We hypothesized that benefit finding would moderate the relationship between HIV-related stigma and psychological well-being in people living with HIV (PLWH). 106 PLWH completed an online survey that included measures of demographics, HIV-related stigma, benefit finding, and psychological well-being (depression, anxiety, anger). Results suggest that higher levels of benefit finding offset the negative effects of HIV-related stigma on anger. However, for individuals who fail to find benefits in their illness diagnosis, experiencing stigma may be associated with increased levels of anger.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / Art therapy is very popular amongst therapists, and Bonsai art adds another dimension to the intervention stratagem. One aspect of an intervention strategy is to reduce the burden of mental illness and related conditions. Bonsai as an intervention combines meditation, spirituality, responsibility and the ability to express oneself through this timeless art. An international study was conducted of the habits, health and spirituality of bonsai practitioners. Participants completed the Spirituality Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire and the Quality of Life Scales, as well as a questionnaire about their interest in Bonsai. Results indicated that although the participants were not necessarily healthier than the general population, they experienced peace by being actively involved in Bonsai. Bonsai is proposed as a new expanded category of supportive therapeutic mechanism, along with an elaboration of expressive therapeutic mechanisms such as when working in groups,such as hospitals,old age homes and prisons.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, University of Zululand, 2006. / The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological, physical and social well being in a team and an individual sport. It has been contextualized within a broader public health paradigm with special reference to health and sport psychology. This new paradigm re-establishes a balanced view of both illness prevention and health promotion. To explore the relationship of psychological, physical and social well-being in a team and an individual sport, the study entailed a triangulation approach which consisted of a quantitative and a qualitative component of the team and the individual sport. Psychological well-being was measured using Ryffs Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB); physical well-being was assessed using the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) and social well-being was measured using the Perceived Social Support Scale from Family (PSS-Fa) and from Friends (PSS-FrJ. Results from the study indicated a significant relationship between perceived body attractiveness and surfing. Surfers perceived themselves as being more physically attractive and more confident in appearance. A higher importance of sport competence was recorded by the surfers which suggest that being able to master and ride the surf is important. More importance was placed on conditioning for the soccer players. Soccer was experienced as being a more competitive sport than surfing, and subsequently, more emphasis was placed on physical condition, stamina, fitness and confidence in ability. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Co-creation is centered on the idea of the consumer as a creator of value, interacting with a company to "co-create" value. As the concept of co-creation gains popularity among many industries, it is receiving increased attention from researchers. Although many topics are being researched with this new topic, one of the essential missing links is what outcomes can be expected from participation in co-creation. By identifying the relationship between co-creation, satisfaction, and subjective well-being, service providers can change strategies and implement a platform for creating unique experiences, allowing tourists to become more physically and emotionally engaged. An online survey using panel data from a commercial firm was used to gather 561 completed questionnaires. Co-creation, satisfaction, level of involvement, and subjective well-being were measured using different scales which have been adapted from previous works which are discussed in the literature review. The analysis consisted of several steps including a profile of respondents based on descriptive statistics, a simple correlation analysis of all the summated variables, and simple correctional analyses which looked at the relationships between co-creation and satisfaction, co-creation and subjective well-being, and satisfaction and subjective well-being. This study contributed to the growing body of knowledge in understanding the perceived value of tourism experiences by establishing a theory based empirical link between co-creation and subjective well-being via satisfaction. This aspect of tourism experiences had not yet before been empirically demonstrated. / Master of Science

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Introduction: Owing to its importance in the development and evaluation of health policies in favor of the general population, there is currently a greater interest in the study of well-being. Therefore, a valid and reliable measurement of well-being is necessary. In this context, this study evaluated the evidence of validity based on the internal structure, reliability, and factor invariance by sex of the General Well-Being Index (who-5 wbi). Materials and Methods: A total of 499 university students (female = 271; male = 228) from the city of Trujillo, Peru, participated in the study. A confirmatory factor analysis, reliability by internal consistency, and factor invariance by sex were performed using a multigroup analysis. Results: The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the 5-dimensional model with 5 correlated errors of items 1 and 4 presented a good fit (χ² = 9.667 [gl = 4], p > 0.05; χ²/gl = 2.416; cfi = 0.994; rmsea = 0.053 [ic90% 0.006–0.097]; srmr = 0.018). In addition, acceptable reliability (ω = 0.758) and factor invariance by sex were reported. Conclusion: The who-5 wbi demonstrated empirical evidence in favor of validity based on internal structure, reliability of scores, and factor invariance that allow for a useful and rapid instrument for measuring subjective well-being in university students.

