Psychological Well-Being by Ingrid E., Ed. Wells (z-lib.org)

138 Eugene Tartakovsky benefits and security were reduced and material hardships including a shortage of food, clothes, and housing affected large segments of the population (Bobak et al., 1998; Goodwin et al., 2002). In 1995, more than 2/3 of the population in Russia perceived their economic situation as worse than five years before (Rose, 1995, cited in Goodwin et al., 2002). Between 1991 and 2000, the alcohol intake of men in Russia increased by a fourfold factor, the prevalence of drug addicts grew almost nine times, and the number of HIV infections increased almost tenfold (Koshkina, 2003, sited in Grogan, 2006). In the 1990s, life expectancy in all republics of the FSU was much lower than in developed countries (Bobak et al., 1998; Cockerham, Hinote and Abbott, 2006; Gilmore, McKee and Rose, 2002). Only a few studies have examined the psychological well-being of Russian adults in the 1990s. One such study found that the psychological well-being of Russians was second to last among 55 nations (Diener et al., 1995). Ukraine was not included in the study of Diener et al., but another comparative study conducted in four former Soviet Republics found that Ukrainians had higher psychological distress than Russians (Cockerham et al, 2006). All studies that compared Russian and western adolescents found there to be lower psychological well-being among Russian adolescents. Russian adolescents reported less positive attitude to life, a lower level of self-esteem, and a higher level of depression than American adolescents (Grob et al., 1996; Jose et al., 1998). Russian students had the second lowest level of well- being among the 39 countries studied by Balatsky and Diener (1993). Russian adolescents reported more emotional and behavioral problems than adolescents from seven developed countries (Knyazev et al., 2002; Slobodskaya, 1999; Verhulst et al., 2003). Among Russian 7- 14 year-olds, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders was about 70% higher than that found in Britain (Goodman, Slobodskaya and Knyazev, 2005). Russian adolescents reported a higher frequency of everyday problems, more global and personal worries, and less optimism than American adolescents (Jose et al., 1998; Kassinove and Sukhodolsky, 1995). Several factors were found predicting adolescents' well-being in the FSU. Adolescents from smaller towns reported lower psychological well-being than their peers in Moscow (Balatsky and Diener, 1993). Family cohesion and adolescent-parent closeness were negatively correlated with depressed mood and frequency of tobacco and alcohol use (Scheer and Unger, 1998). The mother's mental health, alcohol problems in the family, and domestic violence were associated with more emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents (Goodman et al., 2005). SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IN THE 21ST CENTURY The current study focuses on Russia and Ukraine. These two countries comprise about 80% of population and territory of the former Soviet Union (Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS, 2008). They both have predominantly Slavic population and were amongst the most developed republics of the USSR. However, the two countries differ greatly in their natural resources, which are abundant in Russia but scarce in Ukraine. In both countries, intense political struggle between liberal and conservative forces and the transition from the state-owned to the free-market economy took place in the 1990s (Yakovlev, 1996). However, the political situation in the beginning of the 21st century differed substantially in the two

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 139 countries. In Russia, the situation changed in 1999, with the beginning of Putin's presidency. During the following eight years, the political situation in Russia was stable, while civil rights were curbed, and the state partly regained its control over the economy (Baker and Glasser, 2007; Shevtsova, 2005). In contrast to Russia, the first decade of the 21st century in Ukraine saw a continuation of the political struggle, which, however, was accompanied by political freedom and the further development of the market economy (Aberg and Sandberg, 2003). In order to examine how socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine in the 21st century differed from those in the 1990s, several macro-level indexes were compared, using measurements from 1999 and 2007. Eight socio-economic indexes were chosen for the comparison (Table 1):2 GDP per capita reflects economic conditions and the standard of living GDP annual growth rate reflects the dynamic of economic changes Life expectancy at birth reflects level of nutrition, public health, and medicine Infant mortality rate reflects the standard of living and the population‘s health Prison population rate reflects the crime level Corruption Perceptions Index reflects moral conduct 3 Press Freedom Index reflects civil rights and the level of democracy 4 Human Development Index reflects the standard of living in a comprehensive manner 5 Seven out of eight indexes improved in Ukraine and six indexes improved in Russia from 1999 to 2007. The Corruption Perceptions Index in both countries did not change. The Press Freedom Index became worse in Russia, indicating stronger oppression of civil rights in 2007 as compared to 1999. Therefore, from 1999 to 2007, both Russia and Ukraine became wealthier, healthier, and safer countries. However, both countries did not improve their moral conduct, and although there was an improvement in civil rights in Ukraine, there was a stronger civil rights' oppression in Russia. 2 These indexes were chosen because: 1) they reflect a wide range of socio-economic parameters; 2) they are provided by international organizations and their calculation is based on well-established scientific methodology; 3) data for these indexes existed for both 1999 and 2007. 3 The International public organization Transparency International defines corruption as \"the abuse of public office for private gain.\" The Corruption Perceptions Index orders the countries of the world according to \"the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.\" The Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite of independent surveys. A higher score means less perceived corruption. A score of five and above out of ten is a ―clean score‖ demonstrating that a country is not corrupt. (Transparency International, 2007). 4 The international public organization Reporters Without Borders compiles Press Freedom Index by asking its partner organizations (14 freedom of expression groups from around the world) and its network of 130 correspondents, as well as journalists, researchers, legal experts and human rights activists, to answer 50 questions designed to assess a country‘s level of press freedom. The survey asks questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press. The lower the score of the Index, the higher the freedom of press (Reporters Without Borders, 2007). This index began to be calculated from 2002; therefore, data regarding 1999 does not exist. 5 The Human Development Index reflects achievements in the most basic human capabilities – leading a long life, being knowledgeable, and enjoying a decent standard of living. Three variables were chosen to represent these dimensions – life expectancy, educational attainment, and income. The Human Development Index is the product of a selected team of leading scholars, development practitioners, and members of the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 2007).

140 Eugene Tartakovsky Table 1. Macro-level socio-economic indexes of Russia and Ukraine, 1999-2007 Macro-level indexes Russia Russia Ukraine Ukraine 1999 2007 1999 2007 GDP per capita, $ * 4,000 12,100 2,200 7,600 GDP annual growth rate, % * -2.0 6.6 -6.0 6.0 Life expectancy at birth, years * 61.3 67.1 63.0 70.0 Infant mortality rate, 1/1000 live births * 23.0 15.1 21.7 9.9 Prison population rate, 1/100,000 citizens ** 688 628 478 345 Corruption Perceptions Index, on a scale 0-10 *** 2.4 2.3 2.6 2.7 Press Freedom Index, on a scale 0-100 (2002- 48.0 56.9 40.0 26.8 2007) **** Human Development Index, on a scale 0-1 ***** 0.747 0.802 0.721 0.788 * Coutsoukis (2007). ** International Center for Prison Studies (2007). *** Transparency International (2007). Higher CPI indicates less corruption. **** Reporters without Borders (2007). Higher PFI indicates less freedom of press. ***** United Nation Development Program (2007). Higher HDI indicates higher standard of life in a country. Russia had more positive indicators than Ukraine in the GDP per capita, the GDP annual growth rate, and the Human Development Index. However, Ukraine was ahead of Russia in life expectancy, infant mortality rate, prison population rate, the Corruption Perceptions Index, and the Press Freedom Index. Therefore, in the beginning of the 21st century, Russia was more developed economically as compared to Ukraine; however, it was less democratic, more corrupt, more crime-ridden, and less healthy. In both 1999 and 2007, all indexes indicated that the standard of living in Russia and Ukraine was lower than that in developed countries (Coutsoukis, 2007). However, in 2007, Russian and Ukrainian economies were developing at a higher rate than the economies of developed countries, and the gap between the Russian and Ukraine economies and the economies of developed countries was decreasing. HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH Based on the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), ecological systems theory (Bronfennbrenner, 1989), and the results of previous studies on the relations between socioeconomic conditions and psychological well-being, the following hypotheses were formulated: 1. The improved socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine in 2007 as compared to 1999 should cause improvement in the perceived economic conditions, parental practices, perceived social support, and the psychological well-being of adolescents. 2. Since the economic conditions in Russia are better than those in Ukraine, the psychological well-being of Russian adolescents should be higher than that among

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 141 Ukrainian adolescents. The same should be true regarding perceived economic conditions, parental practices, and perceived social support. 3. The following factors should be associated with higher psychological well-being of Russian and Ukrainian adolescents: better perceived economic conditions in the family, parental care and autonomy providing, and higher perceived social support. Higher SES (higher education and professional occupation) of the parents, a family composed of two adults, and life in a large city should also be associated with higher psychological well-being. METHOD Sampling 15-16 years-old adolescents studying in the 10-11 grades in Russian and Ukrainian public schools were the target population of this research. 1229 adolescents took part in this study. 489 adolescents were questioned in 1999 (348 in Russia and 141 in Ukraine) and 740 adolescents were questioned in 2007 (461 in Russia and 279 in Ukraine). Socio-demographic characteristics of the two samples are presented in Table 2. As the comparison demonstrates, the two samples were almost identical, with two exceptions: a slightly higher proportion of Ukrainian adolescents in the 2007 sample (38% vs. 29%; χ2=10.29, p<.01) and the higher average number of siblings in 2007 (.96(1.01) vs. .84(.76), t(1167)=2.06, p<.05).6 Procedure This study applied a three-step stratified sampling procedure. At the first step, the city in which adolescents were questioned was chosen; at the second stage the school was chosen; and at the third step the class was chosen. Adolescents were questioned by school psychologists. The psychologists were chosen from participants of a professional seminar organized by an international charity organization for school psychologists in the FSU. From 21 psychologists who attended the seminar, 17 representing Russia and Ukraine agreed to join the study. The psychologists were invited to the seminar according to regional quotas; therefore, all regions of Russia and Ukraine had equal chance to be represented. In 1999, the study was conducted in twelve cities in Russia and in four cities in Ukraine; in 2007, the study was conducted in eight cities in Russia and five cities in Ukraine. There were 8 large cities (over one million citizens), and 8 medium-size cities (less than one million citizens). The smallest city included in the study had 135,000 citizens, while the largest (Moscow) had 10.4 million citizens. All cities where questioning was conducted in 2007 were the same as those in 1999, except one city that was added in Ukraine. 6 The higher number of the adolescents' siblings in 2007 probably reflects a success of governmental policy stimulating child birth in both Russia and Ukraine (Felgenhauer, 2008).

142 Eugene Tartakovsky Table 2. Socio-demographic parameters of the samples Number of participants in the sample 1999 sample 2007 sample Percent of participants living in Ukraine * 489 740 Percent of participants living in large cities (with a population of one 29 38 million or more) 52 49 Percent of males in the sample Percent of adolescents, whose mother has a tertiary education 40 42 Percent of adolescents, whose father has tertiary education 59 60 Percent of adolescents, whose father is unemployed/ employed in 58 62 unqualified work/ employed in professional or managerial work 9/32/59 8/36/56 Percent of adolescents, whose mother is unemployed/ employed in unqualified work/ employed in professional or managerial work 19/30/51 18/33/49 Percent of adolescents living with one parent Number of siblings * 24 23 Percent of adolescents living in a three-generation households .84 (.76) .96 (1.01) Number of rooms in the family's apartment 17 22 Number of people in the household 2.82 (1.11) 2.87 (1.14) Percent of adolescents from ethnically mixed families 3.74 (.90) 3.75 (1.05) * The difference is significant (p<.05). 12 14 Each psychologist had randomly chosen one school from those in which he or she worked. All chosen schools were public schools, without any particular religious, ethnic, or professional affiliation. After that, one class was randomly selected in each school. All adolescents attending classes on the day when questioning was conducted were asked to fill out the questionnaires. The adolescents filled out the questionnaires in their classes during school hours. Signed informed consent was obtained from all adolescents participating in the study.7 The adolescents were assured of the anonymity of their answers and of their right not to participate in the study. Less then 3% of the students refused to participate in the study. Instruments The current study used self-report paper-and-pencil questionnaires. The questionnaires were in Russian, and it took 40-60 minutes to fill them out. The questionnaires were translated from English to Russian by the researcher. After that, they were back translated to English by an English native speaker and the disparities were ironed out by a team of three multilingual journalists and translators. 7 Parental consent was not obtained in this study, because of an administrative rule existing in Russia and Ukraine that leaves the decision regarding participation in a study to adolescents. Psychologists conducting the study approached the adolescents' parents asking them for their consent. However, the parents answered that this decision is a sole prerogative of the adolescents. However, the school principal‘s permission for conducting a study was required according to the Russian and Ukrainian law. It was received after the content of the questionnaires was agreed upon with the school principals.

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 143 Measures of Psychological Well-Being The study applied six indexes of psychological well-being. Four indexes measured positive psychological well-being: general self-esteem, body image, social competence, and school competence. Two indexes measured negative psychological well-being (distress): emotional and behavioral problems and loneliness. All questionnaires used 5-point Likert scales, except the Youth Self-Report that used a 3-point scale. Middle to high correlations between the six indexes of psychological well-being (from .27 to .62) indicated that they measure a common construct. Internal consistencies of the scales measured by Cronbach α are provided below separately for the Russian and Ukrainian samples for the 2007 measurement. Self-esteem was measured by the Self-liking/Self-worth scale (Tafarodi and Swann, 1995). This scale consists of 20 positively and negatively formulated items reflecting feelings of social worth and personal efficacy. Item examples: \"Owing to my capabilities, I have much potential\"; \"It is often unpleasant for me to think about myself\" (reversed). Internal consistency of the scale was .87 in the Russian sample and .82 in the Ukrainian sample. Body image was measured by the body image scale of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (Offer, Ostrov and Howard, 1982). This scale consists of 14 items measuring the perception of one's physical appearance and physical abilities. Item examples: \"I feel strong and healthy\"; \"I feel unhappy with my body\" (reversed). Internal consistency of the scale was .81 in the Russian sample and .80 in the Ukrainian sample. Social competence was measured by the short form B of the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI) (Helmreich and Stapp, 1974). This 16-item scale measures feelings of perceived competence and comfort in social situations. Item examples: \"I enjoy being around other people and seek out social encounters frequently\"; \"I would describe myself as socially unskilled\" (reversed). Internal consistency of the scale was .85 in the Russian sample and .85 in the Ukrainian sample. School competence was measured using items from the multifaceted academic self- concept scale (Marsh, Byrne, and Shavelson, 1988). This scale consists of 10 positively and negatively formulated items related to the subjective perception of one‘s abilities in performing various school tasks. Item examples: \"I am a good pupil\"; \"Compared with my classmates, I must study more than they do to get the same grades\" (reversed). Internal consistency of the scale was .68 in the Russian sample and .70 in the Ukrainian sample. Behavioral and emotional problems were measured by the Youth Self-Report questionnaire (YSR) (Achenbach, 1991). The YSR includes 112 items grouped into nine syndromes, which in turn are grouped into scores measuring internalization, externalization, and total problems. The internalization problems score is computed by summing the withdrawn, somatic complaints, and anxious/depressed syndromes' scores. The externalization problems score is computed by summing the delinquent behavior and aggressive behavior syndromes' scores. The total problems score is computed by summing all the symptom scores obtained. Internal consistencies of the scales in the Russian and Ukrainian samples were as follows: internalization (.89; .89), externalization (.87; .85), and total problems score (.93; .93). Loneliness was measured by a Short-Form Measure of Loneliness (Hays and DiMatteo, 1987). This scale measures distress associated with inadequate social contacts. It consists of eight items, positively and negatively formulated, from the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale.

144 Eugene Tartakovsky Item examples: \"I lack companionship\"; \"I am an outgoing person\" (reversed). Internal consistency of the scale was .81 in the Russian sample and .83 in the Ukrainian sample. Perceived Social Support Perceived social support was measured by a Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988). This questionnaire consists of 12 items, which are divided into three subscales relating to social support received from parents, peers, and teachers. Item examples: \"There is a teacher who is around when I am in need\"; \"My family really tries to help me\"; \"I have friends with whom I can share my joys and sorrows\". Internal consistencies of the scales in the Russian and Ukrainian samples were as follows: parents (.83; .82), peers (.84; .87), and teachers (.87; .88). Perceived Parental Practices Perceived parental practices were measured by the Parental Bonding Inventory (Parker et al., 1979). This questionnaire reflects the adolescent's perception of the mother's parenting behavior. The questionnaire includes two scales: care-rejection and autonomy providing- control. The care-rejection scale consists of 12 items referring to the warm, sensitive, and available aspects of the parental representation vs. cold, insensitive, and rejecting aspects. The autonomy providing-over control scale consists of 13 items referring to the mother's encouragement of the age-appropriate autonomy of the child vs. over controlling. Example items for the care-rejection scale are: \"My mother appears to understand my problems and worries\"; \"My mother seems emotionally cold to me\" (reversed). Example items for the autonomy-over control scale are: \"My mother encourages me to make my own decisions\"; \"My mother makes me dependent on her\" (reversed). Internal consistencies of the scales in Russian and Ukrainian samples were as follows: care-rejection (.86; .84), autonomy providing-control (.83; .77). Perceived Economic Conditions Perceived economic conditions of the adolescents were assessed using a one-item scale on which the participants were asked to assess the economic conditions of their families compared to other families in Russia or Ukraine on a 5-point scale, from 1 – ‗much worse‘ to 5 – ‗much better‘. Perceived changes in economic conditions of the adolescents were assessed using a one-item scale where the participants were asked to assess how the economic conditions of their families changed over the last year on a 5-point scale, from 1 – ‗became much worse‘ to 5 – ‗became much better‘.

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 145 Socio-Demographic Characteristics Gender: 1 – male; 2 – female. City size: 1 – more than one million citizens; 2 – less than one million citizens. Family composition: 1 – single-parent family; 2 – two-parent family. The category of two-parent families included families where both biological parents lived together with the adolescent and families where a biological parent and a step-parent lived with the adolescent. Parents' education was a sum of the mother‘s and father's education measured as 1 – secondary, 2 – tertiary. Parents' occupation was a sum of the mother‘s and father's occupation measured as 0 – unemployed, 1 – manual or clerical occupation, 2 – professional or managerial occupation. RESULTS ANOVAs were conducted in order to compare perceived economic conditions in the family, psychological well-being of the adolescents, parental bonding, and perceived social support in 1999 and 2007. Country, socio-demographic characteristics of the adolescents' family, and the participants' gender were included in the analyses as predictors. Table 3 presents the means and standard deviations of the variables for the Russian and Ukrainian samples separately. A significant effect of time was found for the perceived economic conditions in the family (F(1;1134)=38.62, p<.001). In 2007, both Russian and Ukrainian adolescents perceived economic conditions in their families in a more positive way than did their peers in 2000. The Levene tests for homogeneity of variance yielded not significant (F(1; 1180)=.30, ns); it confirmed that the dispersions of the scores of the perceived economic conditions in the family were similar in the 1999 and 2007. A significant interaction effect of time and country on perceived economic conditions in the family was found (F(1;1134)=10.86, p<.01). Post- hoc comparisons demonstrated that while in 1999 Russian adolescents perceived the economic conditions in their families in a more positive way than did Ukrainian adolescents t(484)=4.98, p<.001), the difference between the two countries was not significant in 2007 (t(694)=.12, ns). A significant effect of time was found for the perceived change in the economic conditions in the family over the last year (F(1;1135)=29.24, p<.001). In 2007, both Russian and Ukrainian adolescents perceived the change in the economic conditions in their families over the last year as more positive than did their peers in 1999. The Levene tests for homogeneity of variance yielded not significant (F(1; 1181)=.05, ns); it confirmed that the dispersions of the scores of the perceived change in economic conditions in the family over the last year were similar in the 1999 and 2007 samples. No significant interaction effect of time with other predicting variables on the perceived change in economic conditions in the family over the last year was found.

146 Eugene Tartakovsky No significant effect of time or its interaction with socio-demographic variables on the indexes of psychological well-being, parental bonding, and perceived social support was found. To test the differences between Russian and Ukrainian adolescents, the main effect of country on psychological well-being, perceived parental practices, and perceived social support was examined. A significant effect of country was found on the following dependent variables: self-esteem (F(1;986)=8.28, p<.01), school competence (F(1;992)=5.36, p<.01), parental care (F(1;1130)=4.22, p<.05), parental autonomy providing (F(1;1129)=4.62, p<.05), and perceived social support received from peers (F(1;961)=9.70, p<.05). In all these variables, Russian adolescents reported higher scores than their Ukrainian peers. To examine the effect of various factors on psychological well-being at the individual level, zero-order correlations between the socio-demographic characteristics, perceived economic conditions, parental bonding, perceived social support, and the indexes of psychological well-being were computed (Table 4).8 Table 3. Perceived economic conditions, psychological well-being, parental bonding, and perceived social support in Russian and Ukrainian adolescents: means and SD Variables Russia Russia Ukraine Ukraine 1999 2007 1999 2007 Perceived economic conditions 3.39(0.74) 3.49(0.72) 3.01(0.77) 3.48(0.65) Perceived economic change during the last year 3.32(0.76) 3.53(0.74) 3.23(0.81) 3.62(0.71) Internalizing problems scores Externalizing problems scores 17.67(9.54) 16.99(9.03) 17.75(8.21) 16.79(8.97) Total problems scores 18.75(8.26) 19.17(8.31) 18.07(7.08) 18.77(8.38) Loneliness 61.43(24.24) 60.92(23.38) 61.55(19.66) 59.94(23.39) Self-esteem 2.03(0.82) 1.99(0.77) 2.16(0.77) 2.07(0.80) Body image 3.81(0.54) 3.83(0.55) 3.68(0.43) 3.69(0.52) Social competence 3.65(0.63) 3.65(0.65) 3.56(0.55) 3.58(0.63) School competence 3.65(0.58) 3.67(0.61) 3.56(0.48) 3.57(0.63) Parental care 3.49(0.67) 3.44(0.63) 3.27(0.66) 3.36(0.65) Parental autonomy providing 4.13(0.65) 4.04(0.76) 4.00(0.62) 3.99(0.69) Perceived social support from 3.52(0.64) 3.54(0.69) 3.39(0.60) 3.41(0.63) parents Perceived social support from 3.92(.91) 3.80(.94) 3.80(.82) 3.82(.89) peers Perceived social support from 3.93(.95) 3.95(.89) 3.63(.95) 3.78(.99) teachers 2.68(1.17) 2.87(1.24) 3.05(1.19) 2.83(1.24) 8 Since externalizing and internalizing problems scores of the YSR were highly correlated with the total problems score, only the total problem score was used for correlation analysis. Correlation analyses are presented for the 2007 measurement; however, the obtained correlation coefficients were very similar in 1999 and 2007. Since the patterns of correlations in the Russian and Ukrainian samples were similar, the two samples were pooled.

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 147 Table 4. Zero-level correlations between the variables Emotional Loneliness Self-esteem Body Social School and behavioral -0.00 image competence competence problems -0.04 City size -0.07 -0.16* -0.04 0.03 0.01 -0.06 Gender 0.12* -0.12* 0.07 0.06 0.10* 0.04 Parents' education -0.06 0.03 0.18* 0.15* 0.15* 0.18* Parents' occupation -0.02 -0.21* 0.15* 0.17* 0.20* 0.17* Family composition 0.02 -0.15* 0.03 0.08 0.01 0.04 Perceived economic -0.19* 0.22* 0.24* 0.22* 0.16* conditions -0.43* Perceived economic -0.05 -0.25* 0.12* 0.09 0.17* 0.04 change during the last year -0.35* -0.31* 0.40* 0.36* 0.36* 0.20* Parental care -0.37* -0.44* 0.29* 0.22* 0.19* 0.21* Parental autonomy providing -0.22* -0.15* 0.22* 0.24* 0.26* 0.15* Perceived social 0.24* 0.26* 0.40* 0.11* support from parents -0.11* Perceived social 0.09 0.04 0.18* 0.16* support from peers 0.03 Perceived social support from teachers * p<.05. Table 5. Hierarchical regression analyses of the six indexes of psychological well-being Emotional and Loneliness Self-esteem Body Social School behavioral image competence competence problems Step 1, R2 .01, ns .03** .06*** .04*** .05*** .05*** Step 2, R2 .03* .06*** .08*** .08*** .09*** .06*** Step 3, R2 .18*** .21*** .21*** .17*** .17*** .11*** Step 4, R2 .20*** .32*** .23*** .19*** .27*** .14*** * p<.05; ** p<.01; *** p<.001. Step 1 included two predicting variables: parents' education and occupation. Step 2 added two measures of perceived economic conditions (economic conditions as compared to other families and the change in economic conditions over the last year). Step 3 added the two measures of parental bonding (care-rejection and autonomy providing-control). Step 4 added two measures of perceived social support received from peers and teachers. City size and family composition were not significantly correlated with any index of psychological well-being. Gender was correlated with only two indexes of psychological well-being (girls reported more emotional and behavioral problems but higher social competence then boys); however, the effect size of gender was small (about 1%). Parents' education and occupation were positively correlated with all indexes of psychological well- being, except emotional and behavioral problems. Perceived economic conditions were

148 Eugene Tartakovsky positively correlated with all indexes of psychological well-being, while the perceived change in the economic conditions of the family in the last year was correlated only with three indexes of psychological well-being: self-esteem, social competence, and loneliness. Parental care and parental autonomy providing were correlated with all indexes of psychological well- being. Perceived social support received from parents and perceived social support received from peers were correlated with all indexes of psychological well-being, while perceived social support received from teachers was correlated only with three indexes of psychological well-being: social competence, school competence, and loneliness. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted in order to explore the relative impact of the four groups of predicting variables whose zero-level correlations with psychological well- being were significant (parents' education and occupation, perceived economic conditions in the family, parental care and autonomy providing, and perceived social support). The six indexes of psychological well-being were included in the analyses as dependent variables. Each analysis had four steps. At the first step, parents' education and occupation were included as independent variables. At the second step, parents' education and occupation and two measures of perceived economic conditions in the family (economic conditions as compared to other families and the change in economic conditions over the last year) were included as independent variables. At the third step, parents' education and occupation, two measures of perceived economic conditions in the family, and the two measures of parental bonding (care-rejection and autonomy providing-control) were included as independent variables. Finally, at the fourth step, parents' education and occupation, two measures of perceived economic conditions, two measures of parental bonding, and two measures of perceived social support (social support received from peers, and teachers) were included as independent variables. Perceived social support received from parents was not included at the fourth step of the analysis, because it was highly correlated with parental care (.67). The results of the hierarchical regression analyses are presented in Table 5. Parents' education and occupation explained 1-6% of the variance in the adolescents' psychological well-being, while their prediction of the emotional and behavioral problems was not significant. The addition of perceived economic conditions in the adolescent's family did not significantly improve prediction; the four variables together explained 3-9% of the variance in the six indexes of psychological well-being. The addition of parental bonding significantly improved prediction in five out of six indexes of psychological well-being (except school competence); the six independent variables explained 11-21% of the variance in the six indexes of psychological well-being. Finally, the addition of perceived social support received from peers and teachers significantly improved the prediction only in two out of six dependent variables (loneliness and social competence). All eight predicting variables accounted for 14-32% of the variance in the six indexes of psychological well- being; the prediction was highest for loneliness and lowest for school competence. DISCUSSION The main goal of this study was to examine how macro-level changes in socio-economic conditions in Russia and Ukraine affected the psychological well-being of adolescents in these countries. In addition, the individual-level effects of perceived economic conditions in

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 149 the family, parental practices, and social support on the adolescents' psychological well-being were investigated. Measurements were conducted among high-school adolescents in 1999 and 2007. The adolescents were drawn from public schools in cities and towns of different sizes dispersed over the entire territory of Russia and Ukraine. The 1999 and 2007 samples had almost identical socio-demographic characteristics. Macro-level indexes demonstrated that the socioeconomic conditions in both Russia and Ukraine substantially improved from 1999 to 2007. However, there was no decrease in corruption in both countries, and civil rights became more oppressed in Russia. Positive socioeconomic changes in the country lead to the improvement in the socioeconomic conditions in the families. In 2007, adolescents evaluated the economic conditions of their families more positively than did their peers in 1999. In addition, in 2007, more than in 1999, adolescents felt that the economic conditions of their family improved during the last year. Homogeneity of variances in the two variables measured in 1999 and 2007 indicated that the macro-level socioeconomic changes in Russia and Ukraine positively affected the economic conditions of the entire population and not only a small segment. However, the improvement in the socio-economic conditions in the country and in the families did not lead to a positive change in the adolescents' psychological well-being either in Russia or Ukraine. None of the six indexes of psychological well-being measured in this study changed significantly in 2007 as compared with 1999. Moreover, the externalizing problems score (reflecting delinquent and aggressive behavior of the adolescents) changed in the direction opposite to that hypothesized, thus indicating not only a lack of the improvement but even some aggravation of these problems. A comparison of the Youth Self-Report total problems scores obtained in this study with those measured in seven developed countries by Verhulst et al. (2003) revealed a full standard deviation difference in favor of the adolescents from developed countries (total scores and SD: 60.9(23.2) vs. 37.6 (21.0). Therefore, the psychological well-being of Russian and Ukrainian adolescents did not improve in the post- perestroika period, and it remained much worse than that of their peers in developed countries. The lack of improvement in psychological well-being despite the improvement in the socioeconomic conditions seems to contradict the conservation of resources theory and the ecological systems theory. However, several post hoc explanations may be suggested. One explanation relates to the factor of time. It is possible that not enough time has elapsed in order for the effect of the improved socio-economic conditions on the adolescents' psychological well-being to become significant. Only eight years separated the two measurements in this study. This means that the adolescents who participated in the study in 2007 spent half of their life under the harsh conditions of the 1990s, while only the second half of their life was lived in the improved socioeconomic conditions. Adolescents, who will live most of their lives under the more benign socioeconomic conditions that now exist in the FSU, may demonstrate higher psychological well-being in the future. Another explanation relates to the magnitude of improvement in the socioeconomic conditions. Conservation of resources theory assumes that resource gain is less potent in changing the individuals' psychological well-being than resource loss (Hobfoll and Lilly, 1993). If the improvement in socioeconomic conditions is not big enough, its effect on psychological well-being of individuals may not be significant. Analysis of the macro-level indicators demonstrates that despite the considerable improvement, neither Russia nor Ukraine reached the level of developed countries (UNDP, 2007). Therefore, when the

