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ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/52: 271218 Bulletin of the Australian Centre on Quality of LifeEditor: Robert A. Cummins [[email protected]]Back-issues of the Bulletin are available at http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#bulletins

http://www.acqol.com.au/Note 1: The ACQol site is under development and some content is missing.Note 2: Please address any intended group correspondence to the editor only.

Paper for private studyThe attached paper, on the topic of life quality, is sent to you for your personal private study and discussion within ACQol. You are prohibited from further distributing this paper to any

other person.

Background: The level of subjective wellbeing, or how people generally feel about themself, is especially influenced by the three ‘Golden’ domains of relationships, money, and life purpose. Researchers seek to measure these feelings by questions such as ‘How satisfied are you with the support of your friends?’ rated on a 0-10 scale of satisfaction. But a crucial question for psychology is what, exactly, such answers are measuring. It is naïve to consider answers as a direct measure of how much support friends provide, as through this represents some absolute, tangible entity. In fact, each rating is a perception which comprises three co-existing parts: (a) One part reflects actual support received from the friends, verifiable by other means; (b) One part reflects the character (personality) of the person rating their friends’ support; (c) One part reflects the extent of match (interaction) between the actual support of friends and the personality of the person doing the rating. Understanding how to unpack these possibilities is crucial if, for example, the cause of low-level felt-support is to be understood and remediated.

Reference: Lakey, B., McCabe, K. M., Fisicaro, S. A., & Drew, J. B. (1996). Environmental and personal determinants of support perceptions: Three generalizability studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(6), 1270-1280.

Author’s summary: The extent to which perceived social support reflects characteristics of the environment, the personality of the perceiver, and their interaction is unknown. This article shows how, in 3 studies, each of these elements made a significant contributions to perceived support. The strongest contribution comes from the interaction (c), next is the actual support provided (a), and least is the character of the person making the rating (b).

Comment on Lakey et al (1996)Robert A. CumminsWhile the authors report three studies, each is a version of the others, and all produced similar results. So, only the first study will be described. The researchers asked graduate students to complete two scales, both containing a few items. Their task was to rate each of five professors, with whom all students had extensive contact, on the extent to which each professor provided the student with personal Support (e.g. “To what extent could you turn to this person for advice about problems?”). Each student also provided a self-rating of the extent to which they, themselves, felt generally supported (e.g. "There are people I can depend on to help if I really need it”). The findings are as stated in the authors’ summary. The strongest contributor to the feeling of being supported came from the match between the

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actual supportiveness of the professors (measured as an average of the students’ ratings) and by the student doing the rating. This seems intuitively reasonable. As the authors say “In the same way that art is in the eye of the beholder, perceived support may be in the eye of the perceiver. In the same way that cubism may be beautiful or grotesque, depending on the viewer, what is supportive for one person may be offensive for another” (p.1272). This result allows understanding of why a friend who gives advice may be seen as supportive by some people and unsupportive by others. Importantly, this perception is mainly independent of either the excellence or frequency of the support being given.

Also interesting is the significant contribution, to the level of felt supportiveness, by the character of the rater. These authors, in 1996, attributed this to the rater’s ‘personality’. However, in their discussion (p.1278) they also suggest that ‘perceived support’ may be an ‘individual difference’ (a stable, recognizable characteristic distinguishing one person from another). Now we have a more sophisticated view. The nature of the individual difference is a mood called Homeostatically Protected Mood (HPMood). This positive mood is held at a constant level for each person (their set-point), and pervades all judgements concerning the person in general. The role of this maintained positive mood is to influence self-evaluations more generally, thereby helping to keep people feeling positive about their lives. In this set of studies, HPMood is the weak, background influence, contributing to the students’ feelings of being ‘generally supported’.

Further discussion of this paper, for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 1st January Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view that has

been put, an alternative and informed view, or offer a critique.

ACQol members are invited to send papers on the topic of life quality, for distribution and discussion by members under these same conditions.

Brief reportKavanagh, J., & Rich, M. D. (2018). Truth Decay: An initial exploration of the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2314/RAND_RR2314.pdf.

Opinions are crowding out and overwhelming facts in the media, and Americans are placing less faith in institutions that were once trusted sources of information. This shift away from facts and data in political debate and policy decisions has far-reaching implications for societal wellbeing: It erodes civil discourse; weakens key institutions; and imposes economic, diplomatic, and cultural costs. The authors define 'truth decay' as increasing disagreement about ‘facts’ which are not in rational contention. Within this substantial research report they examine the historical antecedents, the current causes, and propose a research agenda for the future.

Media newsWhy giving gifts brings you more happiness than receiving them: Paul Ratnerhttps://bigthink.com/personal-growth/why-its-better-to-give-gifts-than-to-receive-according-to-science

https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/why-its-better-to-give-gifts-than-to-receive-according-to-science

https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/why-its-better-to-give-gifts-than-to-receive-according-to-science

https://bigthink.com/community/paul-ratner

https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2300/RR2314/RAND_RR2314.pdf

mailto:[email protected]

Just in time for the holidays, comes new research that says you get more satisfaction from giving gifts than receiving.

Usually, a phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation is responsible for us feeling less happiness every time we experience some event or activity again. We get used even to the best things and want more. But when we give to others, something different happens.

Psychology researchers Ed O'Brien from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Samantha Kassirer of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management carried out two studies. They discovered that the happiness of the subjects declined much less or not at all if they repeatedly gave gifts to others as opposed to getting the same gifts themselves.

ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/51: 201218Bulletin of the Australian Centre on Quality of LifeEditor: Robert A. Cummins [[email protected]]Back-issues of the Bulletin are available at http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#bulletins

http://www.acqol.com.au/Note 1: The ACQol site is under development and some content is missing.Note 2: Please address any intended group correspondence to the editor only.


other person.Background: Neither the terms of reference for this committee on adoption, nor their recommendations, make any mention of ‘First Nations People’. Thoughts around this issue, however, would have been a dark shadow pressing on them. History records that, between 1905 and 1967, by edicts of State and Federal governments, between 1/10 and 1/3 indigenous Australian children were forcibly taken from their families and relocated in White society. Whether this act constituted attempted genocide is moot. In 1981, Peter Read coined the term ‘Stolen generations’ to describe the children so removed, and in 2008 the Federal Government offered an apology for ‘this blemished chapter in our nation's history’. However, the topic remains an emotional issue for the nation, particularly for First Nations People, and most particularly for the legislation concerning adoption. There is a fear of new legislation repeating past mistakes. Historically, such legislation, made by individual States and Territories, proclaimed ‘closed adoption’. An adopted child’s original birth certificate was sealed and an amended birth certificate issued that established the child’s new identity and relationship with their adoptive family. The Committee opines that ‘This had profound, lasting and negative impacts on adoptees’. The alternative open adoption, acknowledges the origins of children and allows information sharing or contact between birth and adoptive families. While open adoption is now generally supported in some form across Australia, the legislation varies with the jurisdiction, is both complex and inconsistent, thereby making it prohibitive and difficult to navigate. It seems obvious that these inhibitory factors are major contributors to the shameful information that Australia has the second lowest rate of adoption in the developed world. Of the 47,915 Australian children living in out-of-home care in 2016-2917, only 246 (.05%) were adopted. The Committee’s responsibility, inter alia, is to recommend principles for the creation of nationally-binding legislation.



Reference: Banks, J. et al (2018). Breaking barriers: a national adoption framework for Australian children. Canberra: House of Representatives http://apo.org.au/system/files/205826/apo-nid205826-1054871.pdf.

Author’s summary: The committee [House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs] makes many operational recommendations. Three that have direct relevance to child life quality are:Recommendation 2: family preservation and cultural considerations are important, but not more important than the safety and wellbeing of the child.Recommendation 4: that a national law for adoption provides for ‘open adoption’ unless exceptional circumstances make an open adoption inappropriate.Recommendation 5: that a national law for adoption provides for integrated birth certificates that include the names of both birth parents and adoptive parents, while conferring full parental and legal responsibility for adopted children on the adoptive parent(s).

Comment on Banks et al (2018)Robert A. CumminsThe determination of optimal adoption legislation must be one of the most challenging areas of the law. The interactive complexity of rights by both sets of parents and the child is so overwhelming that committees are very likely to manage their task by simplification. Such is evident in this report. First, the committee has ignored cultural considerations in their recommendations. This is despite a recent ‘Community Services Agreement’ to ‘make active efforts’ to ensure ‘culturally appropriate placements and supports for Indigenous children’, and the bleak statistics that First Nations’ children are at least 7 times more likely, compared with other children, to be in out-of-home care. Second, there is no provision in the recommendations to consider the wishes of the child. This is despite such provision being current for children >12y in several state legislations. Third, there is no consideration in the report of decisional consequences for the life quality for the participants, even though this has lain at the heart of common law since the time of Jeremy Bentham. A final note is the absence of reference to the primary scientific literature, with a total reliance on the opinion of those people making submissions. In the whole of Chapter 5 ‘Evidence based decision making’, including the section ‘Research about adoption’ (p.94), not one of the references listed are to the primary peer-review literature. Given the substantial research literature on the effects of adoption on both children and their parents, this is a major omission.

An unusual aspect of this report, and a nice demonstration of democracy at work, is that only 5/8 of the committee members agreed with the report. So the remaining three members issued their own ‘Dissenting Report’ (p.103), appended to The Report. Their major concern is with ‘open-adoption’ and they claim The Report “poses a return to Australia’s reprehensible legacy of permanently removing First Nations children from their families”. This is surely a severe overstatement. Their justification is that The Report authors have ‘wilfully ignored’ the weight of evidence relating to ‘human rights conventions…and the countless previous inquiries and recommendations critical to the safety and wellbeing of First Nations children.’ The Dissenting Report, however, fails to rationally argue the case against open-adoption on the grounds of child life quality, generally ignores the scientific literature, and misrepresents the authoritative Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. They claim that the AIHW “identified ‘the legacy of past policies of forced removal’ and the ‘intergenerational effects of previous separations from family and culture’ as contributing factors in the high rates of First

http://apo.org.au/system/files/205826/apo-nid205826-1054871.pdf


Nations’ children in out of home care” (p.109). The actual statement by the AIHW is copied below, with the above extractions [in bold] seen in context.

