Children's subjective well-being: Socio-demographic characteristics and personality

Child Indicators Research

Volumn 7, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 119-140

  Goswami, Haridhan ^a  

^a MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Children and young people; Material deprivation; Personality; Socio demographic characteristics; Subjective well being

Indexed keywords

EID: 84894079258     PISSN: 1874897X     EISSN: 18748988     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s12187-013-9205-7     Document Type: Article

References (108)

1. Allport, G. W. (1961). Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
2. Appleton, P. L.; Ellis, N. C.; Minchom, P. E.; Lawson, V.; Boll, V.; Jones, P. (1997). Depressive symptoms and self-concept in young people with spina bifida. Journal of Psychiatric Psychology, 22, 707-722.
3. Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
4. Argyle, M.; Martin, M. (1991). The psychological causes of happiness. In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 77-100). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
5. Ash, C.; Huebner, E. S. (2002). Environmental events and life satisfaction reports of adolescents: A test of cognitive mediation. School Psychology International, 22, 320-336.
6. Ben-Arieh, A. (2008). The child indicators movement: Past, present and future. Child Indicators Research, 1, 3-16.
7. Ben-Arieh, A.; Kaufman, N. H.; Andrews, B. A.; Goerge, R.; Lee, B. J.; Aber, J. L. (2001). Measuring and monitoring children's well-being. The Netherlands: Kluwer.
8. Blanchflower, D.; Oswald, A. (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1733-1749.
9. Bradshaw, J. (2011). The well-being of children in the United Kingdom. Bristol: Policy Press.
10. Bradshaw, J.; Hoelscher, P.; Richardson, D. (2007). An index of child well-being in the European Union 25. Social Indicators Research, 80, 133-177.
11. Bradshaw, J.; Keung, A.; Rees, G.; Goswami, H. (2011). Children's subjective well-being: International comparative perspectives. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(4), 548-556.
12. Bradshaw, J.; Rees, G.; Keung, A.; Goswami, H. (2010). The subjective well-being of children. In C. McAuley & W. Rose (Eds.), Child well-being: Understanding children's lives (pp. 181-204). London: Jessica Kingsley.
13. Brebner, J.; Donaldson, J.; Kirby, N.; Ward, L. (1995). Relationship between happiness and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 251-258.
14. Brief, A.; Butcher, A.; George, J.; Link, K. (1993). Integrating bottom-up and top-down theories of subjective well-being: The case of health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 646-653.
15. Burchardt, T. (1999). Analysis of British household panel survey. Unpublished paper
16. Cantril, H. (1965). The pattern of human concern. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
17. Casas, F. (1997). Children's rights and children's quality of life: Conceptual and practical issues. Social Indicators Research, 42, 283-298.
18. Casas, F. (2011a). Subjective social indicators and child and adolescent well-being. Child Indicators Research, 4, 555-75.
19. Casas, F. (2011b). The well-being of young people and their parents amid tough times: Views from Spain. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81, 461-467.
20. Chamorro-Premuzic, T.; Bennett, E.; Furnham, A. (2007). The happy personality: Mediational role of trait emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1633-1639.
21. Cohen, J.; Cohen, P.; West, S. G.; Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for behavioral sciences. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22. Costa, P. T.; McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668-678.
23. Costa, P. T.; McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory and NEO five factor inventory: Professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.
24. Cummins, R.; Lau, A. (2005). Personal well-being index - school children (3rd ed.). Melbourne: School of Psychology, Deakin University.
25. Cunningham, M. R. (1988). What do you do when you are happy or blue? Mood, expectancies, and behavioural interest. Motivation and Emotion, 12, 309-31.
26. Currie, C.; Zanotti, C.; Morgan, A.; Currie, D.; de Looze, M.; Roberts, C.; Samdal, O.; Smith, O. R. F.; Barnekow, V. (2012). Social determinants of health and well-being among young people. Health behaviour in school-aged children (HBSC) study: International report from the 2009/2010 survey (health policy for children and adolescents, No. 6). Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe.
27. Deci, E. L.; Ryan, R. M. (2000). The 'what' and 'why' of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.
28. Demir, M. (2008). Sweetheart, you really make me happy: Romantic relationship quality and personality as predictors of happiness among emerging adults. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 257-277.
29. DeNeve, K. M.; Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197-229.
30. Dew, T.; Huebner, E. S. (1994). Adolescents' Perceived quality of life: An exploratory investigation. Journal of School Psychology, 33(2), 185-199.
31. Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.
32. Diener, E. (1996). Traits can be powerful, but not enough: Lessons from subjective well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 30, 389-399.
33. Diener, E.; Biswas-Diener, R. (2002). Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research. Social Indicators Research, 57, 119-169.
34. Diener, E.; Gohm, C. L.; Suh, E.; Oishi, S. (2000). Similarity of the relations between marital status and subjective well-being across cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31, 419-436.
35. Diener, E.; Lucas, R. E.; Oishi, S. (2002). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and life satisfaction. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 63-73). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
36. Diener, E.; Oishi, S.; Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-25.
37. Diener, E.; Ryan, K. (2009). Subjective well-being: A general overview. South African Journal of Psychology, 39, 391-406.
38. Diener, E.; Suh, E. M. (1998). Subjective well-being and age: An International Analysis. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 17, 304-324.
39. Diener, E.; Suh, E. M.; Lucas, R. E.; Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276-302.
40. Di Tella, R.; MacCulloch, R.; Oswald, A. (2001). Preferences over inflation and unemployment: Evidence from surveys of happiness. American Economic Review, 91, 335-341.
41. Dolan, P.; Peasgood, T.; While, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy: A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29, 94-122.
42. Easterlin, R. A. (2001). Income and happiness: Towards a unified theory. The Economic Journal, 111, 465-484.
43. Fattore, T.; Mason, J.; Watson, E. (2007). Children's conceptualisation(s) of their wellbeing. Social Indicators Research, 80, 5-29.
44. Feist, G. J.; Bodner, T. E.; Jacobs, J. F.; Miles, M.; Tan, V. (1995). Integrating top-down and bottom-up structural models of subjective well-being: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(1), 138-150.
45. Fogle, L. M.; Huebner, E. S.; Laughlin, J. E. (2002). The relationship between temperament and life satisfaction in early adolescence: Cognitive and behavioral mediation models. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 373-392.
46. Fryer, D. M. (1995). Benefit agency? Labour market disadvantage, deprivation and mental health. The Psychologist, 265-272
47. Furnham, A.; Petrides, K. V. (2003). Trait emotional intelligence and happiness. Social Behaviour and Personality, 31, 815-824.
48. Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative 'description of personality': The big-five factor structure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1216-1229.
49. Gonzalez Gutierrez, J. L.; Jimenez, B. M.; Hernandez, E. G.; Puente, C. P. (2005). Personality and subjective well-being: Big five correlates and demographic variables. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1561-1569.
50. Gosling, S. D.; Rentfrow, P. J.; Swann, W. B.; Jr. (2003). A very brief measure of the big-five personality domains. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 504-528.
51. Goswami, H. (2009). Test-retest reliability of well-being measures: Evidence from the national survey of young people's well-being 2008. London: The Children's Society.
52. Goswami, H. (2012). Social relationships and children's subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 107(3), 575-588.
53. Ha, S. E.; Kim, S. (2013). Personality and subjective well-being: Evidence from South Korea. Social Indicators Research, 111, 341-359.
54. Haring, M. J.; Stock, W. A.; Okun, M. A. (1984). A research synthesis of gender and social class as correlates of subjective well-being. Human Relations, 37, 645-657.
55. Harju, A.; Thorod, A. B. (2011). Child poverty in a Scandinavian welfare context - from children's point of view. Child Indicators Research, 4, 283-299.
56. Haslam, N.; Whelan, J.; Bastian, B. (2009). Big five traits mediate associations between values and subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 40-42.
