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Thesis Entitled: Subjective Wellbeing As an Affective Construct

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Thesis Entitled: Subjective Wellbeing As an Affective Construct Subjective Wellbeing As An Affective Construct By Melanie Therese Davern BSc (Hons) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University November 2004 1 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CANDIDATE DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled: Subjective Wellbeing as an Affective Construct Submitted for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy Is the result of my own research, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis in whole or in part has not been submitted for an award, including a higher degree, to any other university or institution. Full Name.................................................…………………………………. (Please Print) Signed ..................................................................................………………. Date......................................................................................………………. 2 Acknowledgements I am indebted to Professor Robert Cummins for his supportive, challenging and stimulating supervision of this thesis. It was a privilege to work with such a passionate and committed academic and I am extremely grateful for his endless hours of editing and intellectual discussions. I would also like to thank my devoted husband Stephen for engaging in countless hours of discussion and all of my extended family for providing endless support during my study. Finally, I would like to thank my kind mother Regina for her numerous hours of final proofreading. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 1: AFFECT ................................................................................................. 13 THE IMPORTANCE OF AFFECT .............................................................................. 13 THE HISTORY OF AFFECT........................................................................................ 13 SIGMUND FREUD ..................................................................................................................................... 13 WILLIAM JAMES ..................................................................................................................................... 14 WILHELM WUNDT .................................................................................................................................. 15 CHARLES DARWIN .................................................................................................................................. 16 ROBERT WOODWORTH ........................................................................................................................... 17 HAROLD SCHLOSBERG ........................................................................................................................... 17 THE CIRCUMPLEX MODEL OF AFFECT .............................................................. 21 JAMES RUSSELL ...................................................................................................................................... 22 DAVID WATSON & AUKE TELLEGEN ..................................................................................................... 26 OTHER IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTORS ................................................................. 32 ED DIENER & RANDY LARSEN ............................................................................................................... 32 TIMOTHY HUELSMAN, RICHARD NEMANICK & DAVID MUNZ ............................................................. 33 MEASUREMENT & ASSESSMENT ISSUES IN AFFECT ...................................... 34 DONALD GREEN, PETER SALOVEY & COLLEAGUES ............................................................................. 34 THE INFLUENCE OF RANDOM AND NON-RANDOM ERROR ................................................................... 35 AN EXPLANATION OF CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS.................................................................. 35 CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS AND INVESTIGATIONS OF BIPOLARITY ...................................... 36 THE DEBATE OF THE LATE 1990’S ......................................................................... 38 BIPOLARITY AND RESPONSE FORMATS.................................................................................................. 39 POLYCHORIC CORRELATIONS ................................................................................................................ 42 LABELLING AND DEFINITIONAL CONFUSION OF AFFECT DIMENSIONS................................................ 43 HOW DO THE MODELS OF AFFECT COMPARE? ............................................... 45 FURTHER ASSESSMENT OF THE CIRCUMPLEX ....................................................................................... 48 SUMMARY OF CURRENT AFFECT THEORY ....................................................... 49 WHERE IS SATISFACTION LOCATED ON THE CIRCUMPLEX MODEL? ................................................. 52 CHAPTER 2: SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING .............................................................. 53 THE HISTORY OF SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING..................................................... 53 THE RELIABILITY OF GLOBAL MEASURES OF SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING ............................................ 54 COGNITION AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING............................................................................................ 55 AFFECT AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING .................................................................................................. 55 THE INTERACTION OF AFFECT AND COGNITION IN SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING .................................... 56 4 AFFECT AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING ............................................................. 57 THE CIRCUMPLEX MODEL, HAPPINESS AND LIFE SATISFACTION ....................................................... 57 THE AFFECTIVE COMPONENT OF LIFE SATISFACTION ......................................................................... 58 RATIONALE FOR ITEM SELECTION......................................................................................................... 58 SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION AS BIPOLAR OPPOSITES ........................................................... 59 ITEMS CHOSEN FOR ASSESSMENT OF BIPOLARITY .............................................................................. 59 LIFE SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION ITEMS ............................................................................... 61 QUESTIONNAIRE 1 ................................................................................................................................... 61 QUESTIONNAIRE 2 ................................................................................................................................... 63 NEUROTICISM AND LIFE SATISFACTION ................................................................................................ 64 DEPRESSION AND LIFE SATISFACTION ................................................................................................... 64 ANXIETY AND LIFE SATISFACTION ........................................................................................................ 65 DEPRESSION ANXIETY STRESS SCALES (DASS) .................................................................................... 66 SELF-ESTEEM AND LIFE SATISFACTION ................................................................................................ 67 ROSENBERG SELF-ESTEEM SCALE ......................................................................................................... 68 OPTIMISM AND LIFE SATISFACTION ...................................................................................................... 68 LIFE ORIENTATION TEST ....................................................................................................................... 69 HYPOTHESES FOR STUDY 1 ..................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER 3: STUDY 1 METHODOLOGY ............................................................... 71 PARTICIPANTS ......................................................................................................................................... 71 MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE ................................................................................................................ 71 CHAPTER 4: STUDY 1 RESULTS .............................................................................. 73 4.1 MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS ................................................................................... 73 4.2 CORRELATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 76 4.3 GENDER DIFFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 79 4.4 DEPRESSION .................................................................................................................................. 81 4.5 ANXIETY ......................................................................................................................................... 91 4.6 STRESS ............................................................................................................................................. 99 SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 5: STUDY 1 DISCUSSION ....................................................................
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