Maintenance factors of homeostasis and resilience of subjective well-being among victims of repeated floods Name of supervisor: dr. Therefore, one of the main goals of this study is to address this large gap in the literature. Furthermore, most of the empirical evidence for the SWB homeostasis model comes from a Western sample.
The results of the direct path model indicate that the significant contributors of SWB include environmental stressors (safe shelter); personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness and Agreeableness); external resources (state and object resources); affect (negative affect); cognitive buffer (psychological control, and optimism) and education.
Background of the Study
The Study Areas
- Majuli Island
- Dhemaji District
A Brief Theoretical Overview and Rationale of the Study
Research Questions
The Structure of the Thesis
Flood Related Environmental Stressors
Gender and Disasters
Subjective Wellbeing
- Subjective Wellbeing and Natural Disasters
- Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis Theory
- SWB Domain Satisfaction and Domain Compensation
Resilience
- Factors Influencing Resilience
- Subjective Wellbeing and Resilience
Conservation of Resource (COR) Theory
- Resource Categories
Integration of SWB Homeostasis Theory and COR Theory
Proposed Integrated Theoretical Model
Gap Analysis of the Literature Review
Furthermore, most of the empirical evidence of SWB homeostasis model comes from the western sample. Satisfaction with one's own self is found to be one of the robust predictors of SWB (Tomyn, 2008). Resilience was included in the model primarily because of the similar nature of these constructs.
This category of determinants then overlaps with the personal trait sources of COR theory. Most of the empirical support for the SWB homeostasis model comes from Western populations. Much more research needs to be done in the context of non-Western populations.
Test of the Proposed Theoretical Model: A Quantitative Study
Introduction
Method
- Sample
- Procedure
- Measures
Majuli Island District is considered to be the largest river island in the world and is the only island district of India. Majuli or Majoli is a large river island in the heart of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Located in a remote corner of Northeast India, Dhemaji District is located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River.
The broad objective of Study 1 is to test and extend the SWB homeostasis model in the context of returning flood victims by integrating COR theory and resilience.
Results
- Preliminary Data Screening and Assumptions Testing
- Descriptive Statistics
- Flood Related Stressors
- Subjective Well-being Scores and Domain Satisfaction
- Factor Analysis of Scales
- Exploratory factor analysis
- Gender difference
- Correlations
- The Relationship between SWB and Resilience
- Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
- Measurement and Structural Model
- Types of Models in SEM
- Model Fit Indices
- Path Analysis
- Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Reliability and Validity of the Scales
- Predictors of Subjective Wellbeing and Resilience
- Analysis of Indirect Path Model (Integrated Theoretical Model)
- Significance of the Indirect Effects and Mediation
This chapter describes the samples, questionnaires, and data collection process for the quantitative survey.
The occurrence of natural disaster is considered to be a large-scale environmental stress for an individual as well as for the entire community. According to Davern et al., (2007) “the main implication of this finding is that core affect may be driving the relationship between personality and SWB, and since core affect is driving both personality and SWB, individual differences in set-point levels of baseline affect may cause personality and SWB to be related” (as cited in Tomyn, 2008, p.12). Control can be considered as an individual's belief about the degree to which.
Optimists are able to adapt effective coping strategies depending on the controllability of the event (Scheier, Weintraub & Carver, 1986). According to the American Psychological Association (2014), resilience is "the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress." Therefore, to overcome these gaps in the literature; the current study attempts to explore the dynamics of the relationship between SWB and resilience.
Ethical concerns related to the study were approved by the Doctoral Review Committee of the Institution. The BFI-10 is a shortened version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44) personality measure, developed by Rammstedt and John (2007). The present data were found to be approximately normally distributed according to the general norm of skewness and/or kurtosis to be within the range of ±1.96 (Field, 2012). The transformations of the scores were not done as the data of the present study were well within the acceptable range of the assumptions of normality.
None of the points are deleted as all the items were above the set criterion. It compares the improvement of the model with the null model where no covariances exist between the variables. The analysis of SEM is presented in three parts - (i) The summary of the measurement models, (ii) The direct path model and (iii) The indirect path model (The integrated hypothesis model). Table 4.13 below shows the details. statistics of the measurement models for all the structures examined.
Of the three cognitive buffers, only optimism and perceived control were found to be the significant positive predictor of SWB.
Discussion
Losses and Flood Related Environmental Stressors
Gender Difference in SWB and Resilience
The Relationship between Subjective Wellbeing and Resilience
SWB Set point, Domain Satisfaction and Domain Compensation
SWB Homeostasis Model (Direct and Indirect Path Models)
- Predictors of SWB (Direct Path Model)
- Indirect Path Model of SWB
Predictors of Resilience (Direct Path Model)
Indirect Path Model of Resilience
Extension of SWB Homeostasis Model to Explain Resilience
Theoretical and Applied Implications of the Quantitative Study
About the Study
Overview of Qualitative Research
Method
- Participants
- Data Collection
- Data Analysis Procedure
Cummins and Wooden (2014) coined the term “homeostatic resilience,” which they defined as “the power of homeostasis, primarily to maintain control of SWB and, secondarily, to restore dominance of HPMood after the excursion of the affective experience beyond the 'attractor'. region' (setpoint range)” (p. 232). Henceforth, based on this definition, psychological resilience can be defined as “the process of restoring the established point of well-being after leaving the usual state of rest” (as cited in Tomyn & Weinberg, 2016, p.3). The results of the direct path model showed that four dimensions of personality (extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness) emerged as significant predictors of SWB.
