The objective of this study was to examine whether continuing education that focuses on service learning could provide older students (over the age of 50) with knowledge and skills that increase their life satisfaction, confidence, and community integration. We also examined whether it could provide them with meaningful and purposeful experiences.…

Intervention programs to strengthen hope in students have been developed and implemented in schools. The programs are based on Snyder's theory that defines hope as thoughts regarding personal capacities and pathways for goal attainment. Hope theory was recently extended to include external loci-of-hope, which derive from conjoint models of agency…

Establishing a sense of life meaning is a primary facet of well-being, yet is understudied in adolescent development. Using data from 579 adolescents (53% female) from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds, demographic differences in meaning in life, links with psychological and academic adjustment, and the role of meaning in explaining…

Adolescence is a crucial life stage involving aspects of identity development and decision-making that have potential life-long consequences. Researchers have found that a sense of meaning and purpose is related to a number of beneficial factors during adolescence, including resilience, healthy self-esteem, academic engagement, and overall…

Mid-career teachers are often described as experienced and comfortable in their jobs with higher motivation and self-efficacy (Hargreaves 2005); yet, at the same time, the mid-career phase has also been portrayed as a period marked by a career plateau and feelings of stagnation (Farrell 2014). Despite the criticality of this career phase and the…

This study investigated the characteristics of adolescents reporting very high levels of life satisfaction. Participants (N = 410) were divided into three life satisfaction groups: very high (top 10%), average (middle 25%), and very low (lowest 10%). Results revealed that very happy youths had significantly higher mean scores on all included…

Governments around the world are recognising the importance of measuring subjective well-being as an indicator of progress. But how should well-being be measured? A conceptual framework is offered which equates high well-being with positive mental health. Well-being is seen as lying at the opposite end of a spectrum to the common mental disorders…

This article investigates the meaning of the belief in a just world (BJW) for justice cognition at school and for subjective well-being. We hypothesized that BJW should serve as a resource helping to maintain positive well-being and to assimilate experienced injustice. The results of two studies with Portuguese school students (7th-12th grade) and…

This paper aims at advancing the conceptualization of leisure as a contributor to quality of life (QOL) in an international and multicultural context, based on an extensive and critical review of literature on leisure and QOL from a global, international perspective. Given the central role of culture in conceptualizing this notion, this paper…

Meaning in life has been identified as a potential mediator of the link between religiousness and psychological health. The authors tested this hypothesis in 2 studies, using multiple methods and measures of religiousness and well-being. In the studies, meaning in life mediated the relation between religiousness and life satisfaction (Study 1A),…

Examines the relationship between meaning in caregiving (positive beliefs about the caregiving situation and the self as caregiver) and the psychological well-being of 131 informal caregivers to community-residing frail elders. Results indicate that meaning in caregiving explained a significant portion of the differences in depression and…

This article illustrates the story of a primary school in South Auckland, New Zealand, considering the state of well-being of its pupils. Situated in a deprived area with many people living in poverty, parts of the community caught in inter-gang rivalry, some children consider the school environment to be a safer place to be. Elements of the early…

Nancy's recent psychotic episode left her an anxious, fearful person. Participating in an adventure therapy program enabled her to connect with peers, regain social skills and physical stamina, adjust to a full-day activity, regain her confidence, reconstruct purpose and meaning in life, and follow through on plans to complete university and get a…