Buffering Effects for Negative Life Events: The Role of Material, Social, Religious and Personal Resources

Abstract

The changes in subjective wellbeing experienced following negative life events can be buffered by various types of resources. In the present article, we compare the influences of material, religious, social and personality resources using the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) in a unified framework. Fixed effects regression models are estimated for four negative life events: separation, death of a closely related person, unemployment and disability. Buffering effects are estimated by interacting time since the event with the amount of resources. Religious resources show the strongest buffering whereas material resources do not seem to buffer consequences of negative life events. Social and personality resources present mixed results.

Ethnic group and social support contribution to posttraumatic growth after sudden spousal loss among Jewish, Muslim, and Druze widows in Israel

“…This finding is inconsistent with the findings of who reported a negative association between social support and response to widowhood. It is also inconsistent with the findings of Kuhn and Brulé (2019) who reported that emotional support and frequency of contact with friends reinforce the negative effects after the loss of a loved one. These inconsistent findings raise the need for further research in this area.…”

“…A recent study that examined the roles of material, social, religious, and personal factors as a buffer against the impact of negative life events, including the death of a loved one (Kuhn & Brulé, 2019). Material resources were not buffering effects for negative life events.…”

“…For example, the desire to bring about positive changes in life after the loss of a spouse may face religious sanctions if these changes are contrary to traditional religious norms and values. A widow who has recently lost her spouse may suffer not only from loss but also because she does not live according to the social norms in her environment (Kuhn & Brulé, 2019). Social resources are considered a multidimensional concept (Costanza et al, 1988).…”

“…Another very interesting finding is that the number of friends and emotional support and frequency of contact with friends reinforce the negative effects after the loss of a close person. It can be concluded that internal resources are most often used as a buffer and that external resources such as material resources or social network do not help to recover from negative life events (Kuhn & Brulé, 2019).…”

The wellbeing of working-age adults with and without disability in the UK: Associations with age, gender, ethnicity, partnership status, educational attainment and employment status

“…In contrast, analysis of Swiss panel data found that neither income nor wealth buffered the effects of disability acquisition, however 'internal' resources (personal spirituality and personality attributes) did show buffering effects. 30 Although there is substantial evidence concerning associations between disability and increased risk of exposure to well-established social determinants of poor health, 31 relatively few studies have investigated the effects of such exposure on the PWB of people with disability. Further, many of the studies that explore factors that mediate the relationship between disability and PWB focus on younger or older age groups.…”