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The Role of Occupational Characteristics and Occupational Imbalance in Explaining Well-being

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Abstract

One of the key factors for promoting well-being lies in balancing one’s daily life occupations and the nature of these occupations. Occupation refers to a group of everyday life goal-directed activities which may be associated to any life domain, not necessarily work, such as leisure, education, or self-care. Yet it is not clear what constitutes occupational imbalance, and its association to other factors has not been examined systematically. This study proposed and tested a theoretical model for specifying the structural relationships between occupational imbalance, occupational characteristics, personality and well-being. 288 working adults completed the following questionnaires: Inter-goal Relations Questionnaire (occupational imbalance), Personal Projects Analysis (occupational characteristics), the Big Five Inventory (personality traits) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (well-being). Twenty-five models were tested using structural equation modeling. All the models fit the data well. Occupational characteristics, with the exception of stress, served as significant mediators between personality and well-being, yet occupational imbalance did not play a significant role across all models. Our findings provide substantial support for the importance of occupation to well-being, however occupational imbalance is still an elusive concept that requires further investigation theoretically and empirically.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, 1400 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 1C7, Canada

    Dana Anaby

  2. Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, CanDo research center, University of British Columbia, T325-2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada

    Tal Jarus & Catherine L. Backman

  3. Measurment, Evaluation and Research Methodology, University of British Columbia, Building 2125 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Bruno D. Zumbo

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  1. Dana Anaby
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  2. Tal Jarus
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  3. Catherine L. Backman
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  4. Bruno D. Zumbo
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Correspondence to Dana Anaby.

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Anaby, D., Jarus, T., Backman, C.L. et al. The Role of Occupational Characteristics and Occupational Imbalance in Explaining Well-being. Applied Research Quality Life 5, 81–104 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-010-9094-6

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