Subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being and perception of self and others Marie-Claire Ellsmore,...
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Transcript of Subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being and perception of self and others Marie-Claire Ellsmore,...
Subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being and
perception of self and others
Marie-Claire Ellsmore, RoseAnne Misajon & Tom Whelan
Monash University, Melbourne
Subjective well-being and eudemonic well-being:
complementary constructs
Eudemonic well-being (EWB) evolves from pursuing contexts and relationships that fulfill intrinsic human needs while continually extending the self, resulting in personal growth (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryff, 1989; Waterman, 1993)
Both Subjective well-being (SWB) and EWB research traditions provide complementary insight into well-being phenomena (e.g., Sirgy et al., 2006)
Well-being and positively biased self-perception
Both SWB and EWB research traditions also converge at the social-cognitive level of analysis (e.g., Fujita & Diener, 2005; Reis, et al., 2000)
Positively biased self-perception Social comparison perspective: perception of
self and “average other” (Festinger, 1954)
Self-insight perspective: perception of self compared with external evaluation (Kwan et al., 2004)
Well-being and positively biased self-perception
Positively biased self-perception measured using social comparison methodologies has been found to correlate with greater SWB and EWB (e.g., Boyd-Wilson et al., 2002; Cummins & Nistico,
2002) Baumeister’s (1989) “optimal margin of illusion” to account for the paradox:SWB and positively biased self-perception = linear relationship (e.g., Taylor et al., 2003)EWB and positively biased self-perception = curvilinear relationship?
Well-being and perception of others
Greater SWB and EWB is associated with positive interpersonal relationships (e.g., Cummins, Lau & Davern, in press; Ryff, 1989)
Evidence also suggests that how positively individuals perceive others affects their interpersonal functioning (e.g., Mikuliner & Horesh, 1999; Sacco, 1999)
Therefore, how individuals perceive others is likely to be directly predictive of both SWB and EWB
Self- and other-perception
What about the interdependence of self- and other-perception? (e.g., Baumeister & Twenge, 2003; Mussweiler, 2003)
Unlikely that both positively biased self-perception and positive other-perception can both predict greater well-being
1. Clarify relationships between positively biased self-perception, SWB and EWB
1.a.Curvilinear relationship between positively biased self-perception and EWB?
Aims of research
2. Explore relationships between other-perception, SWB and EWB
3. Explore impact of other-perception on a social comparison measure of positively biased self-perception
Participants 133 ‘hardcopy’ respondents 23 e-mail respondents Aged 18 – 83 (M = 42.8 years; SD = 14.9) Female n = 99 (63.0%); Male n = 58 (37.0%) University educated n = 86 (54.8%) Married or living with partner n = 95 (60.5%) Children/ dependent relatives n = 73 (46.5%) English spoken at home n = 141 (89.9%) Non-English speakers’ average time in Australia of 26
years (range 10 – 47 years) Metropolitan residents n = 140 (89.2%)
Measures Demographic measure = age, sex,
dependent relatives or children at home, language spoken at home, number of years spent in Australia, postcode, highest level of education completed, relationship situation
SWB (Life Satisfaction) = Personal Wellbeing Index (International Wellbeing Group, 2006)
EWB (Self-actualisation) = Short Index of Self-Actualization (Jones & Crandall, 1986)
Measures Positive bias in self-perception 8 positive personality descriptors: “Friendly, Reliable, Imaginative, Interesting,
Considerate, Intelligent, Sincere, Humorous”
8 negative personality descriptors: “Unkind, Insecure, Dishonourable, Mean,
Dishonest, Phony, Deceitful, Liar” Participants asked to rate both themselves and
the “average” person of same age and sex Methodology adopted from Boyd-Wilson et al.,
2002; 2004.
Measures Bias in self-perception =
(∑Self positive - ∑Other positive) +
(∑Other negative - ∑Self negative)
Index > 0 = positively biased self-perception Index of 0 = absence of bias in self-perception Index < 0 = negatively biased self-perception
Measures
“Self-positivity” = ∑Self positive ratings - ∑Self negative ratings
“Other-positivity” = ∑Other positive ratings - ∑Other negative
ratings
Other-perception = Revised Philosophies of Human Nature Scale (Robinson, Shaver, & Wrightsman, 1992)
Procedure
Measures were collated in the following order:1. Self-ratings on the 16 personality descriptors2. Personal Wellbeing Index 3. Ratings of others on the 16 personality
descriptors4. Short Index of Self-Actualization5. Revised Philosophies of Human Nature Scale6. Demographic information 56 (35.7%) respondents returned questionnaires
with sections 1 and 3 reversed
Results
SWB underwent a square root transformation and reflection to improve normality, therefore increased SWB scores indicate lower SWB
SWB and EWB r = -.23, p < .01(i.e., greater life satisfaction scores correlated with greater self-actualisation scores)
SWB and positively biased self-perception r = .05, p = ns
EWB and positively biased self-perception r = .07, p = ns
Results Self-positivity and other-positivity
r = .50, p < .001
Positively biased self-perception and self-positivity r = .22, p < .01
Positively biased self-perception and other-positivity
r = -.73, p < .001
Self-positivity and SWB r = -.46, p <.001 (i.e., SWB scores increased with greater self-positivity)
Self-positivity and EWB r = .27, p <.001
Results Apart from respondents’ age significantly
correlating with other-positivity (r = .32, p <.0001), none of the other demographic or procedural variables (i.e., questionnaire format or rating order) significantly correlated with the variables of interest
To partition variance as a function of age, sequential multiple regression was used for all subsequent analyses with age entered as step 1 of each analysis
Results
1. A sequential polynomial regression found no evidence of the hypothesised curvilinear (quadratic) relationship between positively biased self-perception and EWB
2. The sequential regression of age, trust and cynicism onto SWB found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 21% of variance in SWB (sr² = .21, p < .001); trust positively, and cynicism negatively correlating with greater SWB
Results3. The sequential regression of age, trust and
cynicism onto EWB found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 7% of variance in EWB (sr² = .07, p < .01); trust positively, and cynicism negatively correlating with greater EWB
4. The sequential regression of age, trust and cynicism onto positively biased self-perception found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 12% of variance in positively biased self-perception (sr² = .12, p < .001); trust negatively and cynicism positively correlating with positive bias in self-perception
Conclusions SWB and EWB significantly positively correlated
Positively biased self-perception, SWB and EWB non-significantly correlated
Positive other-perception (i.e., greater trust & less cynicism) significantly positively correlated with both SWB and EWB
Negative other-perception (i.e.,greater cynicism & less trust) significantly positively correlated with positively biased self-perception
Self-positivity significantly positively correlated with other-positivity, SWB and EWB
Limitations Exclusive reliance on self-report measures
Lack of control over test-taking behaviour
Causal interpretation not possible
Relationship between other-perception and well-being may be better accounted for by personality (e.g., agreeableness) or attachment style
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