Subjective well-being as a mediator for curiosity and depression

• Authors: Łukasz D. Kaczmarek , Błażej Bączkowski , Jolanta Enko , Barbara Baran , Peter Theuns
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Curiosity is a personality trait that is inversely related to depression and positively related to subjective wellbeing. However, the relationship between curiosity and these two outcomes is still unclear which hampers our general understanding of well-being. Based on research within positive psychology that showed character strengths such as curiosity can indirectly decrease depression, we hypothesized that the inverse relationship between curiosity and depression would be mediated by subjective well-being. Two hundred and fifty seven participants, between 18 and 64 years old (M = 24.50, SD = 8.33) completed a web-based survey comprising: The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory - II, Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression and the Steen Happiness Index. We found that well-being mediated the relationship between curiosity and depression. The results indicate that curious individuals tend to report higher levels of subjective well-being which, in turn, is associated with lower levels of depression. Our findings contribute to the understanding of positive results obtained from clinical samples that underwent positive psychotherapy of depression.

Keywords

EN

curiosity; subjective well-being; depression; mediation

• Publisher: Committee for Psychological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 200-204

Dates

published

2014-06-01

online

2014-06-17

Contributors

author

Łukasz D. Kaczmarek

• Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
• Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 89 Szamarzewskiego Street, PL-60-568, Poznan, Poland

author

Błażej Bączkowski

• Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

author

Jolanta Enko

• Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

author

Barbara Baran

• Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

author

Peter Theuns

• Vrije Universiteit Brussel

References

• Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323-370.[Crossref]
• Bowerman, B. L., & O’Connell, R. T. (1990). Linear statistical models: an applied approach. Belmont, CA: Duxbury.
• Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Shared Virtue: The Convergence of Valued Human Strengths Across Culture and History. Review of General Psychology, 9, 203-213.[Crossref]
• Dugas, M. J., Freeston, M. H., & Ladouceur, R. (1997). Intolerance of uncertainty and problem orientation in worry. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 21, 593-606.[Crossref]
• Field, A. (2005). Discovering statistics using SPSS, Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc.
• Howell, R. T., Rodzon, K. S., Kurai, M., & Sanchez, A. H. (2010). A validation of well-being and happiness surveys for administration via the Internet. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 775-784.[WoS][PubMed][Crossref]
• Kaczmarek, L. D., Bujacz, A, Eid, M. (in press). Comparative latent statetrait analysis of satisfaction with life measures: The Steen Happiness Index and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Happiness Studies. DOI 10.1007/s10902-014-9517-4[Crossref]
• Kaczmarek, L. D., Kashdan, T., Drążkowski, D., Bujacz, A., Goodman, F. (2014). Why do greater curiosity and fewer depressive symptoms predict gratitude intervention use? Utility beliefs, social norm beliefs, and perceived self-control. Personality and Individual Differences. 66, 165-170
• Kaczmarek, L. D., Kashdan, T. B., Kleiman, E., Bączkowski, B., Enko, B., Siebers, A., Szäefer, A., Król, M., Baran, B. (2013). Who self-initiates gratitude interventions in daily life? An examination of intentions, curiosity, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 55, 805-810.[Crossref][WoS]
• Kaczmarek, L. D., Stanko-Kaczmarek, M., & Dombrowski, S. (2010). Adaptation and Validation of the Steen Happiness Index into Polish. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 3, 98-104.
• Kashdan, T. B. (2003). The neglected relationship between social interaction anxiety and hedonic deficits: differentiation from depressive symptoms. Anxiety Disorders, 18, 719-730.
• Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Curious? Discover the missing ingredient to a fulfilling life. New York, NY: William Morrow.
• Kashdan, T. B., Gallagher, M. W., Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Breen, W. E., Terhar, D., & Steger, M. F. (2009). The curiosity and exploration inventory-II: Development, factor structure, and psychometrics. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 987-998.[Crossref][WoS]
• Kashdan, T.B. & Rottenberg, J. (2010). Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 865-878.[WoS][Crossref][PubMed]
• Kashdan, T.B. & Steger, M.F. (2007). Curiosity and pathways to wellbeing and meaning in life: Traits, states, and everyday behaviors. Motivation and Emotion, 31, 159-173.[Crossref]
• Kleiman, E. M., Adams, L. M., Kashdan, T. B., & Riskind, J. H. (2013). Gratitude and grit indirectly reduce risk of suicidal ideations by enhancing meaning in life: Evidence for a mediated moderation model. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 539-546.[WoS][Crossref]
• Larsen, J. T., Hemenover, Norris, C. J., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2002). Turning adversity to advantage: on the virtues of the coactivation of positive and negative emotions. In: L. G. Aspinwall, U. M. Staudinger (eds.), A psychology of human strengths: Fundamental questions and future directions for a positive psychology (pp. 211-226). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Larsen, J. T., & McGraw, A. P. (2011,). Further Evidence for Mixed Emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0021846[WoS][Crossref]
• Larsen, J. T., McGraw, A. P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2001). Can people feel happy and sad at the same time? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 684-696.[Crossref]
• Linley, A., P., Maltby, J. Wood, A., M., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., Peterson, Ch., Park, N., & Seligman, M. (2007). Character strengths in the United Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of Strengths. Personality & Individual Differences, 43, 341-351.
• Linley, A. P., Joseph, S., Harrington, S., & Wood, A. M. (2006). Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(1), 3-16.
• Litman, J. A. & Spielberger, C. D. (2003). Measuring epistemic curiosity and its diversive and specific components. Journal of Personality Assessment, 80, 75-86.[Crossref][PubMed]
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: the architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111-131.[Crossref]
• Mazaheri, M. & Theuns, P. (2009). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Ratings; Multiple Group Invariance Analysis Across Scales with Different Response Format. Social Indicators Research, 91, 203-221 (DOI: 10.1007/s11205-008-9278-8) [WoS][Crossref]
• Menard, S. (1995). Applied logistic regression analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T., (1999). A five-factor theory of personality. In: L. A. Pervin, O. P. John (eds.), Handbook of Personality (pp. 139-153). New York: Guildford Press.
• Nakamura, J. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow (pp. 89-105). In: C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (eds.) Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui, K, & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Happy people become happier through kindness: A counting kindnesses intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 361-375.[Crossref]
• Park, N., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. P. (2004). Strengths of character and well-being. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 23, 603-619.
• Pearl, J. (2012) The causal foundations of structural equation modeling. In: Hoyle R, eds. Handbook of Structural Equation Modeling. NJ: Guilford Press, pp. 68-91.
• Peterson, C., Ruch, W., Beermann, U., Park, N., & Seligman, M E. P. (2007). Strengths of character, orientations to happiness, and life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 2, 149-156.[WoS]
• Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Peterson, C., Stephens, J. P., Park, N., Lee, F., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2010). Strengths of character and work. In: Oxford handbook of positive psychology and work (pp. 221-231). P. A. Linley, S. Harrington, Susan, Garcea, N. (Eds.). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879-891.[PubMed][WoS][Crossref]
• Proyer, R. T., Ruch, W., & Buschor, C. (2012). Testing strengths-based interventions: A preliminary study on the effectiveness of a program targeting curiosity, gratitude, hope, humor, and zest for enhancing life satisfaction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 275-292.[WoS]
• Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.[Crossref]
• Rodrigue, J. R., Olson, K. R., & Markley, R. P. (1987). Induced mood and curiosity. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, 101-106.[Crossref]
• Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and wellbeing. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.[Crossref]
• Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C., (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 4, 774-788.[Crossref]
• Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, Ch., (2005). Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions. American Psychologist, 5, 410-421.[Crossref]
• Silvia, P.J. & Kashdan, T.B. (2009). Interesting things and curious people: exploration and engagement as transient states and enduring strengths. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3, 785-797.[Crossref]
• Sin, N. L. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: a practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467-487.[WoS]
• Spielberger, C. D. (2006). Cross-cultural assessment of emotional states and personality traits. European Psychologist, 6, 297-303.[Crossref]
• Spielberger, C. D., & Starr, L. M. (1994). Curiosity and exploratory behavior. In H. F. O’Neil, Jr., & M. Drillings (Eds.), Motivation: Theory and research (pp. 221-243). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Ziarko, M., Kaczmarek, Ł. D., Haładziński, P. (2013). Polish version of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): Results of a preliminary study on the psychometric properties of the scale. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 1, 51-61.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/ppb-2014-0025