Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Does Neurocognition Predict Subjective Well-Being?

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Greater subjective well-being (SWB) is associated with a myriad of positive outcomes across adulthood. While several studies have demonstrated a relationship between cognition and SWB, the current study extends previous work by examining the relationship between neurocognition and SWB across age and time. Data were drawn from 3,856 individuals between the ages of 18–99 years who participated in the Virginia Cognitive Aging Project, a prospective study of cognition in community dwelling adults. Participants completed a battery of neurocognitive tasks (assessing spatial visualization, episodic memory, reasoning, processing speed, and vocabulary) and measures assessing SWB (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). Results indicated that spatial visualization, episodic memory, and processing speed predicted life satisfaction only in specific age groups, but the magnitude of the coefficients were not significantly different between the groups, providing limited evidence of age moderation. Vocabulary was negatively associated with positive affect for all age groups. The temporal relationships between neurocognition and SWB were generally non-significant, and age did not moderate this relationship. Within the broader context of neurocognition, this study provides evidence that the relationship between neurocognition and SWB cross-sectionally may be partially age dependent for one facet of SWB, and the temporal relationship may be minimal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Data used in this research can be provided by the authors upon request.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Ahmed, R., Kesavayuth, D., & Zikos, V. (2018). Does being smarter make you happier? Evidence from Europe. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 76, 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2018.06.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, A., Ambler, G., Strydom, A., Rai, D., Cooper, C., McManus, S., Weich, S., Meltzer, H., Dein, S., & Hassiotis, A. (2013). The relationship between happiness and intelligent quotient: The contribution of socio-economic and clinical factors. Psychological Medicine, 43(6), 1303–1312. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291712002139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allerhand, M., Gale, C. R., & Deary, I. J. (2014). The dynamic relationship between cognitive function and positive well-being in older people: A prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Aging. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 306–318. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036551

  • Arbuckle, J. L. (2014). Amos (Version 24.0) [Computer Program]. Chicago: IBM SPSS

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, G. K., Seashore, H. G., & Wesman, A. G. (1997). Dif erential aptitude test. San Antonio TX: Psychological Corporation

  • Baker, L. A., Cahalin, L. P., Gerst, K., & Burr, J. A. (2005). Productive activities and subjective well-being among older adults: The influence of number of activities and time commitment. Social Indicators Research, 73(3), 431–458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-005-0805-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, T., Schmukle, S. C., & Kunzmann, U. (2017). Stability and change in subjective well-being: The role of performance-based and self-rated cognition. Psychology and Aging, 32(2), 105–117. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000153

  • Busseri, M. A., & Sadava, S. W. (2011). A review of the tripartite structure of subjective well-being, implications for conceptualization, operationalization, and synthesis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 290–314. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310391271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, N., & Sanderson, C. A. (1999). Life task participation and well-being: The importance of taking part in daily life. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, N. Schwarz, D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 230–243). New York, NY: US: Russell Sage Foundation

    Google Scholar 

  • Carstensen, L. L., & Mikels, J. A. (2005). At the intersection of emotion and cognition: Aging and the positivity effect. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(3), 117–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00348.x

  • Chida, Y., & Steptoe, A. (2008). Positive psychological well-being and mortality: A quantitative review of prospective observational studies. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 741–756. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31818105ba

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, M. A., Fredrickson, B. L., Brown, S. L., Mikels, J. A., & Conway, A. M. (2009). Happiness unpacked: Positive emotions increase life satisfaction by building resilience. Emotion, 9(3), 361–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015952

  • Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13

  • Diener, E., Inglehart, R., & Tay, L. (2013). Theory and validity of life satisfaction scales. Social Indicators Research, 112(3), 497–527. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0076-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Ryan, K. (2009). Subjective well-being: A general overview. South African Journal of Psychology, 39(4), 391–406. https://doi.org/10.1177/008124630903900402

  • Dolan, P., & White, M. P. (2007). How can measures of subjective well-being be used to inform public policy? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00030.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekstrom, R. B., French, J. W., Harman, H. H., & Dermen, D. (1976). Manual for Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests. Princeton, NJ:Educational Testing Service

  • Enkvist, Å., Ekström, H., & Elmståhl, S. (2013). Associations between cognitive abilities and life satisfaction in the oldest-old. Results from the longitudinal population study Good Aging in Skåne. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 8, 845–853. https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S45382

  • Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12(3), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6

  • Hemingway, E. (1986). The Garden of Eden. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

  • Isaacowitz, D. M., & Smith, J. (2003). Positive and negative affect in very old age. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58(3), P143–P152. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.3.p143

  • Jokela, M. (2022). Why is cognitive ability associated with psychological distress and wellbeing? Exploring psychological biological and social mechanisms. Personality and Individual Differences. 192111592-S0191886922000964 111592 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111592

  • Jones, T. G., Rapport, L. J., Hanks, R. A., Lichtenberg, P. A., & Telmet, K. (2003). Cognitive and psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being in urban older adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 17(1), 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1076/clin.17.1.3.15626

  • Kishton, J. M., & Widaman, K. F. (1994). Unidimensional versus domain representative parceling of questionnaire items: An empirical example. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54(3), 757–765. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164494054003022

  • Klaus, D., Engstler, H., Mahne, K., Wolff, J. K., Simonson, J., & Wurm, S., & Tesch-Römer, C. 2017. Cohort profile: The German Ageing Survey (DEAS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 46(4), 1105–1105 g, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyw326

  • Kunzmann, U. (2008). Differential age trajectories of positive and negative affect: Further evidence from the Berlin Aging Study. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 63(5), P261–P270. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.5.p261

  • Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping (pp. 150–153 New York:Springer Publishing Company

  • Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., & Shahar, G. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151–173. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_1

  • Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803

  • Martens, M., & Haase, R. F. (2006).Advanced applications of structural equation modeling in counseling psychology research. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 878–911. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000005283395

  • Mickler, C., & Staudinger, U. M. (2008). Personal wisdom: Validation and age-related differences of a performance measure. Psychology and Aging, 23(4), 787–799

  • Mroczek D.K. & Kolarz, C.M. (1998) The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(5), 1333–1349. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333

  • Oishi, S., Diener, E., Suh, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 67(1), 157–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00051

  • Ortman, J. M., Velkoff, V. A., & Hogan, H. (2014). An aging nation: the older population in the United States (pp.25–1140). Washington, DC: United States Census Bureau, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Department of Commerce

  • Raven, J. (1962). Advanced progressive matrices, Set II. London: Lewis

    Google Scholar 

  • Raven, J. C., Court, J. H., & Raven, J. (1986). Manual for Raven’s progressive matrices and vocabulary scales. Oxford, England: Oxford Psychologists Press

  • ​​Röcke, C., Li, S. C., & Smith, J. (2009). Intraindividual variability in positive and negative affect over 45 days: Do older adults fluctuate less than young adults? Psychology and Aging, 24(4), 863. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, F. L., & Vallerand, R. J. (2008). An examination of the relationship between passion and subjective well-being in older adults. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 66(3), 195–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/AG.66.3.b

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salthouse, T. A. (2014). Correlates of cognitive change. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 143, 1026–1048. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034847

  • Salthouse, T. A., Fristoe, N., & Rhee, S. H. (1996). How localized are age-related effects on neuropsychological measures? Neuropsychology, 10, 272–285. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.10.2.272

  • Salthouse, T. A. (1993). Speed and knowledge as determinants of adult age differences in verbal tasks. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 48, P29–P36. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/48.1.P29

  • Salthouse, T. A., & Babcock, R. L. (1991). Decomposing adult age differences in working memory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 763–776. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.763

  • Siedlecki, K. L., Salthouse, T. A., Oishi, S., & Jeswani, S. (2014). The relationship between social support and subjective well-being across age. Social Indicators Research, 117, 561–576. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0361-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siedlecki, K. L., Yazdani, N., Minahan, J., & Falzarano, F. (2020). Examining processing speed as a predictor of subjective well-being across age and time in the German Aging Survey. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 27(1), 66–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2019.1585514

  • Siedlecki, K. L., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Oishi, S., & Salthouse, T. A. (2008). Life satisfaction across adulthood: Different determinants at different ages?. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(3), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760701834602

  • Simone, P. M., & Haas, A. L. (2013). Frailty, leisure activity and functional status in older adults: Relationship with subjective well being. Clinical Gerontologist, 36(4), 275–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2013.788114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Social Security Administration. (n.d.) Normal Retirement Age. Social Security. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/nra.html

  • Stawski, R. S., Mogle, J. A., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2013). Associations among fluid and crystallized cognition and daily stress processes in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 28(1), 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029813

  • Tucker-Drob, E. M., De la Fuente, J., Köhncke, Y., Brandmaier, A. M., Nyberg, L., & Lindenberger, U. (2022). A strong dependency between changes in fluid and crystallized abilities in human cognitive aging. Science Advances, 8(5), eabj2422. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj2422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vespa, J., Armstrong, D. M., & Medina, L. (2018). Demographic turning points for the United States: Population projections for 2020 to 2060. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Census Bureau.

