A Positive Psychology Perspective on Quality of Life

Herausgegeben:Efklides, Anastasia; Moraitou, Despina

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

This book shows how elements of positive psychology interact in a wide variety of contexts in the everyday lives of people to enable them to overcome adversity and enjoy a higher quality of life. Studies are global and cover a variety of ages and contexts. Most people strive for happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB), and a high quality of life (QoL) in all areas of their lives. To do so, many have to overcome adversity on a frequent basis. The field of positive psychology, which focuses on human strengths and positive emotions, not only offers people tools to help achieve optimal levels of subjective well-being and quality of life regardless of their circumstances, it also enables us to understand how people utilize such qualities as hope, optimism, resilience, interest, wisdom, altruism, religiosity and spirituality to best cope with adversity.
By exploring the latest research in subjective well-being and quality of life, this book shows how qualities of positive psychology interact in a wide variety of contexts in the everyday lives of people. It details evidence from children to the elderly, from marital to professional to school life, from healthy people to those suffering some sort of malediction. And the studies are presented by researchers from various parts of the globe, thereby offering an international and cross-cultural perspective to subjective well-being, quality of life and positive psychology.

Produktdetails

• Social Indicators Research Series 51
• Verlag: Springer / Springer Netherlands
• Artikelnr. des Verlages: 978-94-007-4962-7
• 2013
• Seitenzahl: 308
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. November 2012
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 241mm x 160mm x 22mm
• Gewicht: 600g
• ISBN-13: 9789400749627
• ISBN-10: 9400749627
• Artikelnr.: 35934228

Autorenporträt

Anastasia Efklides, Ph.D., Ph.D.h.c. She is Professor of Experimental and Cognitive Psychology in the School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She has authored 4 books in Greek entitled ''Cognitive Psychology'', ''Psychology of Motivation'', ''Psychology of Thinking'', and ''Metacognitive Processes and Self-Regulation'' and edited or co-edited 20 books and special issues in Greek as well as 11 others in English. Author and co-author of more than 190 articles published in international and Greek journals and books as well as of more than 330 presentations, invited and others, in international and Greek conferences. She was Associate Editor (2002-2005) and Editor (2006-2009) of the journal Learning and Instruction, and Associate Editor of the journals European Psychologist (2004-2007), European Journal of Psychological Assessment (until 2005-2008), and European Journal of Education and Psychology (2008-). Currently she is Editor of the Hellenic Journal of Psychology (2002-).   Despina Moraitou, Ph.D. She is Lecturer of Cognitive GeroPsychology in the School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She is author and co-author of 18 articles published in international and Greek journals and books as well as of 40 presentations, invited and others, in international and Greek conferences. She is member of the Editorial Board (2008-) of the Journal of Happiness Studies. She was Editorial Assistant (2006-2009) of the journal Learning and Instruction. She is also reviewer of the journals Hellenic Journal of Psychology and Social Indicators Research.

Inhaltsangabe

1. Introduction - Anastasia Efklides and Despina Moraitou.- Part I: Quality of life, well-being, and positive psychology.- 2. Hierarchical needs, income comparisons and happiness levels - Stavros A. Drakopoulos.- 3. Goals and plans: Their relationship to well-being - Andrew MacLeod.- 4. Living in accordance with one's implicit motives: Cross-cultural evidence for beneficial effects of motive-goal congruence and motive satisfaction - Jan Hofer and Holger Busch.- 5. Positive psychology and subjective well-being homeostasis: A critical examination of congruence - Robert A. Cummins.- 6. Life satisfaction in adults: The effect of religiosity, worry and perceived physical health state - Maria Platsidou.- 7. Altruism and health: Theoretical perspectives - Carolyn E. Schwartz, Brian R. Quaranto, and Kurt Gray.- 8. Marital quality and well-being: The role of gender, marital duration, social support and cultural context - Eleni Pateraki and Pagona Roussi.- Part II: Positive psychology and human strengths.- 9. The role of dispositional optimism in physical and mental well-being - Nathaly Rius-Ottenheim, Roos C. van der Mast, Frans G. Zitman, and Erik J. Giltay.- 10. The relation of optimism to cardiac patients' subjective health through illness representations: Does the level of optimism matter? - Evangelos C. Karademas, Elvisa-Foteini Frokkai, Evangelia Tsotra, and Rania Papazachariou.- 11. Wisethinking, hopeful thinking, and positive aging: Reciprocal relations of wisdom, hope, memory, and affect in young, middle-aged, and older adults - Despina Moraitou and Anastasia Efklides.- 12. Dispositional hope and action-state orientation: Their role in self-regulated learning - Georgia Papantoniou, Despina Moraitou, Magda Dinou, and Effie Katsadima.- 13. One ingredient in the mix: Interest and psychological well-being - Mary Ainley.- 14. From burnout to engagement during transition from school to work - Katariina Salmela-Aro.- 15. A comparative study of resilience in Greece and Cyprus: The effects of negative life events, self-efficacy and social support on mental health.- Sophie Leontopoulou.- 16. Subject Index.

Rezensionen

From the reviews: "This is a series of discussions, studies, and literature reviews, both supporting and disputing, of the psychological factors associating quality of life (QoL), subjective well-being (SWB), and positive psychology at the individual and social level. Each chapter focuses on specific contexts in which the three constructs are applied. ... this book is intended for scholars interested in the field of positive psychology, its research, and application." (Howard A. Fox, Doody's Book Reviews, April, 2013)