150 Eugene Tartakovsky socioeconomic conditions in these countries will further improve, positive changes in the psychological well-being of their citizens may become significant. A third possible explanation is that in order to affect psychological well-being, not only socioeconomic conditions in a country and in the family need to improve, but also parental practices and the overall relationships between people in society. The current study demonstrated that neither perceived parental practices nor perceived social support changed from 1999 to 2007 in both Russia and Ukraine. This may be a reason for the absence of change in the adolescents' psychological well-being. Parental practices and interpersonal relationships in society depend not only on the socioeconomic conditions, but also on the values and cultural norms which prevail in the country, and these values and norms are resistant to change (Schwartz, 2004; Van IJzendoorn et al., 2006). The fourth possible reason for the lack of change in psychological well-being is related to corruption, which remained very high in both Russia and Ukraine during the last decade. Recent cross-cultural studies (e.g., Tavits, 2008) demonstrated that corruption has a strong negative effect on psychological well-being. High levels of corruption may be related to the adolescents' feeling of alienation as they live in a country lacking positive norms and moral standards. Living in a corrupt country may also decrease the adolescents' ability to maintain a sense of mastery due to one's inability to rely on certain beliefs, for example, if one studies well, then one can succeed in life. Therefore, positive changes in the moral conduct of countries undergoing rapid economic development may be crucial in ensuring the psychological well-being of their citizens. This is particularly true for adolescents, who are at the formative stage of identity exploration. In the present study, Russian adolescents reported higher self-esteem and school competence than their Ukrainian peers. In addition, Russian adolescents reported higher perceived parental care and autonomy providing, and higher social support received from peers. These differences in the psychological variables may be a result of the macro-level differences between the two countries. Analysis of socioeconomic indexes conducted in this study revealed an incongruity: economic conditions in Russia were better than those in Ukraine, while life expectancy, infant mortality, crime rate, and civil rights were better in Ukraine. A previous study conducted in the 1990s also found a similar incongruity (Goodwin et al., 2002). Since all of the psychological variables were more positive in Russia, this finding suggests that the economic conditions in a country have a stronger effect on psychological well-being, parenting practices, and interpersonal relationships in a country than other socioeconomic indicators. These results are consistent with the results of a cross- cultural study of Diener et al. (1995) who found that a country's GDP was the strongest predictor of the psychological well-being of its citizens. However, in addition to the difference in the level of economic development, other cultural and political factors may also affect the psychological differences between Russian and Ukrainian adolescents. For instance, the lower school competence of Ukrainian adolescents may be a result of the \"Ukrainiazation\" of their schools. From the end of the 1990s, in almost all schools in Ukraine teaching was reverted to Ukrainian rather than Russian, as before (Aberg and Sandberg, 2003). At the same time, a significant proportion of adolescents in Ukraine are ethnic Russians, whose mother tong is Russian. Their command of the Ukrainian language is limited, which may have caused a decrease in their school competence. Further investigation of cultural and political factors that may affect the

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 151 adolescents' psychological well-being, parenting practices, and interpersonal relationships in the FSU is warranted. The city size and family composition had no significant effect on the psychological well- being of adolescents in Russia and Ukraine. Parents' education and occupation had only a small effect on the adolescents' psychological well-being, and the same was true for the effect of perceived economic conditions in the adolescents' families. Perceived parental practices (care and autonomy providing) and social support received from parents and friends were major contributors to the adolescents' psychological well-being. Social support received from teachers also contributed to the adolescents' psychological well-being, but its impact was significant only for three out of six indexes of psychological well-being: school competence, social competence, and loneliness. These findings corroborate the family stress model, which argues that socio-economic conditions affect adolescents' psychological well-being mainly through the psychological well-being of their parents, which, in turn, find expression in their parental practice and social support they provide to their children (Van IJzendoorn et al., 2006). In addition, these findings corroborate the ecological systems theory, which argues that the social support received from outside the family, mainly from peers and teachers, contributes to the adolescents' psychological well-being (Garbarino, 1999). Little support for the investment model (Van IJzendoorn et al., 2006) was found, since positive changes in the family economic conditions had a very small direct impact on the adolescents' psychological well- being. CONCLUSION The results obtained in this study warrant several important conclusions. First, changes in adolescents' psychological well-being do not follow macro-level socioeconomic changes that occur in a country. While the socioeconomic conditions in Russia and Ukraine substantially improved from 1999 to 2007, the adolescents' psychological well-being did not change significantly. It is likely that stronger changes over a longer period of time are needed in order to have a significant impact on the psychological well-being of individuals. For now, despite substantial socioeconomic changes, the psychological well-being of Russian and Ukrainian adolescents remains much worse than that of their peers in developed countries. Second, the main factors that affected the adolescents' psychological well-being in this study were parental practices and social support received from parents, peers, and teachers. However, the parental practices and social support that adolescents received from their social environment did not change in both Russia and Ukraine. This indicates that these variables are more influenced by values and cultural norms rather than by socioeconomic conditions. Values and norms are preserved in a society even during times of substantial socioeconomic changes, and their preservation may be responsible for the lack of change in psychological well-being. At the same time, cross-cultural differences in values and norms are fairly constant (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2004), which may explain why the psychological differences between Russian and Ukrainian adolescents found in this study remained relatively constant over time.

152 Eugene Tartakovsky The results obtained in this study are limited in their scope, because they relate only to Russia and Ukraine and to a narrow age group of 15-16 years-old. The effect of socioeconomic changes on psychological well-being, parental practices, and social support should be investigated in other countries undergoing socioeconomic transitions, particularly in the rapidly developing countries of Eastern Europe, China, India, and Brazil. If it will be confirmed in further studies that improved socioeconomic conditions do not impact the psychological well-being of citizens, this will emphasize the need for special programs aimed to improve parental practices and interpersonal relationships in these changing societies. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is profoundly thankful to the Russian and Ukrainian psychologists who helped to conduct this study. The author is also grateful to the adolescents who participated in this study. REFERENCES Aberg, M., and Sandberg, M. (2003). Social capital and democratization: roots of trust in post-communist Poland and Ukraine. Ashgate Publishing. Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Youth Self-Report and Profile. Burlington, VT: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont. Achenbach, T. M. (2004). Cross-cultural perspectives on developmental psychopathology. In U. P. Gielen and J. Roopnarine (Eds.), Childhood and adolescence: cross-cultural perspectives and applications. Preger. pp. 411-430. Achenbach, T. M., Dumenci, L., Rescorla, L. A. (2003). Are American children's problems still getting worse? A 23-year comparison. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31(1), 1-11. Aneshensel, C. S., Rutter, C. M., and Lachenbruch, P. A. (1991). Social structure, stress, and mental health: competing conceptual and analytic models. American Sociological Review, 56(2), 166-178. Baker, P., and Glasser, S. (2007). Kremlin rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the end of revolution. Updated edition. Potomac Books. Balatsky, G., and Diener, E. (1993). Subjective well-being among Russian students. Social Indicators Research, 28, 225-243. Bobak, M., Pikhart, H., Hertzman, C., Rose, R., and Marmot, M. (1998). Socioeconomic factors, perceived control and self-reported health in Russia: a cross-sectional survey. Social Science and Medicine, 47(2), 269-279. Bronfennbrenner, U. (1989). Ecological systems theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Six theories of child development, vol. 6, pp. 187-250. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Cockerham, W. C., Hinote, B. P., and Abbott, P. (2006). Psychological distress, gender, and health lifestyles in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 2381-2394.

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 153 Collishaw, S., Maughan, B., Goodman, R., and Pickles, A (2004). Time trends in adolescent mental health. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45. Coutsoukis, P. (2007). World fact book: country ranks. http://www.theodora.com/wfb/ Diener, E., Diener, M., and Diener C. (1995). Factors predicting the subjective well-being of nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 851-864. Felgenhauer, P. (February 14, 2008). Russia will regain demographic, economic, and military strength, Putin claims. Eurasia Daily Monitor. http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article. php?article_id=2372804 Garbarino, J. (1999). Lost boys: Why our sons turn violent and how we can save them. Anchor books: New York. Gibbons, J. L. (2004). Adolescents in the developing world. In U. P. Gielen and J. Roopnarine, Childhood and adolescence: cross-cultural perspectives and applications. Preger. pp. 255-276. Gilmore, A. B. C, McKee, M., and Rose, R. (2002). Determinants of and inequalities in self- perceived health in Ukraine. Social Science and Medicine, 55, 2177-2188. Goodwin, R., Allen, P., Nizharadze, G., Emelyanova, T., Dedkova, N., Saenko, Y., Bugrova, I. (2002). Fatalism, Social Support, and Mental Health in Four Former Soviet Cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(9), 1166-1171. Goodwin, R., Nizharadze, G., Luu, L. A. N., Kosd, E., Emelyanova, T. (2001). Social support in changing Europe: an analysis of three post-communist nations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 379-393. Goodman, R., Slobodskaya, H., Knyazev, G. (2005). Russian child mental health: a cross- sectional study of prevalence and risk factors. European Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(1), 28-33. Grob, A., Little, T. D., Wanner, B., Wearing, A. J. (1996). Adolescents' well-being and perceived control across 14 sociocultural contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(4), 785-795. Grogan, L. (2006). Alcoholism, tobacco, and drug use in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Substance Use and Misuse, 41, 567-571. Hayo, B., and Seifert, W. (2003). Subjective economic well-being in Eastern Europe. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 329-348. Hays, R. D., and DiMatteo, M. R. (1987). A short-form measure of loneliness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 51, 69-81. Helmreich R., and Stapp, J. (1974). Short forms of the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI), an objective measure of self-esteem. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 4 (5A), 473-475. Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: a new attempt to conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513-524. Hobfoll, S. E., and Lilly, R. (1993). Resource conservation as a strategy for community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 21,128-148. Hofstede, G., and Hofstede, G. J. (2004). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. The McGrow-Hill Companies. International Center for Prison Studies (2007). World prison brief. www.prisonstudies.org Interstate Statistical Committee of the CIS (2008). Database statistics of the CIS. http://www.cisstat.com/eng/index.htm#statinfo

154 Eugene Tartakovsky Jose, P. E., D‘Anna, C. A., Cafasso, L. L., Bryant, F. B., Chiker, V., Gein, N., and Zhezmer, N. (1998). Stress and coping among Russian and American early adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 757-769. Kassinove, H. and Sukhodolsky, D. G. (1995). Optimism, pessimism and worry in Russian and American children and adolescents. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 10(1), 157-168. Knyazev, G. G., Slobosdkaya, H. R., Safronova, M. V., Kinsht, I. A. (2002). School adjustment and health in Russian adolescents. Psychology, Health, and Medicine, 7(2), 143-155. Marsh, H. W., Byrne, B. M., and Shavelson, R. J. (1988). A multifaceted academic self- concept: Its hierarchical structure and its relation to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology 80(3), 366–380. The Nuffield Foundation (2004). Time trends in adolescent well-being. Seminars on Children and Families: Evidence and Implications. http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/ fileLibrary/pdf/2004_seminars_childern_families_adolescents_and_wellbeing001.pdf Offer, D., Ostrov, E., and Howard, K. I. (1982). The Offer Self-Image Questionnaire for Adolescents: A manual. Third edition. Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, Chicago. Parker, G., Tupling, H., and Brown, L. B. (1979). A Parental Bonding Instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1-10. Pleshkova, N. L. (2006). Quality of attachment in early childhood. In S. F. Sirotkina, M. L. Melnikova (Eds.) Psychology of attachment and early intervention: Materials of international scientific seminar, 3-4 July. Igevsk, Russia, pp. 40-46. Reporters without Borders (2007). Press freedom index. www.rsf.org/article.php3? id_article=24025 Ruchkin, V. V., Eisemann, M., Hagglof, B., and Cloninger, C. R. (1998). Interrelations between temperament, character, and parental rearing in male delinquent adolescents in Northern Russia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 39(4), 225-230. Safro, S., and Ponizovsky, A. (1996). The relationship between self-ratings and mothers‘ ratings of behavioral problems among recent adolescent immigrants to Israel. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 18(4), 41-48. Scheer, S. D., and Unger, D. G. (1998). Russian adolescents in the era of emergent democracy: the role of family environment in substance use and depression. Family Relations, 47(3), 297-303. Schwartz, S. H. (2004). Mapping and interpreting cultural differences around the world. In H. Vinken, J. Soeters, and P. Ester. Comparing cultures: dimensions of culture in comparative perspective. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill. pp. 43-73. Shevtsova, L. (2005) Putin's Russia. Revised edition. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Shteyn, M., Schumm, J. A., Vodopianova, N., Hobfoll, S. E., Lilly, R. (2003). The impact of the Russian transition on psychosocial resources and psychological distress. Journal of Community Psychology, 31(2), 113-127. Slobodskaya, H. R. (1999). Competence, emotional and behavioral problems in Russian adolescents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 8, 173-180.

The Psychological Well-Being of Russian and Ukrainian Adolescents … 155 Tafarodi, R. W., and Swann, W. B. (1995). Self-liking and self-competence as dimensions of global self-esteem: initial validation of a measure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65 (2), 322-342. Tartakovsky, E. (2007). A longitudinal study of acculturative stress and homesickness: high- school adolescents immigrating from Russia and Ukraine to Israel without parents. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42(6), 485-494. Tartakovsky, E. (2009). The psychological well-being of unaccompanied minors: a longitudinal study of adolescents immigrating from Russia and Ukraine to Israel without parents. Journal for Research on Adolescence, 19(2), 177-204. Tavits, M. (2008). Representation, Corruption, and Subjective Well-Being. Comparative Political Studies, 41(12), 1607-1630. The State Statistical Bureau of Russia, SSBR, (2008). Russia in numbers. http://www.gks.ru/ Transparency international (2007). Corruption perceptions index. www.transparency.org/ policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007 United Nation Development Program, UNDP, (2007). Human development index. www.hdr.undp.org/en/statistics Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., and Sagi-Schwartz, A. (2006). Attachment across diverse sociocultural contexts: the limits of universality. In K. H. Rubin and O. B. Chung, Parenting beliefs, behaviors, and parent-child relations: a cross-cultural perspective. Psychology Press: New York, Hove. Ch. 5, pp. 107-143. Verhulst, F. C., Achenbach, T. M., Ende, J., Erol, N., Lambert, M. C., Leung, P. W. L., Silva, M. A. Zilber, N., Zubrich, S. R. (2003). Comparisons of problems reported by youths from seven countries. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1479-1485. Verhulst, F. C., Van der Ende, J., and Rietbergen, A. (1997). Ten-year time trends of psychopathology in Dutch children and adolescents: no evidence for strong trends. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 96, 7-13. White, A. (2007). A global projection of subjective well-being: a challenge to positive psychology? Psychtalk, 56, 17-20. http://www.le.ac.uk/users/aw57/world/sample.html Yakovlev, A. (1996). Reformation in Russia. Maariv: Tel-Aviv. (In Hebrew). Zilber, N. (1999). Preliminary results of YSR in the Israeli sample. Unpublished Research Report. Jerusalem: JDC – Falk Institute. Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., and Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41.



In: Psychological Well-Being ISBN 978-1-61668-180-7 Editor: Ingrid E. Wells, pp.157-170 © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 5 STRENGTH VERSUS BALANCE: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF TWO DIFFERENT MODELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED SATISFACTION TO WELL-BEING IN ADAPTED SPORT ATHLETES Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster Behavioural Health Sciences Research Lab, Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines, Ontario, Canada ABSTRACT Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of ‗additive‘ versus ‗balanced‘ models for understanding the relationship between perceived psychological need satisfaction derived from adapted sport and global well-being. Methods: Participants (N = 177; 51.41% male) drawn from cohorts reporting either a sensory (15.2%) or physical (80.1%) disability completed a self-report instrument capturing perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness experienced in adapted sport and global self-esteem using a cross-sectional design. Results: Bivariate correlations revealed positive relationship between indices of perceived psychological need satisfaction and between fulfillment of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs via sport with global self-esteem. Multiple regression analyses indicated that ‗balanced‘ psychological need satisfaction did not account for additional variance in global self-esteem after controlling for the contributions of Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Philip M. Wilson, Behavioural Health Sciences Research Lab, Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, 500 Glenridge Avenue, Brock University, St Catharines, Ontario, L2S 2A1 Tel: (905) 699-5550 Ext. 4997, Fax: (905) 688-8364, e-mail: [email protected].

158 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster individual needs in the ‗additive‘ model. Perceived competence was the strongest predictor of global self-esteem followed by perceived autonomy and relatedness. Conclusions: These observations provide support for an ‗additive‘ model extrapolated from Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) assertions more so than a ‗balanced‘ model (Sheldon and Niemiec, 2006) with regards to understanding the relationship between fulfillment of basic psychological needs and well-being in adapted sport athletes. Further research examining the role of ‗additive‘ versus ‗balanced‘ models in reference to understanding issues of strength versus integration of perceived psychological need satisfaction seems warranted with additional emphasis on broadening the scope of well- being criterion assessed in adapted sport contexts. Keywords: Construct validity, Basic Needs Theory, Self-Determination Theory, Adapted Sport STRENGTH VERSUS BALANCE: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF TWO DIFFERENT MODELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED SATISFACTION TO WELL-BEING IN ADAPTED SPORT ATHLETES There is growing interest in the development of programs at all competitive levels for athletes engaged in adapted sports (Canadian Paralympic Committee, 2007). Such interest has been accompanied by a greater awareness of the merits and hazards that can stem directly or indirectly from adapted sport competition (Martens, 1978; Fox and Wilson, 2008). It seems clear from research examining sport involvement that participation has the potential to confer numerous physical and psychological health benefits upon athletes (c.f., Bouchard, Blair, and Haskell, 2007). Yet for many adapted sport athletes, engagement in organised sport can also promote ill-being in the form of diminished self-esteem particularly if they possess a fragile sense of physical competence (c.f. Winnick, 2005). For these reasons, it would appear that examining the factors, which contribute to well-being (or deter ill-being) in adapted sport athletes, represents an important agenda for sport psychology research. One promising framework for understanding factors that impinge upon (or facilitate) well-being is Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 2002; 2008). SDT is a macro- level theory comprised of four mini-theories that collectively represent the foundation for understanding a broad range of issues pertaining to human development (c.f., Deci and Ryan, 2002; 2008). An integral component of the SDT framework is Basic Needs Theory (BNT; Deci and Ryan, 2002) which posits the concept of psychological needs essential to adaptive and healthy functioning within the social world. In contrast with other approaches that view psychological needs as any motivational force (c.f. Ryan, 1995), the approach taken within BNT conceptualizes psychological needs as innate experiential ―nutriments‖ (Deci and Ryan, 2002, p.7) required for the optimization of well-being and psychological health. The psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness have long been championed by Deci and Ryan (2002; 2008) within BNT as integral for optimizing motivation, human development, and well-being. Competence refers to effective interactions

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 159 with one‘s environment in the process of skill development or task mastery (White, 1959). Autonomy involves feeling volitional and self-directed in one‘s actions such that behaviours undertaken by the person stem from an internal locus of control rather than satiating coercive external agenda (deCharms, 1968). Relatedness concerns feeling a secure connection or sense of belongingness to others within your social milieu that is personally meaningful (Baumesiter and Leary, 1995). Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) theorizing recognizes that experiential inputs can vary according to individual differences (e.g., gender) in terms of fulfilling each psychological need yet contend the net effects of perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness are universal in terms of enhancing well-being directly. A considerable body of research supports the innate and universal assertions made within the framework of BNT across global contexts of life (c.f., Deci and Ryan, 2008) and sport- specific settings (c.f., Ryan and Deci, 2007). For example, previous sport-based research has demonstrated the synergistic effects attributable to feeling competent, autonomous, and related in terms of key outcomes including reduced burnout (Eklund and Creswell, 2007; Hodge, Lonsdale, and Ng, 2008), successful return to sport competition following injury (Podlog and Eklund, 2009), reduced likelihood of dropout from competitive sport (Sarrazin, Boiché, and Pelletier, 2007), and elevated well-being (Gagné, Ryan, and Bargman, 2003; Gagné and Blanchard, 2007). Moreover, the evidence-base supporting the beneficial effects of fulfilling basic psychological needs outlined within BNT has been demonstrated within athletes engaged primarily in individual- (c.f., Kowal and Fortier, 1999) and team-based (c.f., Gagné et al., 2003) sport, at levels range of competitive levels including elite standards (c.f., Hodge et al., 2008), and applies consistently to other sport cohorts including coaches (c.f., Ahlberg, Mallett, and Tinning, 2008) and officials (c.f., Gray and Wilson, 2008). Most of the research examining applications of BNT to the study of motivation and well- being issues within competitive sport has adopted an ‗additive‘ model with reference to the specified effects presumed to emanate from fulfilling competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs. Studies embracing an ‗additive‘ model have typically examined the combined or unique contributions of individual psychological need satisfaction variables in predicting relevant criterion such as continuance intentions (c.f., Gray and Wilson, 2008) and burnout (c.f., Hodge et al., 2008). The origin of the ‗additive‘ model is likely attributable to Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) assertions concerning the unique effects anticipated from fulfilling each psychological need espoused within BNT and there is clear support for such an approach to conceptualizing the effects of each psychological need via sport across a range of outcomes (c.f., Gagné and Blanchard, 2007). Notwithstanding the utility of the ‗additive‘ model for understanding the role of basic psychological needs within sport, recent studies have explicated a complimentary model for understanding the role of competence, autonomy, and relatedness perceptions that remain consistent with SDT. Pioneering work by Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) developed using samples of university students proposed a ‗balanced‘ model of psychological need satisfaction that compliments and extends the popular ‗additive‘ model. Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) contend that internal (or within persons) variability poses inherent problems to the self-system in terms of striving for adaptive functioning. The results of four studies using diverse methods reported by Sheldon and Niemeic (2006) supported a ‗balanced‘ model given that conjoint effects of equilibrium between competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs predicted well-being beyond the contributions of the ‗additive‘ model. One investigation has extended Sheldon and Niemiec‘s (2006) work in a sample of young athletes demonstrating

160 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster that a ‗balanced‘ model of psychological need satisfaction accounts for variance in athlete burnout beyond the contributions of individual-level feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Perrault, Gaudreau, Lapointe, and Lacroix, 2007) . Previous studies developing (Sheldon and Niemiec, 2006) and applying (Perrault et al., 2007) a ‗balanced‘ model outlining potential synergies between satisfying BNT‘s psychological needs represents an important contribution to SDT‘s development. Despite the utility of these investigations, there appears to be considerable scope for further inquiry to determine the relative merits of ‗additive‘ and ‗balanced‘ models of psychological need fulfillment in sport within the framework of BNT. Only one investigation has examined the issue of balance across fulfillment of BNT‘s psychological needs directly in sport (Perrault et al., 2007) which employed an index of athlete burnout as the criterion variable that is most likely representative of ill-being rather than well-being (c.f., Eklund and Cresswell, 2007). Consequently, there is a need to determine if the predictive effects attributable to ‗balanced‘ combined with ‗additive‘ models of psychological need satisfaction can be replicated in other samples of athletes engaged in competitive sport using other criterion markers of well-being commonly indexed in the physical activity literature (c.f., Fox and Wilson, 2008). The purpose of this study was to test two propositions drawn from the BNT component of the SDT framework in conjunction with the work of Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) in the context of adapted sport. Specifically, this study tested the proposition that indices of sport- specific psychological need satisfaction and balanced fulfillment of psychological needs would be associated with higher levels of well-being in adapted sport athletes. To test this proposition, it was hypothesized that (a) greater satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs would each be associated with higher levels of well-being, and (b) that balanced fulfillment of psychological needs would contribute to the prediction of variance in well-being beyond the contributions made by individual psychological needs. The first hypothesis was based extrapolated from arguments set forth by Deci and Ryan (2002; 2008) within the BNT framework that contends a defining feature of any psychological need is the direct relationship with enhanced well-being. The second hypothesis was drawn from previous empirical research supporting the contribution of ‗balanced‘ and ‗additive‘ models of psychological need satisfaction to the prediction of well-being using the SDT approach (c.f., Perreault et al., 2007; Sheldon and Niemiec, 2006). METHODS Participants Participants were male (n = 91; Mage = 29.05 years; SD = 9.58 years) and female (n = 86; Mage = 26.14 years; SD = 6.34 years) athletes competing in adapted sport teams throughout Canada. The average length of time involved in sport for this sample was 12.96 years (SD = 8.95 years). The majority of participants reported living with a physical (77.4%) rather than a sensory (14.7%) disability that was congenital (53.7%) as opposed to acquired (42.4%) in nature. On average, participants reported living with their disability for 18.65 years although considerable variability was evident in participant responses (SD = 11.67 years; values ranged from less than 11 to 54 years).

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 161 Instruments Psychological Need Satisfaction in Sport. Participants completed the 6-item Perceived Competence subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI-PC; Ryan, 1982) in conjunction with an additional 6-items modified from Sheldon and Bettencourt‘s (2002) Basic Need Satisfaction Scale (BNSS) to measure feelings of autonomy (BNSS-AUT) and relatedness (BNSS-REL) in adapted sport. A stem preceded each set of items to focus participant responses on sport-specific experiences of need satisfaction (i.e., ―The following statements concern your thoughts about participation in sport…‖). Sample items representing each psychological need measured within this study were as follows: (a) IMI-PC (―I think I am pretty good at sport‖); (b) BNSS-AUT (―How free and choiceful do you feel as you participate in sport?); and (c) BNSS-REL (―How close and connected do you feel with members of your team when playing sport?‖). McAuley and colleagues report that responses to the IMI-PC items within a sample drawn from competitive sport settings contained minimal error variance (α = 0.80) and correlated positively with a proxy index of intrinsic motivation (McAuley, Duncan, and Tammen, 1989). No previous studies have used the BNSS-AUT and BNSS-REL items within adapted sport. Sheldon and Bettencourt (2002) report α-estimates for responses to these items ranging from 0.71 to 0.83 along with evidence linking higher scores on the constructs represented by these items with greater intrinsic motivation and less negative affect. Subscales scores representing the average of the pertinent items comprising the IMI-PC, BNSS-AUT, and BNSS-REL were competed to represent perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness in sport (Morris, 1979). Balanced Psychological Need Satisfaction in Sport. Balanced psychological need satisfaction was assessed using the procedures developed by Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) and reported in a sample of athletes by Perrault et al. (2007). In brief, the balance score was expressed as the following equation used originally by Sheldon and Niemeic (2006): Total Divergence (TD) = ∑ [(|competence – autonomy|) + (|competence – relatedness|) + (|autonomy – relatedness|)], which represents the sum of the absolute values for the difference between each pair of individual psychological need satisfaction scores. The values ranged from 1.00 to 8.00 in this sample for the TD scores reported in this sample. Consistent with the protocol established by Sheldon and Niemeic (2006), a balance score was calculated by subtracting each participant‘s observed total divergence score from upper value evident in the range of total divergence scores within this sample (i.e., Balanced Psychological Need Satisfaction = 8 – TDperson) Global Self-Esteem. Participants completed the 8-item Global Self-Esteem (GSE) subscale of the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ; Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, and Tremayne, 1994). The PSDQ-GSE provides an omnibus assessment of the positive feelings a person holds about his/her life and is considered a context- or domain-free indicator of well-being (Marsh et al., 1994). A sample PSDQ-GSE item is: ―Overall, most things I do turn out well.‖ Responses to each PSDQ-GSE item were provided across a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (False) to 6 (True). Previous studies have supported diverse aspects of construct validity for responses to the PSDQ and the PSQD-GSE in particular in the general population and in athletic subsamples (see Marsh, 1997, for a review). A PSDQ- GSE subscale score was computed by averaging 3 unique sets of item parcels comprised of aggregated responses to randomly paired PSDQ-GSE items (Morris, 1979).

