Personality trait change and life satisfaction in adults: The roles of age and hedonic balance

This paper examines whether changes in personality traits influenced life satisfaction (LS). This involved investigating whether these associations were moderated by age and mediated by hedonic balance (i.e., positive and negative affect). Participants included 11,104 Australian adults aged 18–79 years, with data available from two time points (baseline and 4-year follow up). Latent difference score modeling indicated that increased neuroticism was associated with lower LS, whereas increased extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were associated with higher LS. These relationships were moderated by age, and were less evident in older adults. Hedonic balance partially mediated the relationships between change in neuroticism and extraversion with LS. These findings provide important insights into longitudinal associations between personality change and LS.     

Mechanisms of change in adolescent life satisfaction: A longitudinal analysis

This study explored the psychosocial mechanisms of change associated with differences in levels and linear change of adolescents' global life satisfaction across a 2-year time period. Based on a theoretical model proposed by Evans (1994), this study tested the relations between selected personality (i.e., extraversion and neuroticism) and environmental (stressful life events) variables and global life satisfaction when mediated by internalizing and externalizing problems. The results suggested support for internalizing problems as a mediator of the relationship of personality and environmental variables with life satisfaction. Pathways mediated by internalizing problems significantly predicted levels and linear change of life satisfaction across a 2-year time span. Furthermore, pathways mediated by externalizing problems significantly predicted the level but not the linear change of life satisfaction. Thus, behavior problems and their antecedents appear to relate significantly to adolescents' perceptions of their quality of life. Implications for adolescent mental health promotion were discussed.     

The associations of birth order with personality and intelligence in a representative sample of U.S. high school students

We tested birth order associations with personality traits and intelligence using Project Talent, a representative sample (N = 377,000) of U.S. high school students. Using a between-family design and several background factors (i.e., age, sex, sibship size, parental socio-economic status, and family structure), we were able to control for potential confounds, and estimate the links between birth order and outcomes across several different social categories. In addition to differences between firstborns and laterborns across the entire sample, we also tested birth rank trends in a sub-sample of targets from sibships of three, raised by two parents. Overall, the average absolute association between birth order and personality traits was .02, whereas the one between birth order and intelligence was .04.     

Core self-evaluation and life satisfaction: The person-environment fit perspective

This study is the first to test the mediating roles of three person-environment (P-E) fit variables (i.e., person-major fit, person-university fit, and person-society fit), in the relationship between core self-evaluation and life satisfaction. Data from 794 Chinese university students were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results supported a partial mediating effect for all three P-E fit variables on the relationship between core self-evaluation and life satisfaction. Person-major fit and person-university fit partially mediated the relationship between core self-evaluation and person-society fit. Additionally, person-society fit partially mediated the relationships of life satisfaction with person-major fit and person-university fit. The findings reveal the complicated mechanisms underlying the influence that core self-evaluation has on life satisfaction and suggest important implications for future research.     

Birth order differences in normal personality traits: Perspectives from within and outside the family

The hypotheses of Sulloway (1996) regarding birth order differences in five-factor model personality traits were tested in a sample of 231 college students with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992). Data were collected from three sources (self, peer, and parent) to systematically evaluate previous observations that birth order differences are more commonly found when ratings are obtained from family members than from observers outside the family (Ernst & Angst, 1983). Using a between-family design, students were selected only from families with two or three full biological siblings and no half-siblings, step-siblings, or adopted siblings. Firstborn (n = 103) and laterborn (n = 128) students were compared using NEO-FFI ratings by the self, by a same-sex college peer, and by a biological parent. No birth order differences were found for any of the five NEO-FFI scores using any of the three rating sources. Effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were less than .20 for all comparisons. Suggestions for new approaches to the study of birth order differences are considered, including the use of within-family designs and more contextualized personality variables.     

Only children in the 21st century: Personality differences between adults with and without siblings are very,very small

Negative beliefs about only children suggest that they are spoiled and unlikable, with these early personality differences persisting across the lifespan. Early research found little support for the idea, yet, negative views towards only children remain prevalent. The current research re-visited the issue using a large national panel study of New Zealand adults (N = 20,592) to assess mean differences in personality between those with and without siblings. Adults with no siblings reported significantly lower levels of conscientiousness and honesty-humility and higher levels of neuroticism and openness than adults with siblings; however, mean differences failed to reach the threshold of even a small effect size (|d’s| = 0.08–0.11). Beliefs about only children appear to contradict actual group differences.     

Relational self-construal moderates the effect of social support on life satisfaction

While social support is associated with a host of important physical and psychological benefits, these effects are not always straightforward. Still, the moderating factors that might underlie individual differences in reactions to social support are not well-understood. In the current studies, we examined individual differences in relational self-construal in the typically positive relationship between social support and life satisfaction. In Study 1 (N = 79) relational self-construal moderated the relationship between social support and life satisfaction such that social support was especially beneficial for those with high relational self-construal. We replicated this effect in Study 2 (N = 284), and also found that social support was especially important for individuals with high relational self-construal in the context of high feelings of stress. These studies suggest that social support has differently gauged effects on life satisfaction depending on an individual’s relational self-construal.     

