The present paper examines whether state and trait cheerfulness represent actual and habitual dispositions for the emotion of exhilaration. In Experiment I, 60 research participants were involved in a 10-minute interaction with a clowning vs. neutral experimenter. Individuals high in trait cheerfulness, as assessed by the State-Trait-Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI), displayed facial signs of exhilaration with higher frequency, intensity, and duration than did low cheerful individuals. In Experiment II (N = 60), the experimenter was instructed to laugh or not laugh at certain preselected scenes while watching a movie. The experimenter's laughter facilitated enjoyment displays among individuals high in state cheerfulness, but not among those low in state cheerfulness. In both experiments, smiling and laughter predicted the subsequent mood level.
In a recent work, we introduced a theoretical model for fulfillment in life that covers cognitive and affective components and distinguishes different time frames. The present study evaluates this model and describes the construction of the Fulfilled Life Scale (FLS) to assess fulfillment regarding the whole lived life retrospectively. We investigated the scale in two samples (Sample 1: N = 282 adults aged 50-93 years; Sample 2: N = 406 adults aged 40-85 years). The model of the cognitive component combines three sources of fulfillment (self, life, impact/legacy) with three criteria (wholeness, fit, value), yielding nine facets. Employing hierarchical factor analysis, we inspected all solutions between one and nine. We identified three optimal factors, which we labeled unfolded self and life, the worthwhile life, and positive impact and legacy. Next, we selected marker items and replicated the factor structure in Sample 2. The three scales were positively intercorrelated and showed good internal consistency in both samples. For the affective component, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses established a one-factor structure in both samples, and high internal consistency was obtained. Across a range of related constructs, we demonstrated construct and criterion validity. Notably, cognitive and affective fulfillment incrementally predicted a global rating of a fulfilled life and mental well-being, even after controlling for subjective and eudaimonic well-being. Overall, the study proves that the FLS is necessary to capture people's experience of a fulfilled life, which could not be assessed sufficiently with previous well-being measures. Both cognitive and affective fulfillment were able to predict additional variance in mental well-being. Moreover, the study reveals psychometric support for the FLS and presents the first evidence on its validity. Lastly, applications in research and practice are discussed, especially in the context of living and aging well in the second half of life.
The factor structure of the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) seems to vary across samples depending on whether meditators or non-meditators are studied and whether a sample is analyzed before or after mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. The current study illustrates the inconsistencies typically found (e.g., whether all five facets can load on an overall construct of mindfulness), as well as provides and tests alternative explanations in three samples with different levels of meditation experience (i.e., current meditators, past meditators, and non-meditators). Altogether, 2247 German-speaking volunteers completed the FFMQ and reported their meditation experiences online. Results showed that the scaling of three facets of the FFMQ (i.e., observing, describing, and non-judging) were constrained in all samples. The past meditators revealed unique features in terms of their mindfulness level: (1) stopping practicing meditation reduced their levels of mindfulness in facets of awareness, non-judging, and non-reacting, yet observing and describing seemed to remain and (2) those past meditators with intensive trainings scored higher in all five facets than those past meditators who practiced less. The CFA yielded a good fit in all three samples. A hierarchical factor analysis showed how the factors unfolded from level to level and demonstrated that in particular the observing facet loaded on the overall construct of mindfulness differently across the three samples. The empirical results confirmed the alternative interpretations on why the discrepancy regarding the loading of the "observing" facet on an overall mindfulness construct occurs, but future studies might think of investigating each hypothesis specifically.
Bereits zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts beschrieben die Ausdruckspsychologen sowohl einen spezifischen Gesichtsausdruck als auch eine besondere Lautbildung, die nur dem Lachen der Schadenfreude zu eigen sein sollte. Leider wurden diese Ideen bislang nur unzureichend durch gezielte Untersuchungen weiterverfolgt. Vorarbeiten zur vorliegenden Studie, in denen die Häufigkeit und Intensität von Lächeln und Lachen in 16 positiven Emotionen untersucht wurden, zeigten, dass nicht nur Erheiterung systematisch mit Lachen und intensiveren mimischen Reaktionen einhergeht, sondern auch Schadenfreude. Aufbauend auf diesen Ergebnissen testete die vorliegende Studie drei Hypothesen zum mimischen Ausdruck von Schadenfreude in 17 erinnerten Schadenfreude-Erlebnissen. Die Resultate zeigen, dass Schadenfreude sehr oft mit Lachen einherging (in 70 % der Schadenfreude-Erlebnisse) und darüber hinaus die mimischen Ausdrücke oft durch Marker der Regulierung/Dämpfung des Ausdruckes gekennzeichnet waren. Während Schadenfreude also durch den für Freude typischen Gesichtsausdruck gezeigt wird (Duchenne-Display), findet im sozialen Kontext oft eine sichtbare Abschwächung (Regulation) oder ein Verbergen des Ausdrucks statt. Dies ist womöglich darauf zurückzuführen, dass es sozial nicht akzeptabel ist, über den Schaden anderer öffentlich zu lachen.
Lachen kommt in unterschiedlichen sozialen Situationen vor, wird von unterschiedlichen Arten von Stimuli ausgelöst und geht mit unterschiedlichen Emotionen einher – dies führt zu einer großen Variabilität von Lachen. Diese Variabilität spiegelt sich in der Sprache wider, die dazu verwendet wird, Lachen zu beschreiben: In der deutschen Sprache fanden sich in einer korpuslinguistischen Analyse mehr als 1000 Wörter, die für eine Beschreibung bzw. Differenzierung verschiedener Arten von Lachen gebraucht wurden. Auf dieser Grundlage konnte eine Klassifikation formaler Aspekte des Lachens entwickelt werden. Aufbauend auf dieser Klassifikation wurde in der vorliegenden Studie untersucht, ob 20 Adjektive, die affektive und motivationale Aspekte von Lachen beschreiben und die bereits vorher in der Forschung verwendet wurden, anhand der Dimensionen basaler Parameter (z.B. Dauer), Intensität, Klang, Einzigartigkeit und Regulation differenziert werden können. Eine hierarchische Clusteranalyse über die Einschätzungen von 81 Erwachsenen hinweg zeigte, dass fünf Cluster identifiziert wurden, die sich zum Teil deutlich in den gewonnenen Dimensionen unterschieden. Diese Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass die über den lexikalischen Ansatz gewonnenen Dimensionen nützlich zur Beschreibung verschiedener Arten des Lachens und zum Einsatz in weiterer Forschung sind.
AbstractThis research introduces strength‐based therapeutic recreation (STR) as an innovative approach to address job stress, work–family conflict, and family–work conflict among employees. STR involves personalized leisure activities tailored to individuals' signature character strengths in daily life. The study, encompassing 82 married employees (70.73% female, mean age = 36.77 years), reveals significant reductions in job stress and both work–family and family–work conflicts within the experimental group undergoing a 10‐week STR workshop. By empowering employees to engage in strength‐based leisure activities, STR enhances the propensity to reduce job stress, work–family conflict, and family–work conflict. This approach holds practical potential for organizations seeking to improve employee mental health and productivity through tailored interventions.
In a paradigm facilitating smile misattribution, facial responses and ratings to contempt and joy were investigated in individuals with or without gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at). Participants from two independent samples ( N1 = 83, N2 = 50) rated the intensity of eight emotions in 16 photos depicting joy, contempt, and different smiles. Facial responses were coded by the Facial Action Coding System in the second study. Compared with non-fearful individuals, gelotophobes rated joy smiles as less joyful and more contemptuous. Moreover, gelotophobes showed less facial joy and more contempt markers. The contempt ratings were comparable between the two groups. Looking at the photos of smiles lifted the positive mood of non-gelotophobes, whereas gelotophobes did not experience an increase. We hypothesize that the interpretation bias of "joyful faces hiding evil minds" (i.e., being also contemptuous) and exhibiting less joy facially may complicate social interactions for gelotophobes and serve as a maintaining factor of gelotophobia.
The aim of this project is to systematically study the direct and moderating impacts of cultural background, individual characteristics such as personality, motivation, or self-regulatory skills, and other resources such as social support on individuals' professional trajectories and their career development. In order to do so, a longitudinal approach is implemented, implying a 7-year follow up of a large sample of workers and unemployed individuals, Swiss and non-Swiss. Since almost no longitudinal studies of professional trajectories based on a psychological perspective are available, we claim that this project bringing together different disciplinary specializations (personality and crosscultural psychology, career development psychology, positive psychology, work and organizational psychology) and combining different methodological approaches can extend and integrate the results obtained in specific research domains.
The aim of this project is to systematically study the direct and moderating impacts of cultural background, individual characteristics such as personality, motivation, or self-regulatory skills, and other resources such as social support on individuals' professional trajectories and their career development. In order to do so, a longitudinal approach is implemented, implying a 7-year follow up of a large sample of workers and unemployed individuals, Swiss and non-Swiss. This is the first wave of the project. Since almost no longitudinal studies of professional trajectories based on a psychological perspective are available, we claim that this project bringing together different disciplinary specializations (personality and crosscultural psychology, career development psychology, positive psychology, work and organizational psychology) and combining different methodological approaches can extend and integrate the results obtained in specific research domains.
The aim of this project is to systematically study the direct and moderating impacts of cultural background, individual characteristics such as personality, motivation, or self-regulatory skills, and other resources such as social support on individuals' professional trajectories and their career development. In order to do so, a longitudinal approach is implemented, implying a 7-year follow up of a large sample of workers and unemployed individuals, Swiss and non-Swiss. This is the first wave of the project. Since almost no longitudinal studies of professional trajectories based on a psychological perspective are available, we claim that this project bringing together different disciplinary specializations (personality and crosscultural psychology, career development psychology, positive psychology, work and organizational psychology) and combining different methodological approaches can extend and integrate the results obtained in specific research domains.
