Browsing by Subject "Well-being"

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Beyond Accessibility and Behavioral Outcomes: Re-conceptualizing Equity in Transportation through the Capabilities Approach
(2020-09) Wang, Jueyu
In the past decades, transportation equity has attracted increasing attention from transportation researchers and policymakers. Nonetheless, there is a lack of theoretical understanding of transportation equity. The dissertation engages the Capability Approach of Sen and Nussbaum as a theory of justice and well-being to conceptualize transportation equity as the process of the production of the equality of mobility capabilities, the substantial freedom people have to travel. Specifically, I propose an equity evaluative framework of five evaluation domains, including 1) Access to basic resources, services, and activities sites; 2) The freedom of physical movement around places; 3) Opportunities for active travel (walking and bicycling); 4) Opportunities to conduct safe and psychologically satisfied trips; 5) Access to political engagement activities. The dissertation also applies the CA framework to two different empirical contexts. One assesses the inequalities of mobility outcomes and capabilities of traveling within low-car ownership households. The results reveal that low-car ownership people of different socio-economic groups achieve different mobility outcomes under the different levels of mobility capabilities. The analysis suggests the joint evaluation of mobility capability and outcomes in informing transportation inequity and disadvantage. The second examines the inequalities of travel mood among different socio-demographic groups and how mobility capabilities, measured as modal options and access destination opportunities, interact with travel mood. The results reveal the significant impacts of mobility capabilities on travel mood and the moderation effects of mobility capabilities on the relationship between mode and mood. The findings highlight the importance of explicit consideration of mobility capabilities– in policy debates and planning initiatives. The concluding chapter contextualizes these findings within the transportation literature and proposes several take-away for policy and future research directions.
Child nutritional well-being in Ghana: an analysis of associated individual, household, and contextual health indicators and socioeconomic and biophysical environmental variables.
(2011-08) Nikoi, Ebenezer Goodman Ashie
Depriving children of the nutrients needed for growth sets them up to fail in life. When children are well nourished and cared for, they are more likely to survive, thrive, and to meaningfully contribute to society. This study assesses the association of characteristics of individual children under age five in Ghana, their mothers, and their households—as well as socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the places where they live—with differential nutritional well-being. What distinguishes this study from most research on young children’s nutritional status in the Global South is its analysis of data for individual children, made possible by use of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), and assignation of district variables that capture characteristics of their places of residence to individual children as cases. This enables assessment of the relative explanatory role of variables that describe the socioeconomic and biophysical environments. This study implements a three-level multivariate logistic regression analysis with separate models for each of the nutritional outcome variables—height-for-age, weightfor- age and hemoglobin—at each level. Descriptive statistics summarize the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and hemoglobin and delineate frequencies and proportions for selected independent variables at each level. Further statistical analysis relies on chisquared (χ2) tests to determine significant bivariate associations. All significantly associated variables in the bivariate analysis are subjected to binary logistic regression analysis. The results of fixed effects are reported with odds ratios (ORs) along with confidence intervals for p<.05. The following variables were found to be significantly associated with at least one of the three nutritional outcomes in multivariate analyses at the child and district levels: child’s age, months of breastfeeding, fever, mother’s health status, prenatal care, mother’s occupation, mother’s ethnicity, household water supply, household wealth status, population density, percent literate (vs. illiterate) in district, percent in rural (vs. urban) locations, wealth status of district residents, and ecological zone of residence. As found in much previous research, mother’s education and occupation, father’s education and occupation, household size and structure, and sanitation were significantly associated with children’s nutritional status in bivariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis. After controlling for the characteristics of children, mothers and households, significant associastions with children’s nutritional status were found for population density, percentage of literate (vs. illiterate) residents in a district, wealth status of district residents, and residence in the Guinea Forest-Savanna Mosaic and Central African Mangrove ecological zones. Other significantly associated variables in the final models were the age of the child, months of breastfeeding, whether the child’s mother has health insurance and the wealth status of a child’s household. Notwithstanding the shortcomings of this study, its findings can potentially assist stakeholders by providing a better understanding of the diverse set of factors that influence children’s nutritional status and some explanation for differences in nutritional status among places within Ghana.
The effects of attitudinal balance on well-being.