57. Hayes, N.; Joseph, S. (2003). Big 5 correlates of three measures of well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 723-727.
58. Headey, B.; Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events, and subjective well-being: Toward a dynamic equilibrium model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 731-739.
59. Headey, B. W.; Wearing, A. J. (1992). Understanding happiness. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
60. Holder, M. D.; Coleman, B. (2009). The contribution of social relationships to children's happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10, 329-349.
61. Hotard, S. R.; McFatter, R. M.; McWhirter, R. M.; Stegall, M. E. (1989). Interactive effects of extraversion, neuroticism, and social relationships on subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 321-331.
62. Huebner, E. S. (1991a). Initial development of the students' life satisfaction scale. School Psychology International, 12, 231-240.
63. Huebner, E. S. (1991b). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology Quarterly, 6, 103-111.
64. Huebner, E. S.; Suldo, S. M.; Smith, L. C.; McKnight, C. G. (2004). Life satisfaction in children and youth: Empirical foundations and implications for school psychologists. Psychology in the Schools, 41(1), 81-93.
65. International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). (2013). A scientific collaboratory for the development of advanced measures of personality traits and other individual differences (http://ipip.ori.org/).
66. Isen, A. M. (1987). Positive affect, cognitive processes, and social behaviour. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 203-53.
67. Konu, A. I.; Lintonen, T. P.; Rimpela, M. K. (2002). Factors associated with school children's subjective well-being. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 17(2), 155-165.
68. Lelkes, O. (2006). Knowing what is good for you: Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the "objective good". Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, 285-307.
69. Little, B. R.; Lecci, L.; Watkinson, B. (1992). Personality and personal projects: Linking big five and PAC units of analysis. Journal of Personality, 60, 501-25.
70. Lucas, R. E. (2008). Personality and subjective well-being. In R. J. Larsen & M. Eid (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 171-194). New York: Guilford Press.
71. Luhmann, M.; Hofmann, W.; Eid, M.; Lucas, R. E. (2012). Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 592-615.
72. Lynn, M.; Steel, P. (2006). National differences in subjective well-being: The interactive effects of extraversion and neuroticism. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 155-165.
73. Main, G.; Bradshaw, J. (2012). A child material deprivation index. Child Indicators Research, 5(3), 503-521.
74. McAuley, C.; Layte, R. (2012). Exploring the relative influence of family stressors and socio-economic context on children's happiness and well-being. Child Indicators Research, 5, 523-545.
75. McAuley, C.; McKeown, C.; Merriman, B. (2012). Spending time with family and friends: Children's Views on relationships and shared activities. Child Indicators Research, 5, 449-467.
76. McCrae, R. R.; Costa, P. T. (1991). Adding liebe und arbeit: The full five-factor model and well being. Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 494-512.
77. McKnight, C.; Huebner, E. S.; Suldo, S. M. (2002). Relationships among stressful life events, temperament, problem behavior, and global life satisfaction. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 677-687.
78. Meeus, W.; Van de Schoot, R.; Klimstra, T.; Branjie, S. (2011). Personality types in adolescence: Change and stability and links with adjustments and relationships: A five-wave longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 47, 1181-1195.
79. Mooney, A.; Oliver, C.; Smith, M. (2009). Impact of family breakdown on children's well-being. London: DCSF.
80. Mowrer, R. R.; Parker, K. N. (2004). Revised multicultural perspective index and measures of depression, life satisfaction, shyness, and self esteem. Psychological Reports, 95, 1227-1228.
81. Myers, D. G. (1999). Close relationship and quality of life. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwartz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundation of hedonic psychology (pp. 374-391). New York: Russell Sage.
82. National Children's Bureau. (2007). Spotlight briefing. London: National Children's Bureau.
83. Nave, C. S.; Sherman, R. A.; Funder, D. C. (2008). Beyond self-report in the study of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: Correlations with acquaintance reports, clinician judgments and directly. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 643-659.
84. Olson, K. R. (2005). Engagement and self-control: Superordinate dimensions of big five traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1689-1700.
85. Pavot, W.; Diener, E.; Fujita, F. (1990). Extroversion and happiness. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 1299-1306.
86. Peir'o, A. (2006). Happiness, satisfaction and socio-economic conditions: Some international evidence. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, 348-365.
87. Prenoveau, J. M.; Craske, M. G.; Zinbarg, R. E.; Mineka, S.; Rose, R. D.; Griffth, J. W. (2011). Are anxiety and depression just as stable as personality during late adolescence? results from a three-year longitudinal latent variable study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 832-843.
88. Pullmann, H.; Raudsepp, L.; Allik, J. (2006). Stability and change in adolescents' personality: A longitudinal study. European Journal of Personality, 20, 447-459.
89. Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Arndt, J.; Schimel, J. (2004). Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 435-468.
90. Rees, G.; Bradshaw, J.; Goswami, H.; Keung, A. (2010). Understanding children's well-being: A national survey of young people's well-being. London: The Children's Society.
91. Rees, G.; Goswami, H.; Pople, L.; Bradshaw, J.; Keung, A.; Main, G. (2012). The good childhood report 2012: A review of our children's well-being. London: The Children's Society.
92. Rees, G.; Pople, L.; Goswami, H. (2011). Understanding children's well-being: Links between family economic factors and children's subjective well-being - initial findings from wave 2 and wave 3 quarterly surveys. London: The Children's Society. http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/ tcs/research-docs/Economic%20Factors%20March%202011.pdf.
93. Ridge, T. (2002). Childhood poverty and social exclusion. Bristol: Policy Press.
94. Rigby, B. T.; Huebner, E. S. (2005). Do causal attributions mediate the relationship between personality characteristics and life satisfaction in adolescence? Psychology in the Schools, 42, 91-99.
95. Rotter, J. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcements. Psychological Monographs, 80, 609.
96. Ruiz, W. M. (2005). The five-factor model of personality, subjective well-being, and social adaptation: Generalizability to the Spanish context. Psychological Reports, 96, 863-866.
97. Ryff, C. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.
98. Schmutte, P. S.; Ryff, C. D. (1997). Personality and well-being: Reexamining methods and meanings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 549-559.
99. Schorling, J. B.; Gutgesell, M.; Klas, P.; Smith, D.; Keller, A. (1994). Tobacco, alcohol and other drug use among college students. Journal of Substance Abuse, 6, 105-115.
100. Steel, P.; Schmidt, J.; Shultz, J. (2008). Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 138-161.
101. Stock, W.; Okun, M.; Stock, S.; Haring, M.; Witter, R. A. (1982). Reporting reliability: A case study of life satisfaction research. Washington: Paper presented at the 90th annual convention of the American Psychological Association.
102. Stock, W. A.; Okun, M. A.; Haring, M. J.; Witter, R. A. (1983). Age and subjective well-being: A meta analysis. In R. J. Light (Ed.), Evaluation studies: Review annual (pp. 279-302). Beverly Hills: Sage.
103. Suh, E.; Diener, E.; Fujita, F. (1996). Events and subjective well-being: Only recent events matter. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(5), 1091-1102.
104. Tkach, C.; Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How do people pursue happiness? Relating personality, happiness-increasing strategies, and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 183-225.
105. The Children's Society. (2009). Family: A summary of selected research evidence (Paper prepared for The Good Childhood Inquiry). London: The Children's Society.
106. Vitterso, J. (2001). Personality traits and subjective well-being: Emotional stability, not extraversion, is probably the important predictor. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 903-914.
107. Wood, W.; Rhodes, N.; Whelan, M. (1989). Sex differences in positive well-being: A consideration of emotional style and marital status. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 249-264.
108. Yik, M. S. M.; Russell, J. A. (2001). Predicting the big two of affect from the big five of personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 35, 247-277.