Marilyn J. Haring

Religion and Subjective Well-Being in Adulthood: A Quantitative Synthesis

What is the strength and direction of the relation between religion and subjective well-being in adulthood? We addressed this question by performing a quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis). The dependent variable was zero-order correlations between religion and subjective well-being. Independent variables were measure, sample, and study characteristics. We found that religion was significantly, positively related to subjective wellbeing. The relation between religion and subjective well-being is stronger for religious activity than for religiosity measures. The relation is stronger for samples of older than younger adults. The strength of the religion/subjective well-being relation has decreased over time. Religion accounts for between 2 and 6 percent of the variance in adult subjective well-being.

Health and subjective well-being: a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted of the health/subjective well-being relationship, based upon studies of United States adults published prior to 1980. Dependent variables were zero-order and first-order correlations. A total of 231 zero-order effect size estimates were extracted from 104 different sources, while a total of 189 first-order effect sizes were extracted from thirty-three different sources. The majority of effect sizes were derived from samples where the midpoint of the age range was sixty-five and over. The 95 percent confidence interval estimates, generated using Tukeys jackknife procedure, were .29 to .35 and .29 to .38 for the zero-order and first-order correlations, respectively. Using weighted regression procedures, univariate analyses indicated that all but one study and sample characteristics were significant (p < .05) predictors of zero-order and first-order correlations, though none of the predictors adequately specified variation in effect sizes. The mean value of the first-order correlations varied with the type of control variable, ranging from .42 (age) to .27 (SES composite). Health and subjective well-being were found to be positively and significantly related. Limitations of the meta-analysis were noted and suggestions were made for strengthening research on this topic.

A Research Synthesis of Gender and Social Class as Correlates of Subjective Well-Being

Meta-analytic techniques were used to synthesize findings from the extant empirical literature on gender and social class as predictors of subjective well-being among U.S. adults. Based upon Rubins (1979) research, we tested a family of hypotheses that gender, relative to social class, accounted for more variation in subjective well-being. Examination of zero-order and first-order effect sizes revealed that men have slightly higher subjective well-being than women and that, while gender is a statistically significant predictor of subjective well-being, it accounts for little variance. Three measures of social class, composite socioeconomic status, occupational status, and income also are significantly related to subjective well-being on the zero-order level; but that relation is reduced when gender is used as a covariate. Overall, across the studies we synthesized, gender does not transcend social class as a major determinant of subjective well-being.

The Social Activity/Subjective Well-Being Relation A Quantitative Synthesis

Meta-analytic techniques were used to synthesize findings on the social activity/subjective well-being relation. We chose zero-order and first order associations as our dependent variables and several different measure, sample, and study quality characteristics as our independent variables. We found that social activity is positively and significantly related to subjective well-being. Contrary to activity theory, informal activities and activities with friends were not related to subjective well-being consistently more strongly than were formal activities and activities with neighbors. In addition, the remaining measure, sample, and study quality characteristics were not adequate predictors of variation in activity/subjective well-being associations.

Effect of pictures on children’s comprehension of written text

Studies have shown that under certain conditions pictures can facilitate young children’s oral prose comprehension. Can pictures also aid comprehension when the information is presented in written form rather than orally? If so, what kinds of pictures, under what conditions? These experimenters analyzed a prose passage into 350 idea units, then interspersed throughout the text pictures depicting either the 179 main ideas or both the main ideas and the 171 nonessential details, or included no pictures. The subjects, fourth and sixth graders, wrote down all they could remember of the story immediately and again 5 days later. Pictures did facilitate both immediate and delayed recall, but only of the main ideas.

A quantitative synthesis of literature on work status and subjective well being

Abstract Metanalytic techniques were used to synthesize results of studies on the relation of work status (retired, employed part time, employed full time) and subjective well being (SWB). The weighted mean of the work status/SWB relation across all studies was .18. When zero-order associations between work status and SWB were used as dependent variables, significant predictors of that relation were the way in which work status was operationalized, ratings of quality of study, year of publication for studies, and age midrange of samples. Gender was not a significant predictor of the work status/SWB relation.

Gender-related aspects of occupational prestige

Prestige of six occupational clusters was studied in relation to gender of the 369 college students who rated the prestige and to gender of imagined jobholders. Subjects rated on a scale of 1–5 the prestige of 30 occupations while envisioning women or envisioning men holding those jobs. Occupations were classified as either female professional, male professional, female nonprofessional, male nonprofessional, neutral professional, or neutral nonprofessional. Classification into these clusters was on the basis of percentage of women and men presently in each occupation and perception of each occupations sex type, as well as whether college preparation was necessary. Prestige ratings were analyzed by a 2 (rater gender) × 2 (jobholder gender) × 6 (occupational cluster) repeated measures ANOVA. Main effects were obtained for gender (p < .05) and occupational cluster (p < .0001), as well as for the interactions of cluster and rater gender (p < .0001), cluster and jobholder gender (p < .0001), and the three-way interaction of cluster, rater gender, and jobholder gender (p < .01). The significant findings (particularly the interaction between occupational cluster and jobholder gender) seem to indicate that status is not inherent in sex-typed occupations, but is in part a function of the gender of the person imagined to be holding the job, and of the gender of the rater.

Race and Subjective Well-Being in Adulthood

Meta-analytic techniques were used to synthesize findings on black-white differences in subjective well-being among noninstitutionalized adults. The dependent variable was zero-order estimates of the

Visual—Auditory matching of trigrams in first-grade and third-grade reading achievement

Abstract Task performances of 35 first graders were analyzed in relation to their third-grade reading and arithmetic test scores. The visual—auditory (V-A) task, requiring the child to select the correct auditory representation of a visually presented CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant), accounted for 48% of the variance in third-grade reading scores. Arithmetic scores were not significantly related to any task performance.