“The reasons for the over-representation of Indigenous children in child protectionsubstantiations are complex. The legacy of past policies of forced removal, intergenerational effects of previous separations from family and culture, a higher likelihood of living in the lowest socioeconomic areas, and perceptions arising from cultural differences in child-rearing practices are all underlying causes for their over-representation in child protection services (HREOC 1997). Drug and alcohol abuse and family violence may also be contributing factors (Scott & Nair 2013). Indigenous children are also over-represented in other areas related to child safety, including hospital admissions for injuries and assault; experiences of homelessness; and involvement in the youth justice system (AIHW 2014b) (p.27).

Adoption in Australia is a wicked problem yet to be solved.

Further discussion of this report, for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 25th December Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view

that has been put, an alternative and informed view, or offer a critique.


Brief reportStoker, G., Evans, M., & Halupka, M. (2018). Bridging the trust divide. Canberra: University of Canberra http://apo.org.au/system/files/208531/apo-nid208531-1061031.pdf.

THE CHALLENGE: There are now more authoritarian regimes than full democracies around the world. Democracy is on the retreat and Australia is not immune. Despite 25 years of economic growth, satisfaction in democracy has more than halved over the past decade dropping to 40.5 per cent in 2018. Levels of trust in Commonwealth government (31 per cent) and politicians (21 per cent) in Australia are at their lowest levels since survey data have been available. And there is a widespread belief that politicians don’t care about Australian citizens and their concerns for the future.WHY THIS MATTERS: Trust is the essential component of social and political capital. It is the glue that facilitates collective action for mutual benefit. Low trust limits our ability to manage long-term policy issues, undermines domestic policy ambition and encourages short term responses. The problem of declining trust must be addressed as a matter of urgency. By 2025 if nothing is done and current trends continue, fewer than 10 per cent of Australians will trust their politicians and political institutions – resulting in ineffective and illegitimate government, and declining social and economic wellbeing. The restoration of political trust in Australia is therefore critical to the health of our democracy and to the defence of liberal democracy more broadly in our region.



Media newsNicole Villanueva [[email protected]]

Executive Volunteer, Bulletin Co-Editor– Media

Secret to happiness may include more unpleasant emotionsAmerican Psychological Associationhttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170814092813.htm

Happiness may not just lie in feeling positive emotions. According to this research study, happiness may be about experiencing emotions that you think you are supposed to feel, including negative ones. The cross-cultural study included 2,324 university students in eight countries: the United States, Brazil, China, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Poland and Singapore. Participants were surveyed about desired and experienced emotions, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. The study assed negative self-enhancing emotions such as hatred, hostility, anger and contempt. While most participants wanted to feel more positive emotions, it was found that 11% of the participants wanted to feel fewer transcendent emotions, such as love and empathy, and 10% wanted to feel more unpleasant emotions, such as anger or hatred. Examples of these include: a girlfriend wanting to feel less love for her abusive boyfriend and someone wanting to feel more anger after reading about child abuse. Tamir, lead researcher, described how this type of study may shed light on the unrealistic expectations people have about their emotions. The disjoint between experienced, expected and desired emotions may ironically fuel unhappiness.

Membership changesSusmitha Aroli [[email protected]]

Membership RegistrarWelcome to new members

Mr Ewan FilmerCoordinator, Capricorn Citizen AdvocacyKeywords: positive, faith, resiliance, forgiveness

Dr. Kelly ChangProfessor, George Fox UniversityKeywords: Flourishing and resilience in Latin America

Dr Prue AtkinsLecturer, La Trobe UniversityKeywords: wellbeing, social, community, life events, stress

ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/50: 131218Bulletin of the Australian Centre on Quality of LifeEditor: Robert A. Cummins [[email protected]]Back-issues of the Bulletin are available at http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#bulletins





Note 1: The ACQol site is under development and some content is missing.Note 2: Please address any intended group correspondence to the editor only.


other person.Background: Peter Achterberg [email protected] has recommended this publication to us.Cummins writes: Following his realization that the discipline of economics had been unable to predict the Global Financial Crisis which commenced in 2008, the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, commissioned a report by three eminent economists. In 2009, Stiglitz, Sen, and Fitoussi published their watershed ‘Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress’. This extraordinary document critiques GDP as a measure of national progress and includes the conclusion that “. . .the time is ripe for our measurement system to shift emphasis from measuring economic production to measuring people’s well-being.” Crucially, the report also endorses the measurement of subjective wellbeing as a complementary national indicator of progress; a view that was subsequently adopted by both the OECD and WHO in their revised definitions of wellbeing. The current report by Stone & Krueger is intended as a round-up of progress in the measurement of economic performance and social progress over the past decade. And, indeed, the publication is immediately notable for its inclusion of a separate chapter on ‘Understanding subjective well-being’, thereby giving prominence to this aspect of national development.

Reference: Stone, A. A., & Krueger, A. B. (2018). Understanding subjective well-being. In J. E. Stiglitz, J.-P. Fitoussi, & M. Durand (Eds.), For Good Measure: Advancing research on well-being metrics beyond GDP (pp. 163-202). Paris: OECD Publishing.

Author’s summary: Subjective well-being has great potential as an indicator of the ‘health’ of a community and of individuals. Measures of societal progress should take into account how people feel about and experience their own lives, alongside information about their objective conditions. At a societal level, subjective well-being measures can signal wider problems in people’s lives, capture prevailing sentiment, and predict behaviour in ways that complement more traditional measures. Deepening the measurement initiatives undertaken in this field as a response to the recommendation of the 2009 Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission is needed to provide responses to the many research questions that are still open. (Executive summary).

Comment on Stone & Kruger (2018)Robert A. CumminsThe lack of any meaningful information within the authors’ executive summary tells of a missed opportunity. And this is consistent with a chapter on a psychological topic written by people trained in economics. Not only does their chapter fail to represent the current status of subjective wellbeing (SWB) measurement within psychology but also fails to offer inspiration to people employed in national statistical offices. An evident reason for this inadequacy is the authors’ deference to out-of-date, econometric beliefs, that 0-10 rating-scale data are ordinal. In fact, numerous studies have demonstrated the validity of regarding such data as interval (cardinal) for statistical analytic purposes. The authors’ refusal to acknowledge this contemporary reality has causes them to ignore the huge advances in SWB research based on statistical dispersion.


This omission is illustrated in Table 7.2. Their list of ‘methodological issues with SWB measures’ fails to mention the primary issue of concern, which is with the psychometric performance of scales. The authors cannot mention this because scales are based on interval-level statistics. This denial also leads them into awkward territory when they discuss between-country differences in SWB mean scores using 0-10 rated Gallup World Poll data. They ask the reader to ‘set aside’ their stated opinion, that such data are ‘not cardinal’, and continue to discussing the GWP results, analysed as interval data, as though they are valid.

Finally on this topic, denying the validity of 0-10 interval statistics causes the authors to ignore crucial information regarding the comparison of country-level data. They suggest that ‘systematic differences in question interpretation or response styles between cultures has thepotential to cause bias’. This statement fails to acknowledge the empirical reality, presented by numerous studies, indicating that invariance testing almost always demonstrates that SWB data cannot be validly used to make cross-cultural comparisons.

Further discussion of this paper, for circulation to members, is invited. Send to:

[email protected] comments received by midnight on Tuesday 18th December Oz time will be

published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view that has been put, an alternative and informed view, or offer a critique.


Brief reportBrotherhood of St Lawrence. (2018). Part-Time Purgatory: Young and underemployed in Australia. Melbourne: Author. http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/11030/1/BSL_Part-time_purgatory_young_and_unemployed_Dec2018.pdf Web-address

Negotiating adulthood in the 21st century, young Australians in their early 20s face a unique set of threats their parents and grandparents simply could not conceive of. In September, Australia entered its 28th year of continuous economic growth but youth unemployment remains high and more than double the rate of overall unemployment. It is estimated that in October 2018 more than 550,000 young people aged 20 to 24 are working part-time. And, notably, this change is not because they are studying full-time. The long-term shift away from stable, full-time employment and into part-time work ushers in a disturbing era of insecurity for Australia’s emerging generation: for tens of thousands of young Australians, their first ‘real’ job is likely to be a survival job—and a part-time one at that.



NOTE: The first of these two articles appeared in the ACQOL Bulletin on 12 th July 2018. The second one is a subsequent report some five months later.

http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/11030/1/BSL_Part-time_purgatory_young_and_unemployed_Dec2018.pdfWeb-address

http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/11030/1/BSL_Part-time_purgatory_young_and_unemployed_Dec2018.pdfWeb-address


Delhi's happiness curriculum begins July 12, to include 'gratitude wall' and meditation - Hindustan timesHT Correspondenthttps://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/delhi-s-happiness-curriculum-begins-july-12-to-include-gratitude-wall-and-meditation/story-5PL5TzYkaKVYbsUZWyHWDJ.html

New Delhi is attempting to create a holistic education system. Starting July 12th, Delhi government schools will allot a 45 minutes daily to happiness classes. In the classes, students will partake in meditation, storytelling and gratitude exercises. The program will be piloted with students from nursery to 8th grade and will not be exam based. The happiness of the children will be the measure. The curriculum document reads, “The day-to-day behavior of the children, their communication content and process, and thinking abilities will be observed on a weekly and a monthly basis in a dairy to be maintained by the teacher." The launch is the first step towards shifting the whole curriculum to one that focuses on creating "good human beings" Even the Dalai Lama supported the launch. The Dalai stated that only India has the ability to combine modern education and ancient knowledge in order to fulfil emotions and inner peace.

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Delhi's Public Schools Put Happiness at Top of Curriculum – VOA NewsAnjana Pasrichahttps://www.voanews.com/a/4695453.html [includes video] School can be a fountain of stress and anxiety for children. They spend full days at school, only to come home to hours of studying with very little time left for play and relaxation. The pressure of receiving high marks is heightened when education becomes a family's means of escaping poverty. With India ranking low on the World Happiness Index, New Delhi's Education Minister decided to make a change to the school curriculum. A happiness class, without examinations, was incorporated into the school schedule. The students learn about values, meditation, stress coping strategies and awareness while also playing with each other. Sisidoa hopes the class will bring balance to students who are overwhelmed with examinations and anxiety. After 5 months, the project coordinator has noticed a decrease in lying, bickering and class absences and an increase in concentration. A student described that the happiness class helped him feel calm and focused for the rest of his classes.


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMs. Usar SuragarnPhD candidate, Florida Atlantic UniversityKeywords: Healthy aging, Well-being, palliative care, older adults

Ms Farahnaz SharifiPhD candidate, Swinburne universityKeywords: urban quality of life

Ms Bonita KlinkoskiN/AKeywords: Health and well being


ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/49: 061218 Bulletin of the Australian Centre on Quality of LifeEditor: Robert A. Cummins [[email protected]]http://www.acqol.com.au/Note 1: This site is under development and some content is missing.Note 2: Please address any intended group correspondence to the editor only.


other person.

Background: From the early 1980’s, Joseph Forgas has been researching the interaction of affect and cognition. By 1991 his research was starting to concentrate on affect and social cognition. Then, in 1995, he elaborated his Affect Infusion Model in a major journal, the Psychological Bulletin. This paper, which has received over 3,700 citations, presents the Model as a ‘new integrative theory’ which is proposed as a ‘comprehensive explanation’ of the role of affect in social judgements. In this description, the paper presents a confusing picture of affect, mood, and emotion. While it correctly defines these words in terms of their essential differences (affect-overarching; mood-low intensity enduring; emotion-high intensity short-lived), these terms are then used as synonyms, which is not conducive to understanding. The paper also mentions various constructs which are essential components of a homeostatic model, such as mood maintenance and the temporal infusion of affect into social judgements. However, this 1995 paper makes no mention of homeostasis, and by the time of this 2004 publication, the link to homeostasis had been made by other, unacknowledged, authors.

Reference: Forgas, J. P., Hippel, W. v., & Laham, S. M. (2004). An evolutionary model of managing moods: Evidence for the role of homeostatic cognitive strategies in affect regulation. Journal of Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology, 2(1-2), 43-60.

Author’s summary: This paper outlines a homeostatic theory of spontaneous mood management. It is suggested that affect management is achieved through automatic shifts between different information processing strategies capable of accentuating (through affective priming) or attenuating (through controlled processing) a prevailing affective state. Three experiments are presented investigating temporal fluctuations in the positivity and negativity of social responses by people who received an initial positive or negative mood induction. Results were consistent with the operation of a spontaneous, homeostatic mood management mechanism, as initially mood-congruent responses were spontaneously reversed and replaced by mood-incongruent reactions over time.

Comment on Forgas et al (2004)Robert A. CumminsEssentially, these authors are attempting to graft homeostasis onto the pre-established structure of the Affect Infusion Model. In this earlier model, the reaction to an emotion is described in complex terms as following the sequence of ‘a mood-congruent response which is automatically replaced by an incongruent response.’ In other words, a positive event yields a happy emotion (mood congruent) which then dissipates over time (mood incongruent). This is seen as highly relevant to the ‘cognitive mechanisms involved in affect infusion’, which sounds impressive. In fact there is nothing incongruent to explain. This is simply the temporal


sequence of affect induction followed by the process of habituation to the inducing stimulus. This is insufficient evidence to conclude a homeostatic involvement; we passively habituate to any benign sensory input, such as the ticking of a bed-side clock. The authors also indicate that their insight proposing homeostatic involvement goes back to 1998. They claim “These results are also consistent with the hypothesis that mood congruent and incongruent processing may well be linked in a single, homeostatic mood management system (Forgas et al., 1998). In fact, this reference contains no mention of homeostasis and this is their only reference to homeostasis in the literature. Finally, the claim that their paper ‘outlines a homeostatic theory’ is unsupported. Evidence for homeostasis must include at least the identification of a nominated variable whose level is managed around a set-point, and the active mechanisms for that management, at both higher and lower levels than set-point. This has not been provided. In summary, the claim in the title of this paper is not substantiated.




ACQol members are invited to send papers, on the topic of life quality, for distribution to other members under these same conditions.

Brief reportMarkus, A. (2018). Mapping Social Cohesion: The Scanlon Foundation Surveys 2018. Melbourne: Monash University https://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Social-Cohesion-2018-report-26-Nov.pdf.By 2016, almost half the Australian population was either first or second generation. This is the highest overseas-born proportion in OECD countries with populations in excess of ten million. New immigrants are increasingly drawn from the Asian region, with four times as many coming from India and China compared with the UK. A large majority of Australians continue to endorse the view that immigration benefits the country and will continue to play an important role in the years ahead. A strong majority disagree that migrant selection should involve discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity or religion. Trust in government to ‘do the right thing for the Australian people’ is at a low level (30%) but has not significantly changed over the previous four years. The report concludes “Given the magnitude of change which has tested Australia’s social cohesion since 2007 – the Global Financial Crisis, declining manufacturing industry, heightened cost of living, sustained population growth, increasing cultural and ethnic diversity, political instability with six Prime Ministers in ten years – Australians remain overwhelmingly supportive of the multicultural character of their nation and of the value of immigration”.

Media news

Grow Your Own HappinessJackie Frenchhttps://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/grow-your-own-happiness-20181128-p50izr.html

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/grow-your-own-happiness-20181128-p50izr.html

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/grow-your-own-happiness-20181128-p50izr.html

https://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Social-Cohesion-2018-report-26-Nov.pdf

https://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Social-Cohesion-2018-report-26-Nov.pdf


The best reason to grow a garden is to make yourself happy. The next best reason is to make everyone you live with and all who visit you happy, too. And the third is to add to the happiness of those who pass by, including birds, bees, bandicoots, lizards but preferably not European wasps or other invaders. Humans are happiest with growing things around them. Even office pot plants reduce the number of ''sickies'' taken each year. Schools with many trees may not get the best academic results. But where would they stand on a happiness index? I wonder.Is there any more pleasant smell than that of freshly mown grass?So what makes us happy about gardens?........


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new member

Mrs Helen JonesN/aKeywords: Personal health and well being

ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/48: 291118Bulletin of the Australian Centre on Quality of LifeEditor: Robert A. Cummins [[email protected]]http://www.acqol.com.au/Note 1: This site is under development and some content is missing.Note 2: Please address any intended group correspondence to the editor only.


other person.

Background: The most common measure of subjective wellbeing is by the single item“How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?” (Global Life Satisfaction: GLS) rated on a 0-10 scale. People tend to provide very similar scores over time, showing that the measure is reliable. The reason for this stability has been generally attributed to two underlying influences: stable personality traits and stable memory traces when respondents formulate their ‘satisfaction’. This assumption of inevitable stability has been useful for researchers because they do not have to be concerned about the circumstances in which people give their response. The assumption is also wrong, as first systemically demonstrated by Schwarz and Strack. Between 1983 and 1987, these authors published a series of highly cited laboratory studies. Their results clearly showed that ratings on GLS were influenced by the respondent’s emotional state at the time they made their rating. This finding greatly complicates the measurement and the interpretation of GLS data. So, various authors have published discrediting studies, one of which is the article by Yap et al (2017). Their rationale for thisr replication is that the original study used small Ns. However, using larger sample sizes has resource implications, which are especially evident if the original study used a resource-intensive methodology. The consequences of this conundrum are evident when Yap et al



replicated Schwarz and Strack (1983). The aim of the study was to get people feeling either really good or really bad, and then examine whether these emotional states affected ratings on GLS.

Reference: Yap, S. C. Y., Wortman, J., Anusic, I., Baker, S. G., Scherer, L. D., Donnellan, M. B., & Lucas, R. E. (2017). The effect of mood on judgments of subjective well-being: Nine tests of the judgment model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(6), 939-961.

Author’s summary: GLS judgments are thought to represent an overall evaluation of the quality of a person’s life as a whole. Thus, they should reflect relatively important and stable characteristics of that person’s life. Previous highly cited research has suggested that transient factors, such as the [emotion] that a person experiences at the time that well-being judgments are made, can influence these judgments. However, most existing studies used small sample sizes, and few replications have been attempted. Nine direct and conceptual replications of past studies resulted in nonsignificant [emotion] effects on GLS judgments.

Comment on Yap et al (2017)Robert A. CumminsThe original Schwarz and Strack methodology was: (a) In groups of 3-4, students were led into an oddly-shaped, sound-proof room. Some groups were told to expect that the room would make them feel ‘tense’, other groups were told ‘elated’, and that the effect would increase over time in the room. (b) They were told that the department of Psychology would like to find out what caused these feelings, and were asked to rate the room on various characteristics. (c) They took part in a 25 minute memory task for sounds. (d) They were asked to collaborate on the development of a ‘life-event inventory’. Their task was to describe ‘as vividly and in as much detail as possible’, a recent event that made them feel ‘really good’ [or ‘bad’]. They were given 20 minutes to complete the task. (e) They were questioned in detail about the event in terms of its emotional impact. (f) They then provided their GLS ratings. The Yap et al methodology was: (a) Students in private cubicles completing the entire study on computers. (b) They were informed they were contributing to the development of a new ‘Life event inventory’. (c) They were requested to recall an event that had made them feel really good (or bad), to recall the event as vividly as possible, and to write about it for 10 minutes. (d) They provided their GLS rating. CRITIQUE. The original methodology involved an intensive emersion in an emotionally engaging, experiential environment. The replication provided a pale reflection of this experience. RESULTS: The original study caused GLS differences of 29%, between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ emotion groups. The Yap et al equivalent is 5.5%. CONCLUSION: The reason Yap et al failed to replicate the Schwarz & Strack results is their use of a less intensive experiential exposure. Their replication is invalid due to methodological differences.

Further discussion of this paper for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]





New Instrument DescriptionWe are creating a formal statement of the psychometric information pertaining to key scales

used in QOL research. The purpose is to give researchers and students a ready means of evaluating whether a scale is suitable for their own project.

The attached description of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale has been created by Executive Volunteer Editor Nemanja Djordjevic <[email protected]>

We gratefully acknowledge the collaboration of Professor Peter Lovibond, co-author of the DASS, in the construction of this description.

Reference: Djordjevic, N. (2018). Depression Anxiety Stress Scale: A psychometric description. In: R. A. Cummins (Ed.), Australian Centre on Quality of Life: Directory of

Instruments. Deakin University: Geelong. http://www.acqol.com.au/instruments#measures

[NOTE: This is the web-address that will include this document once it has been transferred to the new ACQol web-page. This will happen shortly]

Brief reportSocial Research Centre. (2018). National Return to Work Survey 2018: Summary Report. Canberra: Safe Work Australia http://apo.org.au/system/files/201211/apo-nid201211-1043911.pdf.

2018 saw a significant 19.6% increase in the proportion of unsuccessful return to work attempts (those who had to take additional time off since returning to work, due to their work-related injury or illness). 37.6% of workers who had returned to work, reported that they worked reduced hours upon their return. This rose to 53.7% for those who experienced mental illness. Of those injured/ill people who had not returned to work, 34.9% reported probable serious mental illness (a Kessler 6 score of 19 to 30), compared to 6.3% of those currently working. Also among the non-returners, 55.0% reported experiencing above average levels of financial distress, compared to 28.6% of the workers surveyed. These results are indicative of the negative impact that long-term absence from the workplace, following injury/illness, can have on overall wellbeing.



Detailed Maps Show How Neighborhoods Shape Children for LifeEmily Badger and Quoctrung Bui https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/upshot/maps-neighborhoods-shape-child-poverty.html

They say that it takes a neighborhood to raise a child. What if the neighborhood affected the child even as an adult? The American Census Bureau published an interactive map of the USA that depicted projected adult income for the children of different sectors. The findings are based of the earnings of 20.5 million children in America born between 1978 and 1983. The data show disparities amongst races and even local towns. For example, children who grew up with similar means, but in different states, showed quadruple the adult income differences. In one sector, one in four black boys were incarcerated. What's going on? The researchers believe much of this variation is driven by the neighborhoods themselves, not by


http://www.acqol.com.au/instruments#measures

differences in what brings people to live in them. The more years children spend in a good neighborhood, the greater the benefits they receive. And what matters, the researchers find, is a hyper-local setting: the environment within about half a mile of a child’s home. Housing authorities are testing whether they can voucher programs to move families to areas where opportunity already exists. Some influential characteristics include: more employed adults, two-parent families, and school boundary lines. These only account for a portion of the discrepancies. Once the distinguishing attributes of "good" neighborhoods are identified, officials can work to incorporate these into problematic sectors.


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMr Ross BarrettRetiredKeywords: Wellbeing, men, mental health, women, gender difference

Mr. Allan GrayVolunteer trainer, International Training AllianceKeywords: Reliable data, motivational factors



other person.

Background: The sub-discipline of Positive Psychology was introduced to the literature by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi in 2000. PP has been wildly successful in capturing the interest, not just of academics, but of the community in general. It has lifted the public profile of psychology from a dark discipline concerned with such matters as worker-exploitation (time-and-motion-studies) and psychopathology, to one concerned with creating happiness, fulfilment, reaching-one’s-potential, etc. All things bright and beautiful. But does this public perception of PP reflect scientific reality, or are the claims illusory? A substantial literature now challenges the claims of PP, and the response of the PP community has been typically evangelical. Critiques are simply ignored. The problem for PP adherents is that the critiques are generally well argued and solidly based, to the point that they are moving PP to the academic sidelines as merely pop psychology. Crede et al add weight to this push.

Crede, M., Tynan, M. C., & Harms, P. D. (2017). Much Ado About Grit: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of the Grit Literature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 492-511.



Author’s summary: Grit has been presented as a higher order personality trait that is highly predictive of both success and performance and distinct from other traits such as conscientiousness. This paper provides a meta-analytic review of the grit literature based on 584 effect sizes from 88 independent samples representing 66,807 individuals. It is concluded that the higher order structure of grit is not confirmed, that grit is only moderately correlated with performance and retention, and that grit is very strongly correlated with conscientiousness. We also find that interventions designed to enhance grit may only have weak effects on performance and success, and that the construct validity of grit is in question.

Comment on Crede (2017)Robert A. CumminsIt is easy to add original research to the PP literature. First, think of a new catchy term, such as ‘EmCon’ – empathic concern. Then construct an ‘EmCon’ scale by asking a ‘focus group’ to describe their understanding of ‘empathy’ and ‘concern’. From their responses create a set of questionnaire items and apply factor analysis. Then establish validity by correlating the ‘EmCon’ scale with established scales, such as self-esteem and depression. The correlations will be significant, in the region of .4 and -.4 respectively. The claim is then made that training in empathic concern increases self-esteem and reduces their risk of depression. STOP! In the absence of critical analysis, this is pop psychology at its worst. Returning now to ‘Grit’, Crede et al have highlighted several methodological flaws, one of which is endemic within the PP literature. This is the lack of discriminant validity – the extent to which ‘EmCon’ represents a new construct, rather than being an amalgam of established constructs. New understanding of this issue has come from the realization that a great deal of the overlapping variance, causing between-scale correlations, comes from homeostatically protected mood. When this co-variance is statistically removed, the small amounts of unique variance present in scales such as ‘Grit’ are shown to mainly comprise variance already present in established scales [a point weakly disputed by Duckworth in her rejoinder: also attached]. Discriminant validity is the key statistic required to bring the PP house to order.


Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 27 November Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view



Brief reportSamuels, F., Samman, E., Hunt, A., Rost, L., & Plank, G. (2018). Between work and care: Older women’s economic empowerment. London: Age International.http://apo.org.au/system/files/203796/apo-nid203796-1049431.pdf

On average, across some 30 countries, older women spend more than four hours a day on unpaid work – more than double the time older men spend on the same activities. The proportion of older women in the paid economy has also risen at a faster rate than that of older men since 1990. In poorer countries, where care infrastructure is severely lacking,



unpaid care work often occupies large amounts of time and can be burdensome, leading to significant time poverty and carrying emotional and physical consequences for older women. Women’s lower access to decent paid work throughout their life course also means that access to comprehensive social protection, notably through universal pensions, is critical for their economic security in older age. Older women often rely on informal support (notably from their family and community), yet informal support is waning as social, economic and demographic change takes hold.



Where joy hides and how to find it - TED talkIngrid Fetell Leehttps://archive.org/details/IngridFetellLee_2018

When Ingrid's final design project was called "joyful", she became puzzled. What qualities did her objects have that produced this response in her viewers? The following 10 years of her career were dedicated to exploring the joyfulness in aesthetics. After asking different people, of all ages and cultures, what made them happy, Ingrid saw a repeating theme. The objects most named were: rainbows, cherry blossoms, swimming pools, ice cream with sprinkles, confetti, bubbles, polka dots, tree houses and fireworks. I know you are a little more joyful just after reading that list! Industrialization continues to drive our surroundings toward being unjoyful with angles, squares, flat and muted colors. Ingrid describes that these small moments of joy, filled with curves, circles and bright colors, have the potential to alter mindsets. Workers are friendlier and happier in bright colored settings; Children feel safer at school when the design is whimsical and colorful. Not only does Ingrid challenges the viewer to find visually joyful objects in their daily life, but she also highlights the importance of incorporating these into our built environment.


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMrs Eva CapobiancoN/aKeywords: Survey Participant

Mr Glenne DroverN/aKeywords: Energy, Holiday, Family

Ms Rosalie PowerPhD Candidate, University of SydneyKeywords: disability

Mrs Erika PapasRetired secondary teacher, SA Education Dept.


Keywords: Human behavior

Mrs Janice RuddickRetiredKeywords: Depression and anxiety

Mrs Frances SmytheN/aKeywords: Self awareness

Ms Clare SuttonProject Manager, Smiling MindKeywords: Mindfulness, Wellbeing, Meditation, Mental health

Mr Wolfgang WernerN/a, N/aKeywords: Physical activity

Mrs Fiona WolfendenWellbeing Coordinator, University of SydneyKeywords: Learning what constitutes a life well lived



other person.

Background: Kimina Lyall <[email protected]> has recommended this article to us.Cummins writes: Most studies of emotion employ cross-sectional data and the authors of this paper describe such studies as “taking still photos of a dance” (p.902). Indeed so. Emotions are the normally ephemeral feelings generated in relation to a cognition or percept. They inform about the momentary associations of each target with feelings. These feelings, as emotions, are represented by the orthogonal dimensions of the affective circumplex, felt as some combination of pleasant/unpleasant and activated/deactivated. There is some research interest in which momentary emotions are linked to change in which other measures. However, the most important understanding comes from dynamic changes in emotions, and their associations, over time. Such analyses require longitudinal data, which are resource-intensive to generate and require sophisticated statistical analysis. This long paper provides an excellent summary of such results.


Reference: Houben, M., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Kuppens, P. (2015). The relation between short-term emotion dynamics and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 141(4), 901-930.

Author’s summary: A meta-analysis was performed on 79 articles which reported results on both ‘emotional experience’ and ‘psychological wellbeing’, broadly defined. Each article involved longitudinal data collected from at least three consecutive time-points. The aim was to identify consistent relationships between patterns of short-term emotion dynamics. It is concluded that low levels of psychological wellbeing are associated with higher emotional variability, instability, and inertia.

Comment on Houben et al (2015)Robert A. CumminsThese results are consistent with homeostasis theory, described as follows. Measured wellbeing has two major components. One is a steady base-level of mood affect, which is unchanging over time, experienced at a level (‘set-point’) which is genetically-determined for each person. The other component is changeable emotion, as described above. These two sources of affect combine in consciousness when people report their level of wellbeing, as in “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?” Under normal operating conditions, the level of the emotion component is constrained by homeostasis, to lie within a defined range around the set-point. However, a strongly felt emotion briefly dominates homeostasis, causing measured wellbeing to be experienced above or below this set-point-range. Such excursions are normally brief, as homeostasis returns levels of emotion back to the set-point-range. This is the normal process. However, an abnormal, pathological situation develops when the emotion is persistent and strong enough to defeat normal homeostatic control. Then, measured wellbeing does not return to set-point-range, and the person experiences persistently abnormal levels of below-normal wellbeing, making them susceptible to depression. This reduced homeostatic control explains Houben’s results. The reduced homeostatic control means that the emotions are poorly attenuated over time. This causes experienced wellbeing to be more variable both in amplitude (higher within-person standard deviation) and frequency (from moment-to-moment). Moreover, changes in levels of wellbeing tend to linger-longer (inertia). These results are consistent with prediction from the theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis.


Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 20th November Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view



Website additions and changesIestyn Polley <[email protected]>

Executive Web Developer

Two of our web-pages have been extensively re-modelled.


1. The Australian Unity reports have now been relocated to ‘Data Portal’. This section now containsCross-sectional surveys – these have been transferred from the ‘Projects/publications’ section.

Individual Longitudinal surveys -Under development. This will contain individual data files and data dictionaries. Each participant in each data file will have an ID number which can be matched across multiple surveys for the purpose of longitudinal analyses. This development will commence in 2019.

Combined Longitudinal surveys – The Mother File - Under development. This will contain all of our data in a single file. It is hoped that this file will become available in 2019.

2. The ‘Projects/publications’ sectionhttp://www.acqol.com.au/development/projectsis now restricted to the listing of member publications that are freely available as open-access. Publications may be made available through a listing of their title, abstract, and web-address to source, or as complete publications housed on the ACQol site. Submitted publications must be relevant to life quality and sent to Webmaster.

Brief reportAustralian Psychological Society (2018). Australian Loneliness Report. Melbourne: Author

https://psychweek.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Psychology-Week-2018-Australian-Loneliness-Report.pdf.

Loneliness is a feeling of distress people experience when their social relations are not the way they would like. It is a personal feeling of social isolation, which is different from feeling alone. We can be surrounded by others but still lonely, or we can be alone but not feel lonely. Loneliness is also related more to the quality than the quantity of relationships. This report finds that one in four Australian adults are lonely, with major age differences. Whereas younger adults report high levels of both loneliness and social interaction anxiety, Australians over 65 years report the opposite, with low levels of loneliness and social interaction anxiety.



Gene which decreases risk of social network-related stress, increases finance-related stress riskAuthor: European College of Neuropharmacologyhttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181007084036.htm

Despite being detrimental to the human experience, depression has survived through evolution. Researchers have recently identified a gene that may be partially at fault. Findings concern 5-HTTLPR, a short variant of the gene which carries the instructions for producing the serotonin transporter protein. In previous research, it was found to make people more susceptible to depression after experiencing financial stress as an adult. 5-HTTLPR has now been found to protect younger individuals against social network stress. Researcher Gonda

http://www.acqol.com.au/development/projects

reported: "What we see is the same gene having opposite effects following different types of environmental events and even at different points throughout one's life." In the sample of 1081 volunteers, all under age of 30, the short variant of 5-HTTLPR was found in 37-40% of the participants. Gonda concluded that the adaptive role of 5-HTTLPR may have been to increase sensitivity to social influences and events with positive outcomes. The variant's negative effect of depression only appears in specific situations.


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMr Roy DavisN/aKeywords: Health, lifestyle, fitness, mental health

Mrs Margaret RoseN/aKeywords: Aged care

Mr Russell SpeedN/a, N/aKeywords: Well being

Ms Liz MageeFoster Carer Assessment, MacKillop Family ServicesKeywords: Wellbeing of children in Australia

Mr Keith McDonaldRetiredKeywords: Research

Dr Andrew BrennanCurtin UniversityKeywords: N/a

Mrs Jackie GangellN/aKeywords: Survey participant


Paper for private study



The attached paper, on the topic of life quality, is sent to you for your personal private study and discussion within ACQol. You are prohibited from further distributing this paper to any

other person.

Background: National statistical agencies are responsible for producing information of national concern, to be used for social and economic policy. It might therefore be expected that when agencies decide to include measures developed by the social sciences, they would seek expert advice from that source. But this is not necessarily so, and the result has been the production of inferior measures to collect national data. The questionable validity of the OECD ‘Better Life Index’ has already been discussed (ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/37: 130918). The UK – Office of National Statistics (ONS) has a similar issue. Since 2011 their Annual Population Survey has included the four (ONS4) questions intended to measure ‘Personal Well-Being’. The questions were designed by two ONS employees, neither of whom had any prior, peer-review publications on this form of measurement.

Their items were designed to “capture 3 types of well-being” as: Evaluative: [Life satisfaction] “Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?”Eudemonic: [Worthwhile] “Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?Experience: [Happiness] Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?

[Anxiety] On a scale where nought is ‘not at all anxious’ and 10 is ‘completely anxious’, overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

Reference: Office for National Statistics. (2018). Personal well-being. Newport: ONS. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologies/personalwellbeingsurveyuserguide

Author’s summary: “Personal well-being ..[measures]… people’s own views about their lives. Monitoring personal well-being across the nation year on year will help to show how people feel their quality of life changes in relation to changes in circumstances, policies and wider events in society. It will also show how people in the UK evaluate their lives compared to people in other countries across the world. [The ONS4] questions are seen as the gold standard for measuring personal well-being, and therefore are used in many surveys across the UK.”

Comment on Office for National Statistics (2018).Robert A. CumminsThe five most disappointing aspects of this scale are as follows:

1. The authors have virtually ignored 50 years of systematic literature in the social sciences regarding the psychometrically inferior status of single-item measures compared with multi-item scales.

2. The ONS approach to data analysis reflects a long history within economics, of ignoring data variance. Prior to the past couple of decades, this was justified by the belief, within economics, that response-scale data were nominal only. In the intervening interval, numerous publications have shown this view to be incorrect, with response-scale ratings from 0-10, as employed by ONS, validly representing interval data. This seems to have caused ONS to now occupy an uncomfortable middle-ground. They admit to interval scaling by reporting means scores derived from their equal-interval, 0-10 response scale, and even report correlational

results. But they seem inhibited from using modern psychometric techniques involving variance to examine item performance.

3. Item performance is evaluated ‘cognitively’ by ONS, using focus groups to provide opinion on item understandability, etc. While such data are important at the fundamental level of comprehension, they cannot reflect the basic psychometric adequacy of the items to yield data that are valid and reliable, and sensitive.

4. No adequate basis is offered for the choice of items. The ONS also seems uncertain what, exactly, each item is measuring, with a variety of opinions being provided by different ONS publications. Using ‘worthwhile’ to represent ‘eudaimonic wellbeing’ is particularly hard to justify from the literature.

5. The inclusion of ‘how happy/anxious did you feel yesterday’ reveals a lack of knowledge concerning affective memory. Essentially, people are unable to reliably report on their affective state for any time interval other than the present.

Further discussion of this paper for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 13 November Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin. Such comments may offer a novel extension to the view



Brief reportSheppard, J., McAllister, I., & Makkal, T. (2018). Australian Values study - 2018. Canberra: ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods https://srcentre.com.au/user/pages/07.ausvalues/Australian%20Values%20Survey%202018%20-%20web.pdf

“We surveyed more than 1,800 Australians during 2018, and several key themes have emerged. Despite our claims to larrikinism, we have a keen respect for authority and many of us are open to ‘strongman’ and technocratic styles of government. However, we remain committed to the concept of democracy and are broadly satisfied with how Australian democracy is functioning. Confidence in a range of civic and political organisations is in decline, but most acutely towards media organisations. Our thoughts on immigration remain mixed. We believe that migrants make Australia more diverse and vibrant, but also that immigration increases social conflict. And around half of all Australians believe in God, and an afterlife with a heaven and a hell.”



Title: How Expectations Affect Ones Happiness in MarriageAuthor: Dianne Grande

https://srcentre.com.au/user/pages/07.ausvalues/Australian%20Values%20Survey%202018%20-%20web.pdf

https://srcentre.com.au/user/pages/07.ausvalues/Australian%20Values%20Survey%202018%20-%20web.pdf


https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-it-together/201810/how-expectations-affect-ones-happiness-in-marriage

“The purpose of marriage has changed as society has evolved. Marriage used to be a means of gaining status, financial security and a stable environment for raising children. In recent decades, the intention has shifted to finding friendship, romance and for some "the one". While the ideals of marriage have improved, there is a common assumption reinforced by romantic novels and movies that “finding the right one” will lead to happiness. Expectations of the significant other have increased, but research suggests that in modern society less time is being spent on marriages. These changes have correlated with all-time levels of dissatisfaction with being married. People are busier nowadays balancing demanding jobs and family life, but expectations remain high. High expectations have been found to have the worst effect when coupled with poor communication skills, high levels of stress and limited time devoted to the relationship. A newlywed researcher suggested matching expectations about the ability to deliver time, effort and social skill, in order to avoid disappointment. "Happy couple" researchers reported that if couples focus on accepting unsolvable problems and solving the solvable ones, less frustration would be produced. This allows for better problem solving and constructive discussion. Seems simpler in theory, right?”


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMr Neil MuirPrincipal / Leave, NSW Department of EducationKeywords: Wellbeing, Health, Staff support

Dr Tony WardFellow, University of MelbourneKeywords: Happiness, inequality

Ms Carolyn BrewerN/aKeywords: Wellbeing, social inclusion, mental health, happiness, satisfaction

Mrs Jannine BloeschN/aKeywords: Curiosity improving self and others

Mrs Margaret McCabeN/aKeywords: Wellbeing

Ms Janet SmithN/aKeywords: Social issues/social justice/health

Mr William Morison


Founding Past President/Now Treasurer, Hospice Lakes Entrance IncKeywords: Personal Interest

Ms Linda RobertsN/aKeywords: Wellbeing, attitudes, kindness, giving

Mr William Martin BentleyN/aKeywords: None

Mr Ross TowersTeacher, Frankston High schoolKeywords: Quality living, helping others

Mr Graeme HazellN/aKeywords: Participant in ACQol Survey

Mr Graeme LindenmayerN/aKeywords: Survey Participant

Ms Jaymie RainsN/aKeywords: Well-being, Survey Participant

Mrs Yvonne NicollSecretary, Trinity Inlet Catchment Management Assoc. IncKeywords: Wellbeing, longevity, independence.

Mr Ian KolodziejczykN/aKeywords: none

Mr Leo KostarelasN/aKeywords: Future life health and well being.

Mrs Janet KuhlN/aKeywords: Survey participant

Mr Nigel AstfalckN/aKeywords: None

Mrs Melva Mitchell

Radio Committee (Volunteer), Harvey Community Radio Harvey History on Line Bunbury Oral History GroupKeywords: Curiousity

Dr Chris PierceCEO, Global Governance Services LtdKeywords: Governance & QOL

Miss Kim WellspringN/aKeywords: None



other person.