The results of the proposed integrated theoretical model indicated that the determinants of SWB homeostasis theory can be extended to also explain psychological resilience.
Results
Traditional Coping Strategies to Floods
- Traditional Designs of House and Means of Transportation
- Food Security and Crop Diversification
- Migration
- Community Bonding and Support
- Traditional/Local Governance and Leadership
- Religious Beliefs and Rituals
All participants reported that lack of food is one of their main problems. Another participant said, “Satra (monasteries) and Satradhikar (monastery chief priests) play an important role in helping people during floods.
Discussion
Conclusions
One of the major significance of this research includes the test and extension of SWB homeostasis theory (Cummins, Gullone & Lau, 2002; Cook, 2003). The SWB homeostasis theory states that the perceived level of SWB is usually stable and maintained within a certain range, but that levels that deviate from the range of homeostasis are regulated by an adaptive process in which cognitive buffers (optimism, control and self-esteem) increase the level to recover. from SWB to the normal range (Cummins, Gullone & Lau, 2002; Cook, 2003). This model predicts that the first-order determinants (personality and affect) influence the second-order determinants (cognitive buffers), which in turn determine the level of SWB.
The integrated model of this study extends this proposition by proposing that in addition to the first-order determinants, the external resources (object resources, state resources, and energy resources) and environmental stressors will also affect the cognitive buffers, which in turn will determine the level of SWB. This study supports the basic proposition of SWB homeostasis theory that the experienced level of SWB is normally maintained within a set point range. The factors found to be the major contributors to SWB include environmental stressors (safe shelter); personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness and agreeableness); external resources (state and object resources); affect (negative affect);.
Indirect path model further reveals that 'optimism' is the most significant cognitive buffer that maintains the level of SWB by acting as a mediator between personality traits, affect and external resources and SWB. Therefore, this study provides evidence for the SWB homeostasis theory and its extended integrated model, which incorporates COR theory. However, it was clear that not all specific indicators included in the SWB homeostasis theory and the COR theory contribute equally to restoring and maintaining the level of SWB in case of recurrent flooding.
The test of the integrated model for SWB and resilience showed both common and unique factors influencing SWB and resilience. This study revealed that one of the main reasons for their successful adaptation is the effective use of various traditional coping strategies.
Limitations
A second study – a qualitative case study on Majuli Island (the largest river island in the world – also one of the two sites of the first quantitative study) revealed the role and importance of traditional knowledge systems and skills in adapting to flood disasters. Various traditional coping strategies include traditional housing and transportation designs, food security and crop diversification, migration, community bonding and support, local governance and leadership, and religious beliefs and rituals. This study provided examples of traditional coping strategies among residents of close-knit communities that can act as catalysts in effective disaster response programs.
These traditional knowledge strategies, if properly recognized and preserved, can be an important aid in shaping effective disaster mitigation and cultural risk reduction programs. hypothetical model that has a strong theoretical and empirical background and thus is expected to provide the pragmatic basis for protecting and maintaining the level of SWB and psychological resilience for disaster victims. ii) The current study has some methodological limitations. Concurrent assessment of exposure and outcome may provide scope for detailed assessment of survivors' physical, psychological, and social vulnerabilities, as well as their coping strategies to deal with recurrent flooding. iii) Self-report inventories have been used in quantitative research, which are often criticized for the social desirability effect and cultural response bias. iv). Additionally, the total sample size for the quantitative study was 306 and 22 for the qualitative study only; which also limits the generalizability of the study findings.
Nevertheless, the aforementioned limitations did not unduly compromise the findings of this research, which as a whole provided a platform for a better understanding of the maintenance mechanisms of SWB and psychological resilience and the various coping strategies of these recurrent floods of survivors.
Future Research Directions
Subjective well-being: An assessment of the role of HPMood, Approach-Avoidan Control, Extraversion and Neuroticism (Doctoral dissertation, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia). Identifying gender differences in the independent effects of personality and psychological well-being on two broad affect components of subjective well-being. The Universality of Subjective Wellbeing Indicators (pp. Maintenance of life satisfaction: The role of positive cognitive bias.
Cross-cultural comparison of personality traits, attachment security, and relationship satisfaction as predictors of subjective well-being in India, Sweden, and the United States. The effects of dispositional optimism and psychological resilience on the subjective well-being of burn patients: A structural equation modeling analysis.
