Table 3.
Summary of the meta-analytic findings on affective and cognitive well-being.
| Reaction (prospective studies) | Adaptation (prospective studies) | Adaptation (post-hoc studies) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life event | Reaction CWBa | CWB vs. AWBb | Change in CWBa | CWB vs. AWBb | Change in CWBa | CWB vs. AWBb |
| Marriage | + | CWB > AWB | − | CWB < AWB | − | |
| Divorce | − | + | ||||
| Bereavement | − | CWB < AWB | + | CWB = AWB | + | CWB = AWB |
| Child birth | + | CWB > AWB | − | CWB < AWB | − | CWB < AWB |
| Unemployment | − | CWB = AWB | + | CWB > AWB | ||
| Reemployment | − | CWB < AWB | + | CWB > AWB | ||
| Retirement | − | CWB < AWB | + | CWB = AWB | ||
| Relocation/migration | 0 | CWB = AWB | 0 | CWB = AWB | ||
Notes. For marriage and child birth, CWB only refers to life satisfaction, not to relationship satisfaction. The findings on divorce are presented as CWB because the model estimates were based on a greater number of CWB effect sizes than AWB effect sizes. Blank cells indicate that this effect was not tested.
These columns summarize the direction of the effects for CWB. − indicates a negative reaction or a decrease of CWB, respectively. + indicates a positive reaction or an increase of CWB, respectively. 0 indicates a neutral reaction or no significant changes in SWB, respectively.
These columns refer to the differences between in CWB and AWB in reaction and adaptation. CWB > AWB indicates that the parameter was significantly (p < .05) more positive for CWB than for AWB. CWB < AWB indicates that the parameter was significantly (p < .05) more negative for CWB than for AWB. CWB = AWB indicates that AWB and CWB did not differ significantly.