162 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster Procedures and Data Analyses Athletes were informed about the nature and purpose of the investigation via a formal Letter of Invitation. Each athlete was subsequently given the opportunity ask questions regarding the nature of the study or their involvement as a participant prior to providing informed consent to participate. After the provision of informed consent, each athlete completed a multi-section instrument on a single occasion and returned the completed questionnaires to a study investigator in a sealed envelope. An instructional script was used in the delivery of information to the participants in an attempt to standardize information to prevent the introduction of between-subjects effects associated with test administration (Pedhazur and Pedhazur Schmelkin, 1991). All study protocols were reviewed and cleared by a university research ethics committee prior to participant recruitment and data collection. Data analysis proceeded in sequential stages. First, the data were screened for patterns of missing values, identification of statistical outliers, and examined for conformity with relevant statistical assumptions. Second, internal consistency estimates (Cronbach‘s α; Cronbach, 1951) and descriptive statistics were calculated across study variables. Third, bivariate correlations (Pearson r‘s) were computed to examine associations between perceived psychological need satisfaction, balanced psychological need satisfaction, and well- being in the form of global self-esteem. Finally, a series of multiple regression models tested the contributions of balanced satisfaction across all psychological needs to predicting global feelings of well-being. The order of variable entry in the regression models was sequential. Model 1 represented the ‗additive model‘ and included competence, autonomy, and relatedness as predictors of global self-esteem. Model 2 represented the ‗balanced‘ model entering scores representing balanced psychological need satisfaction into the regression equation in a second step after including the contributions of each individual psychological need within Model 1. RESULTS Preliminary Data Analysis Inspection of the participant responses indicated a small percentage of missing data was evident across the 20 manifest items comprising the IMI-PC, BNSS-AUT, BNSS-REL, and PSDQ-GSE. The largest amount (5.09%) of missing data was affiliated with one BNSS-AUT item (―How much do you feel wholehearted (as opposed to controlled or pressured) as you participate in sport?) with the lowest amount of missing data (1.13%) evident for IMI-PC and PSDQ-GSE items. No evidence of systematic non-response was evident in the pattern of missing data recorded in this sample therefore the values were deemed missing at random and replaced using an estimation protocol based on an expectation maximization algorithm. Skewness and kurtosis values for basic needs and PSDQ-GSE scores (see Table 1), indicated minimal deviation from normality (Glass and Hopkins, 1996). Internal consistency reliability estimates (Cronbach‘s α; Cronbach, 1951) were calculated for responses to the IMI-PC, BNSS-AUT, BNSS-REL, and PSDQ-GSE items. Cronbach‘s α- values ranged from 0.58 to 0.89 across item responses within this sample of adapted sport

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 163 athletes (see Table 1 for specific values). One BNSS-AUT item (―To what extent does participation in sport allow you to express your authentic self?‖) was removed given the low correlations evident in the inter-item correlation matrix (r12 values ranged from 0.14 to 0.16 for this item) suggesting this item was minimally associated with responses to the other items comprising the BNSS-AUT subscale in this sample. No additional items were removed prior to subsequent analyses although it was noted that the estimate of internal consistency for responses to the PSDQ-GSE items in this sample was lower than previous studies (c.f., Marsh, 1997). Descriptive Statistics and Bivariate Correlations Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1 for all study variables. Adapted sport athletes reported generally high levels of perceived psychological need satisfaction via sport although it is noted that perceived competence was most strongly endorsed followed by autonomy then relatedness. Global self-esteem scores indexed by the PSDQ-GSE subscale were also strongly endorsed in this sample of adapted sport athletes. Examination of the correlation matrix (see Table 1) revealed several interesting patterns of bivariate relationships. First, relatedness was weakly associated with autonomy and more strongly correlated with competence. Second, autonomy and competence shared the largest relationship amongst the three psychological needs proposed within BNT. Third, the pattern of inter-relationships between psychological need fulfillment and global self-esteem was moderate in nature with perceived relatedness exhibiting the weakest pattern and alternatively perceived competence demonstrating the strongest pattern. Finally, balanced need satisfaction scores showed no obvious pattern of relationships with global self-esteem or each psychological need fulfilled via sport (see Table 1). Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Global Self-Esteem from Need Satisfaction A hierarchical multiple regression analysis (HRMA) was conducted to explicate the nature of the relationship between balanced and individual perceptions of psychological need satisfaction (predictor variables) and global self-esteem (criterion variable). Visual inspection of the scatterplot suggested linearity was a tenable assumption in the sample data. The histogram of standardized residuals approximated normality although two cases were removed from further consideration given the extreme nature of their z-scores (z‘s > |4.0| SD‘s away from the mean) evident across multiple variables. Both the Variance Inflation (1.09-8.76) and Tolerance (0.15-0.91) values indicated that multicollinearity was a plausible concern within the data. Further inspection of the Variance Proportion Values (VPV) for each Condition Index (CI) exceeding 10.00 revealed that no pair of VPV‘s exceeded 0.50 in model 1 yet competence (VPV = 0.99), autonomy (VPV = 0.73), and balanced psychological need satisfaction (VPV = 0.88) all exceeded 0.50 with a CI of 57.99 in model 2 (c.f., Pedhazur, 1997). These observed VPV values in conjunction with an elevated CI suggest the results derived from model 2 of the regression analyses should be interpreted with caution.

164 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster Table 1. Descriptive statistics, internal consistency, and bivariate correlation coefficients M SD Skew. Kurt. 1 2 3 45 1. Competence 5.56 0.83 -1.14 2.06 α = 0.88 2. Autonomy 3. Relatedness 3.52 0.81 -0.05 -0.12 0.46 α = 0.73 3.97 0.72 -0.15 -0.76 0.29 0.14 α = 0.73 4. Balanced Need 3.46 1.58 0.22 -0.30 -0.66 0.23 0.05 - Satisfaction 5. Global Self- 5.70 0.28 -1.22 1.56 0.43 0.34 0.26 -0.15 α = 0.58 Esteem Note: The initial reliability estimate for the responses to the autonomy items comprising the BNSS- AUT was 0.55. Final reliability estimates following item retention/deletion within this study are placed along the principal diagonal. Balance scores after transformation from the total divergence score ranged from 0 to 8 in the present sample. All r-values greater than |0.10| are statistically significant (two-tailed significance) at p < .01 in this sample (n = 175; Sample size is consistent across each element in the lower diagonal and principal diagonal of the matrix). Table 2. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis predicting global self-esteem from psychological need satisfaction R2adj B SE β t-values ry,x1(x2) rs Model 1 (F = 17.37; df = 3, 0.22 174) Competence 0.11 0.03 0.31 3.94 0.07 0.90 Autonomy 0.06 0.03 0.18 2.39 0.03 0.71 Relatedness 0.06 0.03 0.15 2.12 0.02 0.55 Model 2 (F = 12.96; df = 4, 0.22 174) Competence 0.11 0.07 0.33 1.65 0.01 0.90 Autonomy 0.06 0.05 0.17 1.20 0.01 0.71 Relatedness 0.06 0.03 0.14 1.71 0.01 0.55 Balanced Need Satisfaction 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.12 0.00 -0.31 Note. R2adj = Adjusted R-squared value from each regression model. B = Unstandardized Beta Coefficients. SE = Standard Error for each Unstandardized Beta Coefficients. β = Standardized Beta Coefficients. t-values = Observed t-statistic for each predictor variables included per model in the regression analyses. ry,x1(x2) = Estimate of unique variance per predictor variable in the regression models where values represent the square of the part-correlation coefficients for each predictor (Hair et al., 2006). rs = Structure coefficients for each predictor variable included in the regression models estimated with the following formula: r/R (where r is the bivariate correlation and R is the Multiple Regression Coefficient per model in the model). The results of the HMRA (see Table 2) revealed several interesting patterns in the data. First, perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness were all predictive of variance in global self-esteem although the magnitude of these contributions varied. Specifically, across both regression models estimated, perceived competence was the dominant predictor of global self-esteem while perceptions of autonomy and relatedness demonstrated comparably weaker albeit positive effects within model 1. Second, the combination of predictor variables across both models 1 and 2 in the regression analyses accounted for 22.00 percent of the global self-esteem variance which is consistent with a medium-to-large effect size (Cohen, 1992). Finally, balanced psychological need satisfaction accounted for no additional variance

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 165 in global self-esteem beyond the contributions attributable to individual needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness in sport. DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between fulfilment of BNT‘s psychological needs within a sample of athletes competing in adapted sport contexts and well-being indexed by omnibus feelings of self-esteem. Overall, the results of this investigation support the notion that feeling self-directed in one‘s actions (autonomy), effective in mastering challenging tasks within sport (competence), and a bond with other athletes (relatedness) was linked with higher levels of global self-regard about oneself in adapted sport athletes. Closer inspection of the evidence derived from the multiple regression analyses indicates that feelings of competence appear to be the dominant source of global self-esteem in this sample of adapted sport athletes in comparison to both relatedness and autonomy which demonstrated weaker albeit significant associations with global well-being. Further scrutiny of the data support the a priori hypotheses concerning the role of fulfilling each psychological need forwarded by Deci and Ryan (2002) within SDT in terms of associations with well-being and no support for the role of balanced psychological need satisfaction across perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in adapted sport athletes. Consistent with past research within the SDT tradition (c.f., Deci and Ryan, 2002) and applications of the theory to the study of motivational issues within sport (c.f., Gagné and Blanchard, 2007), the a priori hypothesis that satisfaction of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs via experiences from adapted sport was associated with higher levels of global self-esteem was supported in this study. Such observations are wholly consistent with Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) longstanding assertion that fulfillment of these psychological needs is a necessary condition for better psychological thriving along with a secure and stable sense of well-being. Inspection of the effect sizes (see Tables 1 and 2) indicated considerable variation in the magnitude of the relationship between BNT‘s constructs and global self-esteem in this sample of adapted sport athletes. Notably feelings of effectance and skill mastery defining perceived competence within sport exhibited the strongest relationships while experiences of close and secure bonds (relatedness) and volitional self-direction (autonomy) were less potent. Deci and Ryan (2002) make no claims regarding the magnitude of relationships anticipated between BNT‘s psychological needs in relation to markers of adjustment and well-being such as global self-esteem. Accumulating evidence however across diverse physical activity contexts implicates feelings of competence as fundamental to positive self- perceptions such as global self-esteem which is likely derived from the salience of physique- relevant and performance-based evaluations that permeate the physical domain (Fox and Wilson, 2008). The observation that perceived autonomy and relatedness retained significant relationships with global self-esteem despite the strength of perceived competence‘s link with this index of well-being further substantiates Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) assertion that these experiential inputs represent the cornerstone of a healthy self-regulatory system. Autonomy has long been advocated be Deci and Ryan (2002) as fundamental for well-being to flourish

166 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster in an authentic fashion despite critical scrutiny of this psychological need on the basis of cultural relativism which often equates autonomy erroneously with independence rather than self-directed volition (c.f., Deci and Ryan, 2002; 2008). Alternatively, the role of perceived relatedness seems less controversial particularly as friendships and social networks likely play a salient role in the development and sustenance of a person‘s well-being (c.f., McDonough and Crocker, 2005). While the results of this study imply that BNT‘s needs may contribute differentially to well-being markers in adapted sport athletes, the findings reported herein do nothing to undermine the importance of autonomy and relatedness in conjunction with competence such that thwarting any of these psychological needs is most likely to result in ill- being rather than flourishing. Building upon work by Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) and Perreault et al. (2007), this study also examined the hypothesis that balanced fulfillment across the candidate psychological needs espoused by Deci and Ryan (2002) would predict variance in well-being beyond the contributions of the ‗additive‘ model within the BNT framework. Conceptualizing the role of psychological need satisfaction in terms of thwarting or enhancing well-being in a ‗balanced‘ rather than ‗additive‘ model is a novel approach that holds considerable potential for understanding the deleterious effects of within person disharmony (c.f., Shedlon and Niemiec, 2006) or cross-contextual variability pertaining to BNT‘s psychological needs (Milyavaskaya et al., 2009). The ‗balanced‘ model implies that well-being is a function of the absolute level of each psychological need satisfied within a given context (the ‗additive‘ model) combined with the degree to which fulfillment of competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs operate synergistically in a state of ―equilibrium‖ (Perreault et al., 2007, p.446) within or across contexts. Observations from the present study in the bivariate correlations and multiple regression analysis did not support our a priori hypothesis that balanced psychological need satisfaction would make a unique contribution to predicting well-being above and beyond the contributions of each individual need espoused within the ‗additive‘ model. The findings concerning ‗balanced‘ psychological need satisfaction are inconsistent with past research originating with the work of Sheldon and Niemiec (2006) and replicated with an index of ill-being conceptualized as athlete burnout in young athletes by Perrault et al. (2007). A number of plausible explanations could account for the lack of support for the ‗balanced‘ model with the ‗additive‘ model of psychological need satisfaction in relation to well-being in this study. First, it is conceivable that this result is attributable to statistical artefacts stemming from considerable overall in the sample data resulting in multicollinearity that was not reported in previous studies (Perreault et al., 2007; Sheldon and Niemiec, 2006). It is likely that the operationalization of balance amongst the psychological needs was the key contributor to this statistical issue given that multicollinearity was not evident in model 1 (namely the ‗additive‘ model) tested in this study. Pedhazur and Pedhazur-Schmlekin (1991) questioned the use of multiple indicators of the same concept within multiple regression analyses which can result in model specification problems leading to multicollinearity which implies that an important future research direction will concern the optimal way to assess concepts within both ‗balanced‘ and ‗additive‘ models. Although multicollinearity seems the most compelling data-driven explanation for the observations made in this study, it seems reasonable to speculate about other issues that could explain this anomalous finding given the relative infancy of ‗balanced‘ models of psychological need satisfaction within the SDT literature (c.f., Milyavkaya et al., 2009;

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 167 Perrault et al,. 2007). One alternative explanation for the inability of balanced psychological need satisfaction to predict well-being within this study concerns the nature of the sample combined with the assessment of well-being. Extrapolating from the work of Milyavkaya et al. (2009), it seems reasonable to assert that for adapted sport athletes the central issue concerns balance across life domains and task roles rather than within-person stability across experiences of context-specific need satisfaction that impacts feelings of global self-regard. Such an assertion is wholly consistent with other self-perception models that posit mechanisms influencing omnibus self-esteem (c.f., Fox and Wilson, 2008) that warrant careful inquiry to appraise the merit of ‗balanced‘ and ‗additive‘ models with reference to BNT‘s constructs. Future studies may wish to address these issues carefully in longitudinal designs by examining the extent to which equilibrium (and disparity) between important life domains (such as sport, work, school, and relationships for example) contribute to well-being markers including but not limited to global self-esteem (e.g., stress, anxiety, vitality, happiness, etc). Despite the informative nature of these findings for both theory development and coach education, a number of limitations should be recognised and future directions outlined to advanced the study of both SDT in general and BNT in particular within the context of adapted sport. First, this study used a cross-sectional design that relied upon self-report data which limit the interpretations that can be extrapolated from this investigation. Future studies could extend this line of inquiry by examining variation in psychological need fulfilment from adapted sport engagement over time in relation to a broader array of well-being indicators that can be measured using methods other than self-report (e.g., salivary cortisol to index stress). Second, even though the instrument used in this study contained items pertaining to ‗typical feelings‘ experienced by adapted sport athletes it is plausible that time of assessment within the competitive season which was not standardized in this study could have impacted the participant‘s responses. Future studies would do well to address this limitation by examining the fulfillment of basic psychological needs in relation to well-being at meaningful time points throughout the competitive season to test issues of stability and change in relation to BNT constructs and well-being. Third, the nature of the sampling protocol used in the present study relied on a non-probability based approach that limits the external validity of the inferences made from this study. Additional studies drawing well- defined samples from accessible populations would be an advantage in future SDT research within the realm of competitive sport to determine the extent to which these findings are generalizable beyond the confines of a single study. Finally, additional research investigating the optimal manner in which to measure the construct of balanced psychological need satisfaction is required to advance this new line of research using BNT in sport psychology. In summary, the results of the present investigation support the central role played by experiences of psychological need satisfaction derived from adapted sport in relation to levels of well-being indexed by global self-esteem amongst competitive athletes. The observation within this study that balanced psychological need satisfaction conferred no additional information beyond the ‗additive‘ model warrants caution prior to replication. This anomalous albeit interesting observation further reinforces the importance of developing a research agenda that identifies the manner in which experiential inputs in the form of fulfilling basic psychological needs work synergistically in relation to changes in level and stability of well-being. On the basis of this investigation, it appears reasonable to contend that assessment issues germane to both perceived autonomy and balanced psychological need

