Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Well-Being Contagion In The Family: Transmission Of Happiness Between Parents And Children (#566)

Hongfei Du 1 , Peilian Chi 2 , Ronnel B King 3 , Qiang Xing 1
  1. Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, GUANGDONG, China
  2. Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macao, China
  3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Psychological well-being is contagious in families. The present study aims to examine a) whether both positive versus negative aspects of well-being can be transmitted and b) whether both parents and children transmit well-being to each other by drawing on a longitudinal and nationally representative sample. Cross-lagged models showed that the positive aspect of well-being (i.e., subjective well-being) was almost fully transmitted among all family members. In contrast, the negative aspect of well-being (i.e., psychological distress) was transmitted only from fathers to mothers and from fathers to adolescent children. The study indicates that well-being contagion in families was more robust for the positive aspect of well-being. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.