The diploma thesis deals with the topic of quality of life and well-being of Czech seniors with regard to forms of housing. The quantitative research of secondary data from the SHARE database was carried out in this work. To analyze these data, the methods of regression analysis and non-parametric tests were used in order to find out what influences the quality of life and well-being of Czech seniors with an emphasis on forms of housing. Another part of work is qualitative research, which was done by semi-structured interviews with seniors in order to elaborate the results of quantitative research in more detail. In the final part, recommendations leading to the improvement of the quality of life of seniors are proposed.

Previous research shows a positive correlation between exercise and mental health. Additionally, researchers have found that college students experience immense stress resulting in poor mental health. However, limited research has been conducted on the direct impact of active participation in intramural sports on college students’ mental well-being. The researchers sought to study this relationship. For the purposes of this mixed-methods study, 200 college students attending either the University of Arkansas or John Brown University ages 18-23 completed a survey that assessed both their mental well-being and the extent to which they participated in intramural sports. Of these 200 participants, 12 were interviewed in order to gain more insight into the lived experience of college students. The results of the survey show there is a statistically significant correlation between participation in intramural sports and the participants’ mental well-being. Furthermore, the interviews revealed intramurals’ impact on mental well-being through social benefits, stress relief, and competition.

Purpose. Individual adaptability has been proposed as a source of adaptive performance, an increasingly important performance dimension in dynamic contexts. However, there is limited understanding of the antecedents of adaptability. Mindfulness has been shown to improve performance and well-being in the workplace, but the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are not well understood. Answering this need, we hypothesize a link between mindfulness and adaptability and conduct an empirical study to examined this relationship in dynamic work contexts. Methodology and findings. 198 knowledge workers in dynamic workplaces completed a self-rating survey that measured mindfulness and a multifactor measure of individual adaptability. Correlation analysis found a significant positive relationship between mindfulness and individual adaptability, and also between mindfulness and five sub-factors of adaptability. Regression analysis found mindfulness could significantly predict adaptability and that mindfulness added incremental variability to various sub-scale factors of adaptability, over and above work stress adaptability. In other words, mindfulness is not simply a stress management skill but also enhances other aspects of adaptability such as learning and problem-solving. Implications. Individual adaptability helps to explain the relationship between mindfulness, performance and well-being in the workplace. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have established protocols and proven outcomes in organizational and psychological literature. It may be possible to enhance individual adaptability through such MBIs and thus support adaptive performance while reducing negative impacts on individual well-being. / Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / pt2019 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Research tells us that there is an effect of prayer on well-being. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this relationship. In addition, much of the available data concerning prayer and well-being is based on Christians living in the United States, and our knowledge of how prayer and well-being are functionally interconnected in other faith groups, including Muslims, is sparse. The primary aim of this study was to understand how prayer impacts well-being in individuals of the Muslim faith. Specifically, four potential mediators of the relationship between prayer and well-being were examined; optimism, spirituality, mindfulness, and social support. These mediators were selected based on previous empirical work demonstrating the role these factors have in both religious practices and mental health. Optimism, spirituality, and social support are important mechanisms in the relationship between prayer and well-being in Christian samples, while mindfulness underlies the beneficial effects of contemplative practices on well-being in studies focused on Buddhist practices. In this study it is proposed that as a contemplative practice of the Abrahamic faith, Muslim prayer (salah) relates to well-being through the mediatory roles of optimism, spirituality, social support, and mindfulness. Participants (N=155) were recruited from local mosques, Muslim Student Associations of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, local halal restaurants, and MuslimLink (an Ottawa-based Muslim newsletter). SurveyMonkey was used to gather information on participants’ prayer habits, and level of trait mindfulness, spirituality, optimism, social support, and subjective well-being. The data were analysed using a parallel multiple mediator model via the Monte Carlo confidence interval to test for the indirect effect of the mediator variables. Optimism and spirituality were both found to be mediators of the relationship between frequency of prayer and subjective well-being. While mindfulness correlated with both frequency of prayer and well-being, it did not mediate the relationship between the two. Social support correlated with frequency of prayer and not well-being and was not a mediator between the two variables. Psychological interventions that incorporate faith-based practices have been found to have greater effectiveness for religious patients. Understanding prayer and how it relates to well-being is important to implementing intervention and prevention strategies that are culturally informed thus better serving the Muslim population needs.

There are numerous approaches to quantitatively measure well-being. Most well-beingresearch are based on income or health situation from economics perspective. The needfor research on women’s relationship between education and well-being is an area thathas not been fully investigated. It is also important to know how the situation ofwomen’s well-being compare with men’s. The purpose of this research is to estimatewomen’s well-being and understand how well-being women is compared with men inChina. Different characteristics of men and women is considered and estimate thespecific relationship between education and well-being. Two measure of well-being areused: self-assessed unidimensional subjective well-being and parametrically estimatedmultidimensional well-being. Two measurement will help to understand the differencebetween subjectivity and objectivity of well-being. To achieve this goal, this researchcomputes and compares the well-being of 34,054 women and men by using ChineseGeneral Social Survey in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Well-being is measured by computingmultidimensionally by principal component analysis which depend on differentdomains of identity, capability, material well-being. All the domains contribute toindividual’s well-being. The findings suggest that, multidimensional well-being indexdiffer from the subjective well-being in ranking individual grouped by importantcommon characterizes. The difference is attributed to multidimensionality of the well-being index. Under this circumstance, education still does influence well-beingpositively conditional on controlling for identity, capability and material well-being.

The technological evolution of the past century has exceeded all expectations and would have been impossible to predict 100 years ago. The same might be true of trying to predict the outcome of today’s technological developments that are still in their early stages. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a popular subject for predictions; experts are both pessimistic and optimistic about the outcome of AI development. There is a possibility that AI in the course of things becomes fully integrated into our everyday lives and ends up being a fundamental part of human civilization. This thesis examines a set of problems that arise in certain possible future AI scenarios. If an AI reaches superintelligence, it is reasonable to suggest that potentially it would have the possibility to improve our society in many ways.  This essay considers what impact a particular range of kinds of AI intervention would have on human well-being. There is no philosophical consensus on the right account of well-being, and that limits the scope and force of this study. In that sense, it should be seen as a point of departure for future research on how different accounts of well-being cash out in the AI scenarios under consideration. The approach taken here is mainly to focus on what happens in the AI scenario with theories of well-being that have achievement as a basic and fundamental component. The central discussion in sections 3-4 concerns that. I give a cursory overview of other influential accounts of well-being in section 2, in order to explain why achievement-including views are taken seriously.

An abundance of research has investigated well-being as it relates to religiosity and positive traits, with most research indicating that both relate to improvements in well-being. Moreover, several studies provide evidence for statistically significant relationships between religiosity and specific positive traits, including forgiveness and gratitude. However, few research studies have investigated how increases in positive traits might explain why religiosity enhances well-being. In addition, few studies within the religious and positive psychological literature have included adequate sampling from ethnic/racial minority populations residing in the U.S. As a result, investigations on how ethnic identity interacts with religious and positive psychological variables are virtually nonexistent. This study addressed these areas by investigating whether the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude mediate the relationship between religious commitment and well-being among Polynesian Americans--a fast growing, yet understudied, American population. This study also investigated whether a Polynesian American's ethnic identity moderates the relationship between religious commitment and the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude. 627 Polynesian-identified individuals residing in the U.S. completed a 40-minute online survey that contained positive trait, ethnic identity, and well-being measures. Data analyses showed that forgiveness and gratitude traits mediated the statistical relationship between religious commitment and self-esteem. Gratitude was also shown to partially mediate the relationship between religious commitment and satisfaction with life. Moreover, data analyses did not support the hypothesis that ethnic identity would moderate the relationship between religious commitment, forgiveness, and gratitude. This study provides specific implications for clinical research among Polynesian Americans.

An abundance of research has investigated well-being as it relates to religiosity and positive traits, with most research indicating that both relate to improvements in well-being. Moreover, several studies provide evidence for statistically significant relationships between religiosity and specific positive traits, including forgiveness and gratitude. However, few research studies have investigated how increases in positive traits might explain why religiosity enhances well-being. In addition, few studies within the religious and positive psychological literature have included adequate sampling from ethnic/racial minority populations residing in the U.S. As a result, investigations on how ethnic identity interacts with religious and positive psychological variables are virtually nonexistent. This study addressed these areas by investigating whether the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude mediate the relationship between religious commitment and well-being among Polynesian Americans—a fast growing, yet understudied, American population. This study also investigated whether a Polynesian American’s ethnic identity moderates the relationship between religious commitment and the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude. 627 Polynesian-identified individuals residing in the U.S. completed a 40-minute online survey that contained positive trait, ethnic identity, and well-being measures. Data analyses showed that forgiveness and gratitude traits mediated the statistical relationship between religious commitment and self-esteem. Gratitude was also shown to partially mediate the relationship between religious commitment and satisfaction with life. Moreover, data analyses did not support the hypothesis that ethnic identity would moderate the relationship between religious commitment, forgiveness, and gratitude. This study provides specific implications for clinical research among Polynesian Americans.

An abundance of research has investigated well-being as it relates to religiosity and positive traits, with most research indicating that both relate to improvements in well-being. Moreover, several studies provide evidence for statistically significant relationships between religiosity and specific positive traits, including forgiveness and gratitude. However, few research studies have investigated how increases in positive traits might explain why religiosity enhances well-being. In addition, few studies within the religious and positive psychological literature have included adequate sampling from ethnic/racial minority populations residing in the U.S. As a result, investigations on how ethnic identity interacts with religious and positive psychological variables are virtually nonexistent. This study addressed these areas by investigating whether the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude mediate the relationship between religious commitment and well-being among Polynesian Americans--a fast growing, yet understudied, American population. This study also investigated whether a Polynesian American's ethnic identity moderates the relationship between religious commitment and the positive traits of forgiveness and gratitude. 627 Polynesian-identified individuals residing in the U.S. completed a 40-minute online survey that contained positive trait, ethnic identity, and well-being measures. Data analyses showed that forgiveness and gratitude traits mediated the statistical relationship between religious commitment and self-esteem. Gratitude was also shown to partially mediate the relationship between religious commitment and satisfaction with life. Moreover, data analyses did not support the hypothesis that ethnic identity would moderate the relationship between religious commitment, forgiveness, and gratitude. This study provides specific implications for clinical research among Polynesian Americans.

The research aimed to investigate the effects of creative activity on stress and anxiety levels. The reasons for this proposed direction of study was to investigate the reasons for reported success in art therapy (thus strengthening its standing in the scientific psychological community), to examine whether creative activities could be used to benefit the mental well-being of people in general and to study the link between creativity and mental well-being. This was accomplished through the following means: Patients from MuelMed hospital’s rehabilitation centre took part in a creative intervention. Patients took the SCL-90-R before painting for about an hour and then filled in the SCL-90-R again. A control group was also selected who also filled in the SCL-90-R to ascertain their stress levels. The mean score’s of the two groups was compared as well as the before and after scores of the experimental group. The MMSE (Mini Mental Status Exam) was used to screen patients, so that only those patients cognitively capable of participating in the study took part in the experiment. For the most part the MMSE was a useful tool to screen patients. In the experimental group, there was no statistically significant difference between the before and after scores on the SCL-90-R. Because the experimental group showed no difference, only one measure of the control group was taken, which also did not differ significantly from the scores of the experimental group. Reasons for the lack of statistical significance is discussed, and may be due to a lack of reported initial stress levels. Despite the lack of a statistically significant findings, it is suggested that further studies be conducted to establish the role creativity plays in mental well-being. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted