IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v19y2018i4d10.1007_s10902-017-9866-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychological Benefits of the “Maker” or Do-It-Yourself Movement in Young Adults: A Pathway Towards Subjective Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Ann Futterman Collier

    (Northern Arizona University)

  • Heidi A. Wayment

    (Northern Arizona University)

Abstract

Over the past several decades, increasing numbers of people have become involved in the do-it-yourself (DIY) or “Maker” movement, i.e., creating a wide range of products from home improvement to self-service to crafts. Little is known about the psychological benefits of these actions; there is an assumption that involvement ultimately increases quality of life. We surveyed 465 college students to describe their participation in a variety of Maker undertakings ranging from domestic arts, arts and crafts, to DIY activities, and examined four potential mediators of the relationship between a Maker identity and SWB. We inquired about the time spent engaged in the activities, reasons for involvement, as well as the immediate and long-term benefits received from Making. We found that college students spent approximately 3 h a week involved in Maker activities and that they most often engaged in domestic arts (e.g., cooking, baking, and gardening). The most important reasons provided for involvement in Maker activities were mood-repair, socializing with friends, and the ability to “stay present-focused.” Having a Maker identity was associated with subjective well-being (SWB), primarily explained by high arousal (i.e., exciting or stimulating) during Maker activities, but not positive mood. Trait rumination and reduced self-focus, or quiet ego, were also related to SWB and suggest the importance of reduced self-focus in understanding the relationship between Making and SWB. Taken together, it appears that Maker identity may be a potential pathway towards SWB.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann Futterman Collier & Heidi A. Wayment, 2018. "Psychological Benefits of the “Maker” or Do-It-Yourself Movement in Young Adults: A Pathway Towards Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1217-1239, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9866-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9866-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-017-9866-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-017-9866-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Wolf & Shaun McQuitty, 2011. "Understanding the do-it-yourself consumer: DIY motivations and outcomes," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 1(3), pages 154-170, December.
    2. Melikşah Demir & Lesley Weitekamp, 2007. "I am so Happy `cause Today I found my Friend: Friendship and Personality as Predictors of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 213-213, June.
    3. Amy Collins & Natalia Sarkisian & Ellen Winner, 2009. "Flow and Happiness in Later Life: An Investigation into the Role of Daily and Weekly Flow Experiences," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 703-719, December.
    4. Melıkşah Demır & Lesley Weitekamp, 2007. "I am so Happy ’Cause Today I Found My Friend: Friendship and Personality as Predictors of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 181-211, June.
    5. Heidi Wayment & Jack Bauer & Kateryna Sylaska, 2015. "The Quiet Ego Scale: Measuring the Compassionate Self-Identity," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 999-1033, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mulhuijzen, Max & de Jong, Jeroen P.J., 2023. "The rich or the poor? Personal resources, do-it-yourself, and innovation in the household sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Don C. Zhang & Tyler L. Renshaw, 2020. "Personality and College Student Subjective Wellbeing: A Domain-Specific Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 997-1014, March.
    2. Stewart McCann, 2011. "Emotional Health and the Big Five Personality Factors at the American State Level," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 547-560, August.
    3. Alessandra Tognazzo & Paola Angela Maria Mazzurana, 2017. "Friends doing business. An Explorative Longitudinal Case Study of Creativity and Innovation in an Italian Technology-Based Start-Up," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 13(2), pages 77-103.
    4. Sabatini, Fabio, 2014. "The relationship between happiness and health: Evidence from Italy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 178-187.
    5. Maftei, Alexandra & Holman, Andrei-Corneliu & Cârlig, Elena-Roxana, 2020. "Does your child think you’re happy? Exploring the associations between children’s happiness and parenting styles," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Karen Siedlecki & Timothy Salthouse & Shigehiro Oishi & Sheena Jeswani, 2014. "The Relationship Between Social Support and Subjective Well-Being Across Age," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 561-576, June.
    7. Nguyen, Cuong Viet, 2021. "Can money buy friends? Evidence from a natural experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    8. Ashley B. Love & Mark D. Holder, 2016. "Can Romantic Relationship Quality Mediate the Relation Between Psychopathy and Subjective Well-Being?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2407-2429, December.
    9. Haridhan Goswami, 2012. "Social Relationships and Children’s Subjective Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 575-588, July.
    10. Degli Antoni, Giacomo & Vittucci Marzetti, Giuseppe, 2022. "Estimating the effect on happiness through question randomization: An application to blood donation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    11. Xuechen Leng & Jinfeng Han & Yingcan Zheng & Xiaoyong Hu & Hong Chen, 2021. "The Role of a “Happy Personality” in the Relationship of Subjective Social Status and Domain-Specific Satisfaction in China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1733-1751, August.
    12. Melikşah Demir & Andrew Haynes & Shannon K. Potts, 2017. "My Friends Are My Estate: Friendship Experiences Mediate the Relationship Between Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1161-1190, August.
    13. Hirata Johannes, 2010. "Glücksforschung: Stand der Dinge und Bedeutung für die Ökonomik," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 61(1), pages 127-150, January.
    14. Diptiman Banerji & Ramendra Singh & Prashant Mishra, 2020. "Friendships in marketing: a taxonomy and future research directions," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(3), pages 223-243, December.
    15. Melikşah Demir & Ömer Şimşek & Amanda Procsal, 2013. "I Am so Happy ‘Cause My Best Friend Makes Me Feel Unique: Friendship, Personal Sense of Uniqueness and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1201-1224, August.
    16. Leena Haanpää & Mirka Kuula & Mia Hakovirta, 2019. "Social Relationships, Child Poverty, and Children’s Life Satisfaction," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-13, January.
    17. Hamid Ali Nadeem & Arshad Mehmood Qamar & Memoona Shahid, 2022. "Exploring Happiness Level of Teachers working in Private Educational Institutions in Islamabad: A Case Study of Beacon House School System," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(4), pages 205-212, December.
    18. Rocío de la Fuente & Águeda Parra & Inmaculada Sánchez-Queija & Izarne Lizaso, 2020. "Flourishing During Emerging Adulthood from a Gender Perspective," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2889-2908, December.
    19. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2017. "The association between experiential and material expenditures and subjective well-being: New evidence from Hungarian survey data," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 72-86.
    20. Brenda H. O’Connell & Deirdre O’Shea & Stephen Gallagher, 2018. "Examining Psychosocial Pathways Underlying Gratitude Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(8), pages 2421-2444, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9866-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.