associating happiness with relationships predicted greater life satisfaction, whereas associating it with material goods predicted lower satisfaction. Gender moderated the relationship between associations and positive affect: associating happiness with material goods decreased positive affect among men but no such effect was observed among women; associating happiness with relationships was beneficial for women but unbeneficial for men. Additionally, associations with material goods predicted lower positive affect, especially in times of transition. Associating happiness with knowledge decreased positive affect in adolescents and increased it in adults. Some ways of understanding happiness improved life satisfaction but none were related to negative affect. The relationship between concepts of happiness and positive affect is complex; some concepts are unbeneficial only for some people and during certain periods of life.
One hundred and sixty-nine bank employees were investigated with the Orientation to Work Values Inventory by Seifert and Bergmann (values; Seifert & Bergmann, 1983), and the Work Description Inventory by Neuberger and Allerbeck (importance and satisfaction with work aspects, overall job satisfaction; Neuberger & Allerbeck, 1978). The data show complex connections between values and the perceived importance of work aspects and job satisfaction. The results indicate that (a) the importance of achievement and social relations values influences the importance of aspects of work, (b) overall job satisfaction depends on social relations value and satisfaction with some aspects depends on this value or on interactions of both of the values, (c) predicting overall job satisfaction from satisfaction with aspects of work is modified by the interaction of the values. However, the hypothesis that overall job satisfaction can be predicted from satisfaction with most important aspects of work is not confirmed by the data.
The aim of the study is to answer whether 2 predominant values--achievement or social relations--and reactivity influence (a) the importance of work aspects, (b) satisfaction with them and overall job satisfaction, (c) connections between overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with work aspects. Bank employees were investigated with the Strelau Temperament Inventory-Revised by Strelau, Angleitner, Bantelman, and Ruch (1990, reactivity), Orientation to Work Values Inventory by Seifert and Bergmann (1983, values), and Work Description Inventory by Neuberger and Allerbeck (1978; importance and satisfaction with work aspects, overall job satisfaction). Predominant values, reactivity, and their interaction influence the importance of work aspects. The values affect overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with Conditions. Reactivity does not affect overall job satisfaction, but it strongly influences the structure of satisfaction with work aspects, and low-reactives compared to high-reactives are more satisfied with 4 out of the 7 considered aspects. Among the high-reactives, connections between overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with work aspects depend on their predominant values. It was concluded that reactivity can modify regulative functions of personal values towards overall job satisfaction: The values have a rather declarative character for low-reactives, but meeting aspirations connected with their values is very important for high-reactives' job satisfaction.
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