In the following, we will discuss the relationship between the pair of the sense of coherence, perceived health, family relationships and happiness with
2.3.1 Family relationship and sense of coherence
The cause-effect relationships between family relationships and sense of co-herence were unknown. Study result showed that family relationships and sense of coherence are inter-correlated with significantly positive relation(r=.17), otherwise, both sense of coherence and social support were related negatively to morbidity and positively to both perceived state of health and subjective well-being(Elovainio &
Kivimäki, 2000).Another study with personal interview survey collected in 1994 (N=8650, response rate 73%) with ages 25–64 (N=6506, 49% women), result of the study revealed that the factors contributing to sense of coherence included the quality of the relationship with partner, family and social relationships, social support (Vola-nen, Lahelma, Silventoi(Vola-nen, & Suomi(Vola-nen, 2004).
Family relationships may have significant influence on sense of coherence.
The study investigated relationship about stress, cope with stress and relationships influences one’s sense of coherence (SOC) which incorporating 596 college students indicated that family relationships had the greatest effect on SOC for males, whereas emotional health had the greatest effect on SOC for females (Darling, McWey, Howard, & Olmstead, 2007).
2.3.2 Family relationships and happiness
Family relationships bring out highly social support is positively related to happiness (Elovainio & Kivimäki, 2000). The result of the analysis between social or family support and psychological well-being applied on 183 college students showed that domain support had a significant unique association with measures of well-being (Davis, Morris, & Kraus, 1998). The study explored the psychological and social
re-sources of aged people (over 75 years) in Finland and predict their subjective well-being and experienced state of health (n = 348). The result revealed that high experienced quality of social relationships, such as family relationships or social rela-tion are strongly related to subjective well-being (r=.27, p<.001) (Elovainio &
Kivimäki, 2000).
A study investigated the correlations and causes of happiness and depression among 234 participants (mean age=18.23 years) adolescents, the path model showed that family relationships had a direct predict power on happiness (ß=0.18, P<0.05) (Cheng & Furnham, 2003). Another study examined the factors predicting happiness among ninety adolescents ranged in age from 16 to 18 and the mean age was 17.23 (S.D.=0.65) in the U.K. And indicated that friendship (b=0.23, t=2.07, p<0.05) was significant predictors of happiness (Cheng & Furnham, 2002). Above all studies, family relationships and social relationships may beneficial for happiness are pro-posed.
2.3.3 Sense of coherence and happiness
The role of sense of coherence (SOC) in psychological functioning are still unclear. A study obtained a sample of 193 adults (30–85 years old) indicated that SOC mediating the relationships between psychological experience, such as anxiety, stress, worry, and psychological well-being; SOC was negatively related to stressful experiences and positively related to psychological well-being (Gana, 2001). Another study applied on the population of breast cancer survivors also indicated that SOC was positively associated with psychological well-being, SOC was significantly posi-tively related to psychological well-being (r= .594, P<.01)(Gibson & Parker, 2003).
Sense of coherence (SOC) is a disposition that seeing the world as compre-hensible, manageable, and meaningful, seems linked to greater stress-resistance and better health (Amirkhan & Greaves, 2003). A community-based, longitudinal field study (n=75) verified associations among coherence, coping, and health. Moreover, they yielded a causal model which showed the disposition to both directly impact health status, and to operate indirectly via coping, which related to mental health via psychological coping and resiliency (Amirkhan & Greaves, 2003).
SOC seems to have a mediating or moderator role to predict health (Amirkhan & Greaves, 2003). A study focused on age people from Finland also indi-cated that sense of coherence is a predictor of happiness; a strong sense of coherence and high experienced quality of social relationships are strongly related to happiness (Elovainio & Kivimäki, 2000).
2.3.4 Happiness and perceived health
There is quite a lot of evidence that happiness can influence health directly (Argyle, 1997b; Engström, Henningsohn, Steineck, & Leppert, 2005; Ryff, Singer, &
Dienberg Love, 2004). An empirical study indicated that psychosocial factors con-tribute significantly to the pathogenesis and expression of coronary artery disease (CAD), result also revealed that chronic psychosocial stress can increase the risk of coronary artery atherosclerosis as well as to transient endothelial dysfunction and even necrosis through excessive sympathetic nervous system activation (Rozanski, Blumenthal, & Kaplan, 1999). Acute stress triggers myocardial ischemia, enlarges arrhythmogenesis, stimulates platelet function, and increases blood viscosity through hemoconcentration, acute stress also causes coronary vasoconstriction. Otherwise,
hyperresponsivity of the sympathetic nervous system, manifested by exaggerated heart rate and blood pressure responses to psychological stimuli, is an intrinsic char-acteristic among some individuals (Rozanski et al., 1999). Another study also indi-cated that cardiovascular health is more consistently associated with optimism and happiness. Moreover, positive well-being is also positively associated with restora-tive health behaviors(e.g., smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, sleep quality and quantity, and food consumption) and biological function(e.g., cardiovas-cular, inflammatory, and metabolic processes) that are most relevant for cardiovascu-lar health (Boehm & Kubzansky, 2012).
The pursuit of happiness can have concrete benefits for health and longevity (Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001; Frey, 2011). A system review indicated that positive affect could contributed to physical health, and suggested that an association of positive affect with lower morbidity, decreased symptoms and pain, increased longevity among older community-dwelling individuals and surviving serious illness (Pressman & Cohen, 2005).
A meta-analysis synthesized 17 studies on emotional well-being as predictor of the prognosis of physical illness, the findings show that emotional well-being pre-dicts long-term prognosis of physical illness (Lamers, Bolier, Westerhof, Smit, &
Bohlmeijer, 2012).Also, study combined with 30 follow-up studies on happiness and longevity revealed that happiness does predict longevity among healthy populations, therefore, happiness does not cure illness but it does protect against becoming ill (Veenhoven, 2007).