Background: Robert Connor <[email protected]> has recommended this article.

The term philosophy, likely coined by Pythagoras (570–495 BCE), was originally intended to encompassed any body of knowledge. This meaning is retained in the award of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) as a university, rather than a disciplinary, degree. However, from the time of the Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BCE) to the 19th century, ‘natural philosophy’ started the disciplinary split, encompassing astronomy, medicine, and physics. Since then, the wealth of knowledge has fragmented into multitudinous new disciplines and sub-disciplines within ‘medicine’, each with their arcane language, self-obsessed content, and Pretorian Guard of senior academics. The result, for descriptions of life quality, has been the creation of specialist knowledge silos, rather than a truly philosophical approach to understanding. This fragmentation has long been a concern for defining life quality. Are definitions using the tangible metrics of physiology naturally superior to those based on the experiential world of psychology? And, if so, should the whole discipline of psychology aim to recast its self within physiology? These questions troubled Jessor, who saw the spector of his discipline being brought to its end by cross-disciplinary ‘reductionist’ research. He had reasonable grounds for such speculation. Since physiology and psychology together describe life on earth, and since both disciplinary systems developed in parallel guided by evolutionary parsimony, they would be expected to share many fundamental operational processes.

Reference: Jessor, R. (1958). The problem of reductionism in psychology. Psychological Review, 65(3), 170-178.Author’s summary: This argument focused upon the logical possibility of a complete translatability or derivability of the concepts and laws of psychology from those of


physiology. The central contention was that the latter, lacking terms to describe the behavioural environment, was logically inadequate as a base for a thoroughgoing reduction of the former.

Comment on Jessor (1958)Robert A. CumminsJessor seems obsessed by the thought that reductionism may cause the take-over of psychology by physiology. He then makes a rather tedious case why this cannot be so and, in so doing, reflects the disciplinary insecurity of his time. In the 1950s psychology was weakly scientific, with the International Union of Psychological Science only founded in 1951. Physiology, on the other hand, was scientifically advanced, and commonly seen from within psychology as a disciplinary take-over threat. So the idea of labelling reductionism as an enemy of psychology had traction, as evidenced by Jessor’s publication in the leading psychological journal of that time. However, such defensive strategies are unworthy of scientists who seek broad understanding and, with the advantage of hind-sight, it can be seen what the psychological science of that time missed. The intervening years have ushered-in a golden age of understanding based on cross-disciplinary research which, contrary to Jessor’s fears, has greatly consolidated psychological science. An example is the shared use of homeostasis, wherein the stability of an essential variable is actively maintained within a narrow range most suited to the variable’s role. Discovered in physiology by Cannon in 1929, homeostasis has more recently been argued by Damasio (see ACQol Bulletins 2/39 and 2/40) as an essential component of both physiological and psychological life. In psychology ‘subjective wellbeing homeostasis’ concerns management of basic feelings, called affects. These affects, such as happy or sad, are ‘basic’ units of psychology because they cannot be further reduced to simpler components. They are also ‘basic’ because they are used by some of the earliest life-forms, such as single-cell amoeba, to engage approach-avoidance behaviour even though such animals lack a defined nervous system. So the discovery that some basic affects are under homeostatic control is consistent with expectation, derived from evolutionary theory, and represents a nice example of shared physiological/psychological processes informing the understanding of life quality. So why did it take almost 70 years for this inter-disciplinary bridge to be discovered? Even though the disciplinary take-over horror imagined by Jessor did not eventuate, that commonly held belief, among academics at that time, may have subtly stunted the scientific development of psychology. It is curious that the whole topic of affect is still given short-shrift within the discipline, at least in Australia. No graduate student has ever come to me for supervision with prior understanding of the affective circumplex; the basic affective classificatory system.


Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 6th November Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin.


]Brief report

Carers NSW. (2018). Carers NSW 2018 Carer Survey: Summary report. Sydney Author http://apo.org.au/system/files/196726/apo-nid196726-1025831.pdf



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Psychological_Science

The 2018 Carer Survey across New South Wales was completed by a total of 1,830 respondents. A carer is any individual who provides care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail.

Consistent with previous surveys, the typical respondent was a female primary carer aged between 45 and 64 years, educated beyond high school and not in paid work, providing 60+ hours of care per week, and living on a household income of less than $50,000 per year. The typical care recipient was an adult son, aged 18 to 64 years, with a physical disability, only able to be left alone for a few hours and requiring 60+ hours per week of care.

As is inevitably found by such surveys, the carers reported very low levels of subjective wellbeing and very high levels of psychological distress. While the newly-introduced National Disability Insurance Scheme was seen as somewhat helpful, it did not generally assist carers to look after their own health or go back to work. In fact, carer support services had a relatively low uptake overall.



How state and local governments can buy their citizens’ happiness Christopher Barrington-Leigh and Jon Wollenberd http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2018/10/29/how-state-and-local-governments-can-buy-their-citizens-happiness/

Elected officials and policymakers pass or decline policies that affect the quality of life of individuals. The cost of a policy is always a determining factor. Barrington-Leigh and Wollenberg sought to analyze what aspects of a person's life influenced quality of life the most. By targeting these aspects, policymakers would then be able to boost quality of life quicker and for a lower cost. The researchers partnered with DataHaven, a Connecticut nonprofit which conducts widespread surveys on quality of life. The study found that "feeling food secure" and "feeling like you can trust your neighbors" were as important as a 4-5 fold increase in salary. The study also found that individuals that felt "supported and connected to their surroundings" and individuals that experienced government responsiveness were more likely to be satisfied with their lives. The authors recommend officials focus on policies that influence a wide set of people in order to reap the most improvement in quality of life. Instead of increasing the family salary, which important but costly, officials can focus on these more manageable variables by improving access to nutritious food and health care, strengthening neighborhood cohesion and walkability, and deepening people’s relationships with different levels of government.

Potential collaborationLeanne Fenez <[email protected]>

We are considering the Personal Wellness Index within the context of developing a province wide quality assurance framework for non-profit services within Manitoba, Canada.

Leanne FenezQA Project Lead Abilities Manitoba204-791-9319Website:http://www.abilitiesmanitoba.org/


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMr Gordon Beardn/aKeywords: Survey participant.

Mr Christopher Roffn/aKeywords: Personal Curiosity

Mrs Robyn Clarken/aKeywords: None

Mrs Paula Jenkinsn/aKeywords: Always interested in good living

Ms Narelle Grantn/aKeywords: NA

Mrs Kerry BugdenWyong Catholic ParishKeywords: non professional interest

Mrs. Cheryl Hansonn/aKeywords: Results from survey

Mr. Hugh AlderseyManager, Technical Marketing---Before retirement at 74, RetiredKeywords: opportunity for self analysis

Mr John KreitlingRetiredKeywords: Curious


http://www.abilitiesmanitoba.org/

Ms Berry Jonesn/aKeywords: survey participant

Ms Julia HealyMaffra SecondaryKeywords: participant

Mr Jeff LodgePrincipal consultant (retired), Lodge ConsultingKeywords: Healthy lifestyles; determinants of well-being; aging well.

Mrs Leanne Huxleyn/aKeywords: Participant

Mr Peter Tuckn/aKeywords: curiosity



other person.

Background: There is much to admire in this paper as viewed from the social sciences. The sophistication of contemporary genetic analyses is extraordinary, as are the supporting financial resources. It is also very encouraging that such a variety of Genome Wide Association Studies have included a measure of Subjective Wellbeing (SWB). It has been clear for several decades that SWB is influenced by a strong genetic core, and discovery of the precise genes responsible for this link will be made more likely by such cross-disciplinary measurement. However, in order for such research to produce valid outcomes, the methodology must be equally-informed by both the science of genetics and psychological science.

Reference: Wootton, R. E., Lawn, R. B., Millard, L. A., Davies, N. M., Taylor, A. E., Munafò, M. R.,… Haworth, C. M. (2018). Evaluation of the causal effects between subjective wellbeing and cardiometabolic health: mendelian randomisation study. British Medical Journal, 362(k3788), 1-11. https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/362/bmj.k3788.full.pdf

Author’s summary: These results suggest that a higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with a lower subjective wellbeing. A follow-up analysis confirmed this finding, suggesting


that the effect in middle aged people could be driven by satisfaction with health. Body mass index is a modifiable determinant, and therefore, this study provides further motivation to tackle the obesity epidemic because of the knock-on effects of higher body mass index on subjective wellbeing. Comment on Wootton et al (2018)Robert A. CumminsThe study has both negative and positive aspects. A major negative is the atheoretical approach to SWB, thereby missing a perfect opportunity to test homeostasis theory. Other negative aspects are methodological. First, the authors make an invalid claim of ‘causality’, made on the basis of cross-sectional data. That is, the proposition that high body weight (BMI) causes low SWB, may also be interpreted in reverse. People with low SWB may have a higher propensity than normal to over-eat. Second, their single significant result may well be a Type-1 error since they tested over 20 different predictions and failed to make a Bonferroni correction. Third, it seems a vast waste of resources to simply confirm an inverse relationship between SWB and BMI, since this is such a commonly reported result within the social sciences. Finally, the authors fail to realize that the relationship between these two variables is driven by extreme scores, most especially by extremely high BMI. The positive aspect of their study comes as an inadvertent consequence of the cavalier approach to SWB measurement. Their SWB variable is derived from differently worded items extracted from different studies, where data are derived from blunt 6-level response scales, and include un-validated home-made scales which include such unique forms as “During the past week, I was happy?” The disregard for SWB metrics is such that no meaningful description is given for the derivation of a single SWB variable, and the relevant tables are placed in a separate, non-open access appendix. While this methodological chaos has almost negated the probability of any systematic SWB variance, the BMI-SWB relationship is weakly recognizable. This shared variance is testament to the presence of a common source of variance within each form of SWB measurement. It has been demonstrated that this shared variance is likely to be Homeostatically Protected Mood.

Further discussion of this/these paper(s), for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 23rd October Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin.


Brief reportDavidson, P., Saunders, P., Bradbury, B., & Wong, M. (2018). Poverty in Australia, 2018. ACOSS/UNSW Poverty and Inequality Partnership Report No. 2. Sydney: ACOSS.https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACOSS_Poverty-in-Australia-Report_Web-Final.pdfThe poverty line is 50% of median household disposable income and our poverty rate is 14th highest out of 36 OECD countries. Our poverty line is a very frugal $433 a week for a single adult living alone, while for a couple with two children it is $909. More than one in eight people (13.2%) live below the poverty line in Australia. Disturbingly, the poverty rate among children is more than one in six (17.3%). All told, there are 3.05 million people in poverty, including 739,000 children. Most of these people rely on social security as their main source of income. While the overall poverty rate fluctuated within a band between 11.5% and 14.4% between 1999 and 2016, it has now plateaued at 12.8%. “The evidence shows that through

https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACOSS_Poverty-in-Australia-Report_Web-Final.pdf


social security, housing, and employment policies, as a nation we choose the level of poverty we are prepared to accept” (p.14).

Media news

Loneliness: the latest economic niche opening up in ChinaJane Caihttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2133317/loneliness-latest-economic-niche-opening-china

Young people in big cities are seeking emotional outlets by ‘embracing loneliness and consuming loneliness’. Kelly Hui, a 26-year-old photographer, shares a 60 square metre flat in Shenzhen with a flatmate, but they seldom talk. Her most constant companion is, instead, a virtual frog that goes on adventures around Japan. Players collect clover that grows in the frog’s garden so they can buy supplies for the frog’s journeys. In return, the frog sends players souvenirs and snapshots during its trips. Users cannot control when the frog chooses to go on its adventures. “I hadn’t heard from it for three days, so when I received a postcard from the frog I burst into tears,” Hui said. “It is a dear friend to me”.


Membership RegistrarNote: The names of all members have now been transferred to the new membership listhttp://www.acqol.com.au/collaborators#acqol-membersPlease feel free to check your entry and let me (Susmitha) know of any changes you would like to make.

Welcome to new membersMrs Karen GrozierN/AKeywords: Longitudinal study

Ms Gael TrotmanN/AKeywords: curiosity

Mrs. Margaret WeddingNilKeywords: What makes the world tick!

Mr Robert BallNilKeywords: Curiosity

Mr David PinneyRetired PharmacistKeywords: Nil

http://www.acqol.com.au/collaborators#acqol-members


Mrs Julie RaynerretiredKeywords: exercise physical health, karma relaxation, pilates

Ms Marie Maldonadon/aKeywords: curious, interesting, inclusive, activating, thinking

Mrs Ina le BasNilKeywords: nil



other person.

Background: Emeritus Professor Ferran Casas and colleagues have provided a number of publications based on their vast holdings of international data on children; an exemplary activity and tribute to their industry. One of their earlier papers (Coenders, et al, 2005) was discussed in ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/30: 260718. This current paper concerns the decreasing levels of Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) as children age, the negative implications of this for set-points and homeostasis theory, all bound together with data from 15 countries analysed by measurement invariance.Reference: Casas, F., & González‐Carrasco, M. (2018). Subjective well‐being decreasing with age: New research on children over 8. Child Development. doi:10.1111/cdev.13133Author’s summary: Using data from the international Children’s Worlds project (N = 48,040), involving 15 countries, a comparative analysis was performed to determine how mean scores evolve with different SWB scales from the age of 8 onwards. The results support the hypothesis that the tendency of SWB to decrease with age starts at around 10 years of age in most countries, while also confirming that different psychometric scales display different levels of sensitivity to diverse sociocultural contexts and more than one should be used in any research on children and adolescents’ SWB.Comment on Casas & Gonzalez-Carrasco (2018)Robert A. CumminsThe authors have created an excellently presented paper and displayed considerable analytic skills. Nevertheless, I have several misgivings. The first is whether 8y old children have the ability to respond validly to such questions as “I wish I had a different kind of life” (Students Life Satisfaction Scale). This is an abstract counterfactual question which even adults from some cultural groups find difficult to comprehend. The second is with the critique of


homeostatic set-points based on changes in subjective wellbeing (SWB). Notably, our set-point demonstrations are not based on raw SWB scores. We demonstrate that SWB comprises two components; a variable emotion and an unchanging mood (HPMood), with the latter representing the set-point. The third concern derives from our demonstration that the mean Australian adult set-point is 80 points. In the absence of contrary reasoning, we assume that this level applies universally, and therefore to children. Moreover, it should be very difficult to sustain a population mean above this level due to homeostatic control; especially habituation. If so, then measured levels of SWB that substantially exceed 80 points, as reported in this paper, are likely due to a methods effect, such as acquiescent responding. This is characteristic of people who feel compelled to provide a response to a question they do not understand, and so provide a maximally positive response. Finally, it is surprising that invariance testing across the multi-national groups achieved scalar invariance. This would almost certainly not be possible using adult data. So, why are children from different cultural groups responding in the same way? Again, this result might be expected if acquiescent responding was providing a common methods effect.


Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 23rd October Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin.


Brief reportConsumers Health Forum of Australia. (2018). Results of Australia's Health Panel survey on recommendations and regulation of smartphone apps for health and wellness. Canberra: Author https://chf.org.au/sites/default/files/results_of_australias_health_panel_survey_on_recommendations_and_regulation_of_smartphone_apps_for_health_and_wellness.pdf.

As consumers increasingly turn to health apps to aid and monitor their health and treatment, there’s clearly a need for people to know whether they can trust the apps, and whether they offer the best health option available and are worth the investment in time and money. Our survey results show that:• Respondents trust their GPs most when it comes to recommendations for apps, but also do their own research and look to other sources for information; • There is a role for the government to play in regulating health and wellness apps, with nearly 90% of respondents to our survey saying that either the government should review and rate health apps (58%), or should fund another organisation to do it (31%); • There is a healthy scepticism towards trusting sources like Google or even recommendations from peers completely; and • Respondents trust non-government health organisations to provide sound advice.

Media newsFrench public: Quality of life has dropped in 20 yearshttps://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/French-public-say-their-quality-of-life-has-dropped-in-20-years-with-working-men-especially-affected

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/French-public-say-their-quality-of-life-has-dropped-in-20-years-with-working-men-especially-affected

https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/French-public-say-their-quality-of-life-has-dropped-in-20-years-with-working-men-especially-affected

https://chf.org.au/sites/default/files/results_of_australias_health_panel_survey_on_recommendations_and_regulation_of_smartphone_apps_for_health_and_wellness.pdf

https://chf.org.au/sites/default/files/results_of_australias_health_panel_survey_on_recommendations_and_regulation_of_smartphone_apps_for_health_and_wellness.pdf


French people believe that their quality of life has gone down in the past 20 years, a new study has found, with working people aged 35-54 especially affected. According to the results of three surveys - each using comparable sample sets - from 1995, 2003 and 2016, the French public has judged their quality of life to have become lower over time. Those aged 35-54 and in work felt the change especially acutely. The report featured questions on mental and physical health, as well as financial success and outlook.

Potential [email protected]

One of our research scientists is working on validating a new survey tool for use in an outpatient diabetes population. We would like to use the Personal Wellbeing Index for convergent validity.

Stephanie Harris, MLS, AHIPResearch LibrarianCenter for CREATION Health Research301 East Princeton StreetOrlando, FL 32804407-303-2800 x 1110079Floridahospital.com


Membership RegistrarWelcome to new membersMs Alison BrienNilKeywords: lifestyle

Mrs Jenny GlassNilKeywords: volunteer

Mrs Christine SmithNilKeywords: n/a

Ms Siobhan MullanyretiredKeywords: wellbeing

Dr. Patsy TremayneNilKeywords: psychology, medical, psychophysiology, performance, exams

Mr Ray MillissNilKeywords: making a better Australia

Ms Noreen Roesler



https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2018/10/09/jech-2018-210941

https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2018/10/09/jech-2018-210941

Director, Permanence CityKeywords: Ageing with good health

Mr Richard ManuellretiredKeywords: interest in the well-being of seniors

Ms Anne SladePracticum Supervisor, Macquarie UniversityKeywords: Interest Cooperation Knowledge Research Analysis

Lost membersIf you are able to help us regain contact with the person listed below, please contact Susmitha.

Professor Mandy RobbinsWrexham Glyndwr University,Mold Road, Wrexham, Wales, UK. LL11 2AWEmail: [email protected]



other person.

Background: Three life areas normally contribute most strongly to individual subjective wellbeing: An emotionally intimate relationship, having enough money to meet reasonable needs, and having a sense purpose in life. Of these three, having paid employment covers all three of these bases. Employment provides not only a sense of purpose, but is also an important source of money and relationships. Employment is, thus, central to human life quality. And it is at risk through increasing automation. Or is it? This report, based on the opinions of highly informed people, is mainly limited to Australian sources, but surely reflects the global experience.

Reference: Watt, M. (2018). Hope is not a strategy - our shared responsibility for the future of work and workers Canberra: The Senate http://apo.org.au/system/files/193386/apo-nid193386-1009281.pdf.

Author’s summary: The overarching message the committee takes away from this inquiry is positive, pointing to one clear conclusion: none of the dire predictions are inevitable. Workers, workplaces and societies have always faced technological and other change. It is for us, as a country, to choose how to think about the future—the danger lies in not being


prepared, and the winners, internationally, will be those planning for the future, not waiting for the future to happen to them. The committee considers it an irrefutable responsibility of government to provide Australians with an informed commitment to planning for technological change across industries.

Comment on Watt (2018)Robert A. CumminsIt is interesting to observe that, while this eminent committee received the most informed advice available, their task was to predict the future. Notably, of course, their advice involved only information applicable to the present and the past. The present records statistics on the current status of employment across the nation, the immediate past concerns trends in these statistics to the present, and the distant past concern postdictive observations on major events (e.g. The Luddites and compensation effects). Sadly, all such information is inherently an unreliable guide to the future, as gamblers on the stock market or the Melbourne cup do discover. Even in fairly stable life conditions predictions are hazardous. But when a new and major influence enters the national equation, such as the level of automation susceptibility of occupations, even the most informed advisors are simply guessing. This inevitably means that the Committee receives conflicting advice. These opinions are then processed by each member, with their synthesis biased by their inherent homeostatic positivity. The result, as above, is a mildly optimistic view of the future. It would be most unwise to regard this prediction as representing a valid probability of future reality.