Family Systems Theory provides a framework for examining how values are transmitted between family members, and the overall impact transmission has on familial well-being. While familial emotional closeness has been linked to older-adult well-being, there is still a lack of research investigating the influence of ideological agreement between family members. This study examined grandparent-child and grandparent-grandchild dyads to assess the extent to which level of agreement on religious and political ideological beliefs moderates the relation between perceived intergenerational emotional closeness and well-being in grandparents. Affectual solidarity ratings among the generations, as well as religious ideological differences between grandparents and grandchildren, were found to influence well-being in grandparents. Model fit was excellent for both moderation models. These findings suggest that emotional closeness is a predominant factor in predicting well-being in grandparents that may not be as heavily influenced by the level of agreement on ideological beliefs, as is often assumed.

The COVID-19 pandemic had considerable effects on the tourism industry as well as on individuals. The lockdown led to long-lasting mental health consequences. Equally, awareness of well-being increased, and consequently, demand for tourism experiences that focus on well-being rose. Concerning the tourism industry, a rethinking process was evoked through the pandemic. Tourism scholars were in consensus that a paradigm shift was needed to counteract current sociocultural and environmental challenges while responding to the need to provide tourist offers that support the mental and physical health of consumers. The regenerative tourism paradigm offers a solution as it withdraws from the pro-growth agenda of the current tourism industry and strives towards a net positive impact on nature, people, and planet. The rise in well-being for the whole system is thereby aimed.The study contributed to the understanding of the regenerative tourism paradigm from the traveler's perspective. Thereby, travelers’ well-being is conceptualized in a multidimensional way including hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being. The aim of this study is to understand how different dimensions of well-being are experienced in regenerative tourism. A qualitative approach is applied by using interviews and observations to gather information. The case and research setting is thereby Mahakala Retreats Center in Montenegro which aligns with the principles of a regenerative tourism space. The narrative analysis following an inductive approach leads to the identification of three core themes that represent the answer to the research question. Findings reveal that hedonic well-being is experienced through being in a safe space, surrounded by beauty and nature. The dimension of social well-being is experienced by connecting with other retreat guests and lastly, eudaimonic well-being is experienced through self-reflection. These experiences are all fostered by the regenerative tourism space. It is argued that well-being itself constitutes the regenerative tourism experience, not an activity. The study furthermore identifies three new aspects of a regenerative tourism experience that go beyond the current established principles. Hence, experiencing beauty, experiencing a safe space and the balance between solitude and connection are aspects that are of high importance in regenerative tourism from the travelers' perspective.

Existing evidence has linked individual differences in emotion reaction intensity to both enhanced and decreased psychological well-being. We propose that this contradiction is related to methodological shortcomings in some existing research. We present a novel emotion reactivity task capable of addressing these methodological shortcomings by continuously measuring the subjective intensity of individual emotion episodes with high temporal resolution. Four studies were conducted (total n = 499). In Studies 1, 2, and 4, participants continuously reported their emotions while viewing objectively pleasant or unpleasant images. Thousands of reaction intensities were coded using algorithms developed for this purpose. We expected that people showing more intense emotion reactions, regardless of valence, would report greater subjective well-being in the lab and in daily life. One reason that such situationally-congruent reactions might be beneficial is that that they enable more flexible situationally-appropriate behavior. In Study 3, participants were asked to rate their emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant images. Following this, people choose a location for their Self avatar within a computerized environment that included one image of each valence. We expected that the tendency to report intense emotion responses to these images would predict both adaptive location choice and subjective well-being. Results confirmed most major hypotheses: more intense reactions to both positive and negative stimuli were predictive of greater subjective well-being in the lab and in daily life, and analogous reactivity patterns were associated with more flexible, adaptive avatar placement. The results suggest that a key feature of maladaptive emotion generation systems (and lower well-being) may not be overly intense reactions as has been suggested, but a failure to flexibly adapt emotion output to match changing circumstances.

Gay men living with HIV (MLWH) are often adversely affected by stigma related to both their serostatus and their sexual orientation, and the experience of living with HIV appears to increase feelings of internalized homophobia (IH). Little research attention has focused, however, on factors that may buffer the impact of HIV-stigma and IH on well-being among men living with HIV. Self-compassion, which consists of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, has been associated with resilience against the negative effects of stigma on well-being. We hypothesized that HIV-stigma would be indirectly related to poorer psychological well-being through increased levels of IH. Moreover, we expected that self-compassion would attenuate the negative effects of HIV-stigma on well-being through IH. Our sample consisted of 90 ethnically diverse gay MLWH. Participants completed an online questionnaire that assessed levels of HIV-stigma, IH, self-compassion, depression, anxiety, and positive and negative affect. After controlling for a variety of sociodemographic, health, and social characteristics, results revealed that more HIV-stigma was indirectly related to more depressive symptoms and anxiety through higher IH. Moreover, self-compassion emerged as a moderator of the indirect association of HIV-stigma on higher negative affect through higher IH, such that this indirect effect was significant for those with low self-compassion, but not for those with high self-compassion. Compassion-focused practices should be explored as a means of increasing resilience among gay MLWH.