Christie Napa Scollon

Love, Work, and Changes in Extraversion and Neuroticism Over Time

The present study examined individual differences in change in extraversion, neuroticism, and work and relationship satisfaction. Of particular interest were the correlations between changes. Data were from the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Study (B. Headey & A. Wearing, 1989, 1992), in which an overall 1,130 individuals participated (ages 16 to 70). Respondents were assessed every 2 years from 1981 to 1989. Four major findings emerged. (a) There were significant individual differences in changes in extraversion and neuroticism. (b) Change was not limited to young adulthood. (c) Development was systematic in that increased work and relationship satisfaction was associated with decreases in neuroticism and increases in extraversion over time; on average, the magnitude of the relation between changes in work and relationship satisfaction and traits was .40. (d) Cross-lagged models indicated traits had a greater influence on role satisfaction; however, marginal support emerged for work satisfaction leading to increased extraversion. Implications of correlated change are discussed.

Positivity and the Construction of Life Satisfaction Judgments: Global Happiness Is Not the Sum of Its Parts

The present study investigated how reports of satisfaction with specific versus global domains can be used to assess a disposition towards positivity in subjective well-being reports. College students from 41 societies (N = 7167) completed measures of life satisfaction and ratings of global and specific aspects of their lives. For example, participants rated satisfaction with their education (global) and satisfaction with their professors, textbooks, and lectures (specific). It was hypothesized that global measures would more strongly reflect individual differences in dispositional positivity, that is, a propensity to evaluate aspects of life in general as good. At both the individual and national levels, positivity predicted life satisfaction beyond objective measures. Also, positivity was associated with norms about ideal life satisfaction such that countries and individuals who highly valued positive emotions were more likely to display positivity. The difference between more global versus more concrete measures of satisfaction can be used as an indirect and subtle measure of positivity.

Emotions Across Cultures and Methods

Participants included 46 European American, 33 Asian American, 91 Japanese, 160 Indian, and 80 Hispanic students (N = 416). Discrete emotions, as well as pleasant and unpleasant emotions, were assessed: (a) with global self-report measures, (b) using an experience-sampling method for 1 week, and (c) by asking participants to recall their emotions from the experience sampling week. Cultural differences emerged for nearly all measures. The inclusion of indigenous emotions in India and Japan did not alter the conclusions substantially, although pride showed a pattern across cultures that differed from the other positive emotions. In all five culturalgroupsandforbothpleasantandunpleasantemotions,globalreportsof emotionpredictedretrospective recall even after controllingforreportsmadeduringthe experiencesamplingperiod,suggestingthat individuals’ general conceptions of their emotional lives influenced their memories of emotions. Cultural differences emerged in the degree to which recall of frequency of emotion was related to experience sampling reports of intensity of emotions. Despite the memory bias, the three methods led to similar conclusions about the relative position of the groups.

An experience sampling and cross-cultural investigation of the relation between pleasant and unpleasant affect

The present study examined whether the relation between pleasant and unpleasant emotion varies across cultures and level of analysis (i.e., within-person vs. between-person). A total of 386 participants included European Americans, Asian Americans, Japanese, Indian, and Hispanic students. Momentary mood was assessed up to 7 times daily for one week. At the between-persons level, pleasant and unpleasant mood were positively correlated among Asian Americans and Japanese, but were uncorrelated among the other groups. Factor correlations at the within-person level were strongly negative in all cultures, suggesting that pleasant and unpleasant feelings are rarely experienced at the same time. Implications for dialectical experiences are discussed.

The value-congruence model of memory for emotional experiences: An explanation for cultural differences in emotional self-reports.

In 3 studies, the authors found support for the value-congruence model that accounts for cultural variations in memory for emotional experiences. In Study 1, the authors found that in the made-in-the-U.S. scenario condition, European Americans were more accurate than were Asian Americans in their retrospective frequency judgments of emotions. However, in the made-in-Japan scenario condition, European Americans were less accurate than were Asian Americans. In Study 2, the authors demonstrated that value orientation mediates the CulturexType of Event congruence effect. In Study 3 (a daily event sampling study), the authors showed that the congruence effect was explained by the importance of parental approval. In sum, emotional events congruent with personal values remain in memory longer and influence retrospective frequency judgments of emotion more than do incongruent events.

Social Sensing for Urban Crisis Management: The Case of Singapore Haze

Sensing social media for trends and events has become possible as increasing number of users rely on social media to share information. In the event of a major disaster or social event, one can therefore study the event quickly by gathering and analyzing social media data. One can also design appropriate responses such as allocating resources to the affected areas, sharing event related information, and managing public anxiety. Past research on social event studies using social media often focused on one type of data analysis (e.g., hashtag clusters, diffusion of events, influential users, etc.) on a single social media data source. This paper adopts a comprehensive social event analysis framework covering content, emotion, activity, and network. We propose a set of measures for each dimension accordingly. The usefulness of these analyses are demonstrated through a haze event that severely affected Singapore and its neighbors in June 2013. The analysis, conducted on both Twitter and Foursquare data, shows that much user attention was given to the haze event. The event also saw substantial emotional and behavioral impact on the social media users. These additional insights will help both public and private sectors to prepare themselves for future haze related events.

Culture, Visual Perspective, and the Effect of Material Success on Perceived Life Quality

Is a life characterized by material success one that will be seen favorably by others? In two studies, we explored the effect of a target person’s material success on perceptions of the target’s life quality. Participants viewed a survey ostensibly completed by another person—which experimentally varied the target’s material success in the form of income—before globally rating the target’s life. Study 1 provided a cross-cultural comparison, finding that Singaporeans, but not Americans, rated a target high in material success as having a life of greater quality than a target low in material success. Study 2 investigated the moderating effect of visual perspective among Singaporeans, hypothesizing that adopting another’s perspective emphasizes the shared belief that material success is an indicator of life quality. Consistent with this reasoning, participants who adopted a third-person visual perspective rated a target high in material success as having a life of greater quality than a target low in material success, but those who adopted a first-person visual perspective did not rate targets differently based on material success.

The What, Why, When, and How of Teaching the Science of Subjective Well-Being

The field of subjective well-being (SWB), or happiness, has become a thriving area of science, with over 10,000 publications per year on the topic in recent years. Discoveries about the causes and processes involved in SWB range widely, from culture to biology to circumstances, providing instructors an opportunity to draw broadly on concepts from psychology. New research shows that high SWB not only feels good but is also good for one’s health and social relationships. In addition to providing a platform for discussions about what constitutes a life well-lived, teaching about SWB is an excellent opportunity to emphasize scientific research and to dispel misconceptions. Besides traditional lectures, the area offers opportunities for learning exercises and self-exploration.

What People Really Want in Life and Why It Matters: Contributions from Research on Folk Theories of the Good Life

At the heart of social progress is the human capacity to notice a discrepancy between how things are and how they might be. Certainly, such progress requires more than simply this realization. It requires the belief that change is possible and right. It requires social cooperation and work by groups for the common good. But these activities would never occur without someone at some point noticing that things could be better: that profoundly difficult lives could be good and good lives could be better. Thus, the human capacity to imagine and envision a better or ideal life is linked to the emergence of social progress. Of course, this human capacity to imagine a future that is different from current circumstances can also be a force for social change in the opposite direction.

Money, materialism, and the good life: Cultural perspectives

Is the good life happy, meaningful, or rich? This chapter examines folk theories or lay conceptions of the good life using a person perception paradigm. We review studies that compare how respondents weigh the importance of happiness, meaning, and wealth in judgments of quality of life. Although happiness and meaning were judged as overwhelming indicators of the good life in all of our samples, cultural differences emerged in the importance of wealth. Whereas American college students viewed wealth as relatively unimportant to the good life, older Americans and Singaporeans rated wealth as more important. Results were consistent across a decade of research. We explore the underpinnings of these differences through the priming of the self from another’s perspective. We discuss the role of materialism in different societies.