168 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster satisfaction represent two pivotal areas ripe for future adapted sport research to explore within the SDT framework. The results of this study do nothing to undermine Deci and Ryan‘s (2002) longstanding assertion regarding the basic features of psychological needs within the SDT framework: That such experiential inputs within the self-system are directly linked with well-being. It would appear on the basis of the present findings that social contexts (such as adapted sport) which permit athletes to satisfy all basic psychological needs outlined within the BNT subcomponent of SDT seem likely to encourage athletes to report higher levels of well-being. The application of BNT and SDT to the study of relevant issues within adapted sport contexts seems justified and further examination of these theory-based approaches is recommended. AUTHORS’ NOTES The authors‘ gratefully acknowledge the time and assistance provided by Mr. Dave Greig from the Ontario Cerebral Palsy Sports Association who assisted and supported recruitment efforts for this investigation. This project was completed in partial fulfillment of an undergraduate honors thesis at Brock University by the first author under the supervision of the second author. The second author was supported by funds from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada at the time of data collection and manuscript preparation. Our gratitude is extended to those athletes that took the time to participate in this project and share their adapted sport experiences with us. REFERENCES Ahlberg, M., Mallett, C.J. and Tinning, R. (2008) Developing autonomy supportive coaching behaviors: An action research approach to coach development. International Journal of Coaching Science, 2, 3-22. Baumesieter, R. F., and Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. Bouchard, C., Blair, S. N., and Haskell, W. L. (2007). Physical activity and health. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Canadian Paralympic Committee. (2007). Para-Sport Audit: National Report. Ottawa, Canada. Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychomtricka, 16, 297-234. deCharms, R. (1968). Personal causation: The internal affective determinants of behavior. New York, NY: Academic Press. Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2008). Facilitating optimal motivation and psychological well- being across life‘s domains. Canadian Psychology, 49, 14-23. Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2002). Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. Eklund, R. C., and Cresswell, S. L. (2007). Athlete burnout. In G. Tenenbaum and R. C. Eklund (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (pp. 621–641). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Strength Versus Balance: The Contributions of Two Different Models … 169 Gagné, M., Ryan, R. M., and Bargmann, K. (2003). Autonomy support and need satisfaction in the motivation and well-being of gymnasts. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15, 372-390. Gagné, M., and Blanchard, C. (2007). Self-determination theory and well-being in athletes: It‘s the situation that counts. In M. S. Hagger and N. l. D. Chatzisarantis (Eds.), Handbook of intrinsic motivation and self-determination in exercise and sport (pp. 243- 254). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Gray, C. E., and Wilson, P. M. (2008). The relationship between organizational commitment, perceived relatedness, and intentions to continue in canadian track and field officials. Journal of Sport Behavior, 31, 44-63. Fox, K. R., and Wilson, P. M. (2008). Self-perceptual systems and physical activity. In T. S. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport psychology (3rd Edition) (pp. 49-64). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Glass, G. V., and Hopkins, K. D. (1996). Statistical methods in education and psychology (3rd Edition). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Hodge, K., Lonsdale, C., and Ng, J. Y. (2008). Burnout in elite rugby: Relationships with basic psychological needs fulfillment. Journal of Sports Science, 26, 835-844. Kowal, J., and Fortier, M. S. (1999). Motivational determinants of flow: Contributions from self-determination theory. Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 355-368. Marsh, H. W. (1997). The measurement of physical self-concept: A construct validation approach. In K. R. Fox (Ed.), The physical self: From motivation to well-being. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Marsh, H. W., Richards, G. E., Johnson, S., Roche, L., and Tremayne, P. (1994). Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and a multitrait-multimethod analysis of relations to existing instruments. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16, 270-305. Martens, R. (1978). Joy and sadness in children‟s sports. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. McAuley, E., Duncan, T., and Tammen, V. V. (1989). Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: A confirmatory factor analysis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 60, 48-58. McDonough, M. H., and Crocker, P. R. E. (2005). Sport participation motivation in young adolescent girls: The role of friendship quality and self-concept. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76, 456-467. Milyavskaya, M., Gingras, I., Mageau, G. A., Koestner, R., Gagnon, H., Fang, J., Boiché, J. (2009). Balance across contexts: Importance of balanced need satisfaction across life domains. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1031-1045. Morris, J.D. (1979). A comparison of regression prediction accuracy on several types of factor scores. American Educational Research Journal, 16, 17-24. Pedhazur, E. J. (1997). Multiple regression in behavioral research: Explanation and prediction. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace. Pedhazur, E. J., and Pedhazur-Schmelkin, L. (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Perreault, S., Gaudreau, P., Lapointe, M. C., and Lacroix, C. (2007). Does it take three to tango? psychological need satisfaction and athlete burnout. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 38, 437-450.

170 Virginia L. Lightheart, Philip M. Wilson and Kristen Oster Podlog, L., and Eklund, R. C. (2009). High-level athletes‘ perceptions of success in returning to sport following injury. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 10, 534-544. Ryan, R.M. (1982). Control and information in the interpersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 450-461. Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. (2007). Active human nature: Self-determination theory and the promotion and maintenance of sport, exercise, and health. In M. S. Hagger and N. l. D. Chatzisarantis (Eds.), Handbook of intrinsic motivation and self-determination in exercise and sport (pp. 1-20). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Sarrazin, P., Boiché, J. C. S., and Pelletier, L. G. (2007). A self-determination theory approach to dropout in athletes. In M. S. Hagger and N. l. D. Chatzisarantis (Eds.), Handbook of intrinsic motivation and self-determination in exercise and sport (pp. 229- 242). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Sheldon, K. M., and Bettencourt, B. A. (2002). Psychological needs and subjective well- being in social groups. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 25-38. Sheldon, K. M., and Niemiec, C. (2006). It's not just the amount that counts: Balanced need satisfaction also affects well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 331-341. White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66, 297-333. Winnick, J. P. (2005). Adapted physical education and sport (4th Edition). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

In: Psychological Well-Being ISBN 978-1-61668-180-7 Editor: Ingrid E. Wells, pp.171-183 © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 6 ASPERGER SYNDROME, HUMOR, AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING Ka-Wai Leung1, Sheung-Tak Cheng2 and Siu-Siu Ng2 1. Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 2. Department of Psychological Studies, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong ABSTRACT Asperger Syndrome (AS) is marked by severe social impairments. Despite a rising prevalence of AS (Edmonds and Beardon, 2008), there are few studies of these individuals, especially those concerning their social well-being. This paper reviews studies on humor and discusses its role in the social functioning of people with AS. Although studies are few, research generally suggests that individuals with AS are somewhat impaired in their ability to process humorous materials due to fragmented cognitive processes. Because humor plays an essential role in social interactions in everyday life, these findings suggest that the lack of ability to appreciate humor may be partly responsible for the social deficits in people with AS. There is a need for more research into the social competence of individuals with AS, especially in relation to the use of humor in regulating social behaviors. INTRODUCTION The earliest understanding about Asperger syndrome (AS) could be traced back to Hans Asperger‘s work in 1944. He identified a group of children who exhibited social peculiarities and social isolation, nonetheless with average cognitive and language development. In later Address correspondence to Sheung-Tak Cheng, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong. E-mail: [email protected].

172 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng years, Wing (1981) brought the Asperger syndrome to the attention of clinical professionals when she published a paper in which she discussed the syndrome based on her work with 35 individuals aged 5 to 35. In 1994, the American Psychiatric Association added the syndrome to its list of pervasive developmental disorders identified in the Diagnostic-and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Between the years, researchers have gained more knowledge about the syndrome. The diagnostic criteria for AS are qualitative impairment in social interaction in terms of the use of non-verbal behavior, unable to maintain peer relationship appropriately, difficulty with social or emotional reciprocity, occupational impairment, and repetitive and stereotyped motor movements, among others. Throughout the years, researchers have put increasing effort on studying AS, and they continue to discover discrepancies between autism and AS. McLaughlin-Cheng (1998) performed a meta-analysis on the literature on autism and AS and concluded that, children and adolescents with AS perform better than those with autism on intelligence and cognitive measures as well as measures of adaptive behavior functioning. Their language comprehension is within normal limits, and their performance in comprehension tasks is stable but they often miss the hidden meaning in language (Green, 1990). Because people with autistic features suffer from a restricted range of expression and emotions, the experience of psychological well-being in this population has been a neglected topic in this literature. Nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, sadness and depression are commonly reported by individuals with autistic spectrum disorders, except in those who have severe language impairment (Ghaziuddini, 2005). It has been reported that about 30% of people with AS and aged 5-35 are diagnosable with major depression (Wing, 1981; Ghaziuddin, Weidmer-Mikhail, and Ghaziuddin, 1998). Other than sadness, these individuals are characterized by irritability, angry outbursts, anxiety, self-injurious behaviors, and sleep and appetite disturbance (Tse, Strulovitch, Tagalakis, Meng, and Fombonne, 2007). From these preliminary data, one can reasonably argue that the study of well-being is a neglected, yet relevant, topic for this population. This chapter focuses on the potential role of humor in the well-being of persons with AS. Humor is not only a contributor to personal well-being (Lefcourt, 2002), but also plays an important role in facilitating social interactions (Neziek and Derks, 2001). Because AS is typically associated with serious social skills deficits, individuals with AS often feel being isolated and edged out (Tse et al., 2007). Given the potential benefits of humor, a missing piece in the literature therefore concerns the potential contribution of humor to the personal well-being of individuals with AS, through the promotion of social competence. Before we discuss this important issue, let us first take a more in-depth look at the social deficits of persons with AS. Following this, we will review the literature on humor and social competence, and discuss further the application of this literature to persons with AS. Specifically, we will address the extent to which individuals with AS are able to appreciate and use humor, and discuss the need to consider humor training as a means to improve the social and personal well-being of such individuals.

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 173 ASPERGER SYNDROME AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE Social competence refers to the skills and strategies that allow individuals to have meaningful friendships, engage in close and emotion-based relationships, maintain social well-being, involve others to form groups, teams, and work partners, manage public social settings, and participate in family functioning (Gutstein and Whitney, 2002). Denham et al. (2001) emphasized that social competence is a critical variable predicting success in life. Social competence is defined in terms of (a) secure attachment to other people, (b) instrumental social learning, and (c) experience-sharing relationships. Any significant deficits in any of these areas would result in eventual social failure (Bruner, 1983; Emde, 1989; Fogel, 1993; Gottman, 1984; Gutstein and Whitney, 2002). People with AS are clumsy as well as peculiar in their social interactions patterns. This syndrome has been described as the foremost social disorders by many researchers (Asperger, 1944; Frith, 1991; Green, 1990; Kerbeshian, Burd, and Fisher, 1990; McLaughlin-Cheng, 1998; Myles and Adreon, 2001; Myles and Simpson, 2001; Szatmari, 1991; Wing, 1981). Although they may be able to pick up some social skills over time, their social difficulties continue well into adulthood. A study conducted by the National Autistic Society of Great Britain (Bernard, Harvey, Potter, and Prior, 2001) on the adult outcomes of individuals with AS showed that they were far less socially active than typically developing individuals. Over one-third (37%) had no participation at all in social activities, while only 50% reported going out no more than once or twice a month. Their social impairment is even more severe than other children known to have major social problems, such as those with conduct disorders (Green, Gilchrist, Burton, and Cox, 2000). However, compared with people with autism, people with AS are different in terms of their desire for social interactions with others (Wing, 1981), though their relationships with peers are often ad hoc or ―shallow‖. Church et al. (2000) suggested that, children with AS aged 8-12 have highly variable social skills. In their study, none of their participants, as reported by their parents, teachers, and health-care providers, had deep, reciprocal relationships with other children, but several had superficial relationships with other children. Most of them never asked to have a friend or asked to make telephone calls to other children. Friendship often starts with two individuals exploring each other‘s thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviors. Hence self-disclosure as well as taking an interest in others are fundamental to relationship formation. However, Hobson (1993) noted that people with AS ―do not fully understand what it means for people to share and coordinate their experiences‖ (p.5). Mundy et al. (1993) commented that individuals with AS are in lack of the desires to share their interests and happiness with others. In fact, compared with typically developing ones, they have less interest in exploring their own self, let alone sharing their thoughts and feelings with others (Gutstein and Whitney, 2002). Frith, Happé and Siddons (1994) have asserted that the inability to interpret the mental states, whether those of others or their own, is the primary reason why individuals with AS remain impaired in their everyday social interactions. The inability to share experiences makes it difficult for people with AS to build reciprocal relationships with friends. Wimpory, Hobson, Williams and Nash (2000) reported significantly less emotional engagement and ability to express themselves in individuals with AS than in their typical peers. They take fewer social initiations. Even if they start the

174 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng conversation with peers, it would be mostly about providing information to peers on topics in which they are deeply interested. Concerning gestures, they have limited eye gaze shifting, and do not point to or show objects to partners for the sake of sharing their feelings and experiences with them. Church, Alisanski and Amanullah (2000) identified two distinct patterns of interaction among children with AS: They are either quiet, unassuming, demanding less from peers, or they are active, energetic, violating social boundaries (adopting the ―in your face‖ style of interacting). These awkward social styles are believed to make typical peers uncomfortable, thus becoming obstacles for them to develop good peer relationships. Although these are promising research directions, given the nature of AS, the social difficulties experienced by these individuals are likely to be contributed by many factors. This paper considers one such factor in detail: humor. HUMOR AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE One of the factors that may lead to problems in social functioning is the lack of humor. Humor is an element in social interaction, and applying it can facilitate the growth of interpersonal relationships. Humorous people are more confident in interacting with others. (Nezlek and Derks, 2001). Sometimes being humorous brings joyfulness between friends. Paulos (1980) defined humor as ―a complex and human phenomenon, any understanding of it will necessarily enrich our understanding of thought in general‖ (p. 102). Humor also plays a major role in human life and it facilitates our communication of feelings, line of thinking, and ideas (Brownell and Gardner, 1988). Nahemow (1986) considered humor to be a defining human attribute. In a diary study, college students with more efficacious use of humor reported more pleasurable interactions as well as spending more time in interactions on a daily basis (Nezlek and Derks, 2001). Humor is an under-studied element that may have far- reaching implications for the social competence of AS individuals. If persons with AS have difficulty understanding humor, they may withdraw from interaction simply because they misinterpret other people‘s humorous messages as intending to tease or make fun of them. Cognitive theories are the main perspectives to explain humor appreciation. Cognitive approaches emphasize the structure of the humorous stimuli and the cognitive processes involved in humor appreciation. Researchers stressed the concept of solving incongruity as the key element throughout the cognitive processes of humor appreciation. Incongruity is defined as inconsistency between (at least) two potential meanings in a humor stimulus; one of them is normal and congruent to what the person perceives or expects, whereas the other is comparatively out of expectation. The person could only solve the incongruity by accepting the sudden perception of the unexpected meaning, and realize it as ―fit‖ for the situation (Dixon, 1980; Paulos, 1980). The incongruity resolution model (Suls, 1972) postulates a two- stage process in humor appreciation. In the first stage, the person finds that his or her expectation about the text is inconsistent with the ending, and incongruity is encountered. In the second stage, because of incongruity, the person engages in a problem-solving process in order to solve the inconsistency and reconcile the incongruent part of the humor. Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray and Weir (2003) developed the humor styles questionnaire, and conceptualized four dimensions of humor styles, what were believed to

