Humans are goal-oriented, but not all goals are equally associated with well-being. Intrinsic goals (e.g., personal growth) align with psychological needs and are positively associated with well-being, whereas extrinsic goals (e.g., money, fame) often show nonsignificant or negative associations with well-being. This study examines two underexplored goals: self-expression, an intrinsic goal to pursue authentic interests, and power, an extrinsic goal focused on control over others. Using a three-wave longitudinal panel design where the same participants were invited to complete follow-up surveys across three measurement occasions (T1 = 805, T2 = 599, T3 = 479) and a Cross-Lagged Panel Model (CLPM) where self-expression aspiration, power aspiration, and meaning in life were set to predict each other over time, we found that self-expression showed small positive prospective associations with later meaning in life. Power aspirations did not consistently predict later meaning in life, with some indication of a negative association. Self-expression also showed a small but consistent negative prospective association with later power aspirations. This study provides longitudinal evidence of the prospective associations of self-expression and power aspirations with meaning in life, while also contributing to understanding the dynamic relations between these two goals and how aspiring for self-expression was prospectively associated with lower aspirations for power over others.
Despite increasing interest in inner peace, longitudinal studies into this important feature of flourishing are rare. Remedying this oversight, this paper analyzes data on inner peace (“In general, how often do you feel you are at peace with your thoughts and feelings?”) in the Global Flourishing Study, a panel study investigating an expansive array of predictors and outcomes of flourishing in 22 countries. We explore the associations of peace at Wave 1 (207,919 participants) with 56 flourishing-related outcomes (including peace itself) at Wave 2 (124,776). For each outcome we conducted a multivariate regression analysis within each country (with random-effects meta-analyses to pool estimates across countries), regressing each Wave 2 outcome on Wave 1 peace, using two models, which could be understood as respectively demarcating the upper and lower bounds of the “real” effect sizes: (1) is less conservative, just controlling for demographic and childhood variables, while (2) controls for seven principal components extracted from all contemporaneous Wave 1 variables. Even under the more conservative model 2 (the “lower bound”), which risks controlling for too much, peace had a small but significant association with some aspects of flourishing, including an effect size of 0.2 with a six-domain flourishing index (though to reiterate, this is a very small association, though we must also emphasize that this effect size rises to 0.17 under model 1). However, there was considerable cross-national variation in effect sizes; for the flourishing index these were strongest for Hong Kong (0.29), Australia (0.18) and UK (0.16), while at the other end the effect sizes were surprisingly negative in Germany (− 0.01), Philippines (− 0.02), Sweden (− 0.03), and lastly Nigeria (− 0.23). While inner peace may be an important component of flourishing, its association with other variables is unevenly distributed, including across countries, though more research is required to delve into why such variation is observed.
In this diary study, we investigated how employees’ morning anticipatory appraisals relate to their flow experiences at work and their subsequent recovery after work. Drawing on transactional stress theory, we explored how four types of morning anticipatory appraisal—positive, challenge, threat, and hindrance—predict daily flow at work, and whether flow, in turn, is associated with energy in the evening and affective rumination at bedtime. A total of 102 employees completed three daily surveys across ten consecutive working days. The results from multilevel mediation analysis revealed that morning anticipatory challenge and positive appraisal were positively related to daily flow, while anticipatory threat appraisal was negatively associated with flow. Flow, in turn, predicted lower affective rumination at bedtime and mediated the effects of morning anticipatory appraisals on this outcome. Contrary to expectations, flow was not significantly related to evening energy levels and did not mediate the effects at the within-person level. In conclusion, our results suggest that morning anticipatory appraisals formed before the working day are meaningfully related to employee well-being by shaping the likelihood of experiencing flow at work and the extent of work-related rumination at bedtime. In doing so, this study advances stress and recovery theory by identifying flow as a key mechanism linking early-day cognitive expectations to evening recovery outcomes, and by highlighting the anticipatory phase as a promising target for interventions aimed at improving employees’ day-to-day functioning.
The “empty-nest” is a phase of the family cycle that parents experience when all their children grow up and leave the house. Growing interest in this period has prompted research into factors predicting parents’ subjective wellbeing. Whereas past research predominantly focused on demographic variables and health status, we examined the role of group membership in predicting subjective wellbeing among empty-nest parents, beyond demographics and health, and compared these findings with those for non empty-nest parents. Drawing on social identity, self-determination, social support, and social cure theories, we analyzed data from 17,229 empty-nest parents and 23,781 non empty-nest parents from the European Values Study using hierarchical multiple regression. We found that group membership positively predicted life satisfaction and happiness, which are two indicators of subjective wellbeing, and explained an additional 1.5
Partner phubbing behavior refers to the act of one partner neglecting the other during interpersonal interactions by focusing on their phone. Prior research has suggested that partner phubbing behavior is negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. However, a meta-analysis exploring the relationship between partner phubbing behavior and relationship satisfaction, as well as the moderating factors of this relationship, has not yet been conducted. Based on PRISMA methodology, this study employed a meta-analytic approach to examine the association between partner phubbing behavior and relationship satisfaction. A systematic search was conducted to identify studies published prior to November 2024. Ultimately, 29 studies were included, comprising a total of 9077 participants. The sample sizes ranged from 88 to 985 participants. A random-effects model was applied to provide a reliable estimate of the effect size. The meta-analysis revealed a negative association between partner phubbing behavior and relationship satisfaction (r = -0.204). The moderation analysis indicates that the core concepts in the article, such as “phubbing” and “technoference,” moderate this relationship, despite their conceptual overlap and subtle distinctions in measurement approaches. Partner phubbing behavior is significantly associated with lower relationship satisfaction. In everyday life, partners should be mindful of their phone usage during interactions to mitigate the potential negative impacts of phone use. The concepts of phubbing and technoference, while related, represent distinct phenomena. Future research should prioritize clear conceptualization and operationalization of these constructs to improve the accuracy and relevance of measurement.