Locus-of-hope and life satisfaction: The mediating roles of personal self-esteem and relational self-esteem

Research has demonstrated that hope is linked to better psychological well-being; however, little research has been conducted to examine the mechanisms underlying the link between hope and psychological well-being. The current study examined whether two types of self-esteem (personal and relational) would mediate the relationship between four loci-of-hope (internal, family, peers, and spiritual) and life satisfaction among Hong Kong and Macau college students (n = 1008). Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Consistent with the hypotheses, both personal self-esteem and relational self-esteem partially mediated the effects of internal hope on life satisfaction. Moreover, relational self-esteem mediated the effect of external-family locus-of-hope on life satisfaction. Interestingly, a suppressing effect of personal self-esteem on the relationship between external-peers locus-of-hope and life satisfaction was found. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

The effect of meaningfulness and integrative processing in expressive writing on positive and negative affect and life satisfaction

Meaningfulness and integrative processing of expressive writing may influence the effect of expressive writing. Participants completed measures of positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction before and after an expressive writing intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four expressive writing instruction conditions, which combined higher and lower levels of meaning and integrative processing instructions. Meaningfulness and integrative processing instructions had significant effects in increasing positive affect and there was a significant interaction between meaningfulness instructions and integrative processing instructions; participants in the high meaningfulness and high integrative processing instruction condition showed the greatest increase in positive affect. Meaningfulness had a significant effect in decreasing negative affect. The intervention did not influence life satisfaction. Both meaningfulness and integrative processing instructions led to more self-reported personal meaningfulness of the writing and more cognitive, emotional, behavioural and situational changes. More self-reported meaningfulness of the writing and more cognitive, emotional, behavioural and situational changes made as a result of the writing were in turn associated with greater increases in positive affect. The results of the study affirm the importance of meaningfulness and processing in expressive writing and potentially provide information regarding how to increase the effectiveness of expressive writing.     

Personality and job satisfaction: The role of narcissism

Narcissism has been studied in relation to leadership and productivity in the workplace. However, few studies have been conducted on how narcissism influences work attitudes. The first goal of this study is to measure the association between narcissism and the five factor model (FFM) of personality in an organizational sample. The second goal is to measure the influence of narcissism on job satisfaction when controlling for FFM traits. A total of 224 employees from a public organization have filled out self-rating measures of job satisfaction, FFM traits and a measure of narcissism. Results indicated that narcissism was positively correlated with FFM extraversion and openness to experience and negatively correlated with agreeableness. Narcissism had a significant influence on job satisfaction, even when controlling for FFM traits. We believe that these results stress the importance of better understanding the role of narcissism in employee attitudes in order to weigh the pros and cons of hiring or promoting narcissistic employees.     

A cross-lagged model of self-esteem and life satisfaction: Gender differences among Chinese university students

Past research has shown a close relationship between self-esteem (SE) and life satisfaction (LS). Using cross-lagged structural equation modeling, the current longitudinal study examined the directionality of the relationship among a sample of Chinese university students (214 males and 134 females). In the model, SE and LS at Time 1 were used to predict SE and LS at Time 2, with socioeconomic status (SES) as the independent variable of both constructs. Results showed that SE consistently predicted subsequent LS among both genders, whereas no significant effects of LS on subsequent SE were found. Furthermore, SES had significant effects on LS among both genders. Its influence on SE, however, was significant among females only. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

Exploring the mediation effect of social support and self-esteem on the relationship between humor style and life satisfaction in Chinese college students

In this study, we examined the mediator effects of social support and self-esteem on the relationship between humor style and life satisfaction in Chinese college students. We had 477 university students, with age range of 18–23 respond to self-report measures of humor style questionnaire, multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support, Rosenberg self-esteem scale and satisfaction with life scale. Results of structural equation modeling showed that social support and self-esteem fully mediated the relationship between affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor and life satisfaction. The final model also revealed a significant path from affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor through social support and self-esteem to life satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of the conceptional context.     

Affective mediators of the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in young adults

This study examined the affective mediators of the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in young adults and the widespread or limited affective mediators between the different groups in demographic factors, e.g., gender, students and non-students, family conditions. Six hundred and twenty participants completed the Wong Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale. Results using structural equation modeling showed that both positive affect and negative affect acted as mediators of the relationship between trait EI and life satisfaction and the indirect effect of trait EI on life satisfaction via positive affect was stronger than that via negative affect. Moreover, multi-group analyses found that the paths did not differ by gender and family conditions, but positive affect was more strongly associated with students’ life satisfaction, compared to non-students. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.     

Social cognitive predictors of academic adjustment and life satisfaction in Portuguese college students: A longitudinal analysis

A social cognitive model of well-being [Lent, R. W. (2004). Toward a unifying theoretical and practical perspective on well-being and psychosocial adjustment. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 482--509.] was adapted to the context of academic adjustment and tested using a longitudinal design. Participants were 252 students at a university in northern Portugal. They completed measures of academic self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and adjustment, along with global measures of positive affect and life satisfaction. Path analyses indicated that the model fit the data well overall. As expected, self-efficacy and environmental support were predictive of goal progress and academic adjustment, and the latter was predictive of students’ global life satisfaction. Self-efficacy and positive affect were found to be reciprocally related to one another. Contrary to expectations, goal progress did not contribute uniquely to the prediction of academic adjustment or life satisfaction. We consider directions for future research applying the social cognitive model to satisfaction in, and adjustment to, educational and work settings.     

Self-esteem as mediator and moderator of the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction in adolescents

In this study, the mediator and moderator effects of global self-esteem on the relationship between loneliness and global life satisfaction in adolescents were investigated. The participants were 439 students, between age range of 15–18, who were attending four different high schools in Turkey. Data were collected by using the UCLA loneliness scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and the satisfaction with life scale. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that global self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and global life satisfaction. However, global self-esteem did not moderate the relationship between loneliness and global life satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of the conceptional context.     

Belief in a just world mediates the relationship between institutional trust and life satisfaction among the elderly in China

This study investigated the relationship between institutional trust and life satisfaction, and the mediating role of belief in a just world (BJW) among the elderly. The General Belief in a Just World Scale (GBJW) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were employed. A self-developed Institutional Trust questionnaire was used to measure participant’ levels of trust in eight institutions. The aggregate score for all eight items represented the level of institutional trust. The questionnaires were completed by 19,352 retirees ranging in age from 50 to 99 (M = 69.7, SD = 8.0). The results showed the following: (1) overall, the retirees tended to report high institutional trust and high life satisfaction; (2) institutional trust was positively associated with life satisfaction; and (3) more importantly, the relationships between institutional trust and life satisfaction were partially mediated by GBJW. This finding provides a new insight into the psychological mechanisms by which institutional trust relates to individual happiness. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as the study’s limitations, are discussed.     

Religiosity moderates the relationship between negative affect and life satisfaction: A study in 29 European countries

Many religions contend that the key to well-being is living one’s life based on religious standards, rather having certain emotional experiences. On this basis, it is predicted that the relationship between positive and negative affect and life satisfaction would be stronger in less religious individuals. Using multi-level modeling in a sample of 50,130 participants from 29 European countries, this study reveals that religiosity moderates the relationship between negative affect and life satisfaction, such that life satisfaction is less strongly influenced by the frequency of negative emotions in more religious (vs less religious) individuals.     

Emotional expressiveness during worship services and life satisfaction: assessing the influence of race and religious affiliation

The purpose of this study is to see if an emotional expressive worship style is associated with life satisfaction. Our study model contains the following core relationships: (1) blacks are more likely than whites to worship in conservative Protestant congregations; (2) members of conservative congregations and blacks will attend church services more often; (3) blacks and conservative Protestants are more likely than either whites or members of other congregations to openly express their emotions during worship services; (4) individuals who express their emotions during church services will be more likely say they worship in a highly cohesive congregation; (5) people who worship in highly cohesive congregations will generalise this sense of connectedness to people outside their place of worship; and (6) those who feel closely connected with all people will experience a greater sense of life satisfaction. Finding from a nationwide survey provide support for each of these relationships.     

Personal resources at the juncture of culture and life satisfaction

This study investigates cultural group differences (Israeli Arab vs. Jewish) in personal resources and life satisfaction. Arab students evidenced lower levels of life satisfaction, as well as perceived personal resources, when compared to their Jewish counterparts. Furthermore, personal resources mediated the effects of culture on life satisfaction. The role of personal resources at the juncture of culture and life satisfaction was discussed.     

The mediation effects of achievement motivation and locus of control between academic stress and life satisfaction in undergraduate students

This study investigated the mediation effect of locus of control and achievement motivation between academic stress and life satisfaction. A total of 307 undergraduate students recruited from a Hispanic Serving Institution in South Texas participated in the study. In the frame of the study, two mediation models were tested by utilising PROCESS Procedure for SPSS (Hayes, 2013. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press). The results indicated that bivariate correlations among study variables ranged from ?.24 to .32. The overall composite indicated that academic stress contributed to 6% of the variance in life satisfaction (p?b?=??.06), while the mediating effect of locus of control contributed to 10% of the variance in Life Satisfaction (p?b?=??.4).