(2010-08) Fuglestad, Paul T.
Although theories of cognitive consistency have received much empirical attention, little research has investigated the impacts of inconsistencies on people's relational and personal well-being. Drawing on balance theory (Heider, 1958), the present investigation examined the relations of imbalance (i.e., the extent of attitudinal discrepancy with close others) and imbalance reduction strategies to well-being and the moderating influence of self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974). It was hypothesized that discrepancy with close others regarding important attitudes (e.g., core values) would have negative effects on relational and personal well-being and that self-monitoring would moderate these relations. Participants completed the Self-Monitoring Scale, assessments of attitudes from the standpoint of self and close others (e.g., friends, romantic partner), and measures of relational (e.g., closeness, communication quality) and personal well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, anxiety). Across multiple studies, discrepancy with close others regarding the favorability of core values was consistently related to less relational and personal well being. This pattern was particularly true of romantic relationships and friendships and was moderated by self-monitoring. For low self-monitors, greater value discrepancy with friends and romantic partners predicted less relational and personal well-being, and the relation of discrepancy to personal well-being was partially mediated by relational well-being. For high self-monitors, greater value discrepancy with romantic partners predicted less relational well-being, but did not predict personal well-being. Additionally, the use of direct discussion as a means to address imbalance was related to better relationship functioning and greater well-being, whereas avoidance was related to negative outcomes. Results suggest that balance processes are important for close relationships and psychological well-being. Furthermore, individual differences in self-monitoring meaningfully moderate these processes.
The Effects Of Cognitive Reflection Exercises On Employee Engagement: A Positive Intervention And Study Of The Role Of Cognition In Increasing Engagement In The Workplace
(2020-05) Giddings, Douglas
The employee engagement literature suggests that in order to increase engagement in the workplace, the number and availability of job resources (e.g., performance feedback, social support, autonomy, etc.) to which employees have access must also increase. This dissertation explores the role of cognition in employee engagement interventions by creating and testing a theoretical model that proposes the relationship between job resources and engagement is mediated by increased cognitive perceptions of those resources (perceptions of resource presence, and perceptions of resource importance). I tested hypotheses by creating a cognitive reflection intervention, similar to those used in the positive organizational scholarship literature, which asked participant to briefly reflect, at the end of each workday, and write about a positive experience they had related to one of five specific job resources. This intervention lasted for five weeks, and included pretest-posttest surveys to analyze overall changes to employee engagement and other key outcomes, as well as five end-of-week surveys to assess within-person changes in outcomes during the intervention period. The active-treatment condition was then compared to results from an active-control condition (who were asked to reflect about positive events more generally, rather than focusing specifically on job resources) and a no-treatment condition. Results revealed no significant changes to engagement for participants assigned to the active-treatment condition, or in differences between the active-treatment group and the other two conditions. Nevertheless, engagement scores for both reflection conditions increased or remained steady during the intervention period, while engagement scores for the no-treatment condition decreased. I conclude with a discussion of findings, theoretical and practical implications, and study limitations.
Emerging Adult-Sibling Relationships: Closeness, Communication, and Well-being
(2018-05) LeBouef, Samantha
In the current study, we examined the relationships between well-being, sibling closeness, and sibling communication to address several gaps in the literature. Extending the concepts and assumptions of social exchange theory, the goal of this study was to determine if well-being moderates the relationship between communication and perceived sibling closeness. This study utilized a subsample (n=236) of participants from a larger sample of emerging adults. Surveys were collected through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and participants were compensated $0.50 for their time. Hierarchal multiple regression was used and analyses were run using IBM SPSS Statistics 23. The dataset was evaluated for compliance with linear regression assumptions. Results found that neither emotional, psychological, nor social well-being moderated the relationship between sibling communication and sibling closeness. However, associations between sibling communication and sibling closeness were statistically significant in the full model. Male-female gender dyads, as well as the race Asian, were found to be statistically significant. Results suggested male-female gender dyads were more likely to be close and those who identified as Asian as less likely to be close to their siblings. Limitations and future research are considered.