  • Tewes, U. (1994). HAWIE-R:Hamburg-Wechsler-Intelligenztest für Erwachsene, Revision 1991. Handbuch, T. Bern u.a.:Huber

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988).Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6),1063–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063

  • Wechsler, D. (1955). Manual for the Wechsler adult intelligence scale. New York: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1997a). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological, & Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1997b). Wechsler Memory Scale (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodcock, R. W., & Johnson, M. B. (1990). Woodcock–Johnson Psycho-educational Battery— Allen, TX: DLM

  • Xu, J., & Roberts, R. E. (2010). The power of positive emotions: It’s a matter of life or death—Subjective well-being and longevity over 28 years in a general population. Health Psychology, 29(1), 9–19. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zachary, R. A. (1986). Shipley Institute of Living Scale—Revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological, & Services.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

We thank Timothy A. Salthouse for providing us with these data; he is the principal investigator on National Institute on Aging Grant R01AG024270, which provided support for the collection of these data. F. Falzarano acknowledges support from a National Institute on Aging-funded T32 training program grant (AG049666) and K99/R00 Career Development Award (AG073509). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Aging or the National Institutes of Health.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, 420 East 70th Street, 10021, New York, NY, USA

    Francesca B. Falzarano

  2. Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Neshat Yazdani, Jillian Minahan Zucchetto & Karen L. Siedlecki

Authors
  1. Francesca B. Falzarano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Neshat Yazdani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jillian Minahan Zucchetto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Karen L. Siedlecki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca B. Falzarano.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

This research complies with the required ethical standards.

Consent

All authors have provided their consent for publication as stated by the rules of the journal.

Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Measure (Source)

Description

Episodic Memory

 
 

Word recall (Wechsler, 1997b)

Participants were read a list of twelve unrelated words and were asked to recall the words in any order. Scored as the sum of the words recalled correctly across four trials.

 

Paired associate learning (Salthouse et al., 1996)

Participants heard six pairs of unrelated words. Scored as the sum of the number of words recalled after hearing the first word in the pair across six trials.

 

Logical memory (Wechsler, 1997b)

Scored as the number of details correctly recalled across three readings of two stories (story A read once, story B read twice).

Processing Speed

 
 

Digit symbol substitution test (Wechsler, 1997a)

Participants were provided with a table matching symbols to numbers and were given two minutes to draw as many symbols corresponding to the numbers provided as possible.

 

Pattern and letter comparison tests (Salthouse & Babcock, 1991)

Participants were asked to determine whether two line patterns or two strings of letters were the same or different as quickly as possible (30 pattern and 30 letter trials).

Reasoning

 
 

Matrix reasoning (Raven, 1962)

Participants were given 18 pattern sets and were asked to determine which pattern (of eight given options) best completed the set.

 

Shipley’s abstraction (Zachary, 1986)

Participants were given a series of items (text or numeric) and were asked to determine which answer best completes the sequence. Twenty series were presented.

 

Letter sets (Ekstrom et al., 1976)

Participants were presented with letter sets comprising five four-letter strings and were asked to determine which of the five letter sets contained a pattern that was different from the others in its group (15 trials).

Spatial Visualization

 
 

Spatial relations (Bennett et al., 1997)

Participants were asked to determine which three-dimensional figure could be formed using the two-dimensional pattern that was shown (20 trials).

 

Paper folding (Ekstrom et al., 1976)

Participants were shown the stages of a piece of paper being folded in various ways and then hole-punched. They were asked to identify the pattern that would appear when the paper was unfolded (12 trials).

 

Form boards (Ekstrom et al., 1976)

Participants were presented with one target shape and five smaller shapes and were asked to identify which of the five smaller shapes could be combined to form the target shape (24 trials).

Vocabulary

 
 

Assessments of vocabulary (Wechsler, 1997a)

Participants were read 33 words and were asked to define each.

 

Picture vocabulary (Woodcock & Johnson, 1990)

Participants were shown a series of 30 images and asked to identify the object in the picture, with the objects becoming progressively less familiar as trials progress.

 

Synonym and antonym vocabulary (Salthouse, 1993)

Participants were asked to select the word from the set of five words given that was the best synonym/antonym of the target word (10 trials for synonyms, 10 trials for antonyms).

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Falzarano, F.B., Yazdani, N., Zucchetto, J.M. et al. Does Neurocognition Predict Subjective Well-Being?. J Happiness Stud 23, 3713–3730 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00565-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00565-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation