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Journal of Happiness Studies

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11-12-2018 | Research Paper

Is Subjective Ill-Being Related to Islamophobia in Germany? In Search for Moderators

Authors: M. Joseph Sirgy, Min Young Kim, Mohsen Joshanloo, Michael Bosnjak

Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies | Issue 8/2019

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Abstract

Is subjective ill-being, defined as the inverse of subjective well-being, related to Islamophobia in Germany? We conducted a study guided by two goals to answer this question. The first goal was to test the hypothesis that subjective ill-being is associated with Islamophobia. The second goal, contingent on the results of testing for the association between subjective ill-being and Islamophobia, was to test a set of variables presumed to moderate this relationship—positive and negative contact with Muslims, right-wing political views, political participation, the importance of political life, and cultural diversity orientation. Data from the GESIS Panel, a probability-based panel representative of the German-speaking population aged between 18 and 70 years permanently residing in Germany, were used to test the study hypotheses. The data provided support for the hypothesis that subjective ill-being is indeed associated with Islamophobia in Germany (r = .12, p < .01). The data provided support for only one of the moderator hypothesis, namely cultural diversity orientation. Specifically, the data showed that the relationship between subjective ill-being and Islamophobia is stronger for those who have low (rather than high) cultural diversity orientation.

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Ed Diener, the father of the subjective well-being movement, defines subjective well-being as a broad category of phenomena that includes a preponderance of positive over negative emotions, satisfaction with life domains (satisfaction in work life, social life, family life, etc.), and global judgments of life satisfaction (Diener and Tov 2012).

Subjective ill-being in our study is treated as the inverse of subjective well-being. That is, subjective ill-being is the other polar end of subjective well-being. Although there is debate in the subjective well-being literature about the distinction between subjective well-being and ill-being as being two distinct factors (e.g., Headey et al. 1984), we agree with those scholars who argue that the distinction between mental well-being and ill-being is counterproductive (e.g., Wood and Joseph 2010). In essence, subjective well-being should not be treated as a construct independent from subjective ill-being. A continuum approach should be used in conceptualizing both subjective well-being and ill-being, with positive functioning as one polar end of the continuum and negative functioning at the other end.

Sections dbaw, dbbd, dcbi, dczy, dbbd, and dcbi according to the codebook of the GESIS Panel, which can be retrieved via www.gesis-panel.org.

German citizenship does not reflect religious faith. The GESIS Panel does not include survey items related to religious faith because, under German law, such data require special data protection.

With regard to categorical variables, t test and ANOVA tests were conducted to identify the relationships between categorical and continuous variables.

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Title: Is Subjective Ill-Being Related to Islamophobia in Germany? In Search for Moderators
Authors: M. Joseph Sirgy
Min Young Kim
Mohsen Joshanloo
Michael Bosnjak
Publication date: 11-12-2018
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies / Issue 8/2019
Print ISSN: 1389-4978
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7780
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0063-3

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