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 175 have different uses or functions in everyday life. Two of these dimensions are conducive to psychosocial well-being: self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles. In a similar vein, Klein and Kuiper (2006) noted that these are ―positive‖ humor styles, which are characterized by self-enhancement and expressing the need for affiliation. Self-enhancing humor styles serve to buffer and protect the self, but not at the expense of others. Affiliative humor styles are intended to arouse amusement in the target and reduce tension or conflict in social situations. Applying these humor styles may help individuals cope with everyday difficulties, minimize negative emotions, and maintain harmony with others. On the contrary, self-defeating and aggressive humor styles are potentially damaging (Martin et al., 2003). People with self-defeating humor styles hide negative feelings and avoid contribution to problem-solving. Those with aggressive humor styles tease, ridicule, or make sarcastic remarks of others, resulting in negative social outcomes because they make others uncomfortable and are not perceived to be friendly. Humor can be positive or negative, depending on whether they are appropriately used to facilitate interaction. For example, the same humor used in an improper situation can cause much embarrassment and negative reactions from others. Hence the effective use of humor requires tact and accurate social perception which may be disadvantages for people with AS. Judging from this perspective, research which does not differentiate functional versus dysfunctional humor styles may be missing the target, because a person might be displaying a great sense of humor, but in a dysfunctional way. Whether persons with AS are in lack of certain humor styles, or whether they have no sense of humor at all, is an issue yet to be resolved. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that some degree of humor deficit is responsible for the social difficulties that these individuals experience on a day-to-day basis. In order to fully understand the role of humor in the social problems of AS individuals, research should assess both functional and dysfunctional humor tasks in the future. ASPERGER SYNDROME AND HUMOR Asperger (1944) and Frith (1991, p. 82) described people with AS as ―rarely relaxed and carefree‖ and they ―never achieve that particular wisdom and deep intuitive human understanding that underlie genuine humor.‖ However, Lyons and Fitzgerald (2004) argued that people with AS could understand and appreciate simple forms of humor (i.e., slapstick humor and simple jokes), both verbal and non-verbal, although they are not as competent as typically developing individuals. Some people with AS are gifted, and this might facilitate their sense of humor because of their outstanding ability in comprehension, especially in their areas of interest, such as scientific and mathematical humor. Moreover, their advanced and well-developed linguistic and computational abilities are advantages for grasping and appreciating humor in some ways. A very good example would be Patricia Highsmith, a well- known American crime writer. Despite suffering from AS, she was gifted in writing ability. Using her black humor, Patricia received high achievement in the writing career. Yet, some of the readers did not appreciate her writing because it did not show a warm sense of humor. This kind of dark, cruel sense of humor where theory of mind was usually missing is a typical form of Asperger humor (Lyons and Fitzgerald, 2005).

176 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng Some individuals with AS are able to master to some extent the cognitive processing of humor (i.e., incongruity and its resolution) and the switching of meanings in relatively complex humorous word games (Lyons and Fitzgerald, 2004). Individuals with AS, however, tend to comprehend humor from a more intellectual perspective, such as by logical inference using surface meanings, which are often motivated by their own obsessive interest areas. For instance, they understand humor simply by the surface meaning of the language rather than the hidden/implied meaning of the words. This is the reason why they often fail to understand humor as they are unable to realize the incongruity embedded in messages. Adams and Earles (2003) reported the inconsistent pattern in which children with AS respond to humor comic stories too. Referring to their study, participant 1 smiles to three comic episodes, participant 2 did not respond positively to any episodes, and participant 3 laughed at all five episodes. Werth et al. (2001), nevertheless, described a case study with a lady, Grace, with high-functioning autism, which may also be treated as AS. Grace had a great sense of humor, which was considered by the authors to be a kind of obsessive creativity. For instance, she loves to frequently invent humorously incongruous and often irrelevant word plays. She was positively reinforced by the reactions of her audiences who found her ―inventions‖ funny. Grace also has a predominant form of humor, which was based on the acoustic properties of word plays. Her great sense of humor also enhances her ability to answer riddles, jokes, and in teasing and sneering. However Werth et al. (2001) perceived Grace‘s self-generated ―humorous products‖ to be structured and nonetheless clumsy, which might have been largely self-stimulating. Although the above studies were based on case studies or small samples, there was some preliminary evidence that people with AS are humorous in some ways, rather than lacking humor totally. Thus it is important for research to specify the nature of humor deficits and how such deficits can be improved, thereby enhancing the well-being of individuals with AS. A problem in considering this literature is the variation across studies in terms of the methods or stimuli to test humor appreciation ability. Sometimes cartoons were used; at other times, it was simply joke tasks (in words). Different stimuli require different types of cognitive processing, which may in turn generate discrepant results because individuals with AS may have different abilities in comprehending both visual tasks (cartoons) and semantic tasks (jokes). A study by Emerich et al. (2003) was revealing. These authors adopted Garfield cartoons and jokes to examine the comprehension of humorous materials by adolescents with AS and those developing normally, aged 11-17. The two groups were matched on age and gender. Cartoon comics and jokes were given to participants, who were asked to pick the funniest endings. Participants with AS tended to choose straightforward endings as the funniest for cartoon comic tasks, though their number of errors were not significantly different from typically developing participants. For joke tasks, however, persons with AS performed significantly worse, making almost three times as many errors as typically developing children. On the whole, the literature suggests that persons with AS are more capable of processing humorous materials when the messages are more concrete and fall into their areas of interest, and when visual aids are available. However, the results appear to depend to a large extent on the methods and stimuli used. Further research may reveal in more specific terms the exact nature of the deficit in humor processing ability of AS individuals.

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 177 HUMOR AND SPECIFIC COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL DEFICITS Tanguay, Robertson and Derrick (1998) factor analyzed the Autism Diagnostic Interview (Revised) items, and identified three factors, which were (i) affective reciprocity, (ii) joint attention, and (iii) theory of mind. These factors reflect the primary cognitive and social deficits in autistic-spectrum disorders that might have relevance for understanding the ability to comprehend and use humor by individuals with AS. Affective Reciprocity Affective reciprocity is the quality by which a person is responsive to others‘ affections or emotions. This quality can usually be seen in infants before one year of age. It is the tendency to produce responses in order to get social interactions and social cues from others. Such deficits may be seen in AS individuals in terms of the lack of responsiveness to others‘ emotions such as distress (Bacon, Fein, Morris, Waterhouse, and Allen, 1998) and the absence of empathy (Travis and Sigman, 1998). This quality is different from joint attention and theory of mind (to be described below) which are related to the pragmatics for social communication through facial expressions, gestures, and identifying and taking considerations of other people‘s view (Tanguay, Robertson, and Derrick, 1998). AS individuals with deficits in affective reciprocity may not be able to realize others‘ affections when people are using humor on them. For instance, a person is trying to make fun on them humorously, and people with AS may misunderstand the act as an attempt to tease them, and feel offended. Joint Attention Joint Attention is the process of sharing one‘s experience of observation, by following gaze or pointing gestures. This ability starts to appear within the first year of life. Tanguay et al. (1998) reported that, at two to four months of age, 30% of children are capable of following their mother‘s line of sight or to follow a moving object automatically. By 14 months, most typically developing children can do so without prompting verbally or by gestures. Children with autism, however, do not seem to recognize the emotional and contextual meaning of facial expressions and gestures as well as the non-verbal expressions of emotion by others (Hobson, 1986). Reddy, Williams and Vaughan (2002) said they sometimes appear to be ―deaf‖ in social interactions, in that they do not give appropriate responses to other people‘s facial expression (e.g., give laughter to a funny face, show anger when being teased). Mundy, Sigman and Kasari (1993) noted that, the infrequent initiations of joint attention by children with AS is also an indication of their inability to integrate their object world with their own social world. It can be expected that AS individuals who are not fluent, or even lacking, in joint attention ability are unable to appreciate humor because of their insensitivity towards others‘ emotions. This is a major obstacle in developing social relationships.

178 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng Theory of Mind Theory of mind refers to the ability to think about and act on the information about one‘s own and others‘ mental states, that is, to take the perspective of others when it is different from one‘s own (Lyons and Fitzgerald, 2004). Because humor appreciation requires one to discern the intentions of the other party, a deficit in theory of mind can lead to profound impairments in understanding humorous materials. Children with AS are relatively competent in nonverbal concept formation tasks, perceptual organization and spatial visualization (Ehlers et al., 1997), but comparatively poorer in understanding social mores, social judgment, and interpreting interpersonal situations. Hence, in appreciating humor, they may be more capable of grasping meaning in comics (visual) than understanding humorous jokes or conversation, because the former is more concrete, requiring a lower level of cognitive processing, whereas the latter is more abstract and requires perspective taking. Individuals with AS also have difficulties in showing empathy and appreciating the feelings and thoughts of others (Barnhill, 2001; Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith, 1985). Many researchers argued that the lack of theory of mind is the core deficit in autism (Baron-Cohen, 1988; Happé, 1993; Tager-Flusberg, 1993). Researchers gave children AS first-order and second-order tasks assessing theory of mind. The first-order tests assess the ability to recognize that people can have different thoughts even in the same situation. The second- order tests examine the ability to interpret the mental states of others, such as making inferences or predictions about other people‘s thoughts, beliefs, desires, emotions, and intentions (Papp, 2006). Research on theory of mind suggests that individuals with AS can perform first-order ToM tests, but not the second-order tests. In other words, they are able to understand that other people can have different thoughts from them, but less able in anticipating thoughts of others. (Baron-Cohen, 1995). Thus, even if they are aware that other people have their own thoughts and feelings, they may not be able to tell what they are thinking in a particular situation. However, not all children are incapable of second-order theory-of-mind tasks. Williams (2004) presented findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of ten published autobiographical accounts written by individuals diagnosed with either high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome. His analysis suggested that less than half of the subjects could finish second-order tests. However, even for this subgroup, which was seemingly without apparent deficits in theory of mind, there was still a deficit in mind-reading ability. For instance, they may not realize irony from a person‘s voice but take instead the surface meaning of the message. Also, they may misinterpret a lie as a joke, or deception as sarcasm. According to Ozonoff, Rogers and Pennington (1991), although children and youth with AS may be able to complete theory-of-mind exercises, they encounter difficulties in applying those skills in real-life situations. In ordinary life circumstances, persons with AS are observed to display deficits across a range of tasks, including difficulties in inferring the intentions and perspectives of others, a lack of understanding of how their own behaviors affect others, and difficulties with turn-taking and other reciprocal skills. A total lack of theory of mind would result in a condition in which the person shuts down his or her perception towards the outside world, and show minimal or even no interaction with their surroundings at all (Happé, 2003).

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 179 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Humor, or the ability to appreciate humor is, to a certain extent, one of the key components in successful interpersonal relationships. Across cultures, sense of humor is one of the essential social skills. Positive humorous exchanges are vital and valuable, as it encourages playfulness (Bruner and Sherwood, 1976). Those with a positive sense of humor are much more able to form alliances with others (Gest, Graham-Bermann, and Hartup, 2001). Asperger syndrome is a heterogeneous disorder, and so it is no wonder that studies have shown substantial variations in the humor ability of individuals with AS. For obvious reasons, studies have relied on small samples, which increase the errors of estimation. Nevertheless, some preliminary conclusions from this literature are possible. First, the ability to process humor is not totally absent in people with AS. Because of their mastery of linguistic abilities, they appear to be able to appreciate humor by processing the surface meaning of sentences or jokes, although they tend to have difficulty in actually realizing the hidden meaning. As their abilities to interpret social surroundings are qualitatively different from those of typically developing people in terms of affective reciprocity, joint attention, and also theory of mind, they appear to have difficulty in achieving intuitive understanding of humor. Moreover as people with AS are fluent in topics in which they have deep interest, they are more capable of understanding humor if the materials match their interests or obsessions, and if the materials come in visual form. The above observations lead us to the question of whether individuals with AS should be given training on the use of humor in social interactions. Although controlled studies are lacking, preliminary research on social skills training has yielded inspiring results. A study by Tse et al. (2007) at the Montreal Children‘s Hospital suggested that social skills training was useful in improving the social competence and reducing the problematic behaviors of adolescents with AS and high-functioning autism. Social skills were taught over 12 weeks through role plays based on the psychoeducational and experiential methods. Parents of the participants responded to measures of the adolescents‘ social adjustment and problem behaviors. Though without a control group, the pre- and post-treatment ratings by the parents suggested improvement in social competence and reduction in problem behaviors. The parents also reported that the social skills learned in the group could be generalized to real life. Although this study did not include humor training, it conveyed an initial enthusiasm about the utility of social skills training. In view of the potential contributions of the use of humor to social well-being, the incorporation of humor training to such interventions should be considered in the future. Other than humor training, a number of issues need to be addressed in future research. First, research should assess humor in more comprehensive ways so that the relative strengths and weaknesses of AS individuals in response to different kinds of humor stimuli can be discerned. Second, research should distinguish between positive (functional) and negative (dysfunctional) humor, and examine if AS individuals are capable of using both kinds of strategy. Third, research should go beyond assessing humor in laboratories and actually examine the contribution of humor deficit to social difficulties in AS individuals. In this connection, the issues of generalizability and ecological validity must be addressed. The issue of sample size aside, the humorous stimuli used in most studies may not have any bearing on

180 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng the use of humor in social interactions in real life. For instance, the ability to pick a humorous ending for a cartoon may not mean better ability in using humor to develop and maintain relationships with peers. Finally, studies have focused on humor appreciation; empirical data on how humor is used by persons with AS, as compared with typically developing persons, in actual social situations, and the effect on social relationships, are lacking. These are all important issues that need to be addressed before we can draw definitive conclusions regarding the role of humor in the social difficulties of people with AS. In conclusion, research on humor with reference to AS is a new and promising direction for furthering our understanding of the social difficulties faced by these individuals. Inabilities to understand humor hinder them from social well-being development. Humor provides a new perspective into why these individuals, despite relatively normal language development, are still incapable of forming social relationships. Such knowledge may eventually lead to the development of new intervention approaches for this population. REFERENCES Adams, L., and Earles, W. (2003). Humor and children with Asperger syndrome. Retrieved from http://l-adams.asp.radford.edu/HANDOUTS.htm, on 15, December, 2006. American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: Author. Asperger, H. (1944). Autistic psychopathy in children. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger‟s syndrome (pp. 37-92), Cambridge, Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. Bacon, A. L., Fein, D., Morris, R., Waterhouse, L., and Allen, D. (1998). The responses of autistic children to the distress of others. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28(2), 129-142. Barnhill, G. P. (2001). Social attribution and depression in adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 16, 46-53. Baron-Cohen, S. (1988). Social and pragmatic deficits in autism: Cognitive or affective? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 379-402. Baron-Cohen, S., (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Baron-Cohen, S., Leslie, A. M., and Frith, U. (1985). Does the autistic child have a ―theory of mind‖? Cognition, 21, 37-46. Bernard, J., Harvey, V., Potter, D., and Prior, A. (2001). Ignored or ineligible? The Reality for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Report for Autism Awareness Week 2001). London: The National Autistic Society. Brownell, H., and Gardner, H. (1988). Neuropsychological insights into humor. In J. Durant and J. Miller (Eds.). Laughing matters: A serious look at humor (pp. 17-34). New York: Longman. Bruner, J., and Sherwood, V. (1976). Early rule structure: The case of peekaboo. In J. Bruner, A. Jolly and K. Sylva (Eds.). Play: Its role in evolution and development (pp. 277-285). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 181 Bruner, J. S. (1983). Child‟s talk. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Church, C., Alisanski, S., and Amanullah, S. (2000). The social, behavioral, and academic experiences of children with Asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 15(1), 12-20. Denham, S., Mason, T., Caverly, S., Schmidt, M., Hackney, R., Caswell, C., and Demulder, E. (2001). Preschoolers at play: Co-socializers of emotional and social competence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 4, 290-301. Dixon, N. F. (1980). Humor: A cognitive alternative to stress? In I. Sarason and C. Spielberger (Eds.), Stress and Anxiety, 7, 281-289. New York: Hemisphere. Edmonds, G., and Beardon, L. (Eds.) (2008). Asperger syndrome and social relationships: Adults speak out about Asperger syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley. Ehlers, S., Nyden, A., Gillberg, C., Sandberg, A. D., Dahlgren, S., Hjelmquist, E., and Oden, A. (1997). Asperger syndrome, autism and attention deficits disorders: A comparative study of cognitive profiles of 120 children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 38, 207-217. Emde, R. N. (1989). The infant‘s relationship experience: Developmental and affective patterns. In A. Sameroff and R. Emde (Eds.), Relationship Disturbances in early Childhood: A Developmental Approach (pp. 33-51). New York: Basic Books. Emerich, D. M., Creaghead, N. A., Brether, S. M., Murray, D., and Grasha, C. (2003). The comprehension of humorous materials by adolescents with high-functioning autism and Asperger‘s syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33(3), 253-257. Fogel, A. (1993). Developing through relationships. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Frith, U. (1991). Autism and Asperger syndrome. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Frith, U., Happé, F., and Siddons, F. (1994). Autism and theory of mind in everyday life. Social Development, 3, 108-124. Gest, S. D., Graham-Bermann, S. A., and Hartup, W. W. (2001). Peer experience: Common and unique features of number of friendships, social network centrality, and sociometric status. Social Development, 10(1), 23-40. Ghaziuddin, M. (2005). Mental health aspects of autism and Asperger syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley. Ghaziuddin, M. Weidmer-Mikhail, E. and Ghaziuddin, N. (1998). Comorbidity of Asperger syndrome. A preliminary report. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research , 4, 279-83. Gottman, J. M. (1984). How children become friends. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 3, Number 201. Green, J. (1990). Is Asperger‘s a syndrome? Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 32, 743-747. Green, J., Gilchrist, A., Burton, D., and Cox, A. (2000). Social and psychiatric functioning in adolescents with Asperger syndrome compared with conduct disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 279-293. Gutstein, S. E., and Whitney, R. K. (2002). Relationship development intervention with young children: Social and emotional developmental activities for Asperger syndrome, autism, PDD and NLD. London: Jessica Kingsley. Happé, F. (1993). Communicative competence and theory of mind in autism: A test of relevance theory. Cognition, 48, 101-119.

182 Ka-Wai Leung, Sheung-Tak Cheng and Siu-Siu Ng Happé, F. (2003). Theory of mind and the self. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1001, 134-144. Hobson, R. P. (1986). The autistic child‘s appraisal of expressions of emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 321-342. Hobson, R. P. (1993). Autism and the development of mind. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Kaplan, S. (1987). Aesthetics, affect, and cognition: Environmental preference from an evolutionary perspective. Environment and Behavior, 19, 3-32. Kaplan, S., and Kaplan, R. (1982). Cognition and environment: Functioning in an uncertain world. New York: Praeger. Kerbeshian, J., Burd, L., and Fisher, F. (1990). Asperger‘s syndrome: To be or not to be? British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 721-725. Klein, D. N., and Kuiper, N. A. (2006). Humor styles, peer relationships, and bullying in middle childhood. Humor, 19(4), 383-404. Lefcourt, H. M. (2002). Humor. In C. R. Syner and S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology. (pp.619-631). New York: Oxford University Press. Lyons, V., and Fitzgerald, M. (2004). Humor in autism and Asperger syndrome. Journal of Autism and developmental Disorders, 34(3), 521-531. Lyons, V., and Fitzgerald, M. (2005). Asperger syndrome: A gift or a curse? New York: Nova Biomedical. Martin, R. A., Puhlik-Doris, P., Larsen, G., Gray, J., Weir, K. (2003). Individual differences in uses of humor and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 48-75. McLaughlin-Cheng, E. (1998). Asperger syndrome and autism: A literature review and meta- analysis. Focus on Autism and Other Development Disabilities, 13(4), 234-245. Mundy, P., Sigman, M., and Kasari, C. (1993). The theory of mind and joint-attention deficits in autism. In S. Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg and D. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds: Perspectives from autism (pp. 181-203). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Myles, B. S., and Adreon, D. (2001). Asperger syndrome and adolescence: Practical solution for school success. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing. Myles, B. S., and Simpson, R. L. (2001). Understanding the hidden curriculum: An essential social skill for children and youth with Asperger syndrome. Intervention in School and Clinic, 36, 279-286. Nahemow, L. (1986). Humor as a data base for the study of aging. In L. Nahemow, K. A. McCluskey-Fawcett and P. E. McGhee (Eds.). Humor and aging (pp.3-26). Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Nezlek. J. B., and Derks. P. (2001). Use of humor as a coping mechanism, psychological adjustment, and social interaction. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14, 395-413. Ozonoff, S., Rogers, S., and Pennington, B. (1991). Asperger‘s syndrome: Evidence of an empirical distinction from high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1107-1122. Papp, S. (2006). A relevance-theoretic account of the development and deficits of theory of mind in normally developing children and individuals with autism. Theory and Psychology, 16(2), 141-161. Paulos, J. A. (1980). Mathematics and humor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Asperger Syndrome, Humor,and Social Well-being 183 Reddy, V., Williams, E., and Vaughan, A. (2002). Sharing humour and laughter in autism and Down‘s syndrome. British Journal of Psychology, 93, 219-242. Suls, J. M. (1972). A two-stage model for the appreciation of jokes and cartoons: An information-processing analysis. In J. H. Goldstein and P. E. McGhee (Eds.) The psychology of humor: Theoretical perspectives and empirical issues (pp. 81-100). New York: Academic Press. Szatmari, P. (1991). Asperger‘s syndrome: Diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 14(1), 81-92. Tager-Flusberg, H. (1993). What language reveals about the understanding of minds in children with autism. In S. Baron-Cohen, H., Tager-Flusberg and D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Understanding other minds: Perspectives from autism. Place?Oxford University Press. Tanguay, P., Robertson, J., and Derrick, A. (1998). A dimensional classification of autism spectrum disorder by social communication domains. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 271-277. Travis, L. L., and Sigman, M. (1998). Social deficits and interpersonal relationships in autism. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Review, 2, 65-72. Tse, J., Strulovitch, J., Tagalakis, V., Meng, L., and Fombonne, E. (2007) Social skills training for adolescents with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 1960-1968. Werth, A., Perkins, M., and Boucher, J. ―Here‘s the weavery looming up‖. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 5(2), 111. Williams, E. (2004). Who really needs a ‗theory of mind‘? An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the autobiographical writings of ten high-functionong individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Theory and Psychology, 14, 704-724 Wimpory, D. C., Hobson, R. P., Williams, J. M., and Nash, S. (2000). Are infants with autism socially engaged? A study of recent retrospective parental reports. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 525-536. Wing, L. (1981). Asperger syndrome: A clinical account. Psychological Medicine, 11, 115- 129.



In: Psychological Well-Being ISBN 978-1-61668-180-7 Editor: Ingrid E. Wells, pp.185-198 © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 7 BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS AS PREDICTORS OF EUDAIMONIC WELL-BEING IN IRANIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Mohsen Joshanloo1 and Samaneh Afshari2 1. Department of Psychology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea 2. Department of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran ABSTRACT This study examined the relation between the Big Five personality traits and eudaimonic well-being in Iran, which is an understudied country in the well-being literature. Participants were 240 undergraduates at the University of Tehran. In this study, purpose in life, personal growth, and social well-being scales were used to assess eudaimonic well-being, given the central role these constructs play in the existing models of eudaimonic well-being. Findings revealed that, among the Big Five personality traits, conscientiousness and neuroticism were the most vigorous predictors of eudaimonic well- being. Results also revealed that male students scored significantly higher than female students on social well-being. Furthermore, gender moderated the relation between eudaimonic well-being and two traits of extraversion and agreeableness. These relations were significantly stronger for male students than female students. Implications of the results are discussed. Keywords: Eudaimonic well-being; Social well-being; Big Five; Iran Corresponding author: [email protected].

186 Mohsen Joshanloo and Samaneh Afshari INTRODUCTION The distinction between hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being has repeatedly proved meaningful and informative (for example see Delle Fave and Bassi, 2009; Keyes and Annas, 2009; Keyes, Shmotkin, and Ryff, 2002; Ryan and Huta, 2009; Ryan, Huta, and Deci, 2008; Vittersø et al., 2010). On the hedonic view, well-being is equated with hedonic pleasure or happiness. ―Indeed, the predominant view among hedonic psychologists is that well-being consists of subjective happiness and concerns the experience of pleasure versus displeasure broadly construed to include all judgments about the good/bad elements of life‖ (Ryan and Deci, 2001, p. 144). Most research in the so-called ―hedonic‖ psychology has used assessment of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is generally operationalized as both a predominance of positive over negative affect (affect balance) and a global satisfaction with life (Diener, 1984). In other words, if a person reports that her life is satisfying, that she is experiencing frequent pleasant affect, and that she is infrequently experiencing unpleasant affect, she is said to have high subjective well-being (Diener and Lucas, 1999). Eudemonistic view, on the other hand, maintains that well-being cannot be equated with hedonia (Ryan and Deci, 2001). According to Keyes and Annas (2009), eudaimonia is the person‘s activity that is explicated in terms of living virtuously. In other words, as Solomon and Martin (2004) put it, eudaimonia is a life of activity in accordance virtue. Virtue ethics can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophers, including Aristotle. Psychologists adhering to the eudemonistic view consider well-being to consist of more than just hedonic pleasure, suggesting that people‘s reports of being happy (or of being positively affective and satisfied), although beneficial in its turn, do not necessarily mean that they are functioning psychologically and socially well. Instead, eudaimonic view is concerned with living well and actualizing one‘s human potentials (Deci and Ryan, 2008). Ryff‘s (1989) model of psychological well-being falls into the eudaimonic tradition. Her model stems from extensive literature aimed at defining positive psychological functioning (e.g., the mental health and lifespan developmental theories, humanistic and existential views). She tried to integrate these scattered formulations into a multidimensional model of positive psychological functioning, which encompasses the points of convergence in the previous formulations. The model resulted from this distillation contains six components: ―positive evaluations of oneself and one's past life (Self-Acceptance), a sense of continued growth and development as a person (Personal Growth), the belief that one's life is purposeful and meaningful (Purpose in Life), the possession of quality relations with others (Positive Relations With Others), the capacity to manage effectively one's life and surrounding world (Environmental Mastery), and a sense of self-determination (Autonomy)‖ (Ryff and Keyes, 1995, p. 720). Like Keyes (2006) who believes that eudaimonism animates human concerns with developing nascent abilities and capacities toward becoming a more fully functioning person and citizen, Ryff and Singer (2008) also believe that the central point in Aristotle‘s definition of eudaimonia is that the ultimate aim in life is to strive to realize one‘s true potential (self- fulfillment or self-realization). Following this logic, Ryff and Singer (2008) argue that of all the aspects of psychological well-being, it is personal growth that comes closest in meaning to Aristotle‘s eudaimonia.

Big Five Personality Traits as Predictors… 187 As noted earlier, existential and humanistic views were among the sources that Ryff (1989) drew on to formulate her model of positive human functioning. Humanistic and existential views suggest that it is sometimes difficult to find meaning and purpose in life in the modern times. Ryff and Singer (2008) believe that considering existential views are advantageous to the formulation of eudaimonia, as they bring eudaimonia face-to-face with adversity, something on which, they believe, Aristotle is surprisingly silent. Ryff and Singer (2008) consider purpose in life and personal growth as the ―two most eudaimonic aspects of well-being‖ (p. 27). Likewise, Keyes, Shmotkin, and Ryff (2002) point out that these two aspects better reflect the self-fulfillment meanings of psychological well-being than other aspects. Indeed, purpose in life and personal growth play central roles in the work of other researchers of eudaimonic well-being. Waterman and colleagues (Waterman, Schwartz, and Conti, 2008) argue that eudaimonia refers to the feelings present when one is moving toward self-realization. Waterman (1993) maintains that ―activities giving rise to feelings of personal expressiveness will be those in which an individual experiences self-realization through the fulfillment of personal potentials in the form of the development of one's skills and talents, the advancement of one's purposes in living, or both‖ (p. 679). In other words, eudaimonia can be obtained through developing one‘s unique individual potentials and furthering one‘s purposes in living (Waterman, Schwartz, and Conti, 2008). Meaning in life is considered essential to a well-rounded assessment of well-being by many other researchers (e.g., Huta and Ryan, in press; McGregor and Little, 1998; Ryan, Huta, and Deci, 2008). Personal growth also has been considered a central component of eudaimonic well-being by many researchers (e.g., Compton, Smith, Cornish, and Qualls, 1996; Ryan and Deci, 2001; Vittersø et al., 2010). All in all, it can be concluded that purpose in life and personal growth are among the most central aspects of psychological well-being which are considered to be most related to eudaimonia. SOCIAL COMPONENT OF EUDAIMONIC WELL-BEING According to Keyes and Shapiro (2004), what has been missing in the well-being literature is the recognition that individuals may evaluate the quality of their lives and personal functioning against social criteria. Keyes‘s (1998) brief review shows that the distinction between public and private sides of life has pervaded social psychological theory. Keyes (1998) argues that the private and public sides of life are two potential sources of life challenges, with possibly distinct consequences for judging a well-lived life. Despite this distinction, the ―leading conceptions of adult functioning portray well-being as a primarily private phenomenon‖ (Keyes, 1998, p.121) and emphasize private features of well-being. That is, according to Keyes (2002), measures of hedonic well-being often identify individuals‘ satisfaction or positive affect with ―life overall‖, but rarely with facets of their social lives. Keyes (2002) points to the fact that dimensions of psychological well-being are also intrapersonal reflections of an individual‘s adjustment to and outlook on their life. Only one of the six scales of psychological well-being (positive relations with others) reflects the ability to build and maintain intimate trusting interpersonal relationship (Keyes, 2002). But ―individuals remain embedded in social structures and communities, and face countless social