Well-being and belief in a just world among rest home residents

Main Article Content

Ramzi Nasser
Jacqueline Doumit
James Carifio
Cite this article:  Nasser, R., Doumit, J., & Carifio, J. (2011). Well-being and belief in a just world among rest home residents. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 39(5), 655-670.


Abstract
Full Text
References
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Author Contact

Several theorists have contended that belief in a just world may be one way elderly rest home residents cope with anxiety, fear, and depression and thus maintain their well-being. In this study we explored belief in a just world and length of time elderly have been residing in rest homes in Lebanon in relation to their levels of self-rated quality of life. A sample of 354 cognitively able elderly people were selected from 36 nursing homes. Interview questionnaires including a translated and validated Self-beliefs in a Just World Scale (BJW-S; Lipkus, Dalbert, & Siegler, 1996) and the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS; Brooks, 1996) that measures respondents’ quality of life on a 20cm visual analogue scale. The relationship between Arabic BJW-S scores and length of stay measured on the EQ-VAS was examined using analysis of variance. The findings showed significant main effects for belief in a just world on levels of EQ-VAS, but no significant effects of length of time in rest home on levels of EQ-VAS. Residents who had strong beliefs in a just world seem to have better abilities to cope with negative life events and better self-rated feelings of well-being than did residents who did not believe the world was just and who rated their own well-being lower.

Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.

Article Details

© 2011 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.