Publication Cover
The Journal of Positive Psychology
Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice
Volume 16, 2021 - Issue 1
778
Views
10
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Exploring well-being among individuals with different life purposes in a Chinese context

, , &
Pages 60-72 | Received 04 Dec 2018, Accepted 26 Aug 2019, Published online: 11 Sep 2019

References

  • Albanesi, C., Cicognani, E., & Zani, B. (2007). Sense of community, civic engagement and social well-being in Italian adolescents. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 17(5), 387–406.
  • Ardelt, M., Landes, S. D., Gerlach, K. R., & Fox, L. P. (2013). Rediscovering internal strengths of the aged: The beneficial impact of wisdom, mastery, purpose in life, and spirituality on aging well. In J. D. Sinnott (Ed.), Positive psychology (pp. 97–119). New York, NY: Springer.
  • Bacon, F., & Pitcher, J. (1985). The essays. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
  • Bronk, K. C. (2014). Purpose in life: A critical component of optimal youth development. New York, NY: Springer.
  • Bronk, K. C., & Finch, W. H. (2010). Adolescent characteristics by type of long-term aim in life. Applied Developmental Science, 14(1), 35–44.
  • Burrow, A. L., O’Dell, A. C., & Hill, P. L. (2010). Profiles of a developmental asset: Youth purpose as a context for hope and well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(11), 1265–1273.
  • Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128.
  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.
  • Diener, E., Fujita, F., Tay, L., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2012). Purpose, mood, and pleasure in predicting satisfaction judgments. Social Indicators Research, 105(3), 333–341.
  • Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302.
  • Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75.
  • Dingley, C. E., Roux, G., & Bush, H. A. (2000). Inner strength: A concept analysis. Journal of Theory Construction and Testing, 4(2), 30–35.
  • Dunn, E. W., Aknin, L. B., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Spending money on others promotes happiness. Science, 319(5870), 1687–1688.
  • Francis, J. J., Johnston, M., Robertson, C., Glidewell, L., Entwistle, V., Eccles, M. P., & Grimshaw, J. M. (2010). What is an adequate sample size? Operationalising data saturation for theory-based interview studies. Psychology and Health, 25(10), 1229–1245.
  • Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Boston: Beacon Press.
  • Fung, Y. L. (1948). A short history of Chinese philosophy. New York: The Free Press.
  • Gallagher, M. W., Lopez, S. J., & Preacher, K. J. (2009). The hierarchical structure of well-being. Journal of Personality, 77(4), 1025–1050.
  • Gibson, L. M. R., & Parker, V. (2003). Inner resources as predictors of psychological well-being in middle-income African American breast cancer survivors. Cancer Control, 10(5_suppl), 52–59.
  • Glanzer, P. L., Hill, J. P., & Robinson, J. A. (2015). Emerging adults’ conceptions of purpose and the good life: A classification and comparison. Youth and Society, 50(6), 715–733.
  • Grouzet, F. M., Kasser, T., Ahuvia, A., Dols, J. M. F., Kim, Y., Lau, S., … Sheldon, K. M. (2005). The structure of goal contents across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 800–816.
  • Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. London: Sage.
  • Guillen-Royo, M., & Kasser, T. (2015). Personal goals, socio-economic context and happiness: Studying a diverse sample in Peru. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(2), 405–425.
  • Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L., Brandenberger, J. W., Lapsley, D. K., & Quaranto, J. C. (2010). Collegiate purpose orientations and well-being in early and middle adulthood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 173–179.
  • Hsu, J. (1985). The Chinese family: Relations, problems, and therapy. In W. S. Tseng & D. Y. H. Wu (Eds.), Chinese culture and mental health (pp. 95–112). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
  • Huang, X. T., & Yang, X. (1998). Making a scale of self-worth for young students. Journal of Psychological Science, 21(4), 289–292. in Chinese.
  • Huta, V., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Pursuing pleasure or virtue: The differential and overlapping well-being benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic motives. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 735–762.
  • Johnson, S. K., Terrell, J. M., Callina, K. S., & Weiner, M. B. (2018). Configurations of young people’s important life goals and their associations with thriving. Research on Human Development, 15(2), 139–166.
  • Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1996). Further examining the American dream: Differential correlates of intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3), 280–287.
  • Keyes, C. L. M. (1998). Social well–Being. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61(2), 121–140.
  • Kiang, L. (2012). Deriving daily purpose through daily events and role fulfillment among Asian American youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(1), 185–198.
  • Lekes, N., Gingras, I., Philippe, F. L., Koestner, R., & Fang, J. (2010). Parental autonomy-support, intrinsic life goals, and well-being among adolescents in China and North America. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(8), 858–869.
  • Liu, S. S., & Gan, Y. Q. (2010). Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the meaning in life questionnaire. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 24(6), 478–482. in Chinese.
  • Lu, L. (2010). Chinese well-being. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), Oxford handbook of Chinese psychology (2nd ed., pp. 327–342). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Malin, H., Liauw, I., & Damon, W. (2017). Purpose and character development in early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(6), 1200–1215.
  • Malterud, K., Siersma, V. D., & Guassora, A. D. (2016). Sample size in qualitative interview studies: Guided by information power. Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1753–1760.
  • Mariano, J. M. (2014). Introduction to special section: Understanding paths to youth purpose—Why content and contexts matter. Applied Developmental Science, 18(3), 139–147.
  • Mariano, J. M., & Vaillant, G. E. (2012). Youth purpose among the ‘greatest generation’. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(4), 281–293.
  • McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242–251.
  • Nelson, S. K., Layous, K., Cole, S. W., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2016). Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self-focused behavior on psychological flourishing. Emotion, 16(6), 850–861.
  • Owen, G. T. (2014). Qualitative methods in higher education policy analysis: Using interviews and document analysis. The Qualitative Report, 19(26), 1–19.
  • Peterson, P., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6(1), 25–41.
  • Robinson, J. A., & Glanzer, P. L. (2016). How students’ expectations shape their quest for purpose during college. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 53(1), 1–12.
  • Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2011). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  • Ryan, R. M., & Martela, F. (2016). Eudaimonia as a way of living: Connecting Aristotle with self-determination theory. In J. Vittersø (Ed.), Handbook of eudaimonic well-being (2nd ed., pp. 109–122). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166.
  • Schwartz, S. H. (2003). A proposal for measuring value orientations across nations. In Questionnaire development package of the European social survey (pp. 259–319). Retrieved from http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=126&Itemid=80
  • Schwartz, S. H. (2009). Draft users manual: Proper use of the Schwarz value survey, Version 14 (Compiled by Littrell RF, January). Auckland, New Zealand: Centre for Cross Cultural Comparisons. Retrieved from http://crossculturalcentre.homestead.com/
  • Sheldon, K. M., Corcoran, M., & Prentice, M. (2018). Pursuing eudaimonic functioning versus pursuing hedonic well-being: The first goal succeeds in its aim, whereas the second does not. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1–15. doi:10.1007/s10902–018–9980–4
  • Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Ryan, R. M., Chirkov, V., Kim, Y., Wu, C., & Demir, M. (2004). Self-concordance and subjective well-being in four cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35(2), 209–223.
  • Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., & Kasser, T. (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on well–Being: It’s both what you pursue and why you pursue it. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(4), 475–486.
  • Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63–75.
  • Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80–93.
  • van Zyl, L. E., & Rothmann, S. (2014). Towards happiness interventions: Construct clarification and intervention methodologies. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24(4), 327–341.
  • Wang, M. C., & Dai, X. Y. (2008). Chinese meaning in life questionnaire revised in college students and its reliability and validity test. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 16(5), 459–461. in Chinese.
  • Wang, Q. H. (2011). Study on the psychological structure of social well-being across groups (Master dissertation). University of Nanchang University, Jiangxi, China. Retrieved from http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-11902-1011048315.htm (in Chinese).
  • Wang, T. (2018). Purpose Orientations of Contemporary Chinese College Students: Psychological Perspective (Doctoral dissertation). University of Southwest University, Chongqing, China. Retrieved from http://cdmd.cnki.com.cn/Article/CDMD-10635-1018859710.htm.(in Chinese).
  • Wang, T., & Huang, X. (2018). Purpose in life: A perspective of psychology. Advances in Psychological Science, 26(4), 731–743.
  • Wang, X. Q., You, Y. Y., & Zhang, D. J. (2016). Psychometric properties of meaning in life questionnaire Chinese version (MLQ–C) in Chinese university students and its relations with psychological quality. Journal of Southwest University (natural Science Edition), 38(10), 161–167. in Chinese.
  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.
  • Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222–244.
  • Wnuk, M., Marcinkowski, J. T., & Fobair, P. (2012). The relationship of purpose in life and hope in shaping happiness among patients with cancer in Poland. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 30(4), 461–483.
  • Yu, H., Glanzer, P., & Johnson, B. (2016). Do the ends strengthen the means? An examination of the link between purpose in life and academic misconduct among college students. Journal of College and Character, 17(4), 255–270.
  • Zhan, F. R. (2005). A comparison of Zhuangzi and the Liezi’s views on life. Philosophical Research, 3, 43–47. in Chinese
  • Zhou, F. C. (1987). Selected works of Western ethics. Beijing: Commercial Press. in Chinese.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.