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The Older, the Better? The Role of Hope for the Regulation of Subjective Well-Being Over Life-Span

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Hope for a Good Life

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 72))

Abstract

Despite the increase of theoretical and empirical work on subjective well-being, research addressing the relation between hope and various dimensions of well-being from a life-span approach is still scarce. Based on original data of the Hope-Barometer 2015, this contribution aims at closing some research gaps by focussing on the question on how hope, well-being and age are related, and on how dispositional hope can predict life satisfaction, happiness and meaning in life and explain their variance. Results show a significant age-related increase for all well-being and dispositional hope parameters. Our data confirm furthermore the dominant role of hope for predicting meaning in life and life satisfaction over all age groups. Nonetheless, optimism also has a non-negligible impact on well-being outcomes, essentially for happiness and to a lesser extent for life satisfaction. These insights are not only scientific relevant, but entail important practical implications for designing interventions and psychological education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Developmental Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello, Stefanie Spahni & Katja Margelisch

Authors
  1. Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello
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  2. Stefanie Spahni
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  3. Katja Margelisch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systemic Management and Public Governance, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Andreas M. Krafft

  2. Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Pasqualina Perrig-Chiello

  3. Swissfuture , Basel, Switzerland

    Andreas M. Walker

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Perrig-Chiello, P., Spahni, S., Margelisch, K. (2018). The Older, the Better? The Role of Hope for the Regulation of Subjective Well-Being Over Life-Span. In: Krafft, A., Perrig-Chiello, P., Walker, A. (eds) Hope for a Good Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 72. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78470-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78470-0_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78469-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78470-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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