Well-being in Ageing
Societies: The IndividualMichael EidFreie Universität BerlinOverview
1. Subjective well-being
2. Subjective well-being in Germany
3. Psychological factors affecting well-being
4. The role of culture
5. Future directions2

Subjective well-being: Framework model(Eid, 2008)3

Life satisfaction: Germany
German Socio-economic Panel Study (Böhnke, 2010)

West Germany

East Germany

4Life satisfaction: German Ageing Survey 2008
Means and 95% confidence intervals
totally true

rather true

neither/nor

rather not true

totally not true5Positive affect: German Ageing Survey 2008
Means and 95% confidence intervals
very oftenoften

sometimes

rather seldom

never

6

Negative affect: German Ageing Survey 2008
Means and 95% confidence intervals
very often

often

sometimes

rather seldom

never7

Life satisfaction: Closeness to death
German Socio-economic Panel Study (Gerstorf & Wagner, 2010)

West Germany

East Germany

515

105

Closeness to death (years)
8

Important factors affecting well-being(e.g., Brandstädter, 2011; Eid & Larsen, 2008)
Subjective well-being

Genes

Affect regulation

Personality•Maintaining positiveaffect•Repairing negative
affect•Extraversion•Sociability•…
Life events•Coping

Individual goals andgoal regulation•Goal setting•Assimilation•Accommodation

Psychological(eudaemonic)
well-being•Self-acceptance•Personal growth•Purpose in life
•Environmental
mastery•Autonomy•Positive relations
with others

PersonalStrengths•Gratitude•Forgiveness•Spirituality
•…
•…

9

The role of culture?
Subjective well-being

Genes

Affect regulation

Personality•Maintaining positive
affect•Repairing negative
affect•Extraversion•Sociability•…
Life events•Coping

Individual goals andgoal regulation•Goal setting•Assimilation•Accommodation

Psychological(eudaemonic)
well-being•Self-acceptance•Personal growth•Purpose in life
•Environmental
mastery•Autonomy•Positive relations
with others

PersonalStrengths•Gratitude•Forgiveness•Spirituality
•…
•…

10

Role of Culture: Norms for Emotions
1.

Feeling rules (Hochschild, 1979)

2.

Display rules (Ekman & Friesen, 1975)

3.

Ideal affect (Tsai et al., 2006)11

Affect Valuation Theory (Tsai et al., 2006)
Actual affect

Ideal affectTemperament

CultureNorms
Feeling rules
Display rules

12Affect Valuation Theory (Tsai et al., 2006)
Actual affect

Ideal affectMental health
Depression
Subjective well-being13

Ideal affect / Desirability of emotions(Eid & Diener, 2001; Tsai, 2007; Scheibe et al., 2012)•

Western cultures favor high-arousal positive affective states (e.g., excitement,enthusiam)•

Eastern cultures favor low-arousal positive affective states (e.g., calm,peacefulness)•

Western cultures generally favor positive emotions•

Eastern cultures do not favor pride and contentment so much•

Eastern cultures favor negative emotions such as guilt, shame and sadness morethan Western cultures•

Eastern cultures favor emotional neutrality more than Westren cultures•

Eastern cultures are more heterogeneous with respect to emotional norms

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Future directions•

Cross-cultural research• Inter- and intracultural differences•

Norms for ideal well-being and ideal ageing•

Interactions between culture and the individual

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