Psychological Well-Being, Dispositional Hope, and Contentment with Life Among Public Hospital Physicians in Türkiye’s Black Sea Region: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Physicians work under demanding conditions that may affect their psychological functioning and evaluations of life. Positive psychological resources, particularly dispositional hope, may be relevant to the association between psychological well-being and contentment with life. This study examined these constructs and their indirect association through dispositional hope among physicians working in public hospitals in Türkiye’s Black Sea region. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between July and December 2024 with a convenience sample of 918 physicians. Validated Turkish versions of the Psychological Well-Being Scale, Dispositional Hope Scale, and Contentment with Life Assessment Scale were administered. An unadjusted indirect-association analysis was performed using PROCESS Model 4 with reliability-adjusted errors-in-variables estimation and 5000 bootstrap samples. Results: The mean scores were 37.30 ± 7.46 for psychological well-being, 45.00 ± 7.65 for dispositional hope, and 19.90 ± 5.14 for contentment with life. Psychological well-being was positively correlated with dispositional hope (r = 0.582) and contentment with life (r = 0.645), while dispositional hope was positively correlated with contentment with life (r = 0.465; all p < 0.001). Psychological well-being was positively associated with dispositional hope (β = 0.60, B = 0.62, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.45, 0.78], p < 0.001; R2 = 0.360). In the outcome model, psychological well-being (β = 0.46, B = 0.38, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [0.28, 0.47], p < 0.001) and dispositional hope (β = 0.34, B = 0.28, SE = 0.08, 95% CI [0.12, 0.44], p < 0.001) were positively associated with contentment with life. Together, psychological well-being and dispositional hope explained 45.5% of the variance in contentment with life (R2 = 0.455). The total association was statistically significant (B = 0.56, SE = 0.04, 95% CI [0.48, 0.63], p < 0.001), as was the indirect association through dispositional hope (β = 0.21, B = 0.18, BootSE = 0.02, 95% bootstrap CI [0.14, 0.23]). Conclusions: Psychological well-being, dispositional hope, and contentment with life were positively associated. Hope showed a significant indirect association, but the cross-sectional, unadjusted model does not support causal inference. Longitudinal multicenter studies are needed.