Cohen et al. (1982): study US 1979

Publication

Author(s):

Cohen, P.; Genevie, L.E.; Kaplan, S.R.; Muhlin, G.R.; Struening, E.L.

Title:

Community Stressors, Mediating Conditions and Well-Being in Urban Neighbourhoods.

Source:

Journal of Community Psychology, 1982, Vol. 10, 377 - 391.

Investigation

Public

18-55 aged, general public, New York City, 1979

Sample

Respondents

N = 602

Non Response

Assessment

Interview: face-to-face

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:

Self report on 13 questions:

"During the past month, did you ever feel.....?"

A. Excited or pleased about something you were doing
B. That important things in life are going your way
C. Happy, satisfied, or pleased with your personal life.
D. Exited or pleased with something you did or a problem you
     solved
E. That you have a lot of friends you can count on
F. Nervous or tense
G. So restless and irritated you couldn't sit still
H. Down-hearted or depressed
I. Felt concerned or worried about your health
J. Guilty about something you shouldn't have done
K. Unable to get a good night's sleep
L. That your mind was not working the way it should
M. Miserable or discouraged about your future

Answer options:
1 none of the time
2
3
4 most of the time

Summation:
Positive Affect Scale (PAS):A+B+C+D+E
Negative Affect Scale (NAS):F+G+H+I+J+K+L+M
Affect Balance Scale (ABS): PAS minus NAS
Possible range: -32 to + 20

Name: Bradburn's Affect Balance Scale (variation by Cohen)

Classification:

A-BC-cm-mq-v-4-a

Author's label:

Well-being

Error estimates:

Reliability: equivalence: cronbach _ = .78 Validity:

Observed distribution

Summary Statistics

On original range -32 - 20 On range 0-10

Mean:

36.40 6.00

SD:

5.20 -

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Male sex Sex: male (vs female) Age Current age (in years) White race Ethnic status in the USA Education Level of school-education Having work Current employment status Family income Household income Perceived danger in neighborhood Perceived safety in vicinity Perceived crime in the neighborhood Perceived safety in vicinity
Satisfaction with safety in vicinity Chronic illness Degree of restriction Perceived social cohesion in neighborhood Social cohesion in vicinity
Perceived availability of social support Frequency of visits Contacts with relatives
Social contacts in vicinity
Current personal contacts
Current conflicts with friends Married Married state (compared to non-married states) Comparitive income status Relative to income in neighborhood Anomia Development of anomy Religiousness Christian orthodoxy Hope In the near future (up to 5 years) Perceived social problems in the neighborhood Perceived safety in vicinity
Social cohesion in vicinity Fair share Life compared with standard of fairness
Attitudes to social inequality in nation Joint effects Life-stress inventories
Summed socio-demographic + personality + life-events
Summed socio-demographic + life appraisals + life-events + personality