Intersections of Culture and Well-being in the Workplace Environment
(2015-06) Scott, Angelita
This study is an investigation of how culture affects employee well-being in the workplace environment. It is also an attempt at constructing an instrument that measures the relationship between culture and well-being in such settings. Correlation and logistic regression tests were conducted to understand the relationships of the independent variables culture (operationalized by ethnicity), physical environment, social characteristics, and visual characteristics and their effect on well-being. Hofstede's (1984) cultural dimensions and Travis' (2010) 10 principles of Black cultural design were used as theoretical frameworks to ground the concepts. Hypotheses statements were developed for this study and include: culture influences employees' well-being in the workplace; the overall physical environment influences well-being in the workplace; social characteristics influence well-being in the workplace; and visual characteristics influence well-being in the workplace. Findings resulted in no significance for the hypotheses tested nor the logistic regression model. However, it is suggested that further testing of the model is conducted due to the small sample size and skewed variables. It is also highly recommended that more qualitative studies are conducted around the concepts of culture and well-being to have a better understanding of the complex aspects of culture and well-being in the workplace. Culture is important in the workplace environment, therefore studies such as this one are important. Designing spaces that increase connectivity and relationships is not only beneficial to employee well-being, but it also has the advantage of increasing an organization's bottom line.
On Citizen Well-Being
(2023) Marks, Tucker
This dissertation is focused on developing the notion of citizen well-being: what it means to live a life that is good for the person living it as a member of a political community. This notion is one that, I will argue, is present in the history of moral and political theory, but that is not explicitly identified as such. Instead, it is often implicit in claims made about the happiness of people living in just societies, for example, or in claims about the damage done by injustice or oppression. First, in the introduction I aim to clarify how the notion of citizen well-being should be situated in the contemporary well-being literature. Second, I aim to explore one particular theory of citizen well-being – a hybrid theory – in the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, where I argue the notion implicitly appears. The latter is the focus of the three chapters. Chapter 1 will identify both the notion of citizen well-being and this hybrid theory in Rousseau; Chapter 2 will fill in the account with an accompanying account of the civic virtues; finally, Chapter 3 will show how the theory might be applied to help us better understand other elements of Rousseau’s political theory. I will conclude with an exploration, related to the work in Chapter 3, of how this theory might be applied in future research.
A Qualitative Study of African American Elders’ Housing in Relation to their Well-being
(2017-05) Smoot, Amanda
The primary focus of this exploratory study was to determine how the interaction of human characteristics and the physical and social environment characteristics of home affect well-being among African American elders. An Ecological Model of Aging was used to investigate this issue and included components of the physical and social environments and demographics of the sample. Physical environment characteristics investigated included housing type, housing tenure, and neighborhood. Social environment characteristics investigated included sense of community, place attachment, and safety. Typically, these characteristics are defined by the perspective of the dominant group of people who are studied. Minority groups’ perspectives are not often represented in research literature, given ancillary attention, or interpreted/misinterpreted by well-informed and well-intentioned individuals who may lack race consciousness or understanding of institutional racism. To resolve this issue, a qualitative research study was completed using data collected from 17 African American adults aged 65 years and older who live in non-institutionalized, community-based housing in Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Physical environment findings indicate housing type and tenure have a strong influence on African American elders’ overall well-being. Social environment findings suggest participants’ sense of place and where they live deeply impact their identity and satisfaction. It was also determined that there is interaction between the physical and social environments, which supports the Ecological Model of Aging. The socioeconomic status and security of a safe, decent, and affordable home, in a supportive and amenity-rich community, were also found to influence participants’ well-being. Ancillary to the study’s findings, this research also demonstrates the importance of race-centered research, suggesting racism be appropriately included as a form of environmental press in the Ecological Model of Aging theoretical framework. This study’s findings further suggest that to reduce disparities, researchers and policy decision makers must understand aspirations, needs, and challenges of African Americans and recognize the critical role of the homeplace in buffering the negative effects of racism, and, for those who are African American and poor, to buffer the negative effects of racism and poverty.
Quality of family dinner interactions and child and adolescent well-being
(2013-01) Schacher, Gregory
Despite evidence that predictors of family dinner quality, (e.g., atmosphere, priority and structure of shared family mealtimes) have been associated with a narrow range of child outcomes, no studies have broadly evaluated the relationship of many specific family dinner interactions across child outcomes. The current study extends existing research by testing whether a collection of 24 indicators of higher quality family dinner interactions (quality indicators) and a collection of 19 barriers to higher quality family dinner interactions (quality barriers) are associated with five child outcomes in a nationally representative sample of children. Data were obtained by The Family Room, a research firm studying children and families. Using quota sampling, a diverse nationally representative sample, consisting of 1000 children, ages 8-18, was recruited from a webbased panel. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that the main hypotheses were largely supported. After controlling for sociodemographics (children’s age and gender, parent’s race/ethnicity and household income), as well as other contributing predictors (family dinner frequency and family closeness), both quality predictor variables were significantly associated with four of the five outcomes above and beyond sociodemographic controls. Quality indicators were associated with four outcomes, but only one, emotional and social well-being, held up after controls for family dinner frequency and family closeness; whereas, three outcomes continued to be uniquely predicted by quality barriers after all controls: emotional and social well-being, life skills and developmental assets, and frequency of nutritious food intake. Exploratory analyses found that the strength of both quality predictor variables and outcomes were moderated by family dinner frequency for three outcome measures, with quality barriers more strongly predicting outcomes (emotional and social well-being, life skills, and level of physical activity) when children had family dinners more frequently. Age and income were significant moderators, but for only one outcome apiece. Findings suggest that children and adolescents are particularly sensitive to quality barriers in well-being, life skills and nutritious food intake. Family dinner frequency acted as a moderating influence differently for quality indicators then for quality barriers with outcomes and deserves more attention in future research. Implications for family professionals and future research are discussed.
Religiousness/Spirituality and Well-being in Parents of Autistic Children
(2023) Khan, Lila
Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder often experience worse mental health and well-being compared to parents of typically-developing children and children with other developmental disabilities (Lai et al., 2015; Blacher & Baker, 2019; Bourke-Taylor et al., 2012; Griffith et al., 2010). This study explores predictors of mental health and well-being in this context, adding to the emerging body of literature on the influence of religiousness and spirituality (R/S; Chu et al., 2020; Kheir et al., 2012; Schertz et al., 2016). This study examines four R/S elements: daily spiritual experiences, private religious/spiritual practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness. Study participants were recruited through Prolific.co, an online research platform. 178 participants answered the full study survey via the University of Minnesota Qualtrics site. All participants live in the United States, are 18 years or older and the parent of at least one child (age 6-18 years old) with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, and are fluent English speakers. Daily spiritual experiences emerged as a significant predictor for depression, anxiety, meaning in life, and satisfaction with life. However, contrary to my hypotheses, after accounting for covariates, private R/S practices, religious/spiritual community support, and organizational religiousness did not significantly predict mental health or well-being. Notably, religious/spiritual community support and organizational religiousness moderated the impact of private religious/spiritual practices and daily spiritual experiences on some mental health and well-being variables. The moderation effects of organizational religiousness and religious/spiritual community support on the relationships between multiple R/S and mental health & well-being variables suggests possible implications for practice in using public R/S-based interventions to support the mental health and well-being of parents of autistic children.
Shame, Respect and Well-Being: What Can We Learn from Early Chinese Philosophy?
(2023-05) Li, Qiannan
My dissertation aims to bring insights from early Chinese Philosophy into constructive dialogue with Western thought to enrich our philosophical understanding of two significant philosophical questions. First, what is the moral value of the feelings of respect and shame? Second, what are the necessary constituents of a well-lived life? I compare the predominant accounts of respect, shame, and well-being in the Western tradition with the Confucian and Daoist traditions on these topics. I show that a mutual understanding of both perspectives yields a more comprehensive picture of moral emotions and well-being. First, I propose an account of well-being inspired by an early Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi and compare it with the predominant accounts of well-being in Western philosophy. The comparison aims to demonstrate the prudential value of a good process of cultivating well-being, which tends to be ignored in Western theories that focus on achievements. On the moral value of shame, I provide a Confucian analysis of shame and compare it with the Aristotelian account. This comparison aims to challenge the view that shame feelings reflect a person’s damaged self-esteem. Instead, by borrowing insights from the early Confucians, we can see that the disposition to feel shame has moral value in itself and is constitutive of our need to value ourselves in order to feel worthwhile. On the moral value of respect, I compare the Confucian account of respect with the Kantian account. For early Confucians, the notion of respect not only refers to intentional feelings (feelings directed at specific objects) but more frequently refers to a respectful frame of mind. I argue that a Confucian notion of respectfulness helps to extend Kantian respect beyond Kant’s own target of rational agency to respect the elderly and people with mental illness whose rational capacities have been impaired.
Smartphone-Based Travel Experience Sampling and Behavior Intervention among Young Adults
(Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2012-05) Fan, Yingling; Chen, Qian; Liao, Chen-Fu; Douma, Frank
This research project aims to develop a data collection application that enables real-time tracking and reporting of the health-related impacts of travel behavior. Using computing, communication, and sensing capabilities of smartphones, an Android phone application—named UbiActive—was developed to collect real-time travel-related physical activity and psychological well-being data from phone users. The application was tested on multiple Android phones, among which Nexus S and HTC Magic were found to produce comparable physical activity outputs with the commercially available accelerometer. The application was further tested in a three-week field study for its viability for real-time data collection and behavior intervention against unhealthy travel behavior. Twenty-three young adults were recruited and randomized into intervention and control groups. Both groups were asked to install UbiActive on their phone and wear their phone on their right hip during all waking hours for three consecutive weeks. The intervention group was provided information on impacts of their travel behavior on physical activity and psychological well-being. No information was provided to the control group. After the field study, all participants were asked to complete a web-based exit survey that was comprised of questions about their general participation experience and specific concerns about the study design, application, compliance requirements, and privacy issues. Findings from the field study show that UbiActive has high potential in collecting travel-related physical activity and psychological experience data, but limited effectiveness in behavior intervention. Findings from the exit survey provide useful insights into potential improvement areas of the study and the UbiActive application.
"That rich, rich quality of existence": mothers with professional careers talk about their experiences of flourishing.
(2010-05) Andrews, Margaret
This study uses data from the Changing Landscape of American Women study to explore whether and how mothers with professional careers experience a state of well-being known as flourishing. The Changing Landscape of American Women study is a USDA-approved multi-state research effort. Investigators are collecting data from Latina immigrants, farm and ranch women, and women with professional careers to explore how women's media may impact their ability to achieve work, family and personal satisfaction. The present paper looks at data from thirty-three mothers with professional careers who live and work in the greater Twin Cities area of Minnesota. The women each participated in one of five focus groups sessions to discuss the challenges and satisfactions of their busy lives. Analytic induction was used to code their comments according to operational definitions of symptoms of flourishing; then narrative analysis techniques were applied to distill their conversation to an overall expression of flourishing. The women reported in their own words that they do experience the state of flourishing. The results indicate that for the women who participated in the study, the biggest challenge to flourishing was living in a social context that was at odds with the realities of their lives as mothers with professional careers. Despite this challenge, the women explicitly expressed that they did experience the state of flourishing. For them, flourishing involved the internal characteristics of desiring to combine career and motherhood in their lives, and being realistic about what they could accomplish. Flourishing also involved having external resources that included a spouse they could rely on, a strong network of social support, and a good amount of flexibility in their lives. Practice implications include recommendations that counselors and educators work to help women who want to combine career and family understand the symptoms of flourishing and how other women have experienced them. Implications for employers who want to maximize the talent of their employees who are mothers with professional careers include explicitly acknowledging that many highly educated women want to have both a challenging career and a healthy family. Allowing these women the flexibility to map out a unique pattern for successfully combining the two domains in their lives will be important.
Understanding psychological well-being and the home environment: a qualitative exploration
(2014-02) Scott, Angelita L.
This study seeks to understand how the physical home environment affects psychological well-being for stay-at-home mothers. By asking What does well-being in the home mean? Are there physical characteristics or features in the home environment that increase well-being? Are there physical characteristics or features in the home environment that decrease well-being? Face-to-face interviews, observation, and photo elicitation were used to collect data. The sample consisted of 14 stay-at-home mothers who had one or more children from birth to five years of age. Kreitzer's (2012) well-being model was used as a conceptual framework that informed questions and directed analysis. Findings showed that space, access to nature, personalization, and privacy/retreat were important for well-being in the mothers' homes, while clutter and lack of cleanliness detracted from well-being.

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