Peace of Mind: Construct, Measurement, and Affect-regulation Mechanisms
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Lee, Yi-Chen
Abstract
The affective component of subjective well-being has mostly been defined as the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect. This definition emphasizes the importance of hedonic pleasure but fails to include the affect valued in Chinese culture. The present study developed the construct of peace of mind to describe the affective well-being valued in Chinese culture. Peace of mind was defined as an internal state of peacefulness and harmony. To develop a measure to assess peace of mind and explore the affect regulation mechanisms for achieving peace of mind, five studies were conducted. Studies 1 to 3 were designed to develop the Peace of Mind Scale (POMS) (Study 1) and to establish its validity as an affective well-being measure (Study 2) on which individuals from Chinese culture should score higher than those from Western cultures (Study 3). Studies 4 and 5 were designed to explore the affect-regulation mechanisms for achieving peace of mind using diverse methods, including an experience sampling method (Study 4) and a flanker task (Study 5). The results indicate that the POMS has good reliability and validity for measuring affective well-being. The cross-cultural validation also found that Taiwanese individuals scored higher on the POMS than European Americans. The results of Study 4 show that people with higher peace of mind tend to experience less affective fluctuation in their daily lives. Furthermore, the results of Study 5 indicate that people with high peace of mind are less likely to be distracted by both negative and positive stimuli.
Subjects
peace of mind
well-being
happiness
affect regulation
ESM
attentional bias
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