Further discussion of this publication, for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 16th October Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin.


Website additions and changesIestyn Polley <[email protected]>

Executive Web Developer

Past issues of the ACQol Bulletin are now archived at http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#bulletins

News of the Personal Wellbeing IndexWe have commenced recruitment for our 26th longitudinal survey (ARC-26) after a gap of 5 years. This is the happy outcome from a huge collaborative exercise over the past six months involving the following people:

Sarah Khor <[email protected]>; questionnaire construction on the websiteJane McGillivray <[email protected]>; financeIestyn Polley <[email protected]>; website modifications



Tanja Capic [email protected]; membership adviceDelyse Hutchinson <[email protected]>; questionnaire adviceMatthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz <[email protected]>; quest adviceKIMINA LYALL <[email protected]>; questionnaire adviceElla Garth <[email protected]>; questionnaire adviceAnn-Marie James <[email protected]>; secretarialKRISTA SHERIDAN FISHER <[email protected]>; questionnaire assemblyLISA STEVENSON [email protected]; ethics applicationCATHERINE EMERSON <[email protected]>; recruitmentSusmitha Aroli <[email protected]>; membership registrar

Because the respondents to the previous survey (ARC-25) used a paper survey, we only had their postal address. So our 2,663 invitations to re-join the survey will be mailed over the next six weeks. Each invitation guides the recipient to the front page of the ACQol site, where a new hyperlink (“2018 ACQol survey: Complete the 2018 ACQol survey-click here”) takes the clicker to the questionnaire. If you would like to become part of these longitudinal surveys, you are most welcome to ‘click-here’ and have the 10 minute questionnaire experience.

Brief reportSoutphommasane, T. (2018). Anti-Racism in 2018 and Beyond: A report on the activities of the National Anti-Racism Strategy (2015-18). Sydney: Australian Human Rights Commission.http://apo.org.au/system/files/187006/apo-nid187006-988801.PDF

Australia is a highly diverse, multicultural society. According to the 2016 Census, 49 per cent of the population were born overseas or have a parent born overseas. This multicultural reality enjoys widespread public acceptance. According to the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion study, the overwhelming majority of Australians (83 per cent) say that multiculturalism has been good for Australia. Nonetheless, racism and racial discrimination continue to exist. In 2017, 20 per cent of Australians said they experienced discrimination in the past twelve months. Those from non-English speaking backgrounds continue to experience higher levels of discrimination (34.2 per cent in 2017). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience racism in systemic and institutional ways. In 2016, 46 per cent of Indigenous respondents reported experiencing prejudice in the previous six months, compared to 39 per cent for the same period two years before.



Title: Making happiness last longerAuthor: Society for Consumer Psychology https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180918154819.htm

A life can be filled with fleeting moments of happiness without the person considering his or her life truly happy. Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Texas A&M University explored whether the happiness derived from these moments could be extended by changing the way people frame their goals. Contrary to the S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time- bound) goals approach, the researchers

http://apo.org.au/system/files/187006/apo-nid187006-988801.PDF



found that general goals had a more lasting effect on happiness. In one experiment, participants described a recent important purchase. One group described purchases aimed at increasing happiness in life (general goal) and the other described purchases with more specific goals: to become happier by increasing relaxation and peace of mind. They also completed a survey asking about their initial happiness. Participants received an e-mail 2 weeks and 6 weeks after their purchase asking about the influence of the purchase on their happiness. Results showed that although the levels of happiness were equal for the three groups at the initial time of the purchase, those who had more general goals reported more happiness as time passed. The difference between the groups was the most significant six weeks later. Although more research is needed, researchers say that people have the ability to increase the happiness received from "short-lived" happiness experiences.


Further discussion of Damasio (2018)ACQol Bulletin Vol 2/39: 271018 provided a comment on the book:Damasio, A. (2018). The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Culture. New York: Pantheon Books.

The original comment on this article is reproduced below, together with a second comment that has been received.

Comment#1 on Damasio (2018)Robert A. CumminsDamasio’s view of homeostasis places it centre stage in the evolutionary sequence – first the primordial soup; from this “living matter would have begun as a chemical sleight of hand”; this living matter would be imbued with the homeostatic imperative; self-copying molecules evolved (p.39). Accepting the ‘sleight of hand’, which even today is experimentally unreplicable using raw materials, the described role of homeostatic processes are logical and reasonably accounted for. However, the description provided is biological, with ‘feelings’ being used as a synonym for all of ‘affect’. It is possible that the separation of affect into Homeostatically Protected Mood and emotion will add understanding to this grand view.

Comment#2 on Damasio (2018)Kimina Lyall <[email protected]>That a scientist of Damasio’s stature and reputation has turned his attention to “the strange order of things”—homeostasis—should be of considerable interest to members of the ACQOL. That he has also determined that human feelings act as homeostasis’s “deputies” (p. 25) should generate intrigue. This is because although Damasio appears to be oblivious to the theory of subjective wellbeing homeostasis (SWB) and to the notion of homeostatically-protected mood (HPMood), he has in fact presented many aspects of its case. Damasio’s explorations of homeostasis extend beyond the traditional definition—“the ability, present in all living organisms, to continuously and automatically maintain their functional operations … within a range of values compatible with survival” (p. 45)—to one that evokes the


notion of “flourishing.” In this more extensive definition, Damasio suggests that organisms (including, interestingly, single-cell organisms) engage in “a natural upregulation that can be described as aiming for the future of the organism, an inclination to project itself in time by means of optimized life regulation” (p. 45). This idea, that homeostasis is not so much a steady state, but the means by which life continues to improve itself, allows Damasio to venture outside of a traditional biological view of homeostasis to one that encompasses affect and culture. His musing on culture (being the mechanism by which groups of individuals upregulate their homeostatic systems) may be of general interest to members of this group. However, Damasio’s views on the role of feelings as communicators of homeostasis is where our specific interest may lie. In his view, feelings serve as the “subjective experiences of the momentary state of homeostasis within a living body” (p. 27). Damasio’s use of the generic word “feelings” largely refers to what he describes as the “background flow of life processes in our organisms, which are experienced as spontaneous or homeostatic feelings”, as distinct from emotive responses triggered by stimuli, drive, or motivation (p. 99). In this, his description is analogous to our understanding of HPMood, the weak, underlying, positive affect that SWB homeostasis seeks to maintain. Indeed, Damasio says as much when he describes homeostatic feelings (which he calls spontaneous, but I think would be better described as unprovoked) as arising “from the background flow of life processes in our organism, a dynamic background state, and constitute the natural backdrop of our mental lives (p. 107)”. For Damasio, then, this homeostatic feeling (HPMood) is the mechanism by which the body reports to the brain that things are, or are not, well. They signify the overall state of the life of the individual by reporting to the brain through feelings whether homeostasis is under threat. According to Damasio, “homeostasis in good or even optimal ranges expresses itself as well-being” (p 117). Damasio, as Bob has already pointed out in his previous comments, remains focused on the biological nature of feelings, by placing them firmly as a mechanism of the nervous system, and connected to the endocrine and immune systems. When homeostatic feelings are masked by negative emotions, physiological turmoil in the form of inflammation or stress is also indicated. While this focus on the biological may have distracted him from some of the psychological components of SWB homeostasis, his conclusion that the goal of homeostasis is to optimise, or even improve, the future of the organism is as much psychological as it is biological. It may also explain the nature of HPMood (and SWB set-points) as being inherently positive. So where does this new, albeit unwitting, addition to the quality of life literature lead us? Up until now, the theory of SWB homeostasis has identified that the part it is protecting is HPMood. Damasio suggests the homeostatic feeling (HPMood) is in turn protecting more fundamental biological and evolutionary processes. These parallel trains of inquiry should be further explored. And Damasio should be invited to join this group!Postscript (Bob): Damasio has been invited to join us.

Further discussion of Damasio (2018), for circulation to members, is invited. Send to: [email protected]

Substantive comments received by midnight on Tuesday 09 October Oz time will be published in the following Bulletin.


Brief report


Reference: Hendry, N., Walsh, J., & Hatton, S. L. (2018). The Yes project: Educator Guide. Canberra: Office of the eSafety Commissioner http://apo.org.au/system/files/192936/apo-nid192936-1007461.pdf.

Guiding young people to positively shape their digital practices has never been more important. In an increasingly tech-driven world, young people find it challenging to make the distinction between their online and offline worlds. Whether it’s for school, socialising, or entertainment, almost everything teens do is enabled through an internet-connected device. The YeS Project focuses on improving digital culture and bolstering young people’s support networks. It encourages teachers and students to explore the pros and cons of various digital practices, communities and values, sparking important conversations and problem solving in the classroom.



Title: How a parent's affection shapes a child's happiness for lifeAuthor: Sandi Schwartz https://www.mother.ly/child/how-a-parents-affection-shapes-a-childs-happiness-for-life

Affection in a family seems to be a "plus" more than a developmental advantage or a necessity. Hugs, kisses and emotional support may be viewed as trivial but, research has found that from infancy parental affection is a deciding factor in a child's wellbeing. Benefits include: higher self esteem, improved academic performance, better parent-child communication, and fewer psychological and behavior problems. Contrastingly, children whose parents show less affection tend to have lower self esteems and experience higher rates of loneliness and aggression. A study conducted by Duke University Medical School followed 500 people from infancy to their 30s. Researchers concluded that babies with very affectionate and attentive mothers grow up to be happier, more resilient, less anxious adults. The effect was attributed to the hormone oxytocin, which is released during moments of connection and love. This affection in turn also facilitates the production of the hormone in the child's brain, causing the child to feel more positive emotions. The article recommends parents be aware of these benefits, in order to purposely incorporate affection into interactions with their children.

Potential collaboration

I work for a company that provides high-quality behavioral health services to US companies that are primarily centered in the San Francisco Bay Area. I help to oversee a stress management coaching program. We are looking at viable measures to use to assess its effectiveness. We will be using the Personal Wellbeing Index.

Matt Boone <[email protected]>Creative Director - Clinical ContentLyra Healthm: (607) 229-0957


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