2018, Vol. 4(1): 1-2
Human well-being from different perspectives
Editorial
Helena Espírito-Santo ⓘ ✉, Carla Madeira Sério ⓘ, Inês Queiroz
Garcia ⓘ
https://doi.org/10.7342/ismt.rpics.2018.4.1.73
In 2018, the
editors of the Portuguese Journal of Behavioral and Social Research (PJBSR)
continue to favor the publication of original articles of investigation and
revision in the areas of social and behavioral sciences. The PJBSR continues to
promote thinking, questioning the changes in society, their realities, and
rethinking their problems, encouraging a reflection among their readers.
The number 1 of
the fourth volume of the PJBSR adds four original articles and one review
article. Although this issue of the PJBSR addresses different contents, there
is evidence of a focus on the study of positive psychological variables and
their relation to human well-being, whether it is operationalized as physical
or mental health, studied in the context of institutionalization or in the
context of the work, evaluated at the level of the subjective perception of
well-being or the level of the conception of death with dignity.
Therefore, the
first article — "Self-compassion,
well-being, and health in advanced age" (Parente, Cunha, Galhardo,
& Couto) — confirms the evidence that the status of physical and mental
health in old age is associated with compassion and with subjective well-being.
These positive factors will be critical elements for a more soothing perception
of aging, and for the adoption of an adaptive style of coping when facing the
difficulties in old age. The evidence that older people living in their own
homes are more compassionate than the older ones living in the
institutionalized context reiterates the importance of adopting programs and
strategies at the level of self-compassion that promote greater satisfaction
with life, better mental and physical health, especially among
institutionalized elderly.
The second article
— "Perception
of Brazilians on death with dignity" (Melo, Bezerra, & Lima) —
raised an interesting question: what is the conception of Brazilians about what
is to die with dignity and what are the distinctions in sociodemographic
diversities? The results allow us to reflect on the procedures to be developed
in the care of patients in the process of dying and of their relatives and
showing that the concern goes beyond the medical community and is widespread in
society. In fact, what is at stake is the reflection on death and its removal
from the hospital context.
Another area that
deserves reflection concerns the well-being of those with an active profession,
namely university professors. The authors of the study "Psychosocial risks
evaluation factors: Study with higher education teachers" (Borges, Santos,
Saraiva, & Pocinho) showed that university professors live in situations of
psychosocial risk, especially public-school teachers, female teachers, and the
oldest ones. Their findings stimulated the authors to emphasize the importance
of primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions.
This round of
original articles ends as it began, re-focusing on well-being in old age,
especially among institutionalized older adults. In the study "Validation of the
Portuguese version of the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire for the
institutionalized elderly population", Neves, Garcia, Espírito-Santo,
and Lemos sought to contribute to the analysis of the psychometric properties
and validation of a tool for measuring spiritual well-being in institutionalized
older people. This is a domain of well-being that has shown to be relevant to
the quality of life, physical, and mental health. Given its importance, a
validated instrument for the older population was lacking, especially the
institutionalized, where, of course, the meaning of life is put to the test
every day.
In the Review
Articles section, Espírito Santo and Daniel have concluded the journey
regarding the importance of calculating and presenting the effect sizes along
with the statistical tests. By 2015, the authors (Espirito-Santo
& Daniel, 2015) had reviewed the effect sizes for the mean differences between two
groups. By 2017, they had set forth the theoretical assumptions, formulas, and
guidelines for the presentation of correlations and other measures of
association effect sizes (Espirito-Santo
& Daniel, 2017). However, the effect sizes for the analyzes of the explained variance
were lacking. Hence, in the article "Calculating
and reporting effect sizes on scientific papers (3): Guide to report regression
models and ANOVA effect sizes", the authors review theoretical
arguments, formulas for calculation and interpretation of most common effect
sizes for general linear models (regression analysis and ANOVA). Like the
previous articles, the authors supplement the manuscript with a spreadsheet to
assist those interested.
We end this editorial
by thanking all reviewers and authors for the contribution and trust they place
on the PJBSR. We wish everyone a good year.
Espirito-Santo,
H., & Daniel, F. B. (2015). Calcular e apresentar tamanhos do efeito em
trabalhos científicos (1): As limitações do p
< 0,05 na análise de diferenças de médias de dois grupos [Calculating and
reporting effect sizes on scientific papers (1): p < 0.05 limitations in the
analysis of mean differences of two groups]. Revista
Portuguesa de Investigação Comportamental e Social, 1(1), 3-16. [Google Scholar] [Medra]
Espirito-Santo,
H., & Daniel, F. (2017). Calcular e apresentar tamanhos do efeito em
trabalhos científicos (2): Guia para reportar a força das relações [Calculating
and reporting effect sizes on scientific papers (2): Guide to report the
strength of relationships]. Revista
Portuguesa de Investigação Comportamental e Social, 3(1), 53-64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]