Yoobin Park

A gratitude list activity, whereby one recalls and writes down things they are grateful for, is a well-studied intervention known to confer an immediate and even prolonged boost in well-being. However, the specific content people reflect on, and how it relates to affective evaluations and the impact of the intervention, remains underexplored. Using data from a global online study ( N = 19,265), we applied natural language processing to examine the content of gratitude lists, identifying 16 thematic clusters, with the most common one focused on social relationships. Next, we examined and found various sociodemographic and psychological differences in people’s gratitude list content. Further, mentioning themes related to family or nature was associated with greater increases in positivity following the activity. Overall, our findings highlight individual differences in what people naturally think of during this popular intervention and suggest opportunities for personalized modifications to enhance adherence to and effectiveness of the intervention.

Research suggests that high life satisfaction is related to better health outcomes, but its relationship with blood pressure, a key indicator of cardiovascular health, remains inconclusive. We conducted a comprehensive cross-sectional investigation of the association between life satisfaction and blood pressure. We analyzed data from 16 cohorts, each including life satisfaction assessments and blood pressure measurements. We meta-analyzed associations between life satisfaction and (a) continuous levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and (b) presence of high blood pressure, inferred based on measured blood pressure of ≥140/90 mmHg and self-reported medication use. We also conducted parallel analyses, predicting hypertension status operationalized based solely on self-reported diagnosis and medication use, as in previous research. Finally, we examined the role of depressive symptoms in these relationships. Meta-analytic results revealed no consistent association between life satisfaction and either measured blood pressure levels or the presence of high blood pressure. These associations did not differ by the type of life satisfaction measure used or by the economic conditions of the studied countries. However, when considering self-reported hypertension, higher life satisfaction was related to a lower hypertension risk, consistent with previous findings. More depressive symptoms were related to both lower measured blood pressure and a higher risk of self-reported hypertension. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between self-reported and objectively measured health outcomes when understanding and investigating the relationship between psychological and physical well-being. We discuss caveats in relying on single-day blood pressure assessments or recalled diagnoses to infer hypertension status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: While considerable work has linked sexual activity to health and well being in later life, the role of an individual’s physical health conditions in shaping their own and their partner’s later sexual experiences remains underexplored. This research examined concurrent and prospective dyadic effects of health and physical capabilities on sexual experiences. Methods: We used two-wave data from 1,301 heterosexual couples (N = 2,602) in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Multilevel models were fitted, estimating the association of both partners’ self-rated health, grip strength, and gait speed with sexual interest, activity, and satisfaction concurrently and 4 years later. Various sociodemographic and psychosocial covariates were adjusted in addition to the baseline outcome levels in longitudinal models. Results: Both individuals’ and partner’s baseline self-rated health were positively related to intercourse frequency concurrently and at follow-up. Higher self-rated health was also associated with greater sexual satisfaction at follow-up across gender, but its positive associations with concurrent and later sexual interest were observed only among men. Men’s slower gait speed was linked to lower sexual interest for both partners at baseline and to women’s reduced sexual satisfaction at follow-up. Grip strength also showed some gender-specific associations with interest and intercourse frequency. Discussion: Sexual experiences in later life appear to be shaped by both partners’ physical health conditions, with notable gendered patterns. These findings underscore the importance of considering both individual and dyadic health factors in supporting sexual interest and activity in later life, as well as identifying objective markers that may precede declines in sexual health.

Conflicts with close others and subsequent affective reactions can have long-term consequences for mental and physical health. Building on recent studies using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) highlighting the role of the vagus nerve in social functioning, we examined if tVNS can modulate the emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses to a romantic conflict. Romantic couples (N_couples= 67; N_individuals= 134) were randomly assigned to tVNS or sham stimulation. Both partners received continuous tVNS or sham stimulation for 15 min before and during a six-minute discussion about a recurring conflict topic. We examined each partner's emotional and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity to conflict and the partners' physiological and behavioral attunement to each other. Our results revealed no condition differences in emotional experiences, but individuals receiving tVNS (vs. sham stimulation) experienced greater decreases in RSA during conflict. Further, while RSA reactivity synchrony did not differ between conditions, couples in the tVNS (vs. sham stimulation) condition showed greater behavioral synchrony. This work provides experimental evidence supporting the role of the vagus nerve in modulating reactions to stressful social interactions, highlighting the potential of tVNS to subtly influence couple dynamics at physiological and behavioral levels.

Singlehood is becoming a more visible lifestyle option in many nations worldwide. Despite this, there has been little research on the cultural factors that influence well‐being in singlehood. Filial piety, a key virtue within Chinese culture, emphasizes respect, obedience, and care toward one's elders. Filial piety may be associated with lower well‐being in singlehood as individuals may perceive their singlehood status as a failure to fulfill familial marital expectations. This negative link between filial piety and singles' well‐being may be partly offset by a closer connection with family (and thus higher well‐being) that is also associated with endorsement of filial piety. We investigated the associations of Chinese singles' authoritarian and reciprocal filial piety beliefs with family life satisfaction and well‐being in singlehood (i.e., desire for a partner, satisfaction with singlehood, fear of being single). Data from two samples (total N = 1655) revealed a statistical suppression effect suggesting that an overall negative relation between reciprocal filial piety and well‐being in singlehood was partly offset by filial piety's relation to higher satisfaction with family life. We discuss the notion that pressure for singles to partner may often be embedded in relationships that simultaneously make singles' lives better.

Research involving self-report methods risks volunteer bias, which can undermine validity by attracting particular participant types. What is the risk of such bias when participants choose studies on online recruitment platforms? The current study (Study 1: N = 1,595; M _age = 28.45; Study 2: N = 2,777; M _age = 31.18) examined volunteer bias in online studies, using the context of recruiting individuals for singlehood and romantic relationship research. Participants were recruited via Prolific for a study about “people’s lifestyles,” or “singlehood [or romantic relationships] and people’s lifestyles.” We assessed and compared their demographics, individual differences, feelings about singlehood/partnership, and well-being. No consistent differences emerged across recruitment framings, suggesting that advertisement wording did not selectively attract distinct Prolific participants. These data support one aspect of the validity of online singlehood and relationship research, suggesting that low-effort studies conducted on online platforms may suffer less from volunteer bias than other research recruitment strategies.

Background: Emotional well-being interventions lead to better mental and physical health. However, most of these interventions have been tested on relatively homogeneous samples, with few interventions large enough to examine whether key sociodemographic factors impact outcomes. In addition, barriers to engagement include access and high participant burden. We developed a brief web-based intervention to address these barriers and tested the effects across sociodemographic groups. Objective: The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a brief, low-burden digital well-being intervention in improving emotional well-being and health-related outcomes across a diverse global sample. It investigates how key sociodemographic factors, such as age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, financial strain, and subjective social status, moderate intervention effects. The goal is to identify which groups benefit most, informing the scalability and public health potential of digital well-being interventions. Methods: We conducted a single-group pre-post study spanning from 2022 to 2024 using a web-based, multicomponent, week-long well-being intervention requiring 5 to 10 minutes of daily activity (the Big Joy Project). Using a global convenience sample recruited via open web-based enrollment, we assessed pre-post changes in emotional well-being, positive emotions, happiness agency, perceived stress, self-reported health, and sleep quality. At baseline, participants also reported sociodemographic characteristics. We used mixed-effects linear models to examine pre-post changes in the outcomes and sociodemographic moderators. Results: The sample (N=17,598) consisted of individuals from 169 countries and territories, with broad representation across sociodemographic groups; however, the sample was predominantly White, female, and had at least a high school or college education. Following the intervention, participants showed significant within-subjects effect size increases in emotional well-being (dz=0.48; P<.001), positive emotions (dz=0.45; P<.001), and happiness agency (dz=0.44; P<.001). Furthermore, participants showed a decrease in perceived stress (dz=–0.35; P<.001) and an increase in self-reported health (dz=0.07; P<.001) and sleep quality (dz=0.15; P<.001). There was a clear dose-response pattern across outcomes: participants who engaged in more daily practices showed greater improvements. There was a strong pattern of social disadvantage moderating these effects, with groups experiencing greater social disadvantage showing larger benefits across most outcomes. For example, those with lower education, greater financial strain, or lower subjective social status and those identifying as individuals from racial or ethnic minority groups (Black or Hispanic) all showed larger improvements across well-being outcomes. Furthermore, younger people had greater increases in emotional well-being and greater decreases in perceived stress compared to older people. Conclusions: A brief, low-intensity intervention showed meaningful improvements in well-being and stress, comparable to those seen in longer, more intensive digital well-being interventions. Sociodemographic groups that are at higher risk of poor mental health benefited more from the intervention, highlighting its potential for scalable public health impact. Testing this intervention with a randomized controlled trial design will be important.

Relationship science currently lacks a theoretical approach to capture the variety of motivations potentially underlying the pursuit of romantic relationships. We introduce the Autonomous Motivation for Romantic Pursuit Scale (AMRPS) which conceptualizes and measures motivations ranging in levels of autonomy (from a motivation to intrinsic motivation), based on self-determination theory (SDT). In Study 1 ( N = 1,280), we show how the motivations assessed using AMRPS relate to existing constructs implicated in romantic pursuit (e.g. fear of being single, commitment readiness), thereby organizing them into a coherent theoretical framework. In Study 2 ( N = 3,186), we validate this approach using longitudinal data, showing singles who are higher in autonomous motivation for relationship pursuit are more likely to be partnered six months later. These studies demonstrate the usefulness of SDT for consolidating into one theoretical and measurement framework the variety of motivations (including an absence of motivation) for pursuing romantic relationships.

BACKGROUND Emotional well-being interventions lead to better mental and physical health. However, most of these interventions have been tested on relatively homogeneous samples, with few interventions large enough to examine whether key sociodemographic factors impact outcomes. In addition, barriers to engagement include access and high participant burden. We developed a brief web-based intervention to address these barriers and tested the effects across sociodemographic groups. OBJECTIVE The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a brief, low-burden digital well-being intervention in improving emotional well-being and health-related outcomes across a diverse global sample. It investigates how key sociodemographic factors, such as age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, financial strain, and subjective social status, moderate intervention effects. The goal is to identify which groups benefit most, informing the scalability and public health potential of digital well-being interventions. METHODS We conducted a single-group pre-post study spanning from 2022 to 2024 using a web-based, multicomponent, week-long well-being intervention requiring 5 to 10 minutes of daily activity (the Big Joy Project). Using a global convenience sample recruited via open web-based enrollment, we assessed pre-post changes in emotional well-being, positive emotions, happiness agency, perceived stress, self-reported health, and sleep quality. At baseline, participants also reported sociodemographic characteristics. We used mixed-effects linear models to examine pre-post changes in the outcomes and sociodemographic moderators. RESULTS The sample (N=17,598) consisted of individuals from 169 countries and territories, with broad representation across sociodemographic groups; however, the sample was predominantly White, female, and had at least a high school or college education. Following the intervention, participants showed significant within-subjects effect size increases in emotional well-being (dz=0.48; P<.001), positive emotions (dz=0.45; P<.001), and happiness agency (dz=0.44; P<.001). Furthermore, participants showed a decrease in perceived stress (dz=–0.35; P<.001) and an increase in self-reported health (dz=0.07; P<.001) and sleep quality (dz=0.15; P<.001). There was a clear dose-response pattern across outcomes: participants who engaged in more daily practices showed greater improvements. There was a strong pattern of social disadvantage moderating these effects, with groups experiencing greater social disadvantage showing larger benefits across most outcomes. For example, those with lower education, greater financial strain, or lower subjective social status and those identifying as individuals from racial or ethnic minority groups (Black or Hispanic) all showed larger improvements across well-being outcomes. Furthermore, younger people had greater increases in emotional well-being and greater decreases in perceived stress compared to older people. CONCLUSIONS A brief, low-intensity intervention showed meaningful improvements in well-being and stress, comparable to those seen in longer, more intensive digital well-being interventions. Sociodemographic groups that are at higher risk of poor mental health benefited more from the intervention, highlighting its potential for scalable public health impact. Testing this intervention with a randomized controlled trial design will be important.