Mehrpour Anahita, Hoffman Adar, Widmer Eric D, Staerklé Christian
University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
LIVES Centre, Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research, Switzerland.
J Soc Pers Relat. 2024 Oct;41(10):3085-3108. doi: 10.1177/02654075241263239. Epub 2024 Jun 21.
Research highlights the positive impact of social connectedness on subjective well-being. In this paper, we test a model in which an identity-based mechanism links a structural form of connectedness (significant social ties) with two psychological well-being outcomes, life satisfaction and self-esteem. Using data from the LIVES Longitudinal Lausanne Youth Study (LIVES-LOLYS, = 422), a longitudinal mediation path model tests direct and indirect effects, via the strength of social identification, of the number of significant social ties in two life domains (friends and family) on life satisfaction and self-esteem. Results showed positive associations between the number of significant ties and social identification in the concordant domain, empirically linking the structural and subjective forms of social connectedness. Moreover, our model displays significant indirect effects in the friend domain, but in the family domain. Having more friends as significant social ties predicted higher social identification with friends, and this was longitudinally associated with higher life satisfaction and self-esteem. Findings show a new mechanism linking structural and subjective forms of social connectedness, unpacking their concerted impact in protecting well-being. The differences between the friend and family domains are discussed in the framework of both life-course and social identity perspectives.
研究突出了社会联系对主观幸福感的积极影响。在本文中，我们检验了一个模型，其中一种基于身份认同的机制将一种结构性的联系形式（重要社会关系）与两种心理健康结果，即生活满意度和自尊联系起来。利用来自洛桑青年生活纵向研究（LIVES - LOLYS，n = 422）的数据，一个纵向中介路径模型检验了在两个生活领域（朋友和家庭）中，重要社会关系的数量通过社会认同强度对生活满意度和自尊的直接和间接影响。结果显示，在一致领域中，重要关系的数量与社会认同之间存在正相关，从经验上把社会联系的结构形式和主观形式联系起来。此外，我们的模型在朋友领域显示出显著的间接影响，但在家庭领域则不然。拥有更多作为重要社会关系的朋友预示着更高的与朋友的社会认同，并且这在纵向层面上与更高的生活满意度和自尊相关。研究结果显示了一种将社会联系的结构形式和主观形式联系起来的新机制，揭示了它们在保护幸福感方面的协同影响。我们从生命历程和社会认同视角的框架下讨论了朋友和家庭领域之间的差异。
