Does Having Children Bring Life Satisfaction in Europe?

Uğur, Zeynep B.

doi:10.1007/s10902-019-00135-5

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In addition, we found significant associations with partnership and grandchildren, which highlights the importance of relationships for our wellbeing. Interestingly, however, having children was not associated with life satisfaction, which is a finding that is consistent with previous research claiming that the positive and negative effects of having children on subjective wellbeing balance each other out ( Hansen, 2012 ; Deaton and Stone, 2014 ; Ugur, 2020 ). However, this aspect is still a matter of debate since generativity, which requires having generations to follow, has been shown to be positively correlated with SWB ( Navarro-Prados et al, 2018 ; Moieni et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The U-Curve of Happiness Revisited: Correlations and Differences in Life Satisfaction Over the Span of Life—An Empirical Evaluation Based on Data From 1,597 Individuals Aged 12–94 in Germany

et al. 2022

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BackgroundSubjective wellbeing (SWB) is a research topic of growing interest for different disciplines. Based on a cross-sectional survey with 1,597 participants aged 12–94, this study investigated life satisfaction and momentary happiness, two important dimensions of SWB. We examined their relationship, shape, and correlates across individuals of different ages and interpreted the results in the light of a neurobiological model of motivation systems.MethodsStatistical analyses were performed using multiple linear regression. First, we examined how life satisfaction is associated with selected socio-demographic variables across four age groups. Second, we analyzed the association between life satisfaction and age, and lastly, we examined the extent to which happiness is a prerequisite for life satisfaction in each age group.ResultsOur analyses show that life satisfaction correlates negatively with poor health and financial worries, and positively with partnership, grandchildren, and religiosity. However, the inverse relationship with poor health is stronger in younger than in older individuals, while the inverse association with financial worries is strongest in late midlife (50–69 years). We identified gender-specific differences concerning the relationship between life satisfaction and age, with males displaying a U-shape trend with its lowest point between the ages of 30 and 49, whereas females’ life satisfaction increases stepwise with age. Although momentary happiness correlates strongly with life satisfaction, this relationship decreases with age.ConclusionThe results suggest that individuals adjust or even grow beyond their perceptions of a “good life” over time. Neurobiological processes of adaptation and personal growth could play an important role in these developments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The U-Curve of Happiness Revisited: Correlations and Differences in Life Satisfaction Over the Span of Life—An Empirical Evaluation Based on Data From 1,597 Individuals Aged 12–94 in Germany

et al. 2022

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“…When there are rules and limits to the usage of ICTs in the family, its usage is not harmful [16]. In addition, it is proven that having a child increases the life satisfaction of parents [52] and our results show that being a parent might work as a protector of mental health issues and an enhancer of quality of life. On the other hand, some literature shows the opposite of our finding and say that the use of technology during parenting moments, i.e., technology interfering in family time (technoference) seems to result in worse behavior and development of social competencies in children, which leads to an increase of parent stress [50,53].…”

Section: Parental Status and Flourishingmentioning

confidence: 55%

Telework and Mental Health during COVID-19

Mendonça

Coelho

Ferrajão

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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COVID-19 has come to change societal organization. Due to lockdowns, work typologies have been rethought and telework has gained strength. However, the impact of the constant use of information and communication technologies on the mental health of workers needs to be considered. We aimed to investigate the impact of different work conditions on mental health, to which end we disseminated an online questionnaire during lockdowns to assess imagined surveillance, mobile maintenance expectation, communication overload, feelings of entrapment, depression, anxiety, stress, and flourishing in four groups (employed in telework, employed on-site, employed in layoff, and unemployed). We computed mean comparisons and serial mediations. We show that depression and anxiety were more prevalent in women; parents flourished more than people without children; and people with a higher level of education feel more entrapment. Crucially, we show that telework was associated with imagined surveillance and communication overload, which mediated the association with mobile maintenance expectations and entrapment (which was exacerbated by parenthood), impacting mental health and the quality of life. However, this was also partially observed in the remaining work conditions. Finally, flourishing worked as a protector against mental health issues in all work conditions. We discuss this given the massification of digital migration.

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“…A large body of research has shown that subjective well-being, which includes perceived mental and physical health as well as rewarding social interactions 1 , has less to do with objective circumstances such as age, gender, race, income, education or marital status and more to do with stable personality traits 2 – 5 . Although the effects of outside circumstances on well-being are often statistically weak 6 – 8 , people persist in their impression that factors such as a relocation, a higher income, getting married or having children would lead to a substantial increase in subjective well-being 9 – 11 . This perceived importance of outside circumstances is likely the result of a focusing illusion 12 – 14 , i.e., the tendency to focus on the changes that singular events bring while overlooking various other factors that will eventually also influence the actual feeling states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole-brain white matter correlates of personality profiles predictive of subjective well-being

Kotikalapudi

Dricu

Moser

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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We investigated the white matter correlates of personality profiles predictive of subjective well-being. Using principal component analysis to first determine the possible personality profiles onto which core personality measures would load, we subsequently searched for whole-brain white matter correlations with these profiles. We found three personality profiles that correlated with the integrity of white matter tracts. The correlates of an “optimistic” personality profile suggest (a) an intricate network for self-referential processing that helps regulate negative affect and maintain a positive outlook on life, (b) a sustained capacity for visually tracking rewards in the environment and (c) a motor readiness to act upon the conviction that desired rewards are imminent. The correlates of a “short-term approach behavior” profile was indicative of minimal loss of integrity in white matter tracts supportive of lifting certain behavioral barriers, possibly allowing individuals to act more outgoing and carefree in approaching people and rewards. Lastly, a “long-term approach behavior” profile’s association with white matter tracts suggests lowered sensitivity to transient updates of stimulus-based associations of rewards and setbacks, thus facilitating the successful long-term pursuit of goals. Together, our findings yield convincing evidence that subjective well-being has its manifestations in the brain.

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Does Having Children Bring Life Satisfaction in Europe?

Cited by 22 publications

References 42 publications

The U-Curve of Happiness Revisited: Correlations and Differences in Life Satisfaction Over the Span of Life—An Empirical Evaluation Based on Data From 1,597 Individuals Aged 12–94 in Germany

The U-Curve of Happiness Revisited: Correlations and Differences in Life Satisfaction Over the Span of Life—An Empirical Evaluation Based on Data From 1,597 Individuals Aged 12–94 in Germany

Telework and Mental Health during COVID-19

Whole-brain white matter correlates of personality profiles predictive of subjective well-being

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