Positive emotions broaden individuals’ momentary thought-action repertoires, and builds their personal resources.

Why Contentment?  Poorly-defined and under-researched  Emotion induced/released in relaxation, meditation, happiness/ flow-states  Useful in positive-emotion studies  Self-regulation studies

What is contentment?  State of happiness and satisfaction: he found contentment in living a simple life in the country (Oxford dictionary)  Instead of judging or second- guessing yourself, you are satisfied to just be  Contentment feels peaceful as the moonlight at the bottom of a stream, tranquil amid constant change (Johnson & Ruhl, 1999).

William James (1840 – 1910)  “...the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion” (James, 1890).

Frederickson (2010)  Serenity/Contentment  Context: safe, certain, low effort  Tendency: savour & integrate  Outcome: modify self- & world-views  Inspires more of a mental state rather than an action state.

Proposed autonomic and cognitive correlates of contentment Physical correlates of contentment: Cognitive correlates of contentment  Body relaxes  Heart rate  Body-tension  Muscles relaxation  Blood flow  Temperature  Immunes system strengthens  EEG synchronisation/changes  physiological equilibrium  Emotion- changes  Stress decreases (coping)  Can “hear” body symptoms (awareness increases)  Feel content to be in this moment

Current Contentment Measures  The Contentment with Life Assessment (Lavallee, Hatch, Michalos, & Mckinley, 2006).  The Generalised Contentment Scale (Hudson, 1986)  physiological correlates  State contentment

Measuring Contentment  Create and statistically validate a contentment measure

The Measure  38 initial questions  Life satisfaction + Current cognitive/emotional satisfaction + Physiological state of contentment  Contentment with Life Assessment, Generalised Contentment Scale  10 X UoA colleagues

Participants  352 ppt’s UoA  Between 17 and 59 (M = SD = 6.60)  78.3% females /21.7% males  Euro (n = 188), Asian (n = 78); Indian (n = 21); Maori (n = 18); P.I. (n = 9), other ethnicity (n = 46)

Table 1. Summary of exploratory factor analysis results for the Contentment Scale questionnaire (N =302) Varimax Rotated Component Matrix Rotated Factor Loadings I am calm I feel love towards myself My shoulders are relaxed At this time I feel in control of my life All of my needs for contentment have been taken care of I feel content My body feels tense0.80 I feel stressed out I feel unfulfilled with what I am achieving in life I feel unhappy because there are other things I would like to be doing in my life Eigenvalues % of variance α Note. Primary factor loadings above.40 are in bold

Table 1. Summary of exploratory factor analysis results for the Contentment Scale questionnaire (N =302) Varimax Rotated Component Matrix Rotated Factor Loadings I am calm0.74 I feel love towards myself0.71 My shoulders are relaxed0.75 At this time I feel in control of my life0.75 All of my needs for contentment have been taken care of0.69 I feel content0.77 My body feels tense0.80 I feel stressed out0.73 I feel unfulfilled with what I am achieving in life0.80 I feel unhappy because there are other things I would like to be doing in my life 0.80 Eigenvalues % of variance α Note. Primary factor loadings above.40 are in bold

Table 1. Summary of exploratory factor analysis results for the Contentment Scale questionnaire (N =302) Varimax Rotated Component Matrix Rotated Factor Loadings General Cognitive Appraisal State Tension Appraisal I am calm0.74 I feel love towards myself0.71 My shoulders are relaxed0.75 At this time I feel in control of my life0.75 All of my needs for contentment have been taken care of 0.69 I feel content0.77 My body feels tense0.80 I feel stressed out0.73 I am unfulfilled with what I am achieving in life0.80 I feel unhappy because there are other things I would like to be doing in my life 0.80 Eigenvalues % of variance Α Note. Primary factor loadings above.40 are in bold

Final 10 Questions for State Contentment Measure General Cognitive Appraisal State Tension Appraisal 1. I feel content 2. At this time I feel in control of my life 3. I feel unhappy because there are other things I would like to be doing in my life 4. I feel love towards myself 5. All of my needs for contentment have been taken care of 6. I feel unfulfilled with what I am achieving in my life 1. My shoulders are relaxed 2. My body feels tense 3. I feel stressed out 4. I am calm

Table 1 Correlation Between Contentment Measure Subscales After Controlling For Social Desirability Subscale General Cognitive Appraisal State Tension Appraisal0.535** Note **p <.001

Testing the Contentment Measure Convergent and Discriminant validity of the State Contentment Measure  83 ppts (UoA)  Between19 and 61 (M = SD = 7.41)  80.7% female/16.9% male

Scales correlated with CM  Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale  Oxford Happiness Questionnaire  Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale  Satisfaction with Life Scale  Contentment with Life Assessment scale  General Contentment Scale

Correlations Between Measures after controlling for Social Desirability Measures Depression, Anxiety, Stress Survey Oxford Happiness Questionnaire Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale Satisfaction With Life Scale Contentment Measure *0.706*0.497*0.652* General Cognitive Appraisal Subscale *0.709*0.444*0.706* State Tension Appraisal Subscale *0.530*0.449*0.416* Note. *p <.001

Correlations Between Measures after controlling for Social Desirability Measures Contentment with Life Assessment scaleGeneral Contentment Scale Contentment Measure0.834*0.865* General Cognitive Appraisal Subscale 0.891*0.848* State Tension Appraisal Subscale 0.440*0.592* Note. *p <.001

Discussion A 10-item contentment measure (CM) was created with two distinct subscales  Reliable  validated  Short (easily add it to larger questionnaire packages)  State  Physiological

Add it to...  Positive emotions studies  Mindful eating studies  Meditation studies  Flow and well-being studies

Limitations  Limited specific population  Further testing needed on other populations

Questions  Can the measure predict physiological markers  Can the measure predict psychological well- being markers

A Potential Definition of Contentment? Contentment is an active state of cognitive and physiological equilibrium

The State Contentment Measure (SCM; Taylor, 2013). For permission to access the SCM (at no cost) please either: