The purpose of this work was to investigate basic personality mechanisms underlying life balance, to specify why life balance is beneficial for peoples well-being, and to identify specific self-regulatory competences that affect that balance. The approach of life balance was initially conceived of in terms of the work-family balance or the work-family conflict. Addressing the suggestion that the work-life system is multi- and not just two dimensional, life balance as a multidimensional construct was operationalized and investigated in the present research. Life balance was defined in terms of appropriate proportion of time spent in major life domains that comprises of activities related to work, social contact and family, health, and the overall meaningfulness of life. Two life balance measurements - the Life-Balance Checklist and the Life-Balance Questionnaire - were constructed as a part of this research. Both measures were found to have sufficient internal and external validity. The main findings were: (a) the congruence of needs, goals and goal attainment within the time invested in goal-relevant behavior predicted the level of life balance and may be viewed as a mechanism underlying life balance; (b) the fulfillment of psychological needs mediated the relationship between life balance and subjective well-being; (c) affective coping (i.e., action orientation) buffered the negative impact of stress on life balance; (d) time management behavior was found to have a positive impact on life balance through improved perception of control over time and reduced procrastination; and (e) persons especially skilled in self-motivation and self-relaxation reported to high competence to choose and attain self-concordant goals (i.e., self-determination) and, as a result, to balance their time spent across life domains more effectively.

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This dissertation addresses the role of welfare state/family care regimes, intersecting social locations and stress process factors in influencing the mental health and subjective well-being of informal caregivers of care recipients with age-related needs or disabilities within a European international context. Empirical analyses were conducted with secondary data from the 2012 and 2016 European Quality of Life Surveys. The study sample included informal caregivers (n=6,007) residing in seven different welfare state/family care regimes, including Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and the United Kingdom. Ordinary least squares and ordered logit regression models revealed that welfare state/family care regime, social location (including both additive and interactive associations among gender, age group, marital status, and income), and stress process factors were independently associated with the mental health and life satisfaction of informal caregivers. Furthermore, there was some evidence to suggest that social location and stress process factors mediate some of the relationships between regime type and self-reported health and well-being and that stress process factors mediate relationships between social location factors and mental health and well-being. Overall, the results provide support for integrating welfare state/family care regime type and intersectionality factors into the SPM. Thus, future research on informal caregivers‘ mental health and well-being ought to incorporate such factors into their empirical analyses. The results also have some policy and practice implications. Residence in social democratic formal (Denmark), semi-formal (Sweden) and conservative formal (France) care regimes was the most beneficial to informal caregivers self-reported mental health. This was also the case for life satisfaction, except that residence in the liberal semi-formal (UK) was more beneficial than in the conservative formal (France) care regime. Mediating social location and stress process factors suggest that UK policy makers should address the greater social location disparities, greater role overload, and lack of coping resources that advantage Danish and Swedish informal caregivers compared to those residing in the UK. Lastly, policy makers from all the European countries assessed in the study should address the poorer mental health status of women and rural informal caregivers, those who experience role overload, secondary stressors, and lack coping resources. They should also address the the lower levels of formal education, more secondary stressors, and lack of coping resources associated with poorer subjective well-being. / Graduate

The Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005) has a broad research base commonly comprised of vocationally-relevant constructs such as career satisfaction (Hees, 2010), self-efficacy (Betz & Borgen, 2000), and educational aspirations (Rottinghaus, Lindley, Green, & Borgen, 2002). The present study aimed to expand the research base on the SII by linking the fields of vocational and positive psychology by examining the relationships between vocational interests, personal styles, and subjective well-being. This study focused specifically on the General Occupational Themes (GOTs) and Personal Style Scales (PSSs) of the SII by exploring the relationship between these scales and subjective well-being across a sample of 4945 working adults in eight occupations, including administrative assistant, a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields composite, realtor, elementary school teacher, sales manager, graphic designer, attorney, and automobile mechanic. Regression analyses demonstrated that the GOTs and PSSs individually explain a significant portion of variance in subjective well-being, as well as that the PSSs explain a significant amount of variance in subjective well-being above and beyond the GOTs. Occupation-specific hypotheses for GOTs and PSSs were also supported for 4 of the 8 occupations. This study provides further validation for the 2005 SII, specifically the newest PSS, Team Orientation. Future research, theory, and practice implications are discussed herein.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka samband mellan personlighetsdrag och lycka. Studien ämnade även undersöka om det finns skillnad mellan kvinnors och mäns lycka och om det finns skillnad i lycka beroende på utbildningsnivå. I studien har ordet lycka ersatts med subjektivt välbefinnande som definieras som individens egen uppfattning om det egna välbefinnandet. En enkät utformades utifrån de validerade och välanvända självskattningsskalorna Mini-IPIP Scales, som mäter personlighet utifrån femfaktorteorin, och WHO-5 för att mäta subjektivt välbefinnande. Studien omfattar 200 deltagare mellan 18 och 87 år, av vilka var 163 kvinnor, 35 män och två som identifierar sig som annat. Ingen signifikant skillnad hittades gällande könsidentifikation eller utbildningsnivå i relation till subjektivt välbefinnande. Däremot visade resultaten att det fanns samband med vissa personlighetsdrag och subjektivt välbefinnande. Extraversion visade på ett måttligt positivt samband och samvetsgrannhet ett litet positivt samband. Neuroticism hade ett starkt negativt samband med subjektivt välbefinnande. Därav kan slutsatsen dras att det finns ett samband mellan vissa personligheter och SVB. Extroverta och samvetsgranna personligheter skattar sig lyckligare medan personligheter med hög neuroticism skattar sig mindre lyckliga. / The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and happiness. The study also intended to investigate whether there is a difference between women's and men's happiness and whether there is a difference in happiness depending on the level of education. In the present study, the word happiness has been replaced by subjective well-being, which is defined as the individual's own perception of their own well-being. A questionnaire was designed based on the validated and well-used self-report scales Mini-IPIP Scales, which measures personality based on The Five Factor Theory, and WHO-5 to measure subjective well-being. The study included 200 participants between 18 and 87 years old, of whom 163 were women, 35 men and two who identify as other. No significant difference was found regarding gender identification or educational level in relation to subjective well-being. However, the results showed that there were associations with certain personality traits and subjective well-being. Extraversion showed a moderate positive relationship and conscientiousness a small positive relationship. Neuroticism had a strong negative relationship with subjective well-being. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is a relationship between certain personalities and SWB. Extroverted and conscientious personalities rate themselves as happier, while personalities with high neuroticism rate themselves as less happy.

