Research – Adult Functioning and Well-Being

The seemingly simple question of “How can we live a good life?”, it turns out, is in fact an exceedingly complicated question. The “good” life isn’t necessarily just about feeling pleasant feelings. It also includes feeling fulfilled, feeling purposeful, or feeling in control of one’s life, just to name a few. It also includes our cognitive and physical health, and it also includes our relationships with the people around us. Using empirical scientific methods, I thus seek to provide evidence concerning the key factors that may enable various aspects of positive functioning and well-being in adulthood.

Sample research questions:

  • What are the key ingredients that constitute positive functioning and well-being in adulthood?
  • What are the key predictors of various indicators of positive functioning and well-being, including life satisfaction, eudemonic well-being, physical health, and cognitive health?
  • What are the risk and protective factors that could either alleviate or exacerbate the well-being consequences of various forms of adversities, such as poor health, low socioeconomic status, or life stress?

Sample publications:

  • Oh, V. Y. S.* (2025). Money matters for future well-being: A latent growth analysis and meta-analytic integration of associations between income, financial satisfaction, and 22 well-being variables across three datasets. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000552
  • Hoy, E. Q. W.#, & Oh, V. Y. S.* (2024). The consequences of spousal infidelity for long-term chronic health: A two-wave longitudinal analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075241276713
  • Oh, V. Y. S. (2022). Torn between valences: Mixed emotions predict poorer psychological well-being and job burnout. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00493-z
  • Tong, E. M. W., & Oh, V. Y. S. (2021). Gratitude and adaptive coping among Chinese Singaporeans during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.628937 
  • Oh, V. Y. S., & Tong, E. M. W. (2020). Negative emotion differentiation and long-term physical health—The moderating role of neuroticism. Health Psychology, 39(2), 127–136. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000809