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Studies

Beiser (1974): study CA 1963

Publication

Author(s):
Beiser, M.
Title:
Components and Correlates of Mental Well-Being.
Source:
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 1974, Vol. 15, 320 - 327

Investigation

Public
18+ aged, general public, Stirling County, Canada, 1963-1968
Sample
Respondents
N = 112
Non Response
10%
Assessment
Interview: face-to-face
Unstructured and structured interview. Ratings by a psychiatrists.

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:
Self report on 10 questions:

"During the past few months, have you ever felt.....         
A   Particularly excited or interested in something?
B   So restless that you couldn't sit long in a chair?
C   Proud because someone complimented you on something you had done?
D   Very lonely or remote from other people?
E   Pleased about having accomplished something?
F   Bored?
G   Depressed or very unhappy?
H  That things were going your way?
I    Upset because someone criticized you?

Answer options and scoring:
3  often
2  sometimes
1  never

Summation:
-Positive Affect Score (PAS): A+C+E+I
-Negative Affect Score (NAS): B+D+F+H+J
-Affect Balance Score (ABS): PAS minus NAS
Possible range: -15 to +12
Name: Bradburn's 'Affect Balance Scale' (standard version)
Classification:
A-BB-cq-mq-v-3-a
Author's label:
Affect
Error estimates:
Reliability: Equivalence: common variance: 18.5% for index of positive affects and 19.9% for index of negative affects positive affect score x negative affect score: r = -.13 (ns). Validity:
Full text:
Self report on single question:

Taken all together, how would you say things are these days?   Would you say that you are....?
3  very happy
2  pretty happy
1  not too happy
Classification:
O-HL-c-sq-v-3-aa
Author's label:
General well-being

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Age Current age (in years) Educational level Level of school-education Psycho-physiological condition Current physical complaints Psychiatric "Case- ness" Expert ratings of mental health Material style of life Total wealth Having hobbies Current interests
Hobbies
Role related planning abilities Planning ability Socially participant behavior Current participation in voluntary associations Pleasure involvement Feeling elated (vs not) Negative affect Feeling down (vs not) Interpersonal reactivity Ability to maintain intimate contacts
Sociable
Long-term satisfact-ion Multiple aspect evaluations of life
Planning mindedness