Studenter har visats må sämre än yrkesverksamma i samma ålder och utgör en stor del av befolkningen, vilket bidrar till vikten av att främja deras välbefinnande. Självmedkänsla och akademisk self-efficacy (ASE) har oberoende av varandra visat sig ha betydelse för studieprestationer och välbefinnande i tidigare forskning. Studien syftade därav till att undersöka relationerna mellan självmedkänsla, ASE och subjektivt välbefinnande hos universitetsstudenter. I studien deltog 172 studenter i åldrarna 20-51 år, varav 61.6% bestod av kvinnor. En enkät bestående av mätskalorna ASES, SCS-SF samt WHO-10 användes för insamling av data, vilka analyserades med korrelations- och multipel regressionsanalys. Studien har kunnat fylla en kunskapslucka då resultaten visade på positiva samband mellan självmedkänsla och ASE, samt mellan dessa variabler och subjektivt välbefinnande. Dessutom kunde självmedkänsla och ASE förklara 35% av variationen i välbefinnandet. Studien ger förslag till framtida forskning samt bidrar med värdefull och användbar kunskap med potential att främja studenters välbefinnande.

Background: Subjective-well being is an increasingly important concept within consumer research. Previous studies have thus far shown the capability of brand image and other types of image to influence separate components of subjective well-being, mainly life satisfaction, positive and negative affect. This phenomenon is relevant not least in terms of green branding, as environmentally sustainable behaviour has been shown to also influence certain components of subjective well-being. The study focuses on resolving a theoretical gap in which subjective well-being as a phenomenon with all three of its components has not yet been studied, while recognising the importance of subjective well-being for consumers.  Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore how consumers' subjective well-being can be influenced by a green brand image Method: In order to explore the field properly a qualitative nature was adopted. The qualitative material was thereafter gained through 16 semi structured interviews. To capture the essence of the empirical material the paper implemented a coding method inspired by grounded theory. The resulting categories and concepts were used in the analysis of the empirical material.   Findings: The main findings brought forth by this study showcase that green brand image is able to positively influence subjective well-being, through its positive impact on life satisfaction and its components, as well as through eliciting positive affect while minimising negative affect within the context of engaging with brands that present a green image. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications further discussed.  Conclusion: In concluding remarks this paper discovered that a green brand image could influence consumer Subjective well-being due to altruism and self-image.

The Wim Hof Method (WHM) is a contemporary combination of techniques including a breathing exercise, mindset and cold exposure. Interest in the method has blossomed in recent years as scientific studies has presented promising results on the methods impact on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as well as the immune system. However, although biological factors have been demonstrated as a result of the method, psychological measures are lacking. In this study Subjective Well Being (SWB) was measured which refers to psychological attributes such as happiness, fulfilment and enrichment. As a biological marker Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was measured as it is theorised to be an indirect measure of the ANS which in turn often have been associated to reflect mental health. Measures of SWB and HRV were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Thirty-two participants met the inclusion criteria and were randomised into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group was asked to do 10 days of WHM home practice after an initial introductory training. Meanwhile the control group were asked to live life as usual. Twenty-six participants completed the post assessments, and the collected data were analysed across time. It was found that participants in the intervention group reported a significant decrease in negative affect from pre-intervention to post-intervention in comparison to those in the control group. The present study adds to the existing research on the WHM by assessing new measures that reflect psychological well-being, namely SWB and HRV.

Research suggests a link between gratitude and subjective well-being exists. Research on gratitude practices have shown to increase gratitude, subjective well-being, and other related outcomes. However, the efficacy of gratitude practices may be limited by the rote application of the gold standard gratitude practice--the gratitude journal. Such findings suggest that a more comprehensive, adaptable, and flexible gratitude practice may be needed. This study examined the efficacy of the My Best Self 101 (MBS101) gratitude module: an online gratitude resource that provides psychoeducation about gratitude along with a menu of empirically based gratitude practices. Using a randomized controlled design method, this study compared using the MBS101 gratitude module to using a gratitude journal for 21 days. The sample consisted of 225 adults recruited online and through university research systems. Seemingly unrelated regression models were used to analyze gratitude and subjective well-being outcomes between groups as well as the interaction between time spent on gratitude practice and group assignment. Compared to the gratitude journaling group, the MBS101 group had significantly better outcomes on gratitude and subjective well-being. Additionally, when the time and group interaction was added, the MBS101 group had greater increases in benefits for gratitude and subjective well-being with increased time spent. Further research is required to support these findings.