Well-being, values, and emotional climate in people exposed to processes of political violence in Ayacucho, Peru

The period of violence in Peru between 1980 and 2000 generated significant psychosocial sequelae in the population, mainly in people living in the highlands and the central jungle. Ayacucho, a region in the central highlands, has been identified as the one hit hardest by this process. The present study analyzed the relations among well-being, values, and emotional climate in 120 people who lived in Ayacucho during those years, selected through a purposive sampling method. Humanitarian motivation and central and social orientation values displayed a direct correlation with emotional climate and subjective and social well-being. A path analysis was used to generate a model with optimal goodness of fit in which central-humanistic values directly affect climate and well-being indicators, while social-humanistic values have a direct impact on social well-being. The evidence obtained is in line with previous studies that stress the importance of values linked to autonomy and optimal social relationships for the proper functioning of individuals and their self-evaluations.