Invitation to Collaborate in a Wellbeing Study

Interested in contributing to a broad study of wellbeing over time? The Wellbeing Study team is seeking collaborators who are willing to promote the study in their own countries or with specific populations in return for access to interesting data.

Many studies of wellbeing are limited to a small number of questions, a specific angle, a small population, or a snapshot in time, and fail to control for the positive and negative events that people experience.

The Wellbeing Study will look at wellbeing with a broad range of measures in order to learn more about the positive aspects of human nature and how these change over time. Currently the measures include:

• Common positive psychology assessments such as
  • Scales of Psychological Wellbeing
  • Satisfaction with Life Scale (Temporal Version)
  • Subjective Happiness Scale
  • Adult Hope Scale
  • Gratitude Survey
  • Orientations to Happiness Scale
  • Happiness Measures
• Specific attribute measures, such as
  • Strengths Use Scale
  • Savouring Beliefs and Ways of Savouring Scales
  • Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-Revised
  • Grit Scale
  • Meaning in Life Questionnaire

The study designers are also looking for a broad population of participants, both the general public and specific populations such spinal patients, the elderly, Maori, lawyers, teachers, or members of particular organizations.

The study begins in March 2009, has nine assessment points three months apart, and ends in March 2011. Each participant will participate in five consecutive assessments. For example, if a participant starts on March 1st, 2009, he or she will also complete the study in June 2009, September 2009, December 2009, and March 2010. The assessment battery takes about 25 minutes. Participants are provided with a report of their scores after the fifth assessment and are entered into draws for Amazon.com vouchers.

To expand the breadth of populations studied, the study organizers are looking for researchers who are interested in collaborating with them. They can provide easy means and methods for promoting the study in other countries or specific populations. Collaborators will be joining an international team of researchers and will have access to intriguing data. In order to involve as many collaborators as possible, the organizers have worked to take down barriers to participation — design, implementation, funding, etc. It may also be possible to introduce various opt-in positive interventions and further assessments after the third assessment point.

So far this study has largely been developed from New Zealand by academics from the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, Victoria, Massey, and Canterbury universities, but collaboration has already been established with the Open University of the United Kingdom and George Mason University of the United States.

Contact the study leader, Aaron Jarden to find out how to get involved. Aaron is a lecturer in psychology at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and president of the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology.