Open research questions in Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

What the literature leaves open

• Rapid urbanization has intensified inequalities in the built environment (BE), yet their relationship with well-being in areas where vulnerable populations are concentrated remains unclear.

  Built Environment Equity and Area-Level Happiness: Distributional Imbalance and Spatial Discordance in Vulnerable Areas of Shanghai · 2026 · DOI

• Background Although the relationship between RBFM and well‐being has garnered significant attention, the role of family environmental factors remains underexplored.

  Music's Relationship‐Building Function and University Students' Well‐Being: The Moderating Role of Household Chaos · 2026 · DOI

• This imbalance represents an important limitation for the generalizability of the findings, as international students from different national, cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical backgrounds may experience loneliness, social support, and psychological well-being in qualitatively different ways.

  Perceived Social Support as a Mediator in the Link between Loneliness and Well-being: Insights from the Transactional Model and Stress-Buffering Hypothesis · 2026 · DOI

• Given the limited evidence on the cross-cultural validity of the SSWQ (Renshaw & Arslan, 2016), future research should investigate measurement invariance of the scale across different countries. The effects of school- or classroom-level clustering on our findings remain unknown, but they are expected to be minimal because students were recruited from public schools within a single region of Ser- bia (the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina). The limitations of the present study are similar to those of most cross-sectional, self-report, single-country studies. Furthermore, the role of culture in the relationship between school-related SWB and relevant outcomes should be examined carefully, given the mixed findings regarding the associations between SSWQ domains and mental health or school-related indicators across stud- ies. We found evidence that the four dimensions measured by the SSWQ represent distinct, domain-specific aspects of school SWB, whereas the value of including a general factor of student SWB remains ques- tionable and warrants further research.

  Measuring School-Related Subjective Well-Being in Primary School Students Using the Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (SSWQ): Just Another Brick in the Wall? · 2026 · DOI

• While the scale shows high internal consistency, concurrent validity, and measurement invariance across gender groups, it remains unclear whether green space use satisfaction can predict long-term outcomes such as mental health, physical activity involvement, Pamukkale J Sport Sci, 17(1), 44-69…

  Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Green Space Use Satisfaction Scale · 2026 · DOI

• Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007 1022. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007 Krycak, R. C., Murdock, N. L., & Marszalek, J. M. (2012). Differentiation of self, stress, and emotional support as predictors of psychological distress. Contemporary Family Therapy, 34, 495–515. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-012-9207-5 Kun, Á., Balogh, P., & Krasz, K. G. (2016). Development of the work-related well-being questionnaire based on Seligman’s PERMA model. Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences, 25(1), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPso.9326 Lampis, J., Cataudella, S., Speziale, R., & Elat, S. (2019). The role of differentiation of self 90–97.

  Mediating Roles of Self-Reflection and Insight in the Relationship between the Differentiation of Self and PERMA Model of Well-Being · 2026 · DOI

• Furthermore, a large portion of current research in the literature employs a cross- sectional design, which remains insufficient in definitively establishing the changes over time and the cause-and-effect relationships of elements such as stress, burnout, and depression (Şenbursa, 2024; Sivri et al.

  A systematic review of seafarers’ psychological well-being and distress encompassing common disorders, risk factors, critical periods, and protective strategies · 2026 · DOI

• Several limitations of this study should be noted. This study is cross-sectional; therefore, no causal relationships can be determined. However, other research, including experimental research, confirms gratitude enhances the beneficial effects of social support on mental health (Algoe et al., 2008; Deichert et al., 2021). Another limitation of the current study is the lack of cultural diversity within our sample. The women in our study were from the United States, who tend to view themselves as more independent (i.e., self-separate from others) than individuals from Eastern cultures (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Such beliefs about the self have important implications regarding social relationships and emotional experiences. Research explicitly examining the associations between independent self-construal and social support suggests that these variables are correlated. Specifically, independent individuals showed greater utilization of social support as a coping mechanism (Taylor et al., 2004) and also benefit more from explicit support (i.e., aid solicited from social resources) than implicit support (i.e., engaging with social connections without self-disclosure; Taylor et al., 2007). These differences may limit the generalizability of our findings to women from more Western cultures, given cultural differences in individuals’ perceptions and utilization of support. In addition to social support, cultural differences have been found in relation to emotion regulation. For example, individuals from independent cultures have been shown to savor and maintain the experience of positive emotions relative to individuals from interdependent cultures (Miyamoto & Ma, 2011). Therefore, the experience of gratitude for women in our sample may have differed in ways that strengthened the moderating effects of gratitude. Research on cultural differences in gratitude has shown that the experience of gratitude may vary by culture. Specifically, individuals from more interdependent cultures report greater levels of gratitude (Shimai et al., 2006; D. Wang et al., 2015; for exception see Robustelli & Whisman, 2018). However, individuals from independent cultures tend to experience better psychological outcomes and benefit more from interventions than individuals from Eastern cultures (Boehm et al., 2011; Kerry et al., 2023). Given cultural differences in emotion regulation and the experience of gratitude, our findings should be interpreted with caution when considering these associations in more interdependent samples. While the current study found that gratitude moderated the indirect effects of perceived support on mental health through reduced perceived stress, our results cannot speak to whether this pattern holds for enacted or received support. This is an important distinction to consider as received support is less consistently linked to positive psychological well-being (e.g., Zell & Stockus, 2025).

  Gratitude Moderates the Relationship Between Perceived Support, Stress, and Mental Health in Women · 2026 · DOI

• This research is limited to students from a single university, and generalizations regarding cultural differences cannot be made. The study, due to its design, is limited in establishing cause-andeffect relationships and carries the risk of bias stemming from self-report-based measurements. Additionally, variables other than life satisfaction, autotelic personality, and happiness have not been examined. Demir, M., Cetin, S. and Eldeleklioglu, J. (2026). The path from life satisfaction to happiness: The mediating role of autotelic personality in university students. Western Anatolia Journal of Educational Sciences, 17(1), 984-1005. DOI. 10.51460/baebd.1602658 Batı Anadolu Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, (2026), 17 (1), 984-1005. Western Anatolia Journal of Educational Sciences, (2026), 17 (1), 984-1005.

  From Life Satisfaction to Happiness in University Students: The Mediating Role of Autotelic Personality · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should examine the moderating roles of variables such as social support, leadership style, or the job demands–resources balance (Tenney, Poole, & Diener, 2016). Advances and open questions in the science of subjective well-being.

  THE MEDIATING ROLE OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POSITIVE THINKING AND TASK PERFORMANCE · 2026 · DOI

• Cross-Sectional Design: The study design does not lend itself to making causal conclusions. The associations are correct, both logically and conceptually. 2. Self-Report Bias: There is the possible threat of bias in self-reported data in terms of common method variance and/or social desirability bias. 3. Sampling Limitations: The study employed an online, purposive, non-probability sampling method. Therefore, the participants are not a statistically representative sample of all Afghan social media users, but rather represent a segment of active, accessible, and willing users. While attempts were made to include participants from various regions, it is likely that individuals with limited internet access, lower digital literacy, or those residing in highly insecure areas are underrepresented. Consequently, the findings should be generalized to the broader population with caution. 4. Platform Specificity: The results only apply to Instagram and Facebook. Behavior and impact could vary on other platforms, especially those that are newer or more private. 5. Cultural Specificity of Constructs: Though there was translation and validation of scales, the construct knowledge of "kindness" and "well-being" might have culturally distinct associations within Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically varied communities.

  Digital Kindness and Mental Health in Afghan Instagram and Facebook Users · 2026 · DOI

• linked Based on these findings, several considerations for policy and practice emerge. Initiatives that promote family cohesion and adaptability, such as parenting education programmes, counselling services, and school-parent engagement activities, may help strengthen to relational environments adolescent well-being. Within schools, mentoring programmes, peer-support initiatives, and anti- bullying strategies may help cultivate relational climates characterised by safety and inclusion.

  Relational Well-Being and Adolescent Depression: Evidence from Secondary Schools in Dodoma and Pwani, Tanzania · 2026 · DOI

• The findings highlight the need for further research on the paradox of well-being in Ukraine, particularly by incorporating additional ESS waves collected during the full-scale Russian invasion, exploring more complex nonlinear specifications, and examining potential mediating and moderating mechanisms between age and well-being.

  Linear or U-shaped? Age and subjective well-being in Ukraine · 2026 · DOI

• One major issue facing researchers who study domain importance weighting in the context of SWB is that there is no consensus on the weighting function of domain importance.

  Subjective Well-being and Domain-specific Satisfaction · 2026 · DOI

• Abstract Status-quo bias (SQB) is usually studied as decision inertia in choice tasks, but its role in emotional adjustment to real-life crises is poorly understood.

  Freezing Under Fire: Status-Quo Bias, Effortful Coping, and Well-Being During a Prolonged War · 2026 · DOI

• Despite the valuable contributions of this study to understanding the relationship between skill levels and well-being among self-employed individuals, several limitations must be acknowledged. Most importantly, the analysis relies on cross-sectional data from the WVS, which constrains our ability to capture temporal dynamics, particularly those related to changes in individuals’ occupational trajectories. The lack of longitudinal data limits our capacity to assess how transitions in employment type or skill level over time may influence wellbeing outcomes. Specifically, the WVS does not include detailed information on the timing or nature of changes in respondents’ skill levels. This introduces a potential confounding factor, as respondents who have recently transitioned into high-skilled occupations may continue to report wellbeing outcomes shaped by their previous experiences in low-skilled employment. For example, Stephan et al. (2023) found that transitions from wage employment to hybrid entrepreneurship are negatively associated with both job and life satisfaction, highlighting the lingering influence of prior occupational contexts. However, in the absence of longitudinal data of this study, it remains difficult to fully disentangle the causal effects of current skill level on the wellbeing of self-employed individuals. To address this limitation, the present study adopts the assumption that individuals’ skill levels remain relatively stable in the short term and are sufficiently consistent to exert a meaningful influence on their current well-being. Nevertheless, future research employing longitudinal datasets would be valuable for validating this assumption and exploring the causal pathways linking skill development and subjective well-being in self-employment contexts. Another important caveat is the absence of job demand measures due to the lack of suitable proxies in the WVS. Job demands are typically assessed along dimensions such as workload, job complexity, and hindrance demands. Common items include statements like ―I do not have enough time to complete my work‖ and ―The rules and regulations of my workplace prevent me from carrying out my work properly‖ (Harju et al. 2021). In the absence of such measures, we assume based on previous studies that job demands in self-employment are generally high, with low-skilled self-employed individuals experiencing particularly intense physical and psychosocial demands compared to their high-skilled counterparts (Hiesinger – Tophoven 2019; Rigo et al. 2021). While this conceptual assumption may suffice for the empirical analysis, the lack of direct information on respondents' job demands limits the precise application of the JD-R model in our study. 126 Sociológia 58, 2026, No.

  Well-Being of Self-Employed Individuals Across Skill Levels: Empirical Evidence from the World Values Survey · 2026 · DOI

• This scoping review has several limitations. First, it includes only peer- reviewed journal articles and articles that are written in English, which increases the risk of overlooking potentially relevant studies published in other reports or languages. Second, the percentage of articles with cross- sectional designs in the scoping review is relatively high, thereby limiting causal testing. Third, the research in this scoping review is limited to countries in the Americas and Europe; the majority were conducted in the United States (n = 13). Important concerns regarding the cultural and contextual generalizability of the findings stem from this uneven distribution. So, the conceptualization of both emerging adulthood and the well-being of first- year university students in the included studies may be implicitly grounded in individualistic cultural assumptions. Emerging adulthood itself is a culturally contingent developmental construct, and its expression may vary substantially across socio-cultural contexts (Arnett, 2000, 2014). On the other hand, cross-cultural theories highlight that the meaning and determinants of well-being are embedded in socio-cultural systems, in which relational and collective dimensions may play a central role (Humphrey et al., 2025). Therefore, caution is warranted in extrapolating these findings to contexts where interdependence, family obligations, and community-oriented values are more salient. The study also identified the dominance of quantitative studies. The dominance indicates a lack of qualitative reports from first-year students about their understanding of well-being on campus. Qualitative reports can also complement quantitative findings.

  Well-being in Emerging Adults First-Year University Students: A Scoping Review · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore the extent to which deviance from more proximal social norms (e.g., a norm held by one’s immediate friend group) may have a different effect on Belonging, Uniqueness and Norms 32 well-being and self-concept than deviance from larger social clock norms. It is possible that deviance from larger social norms provide increased opportunity for distinctiveness only when it is not an important norm to their more proximal social group. For example, within a friend group of college students, graduating college in 5 years may be a deviation that threatens belonging. This same instance possibly wouldn’t threaten belonging in a group of older adults, potentially transforming this deviation into fulfillment of the distinctness need. Deviance and flexibility may have different effects on well-being and self-concept clarity depending on the larger culture housing individuals as well. Because there is evidence that some cultures have especially strict or loose norms compared to others (Gelfand et al. 2017), it is possible that deviance and flexibility of norms could have differing associations with psychological variables depending on the larger cultural context. Overall, researchers should continue to investigate the potential effects and associations between the severity of social clock and general social norms and other psychological variables.

  When, Why and How Might Deviance Affect Well-Being: Interactions Between Individual Belonging, Uniqueness and Flexibility of Norms · 2026 · DOI

• This study has several limitations. Firstly, the study used a community based sample; future studies could conduct psychometric examinations on treatment seeking samples. Secondly, the relationship between the TYD and depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction was exam- ined using a cross-sectional design which does not provide evidence for causality, although has been determined in previous studies (e.g., Bisby et al., 2024). Finally, the use of differ- ent samples within this study may have affected the findings, although we have no evidence that this occurred. It is recommended that future studies examine the relationship between the Turkish version of the TYDQ-15 and mental health using experimental and longitudinal studies and with more diverse samples.

  ‘Things You Do’ and Mental Health in Turkish Adolescents and Adults: Validation of the Turkish Version of Things You Do Questionnaire-15 Item · 2026 · DOI

• To address this area of limited research, we identified social support from contexts of digital leisure as digital leisure social support (DLSS) and divided DLSS into digital leisure emotional support (DLES) and digital leisure instrumental support (DLIS) as well as examined relationships among DLES, DLIS, hope, and happiness.

  Relationships between digital leisure and happiness among international students during the COVID-19 pandemic: examining a mediation model · 2023 · DOI

• While the correlation between leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction found in the Brazilian data is nearly identical to the average correlation across the sites, similar research in other areas of the world is warranted before any firm conclusions regarding the strength of the leisure satisfaction-life satisfaction relationship across cultures can be reached.

  Leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Brazil: a meta-analysis · 2023 · DOI

• It has an underlying hierarchical structure of the higher order for the positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), and the lower order discrete affect scales that describe specific emotions; however, very little is known about the psychometric properties that this version of the instrument has.

  Development and Validation Regarding the Lithuanian Version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X) · 2022 · DOI

• Previous studies have documented the correlations between leisure time, perceived stress, and subjective well-being (SWB), yet the extent to which the amount of leisure time impacts the effect of perceived stress on SWB has rarely been studied.

  The Relationships between Leisure Time, Perceived Stress and Subjective Well-Being in Young and Middle-Aged Working Adults in China · 2022 · DOI

• Although extensive research has identified links between mental and physical wellness, few studies have investigated the relationship between health promotion and happiness, particularly in adolescent populations who may be at particular risk for engaging in health-compromising behaviors, such as alcohol consumption.

  Associations Between Multiple <scp>Health‐Promoting</scp> Behaviors and Subjective <scp>Well‐Being</scp> in High School Age Youth · 2021 · DOI

• Although research identifies both leisure and paid work as important contributors to subjective well-being (SWB), the mechanisms by which they do so remain understudied especially in non-Western contexts.

  How do work and leisure contribute to Hong Kong Chinese’ life satisfaction? · 2021 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

• The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. · American Psychologist · 2001 · 10,478 citations
• Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. · Psychological Bulletin · 1999 · 7,882 citations
• Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life · Annual Review of Psychology · 2002 · 2,194 citations
• Psychological and Physical Well-Being During Unemployment: A Meta-Analytic Study. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 2005 · 1,607 citations
• Materialism and Well-Being: A Conflicting Values Perspective · Journal of Consumer Research · 2002 · 944 citations
• Thirty Years of Research on the Subjective Well-being of Older Americans · Journal of Gerontology · 1978 · 735 citations
• The heart's content: The association between positive psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. · Psychological Bulletin · 2012 · 680 citations
• Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: A meta-analysis. · Psychological Bulletin · 2020 · 661 citations
• On the relation between meaning in life and psychological well‐being · British Journal of Psychology · 1992 · 587 citations
• The association between objective and subjective socioeconomic status and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic review. · Psychological Bulletin · 2020 · 471 citations

Most recent work

• A person centered analysis of student well being and academic achievement using PISA 2022 data from Kazakhstan · Discover Education · 2026
• Neurodivergence and well‐being: The fulfilment of fundamental psychological needs, work‐related stress and life satisfaction · British Journal of Psychology · 2026
• The impact of digital literacy on subjective well-being: evidence from China · Technological and Economic Development of Economy · 2026
• Exploring well-being disparities between employees and managers · Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health · 2026
• Psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Family Leisure Satisfaction Scale · Family Relations · 2026
• Predicting Factors of Gifted Students’ Life Satisfaction and Identifying Their Sub-Profiles · Gifted Education International · 2026
• Inequality, Social Ladder, and Subjective Well-being: Effect of Learning Income Position · Italian Economic Journal · 2026
• The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS): Psychometric Evaluation Among Managers Reveals Two Novel Subscales and Suboptimal Performance of the Shortened Three-Item Version (SWLS 3) · International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology · 2026
• Socioeconomic inequality in adolescent life satisfaction: temporal trends and age- and sex-specific patterns from the Norwegian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys, 2002–2018 · BMC Public Health · 2026
• Happiness Meanders: A cross-cultural dataset on happiness, emotions, and models of selfhood from 48 countries · Scientific Data · 2026

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