11.2 Long-term Perception of Poverty and Satisfaction with Life

Poverty, of itself, is not usually directly associated with subjective well-being, although people from wealthier countries do report higher levels of well-being than those in poorer countries (Myers, 1993).  Recent research in the slums of Calcutta, for example (Biswas-Diener, & Diener, 2001) found that the extremely poor are more satisfied than might be expected - with social relationships playing a large part in reducing the effects of poverty. 

Where differences in SWL could play a more significant role in the present sample of women might be identified in terms of theories of social comparison.  Relative deprivation, where feelings of satisfaction with life depend on who or what we are using as a comparison, may come into play in an area like Inishowen. Here, the border with Northern Ireland and feelings of being on the margins of both the County and the Country could combine to worsen perceptions of rural isolation and deprivation.  The norms (standards) that exist in relation to production and consumption in societies today need a great deal of further research if the true picture of the relationship between SWB and money is to be properly understood (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002).

With specific reference to long term perception of poverty, meaning over the last ten years, Table 31 illustrates the fact that the lowest SWL scores were reported by those women who felt that they were poor for most of that time.  The columns headed "Minimum" and "Maximum" record the highest and lowest scores obtained for any individual in the relevant long-term perception of poverty category, reading across and down in the table. The highest levels of SWL, as might perhaps have been expected, were reported by those who felt they were never, or rarely, poor during that time.    However, the picture is less clear for the groups in between and for those who suffered extreme variations in their experience of poverty in the past; no identifiable pattern emerged here.

11.3 Present Financial Circumstances and Satisfaction with Life

The SWL scores for women who described their present financial circumstances in response to Question 24 as "Comfortable" or "Managing quite well" were very similar and represented the highest recorded, at an average of 25.75 and 26.39 respectively.  From then on down, as Table 33 shows, these scores became progressively lower with those women who were finding their financial circumstances as "Extremely difficult/Barely coping at all" registering only a very low average of 11.25.  This represents a score that is just barely above the worst possible on the scale. 

The pattern that has emerged here seems to indicate that the experience of poverty at the extreme end does indeed have a huge bearing on life satisfaction and, consequently, on subjective well-being as a whole.  In addressing the timeless problem of the effect of money on money, subjective well-being (SWB) and personal happiness, research by Diener and Biswas-Diener (2002) indicates that more money to meet basic needs will increase SWB where poverty is involved but they also speculate that high SWB in the first place may 'increase people's chances for high income' (p.57).  If this is the case, addressing women's personal development via positive psychology may have implications beyond the 'feel-good' factor.