Mental Healthy
Money matters for future well-being: A latent growth analysis and meta-analytic integration of associations between income, financial satisfaction, and 22 well-being variables across three data sets
Vincent Oh
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Are subjective or objective indicators of money more strongly associated with well-being in the short and long term? We revisit this practically important question using a multidata, multioutcome, longitudinal approach to comprehensively examine whether income and financial satisfaction would be associated with short-term and long-term well-being. Specifically, using latent growth modeling, we analyzed three public-sample data sets from the United States and South Korea -- the Midlife in the U.S. Study, the Understanding America Study, and the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. Specifically, we examined whether individual differences in income and financial satisfaction would be associated with individual differences in well-being or to changes in well-being over time. We also analyzed whether changes in income or financial satisfaction could be predicted by individual differences in well-being. Finally, we examined whether changes in income and financial satisfaction would covary with changes in well-being. In total, 22 well-being variables were examined, and all standardized effect sizes were subjected to a multilevel multivariate meta-analysis. Results from the meta-analysis indicated that starting financial satisfaction was related to better starting well-being (d = 1.54) and changes in financial satisfaction covaried positively with changes in well-being (d = .79), but starting financial satisfaction did not predict changes in well-being. Conversely, starting income was unrelated to starting well-being, and changes in income were unrelated to changes in well-being, but starting income significantly predicted more positive trajectories of change in well-being with a medium effect size (d = .40). Starting well-being was unrelated to changes in financial satisfaction or income.
Declining Life Satisfaction and Happiness Among Young Adults in Six English-speaking Countries
Jean Twenge & David Blanchflower
NBER Working Paper, February 2025
Abstract:
We report eleven studies that show declines in life satisfaction and happiness among young adults in the last decade or so, with less uniform trends among older adults. We found consistent evidence for this for the U.S. in the recent sweeps of several micro data sets including the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, the General Social Survey, and the American National Election Survey. In the U. S. life satisfaction rises with age. This is broadly confirmed in several other datasets including four from the European Commission across five other English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland New Zealand and the UK. Declining wellbeing of the young was also found in the World Values Survey, the Global Flourishing Study and Global Minds. There is broad evidence across all of these English-speaking countries that happiness and life satisfaction since 2020 rise with age. In several of these surveys we also find that ill-being declines in age. The U-shape in wellbeing by age that used to exist in these countries is now gone, replaced by a crisis in wellbeing among the young.
U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers’ Motivations for Joining the Military and Their Effects on Post-Deployment Mental Health
Rachel Hoopsick et al.
Armed Forces & Society, forthcoming
Abstract:
The link between combat exposure and mental health among military service members has been well-established, and reservists are at increased risk. This study uses a subset of cross-sectional data (N = 239) from Operation: SAFETY, an ongoing study of U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard soldiers, to examine the moderating effects of reasons for joining the military on the relations between combat exposure and post-deployment mental health symptomatology. Soldiers who served for reasons associated with “wanting a military life” had an increasingly higher likelihood of anxiety symptomatology with greater combat exposure. Conversely, soldiers who served for reasons associated with “wanting material benefits” reported fewer mental health symptoms as combat exposure increased.
The Digital Detox Paradox: Potential Backfire Effects of Digital Detox Interventions on Consumer Digital Well-Being
Emma Galvan & Christopher Newman
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, forthcoming
Abstract:
Marketing academicians have paid much attention to excessive social media usage, but have failed to investigate whether firm-driven “Digital Detox” interventions can potentially curb it. To address this gap, we initially conducted a pilot study to examine the effects of built-in app detox interventions on consumers’ intention to comply with them. We demonstrated that these effects vary according to users’ skepticism toward advertising, and then showed why they occur by highlighting the mediating role of perceived firm authenticity. Specifically, less skeptical users perceived TikTok as more authentic when it offered a detox intervention, and in turn, paradoxically expressed higher intentions to use the app. We also ruled out users’ app connection as a rival explanation. Study 1 was a longitudinal field study where we documented the effects of built-in app interventions (break reminders and daily limits) on consumers’ actual social media usage over the course of a week. Results show that less skeptical users ironically increased their TikTok usage in response to such interventions from the firm. Implications of this documented “Digital Detox Paradox” are discussed for public policy, consumer welfare, and marketing practice.
Worse Weather Amplifies Social Media Activity
Kelton Minor, Esteban Moro & Nick Obradovich
Psychological Science, January 2025, Pages 35-54
Abstract:
Humanity spends an increasing proportion of its time interacting online, yet -- given the importance of social media to human welfare -- the external factors that regularly shape online behavior remain markedly understudied. Do environmental factors alter rates of online social activity? We conducted two large natural experiments to investigate how worse weather conditions affect social-media use in the United States, analyzing over 3.5 billion posts from Facebook and Twitter (now X) between 2009 and 2016. We found that extreme temperatures and added precipitation each independently amplified social-media activity, effects that persisted within individuals. Compounded weather extremes produced markedly larger increases in social-media activity. Days colder than −5 °C with 1.5 to 2 cm of precipitation elevated social-media activity by 35%, nearly triple the surge seen on New Year’s Eve in New York City. Our study highlights that environmental conditions play a critical -- but overlooked -- role in shaping digital social interaction.
The Golden Ticket: Examining the Impact of Winning the Western States Endurance Run Lottery on Subsequent Ultramarathon Performance and Travel Decisions
Evan Bennett & Michael Cary
Journal of Sports Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
The Western States Endurance Run (WSER) is the premier 100 mile trail race in the United States. Due to requirements put in place by the United States Forest Service, there are only a limited number of participants allowed to compete in any given year. These participants are selected through a lottery for which they must first qualify by running a qualifying performance at another event. For these reasons, the WSER is a “bucket list” event for many ultramarathon runners. We exploit the randomness of the lottery to determine if winning the WSER lottery affects the training and travel behavior of lottery winners. We find that WSER lottery winners compete in more races, perform better in these races, and travel more in the short run (1–2 years). However, in the long run, lottery winners compete in fewer events, travel less, and compete in smaller events than lottery losers.