Big Five Personality Traits and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Life Satisfaction in Iranian Muslim University Students

This study presents the first examination of the relation between the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in Iran, which is an understudied country in the well-being literature. Participants were 235 university students at the University of Tehran, all reporting their religious affiliation as Muslim. Findings revealed that the Big Five personality traits explained about 25% of the variance in life satisfaction scores. Among the Big Five traits, extraversion and neuroticism were found to be the strongest predictors of life satisfaction. In addition, it was found that self-esteem significantly predicted life satisfaction over and above the Big Five personality traits. Findings also showed that self-esteem completely mediated the influence of conscientiousness and agreeableness on life satisfaction, while the influence of extraversion and neuroticism on life satisfaction was partially mediated by self-esteem. Furthermore, findings revealed that female students scored significantly higher than male students on life satisfaction. Sex also could moderate the relation between conscientiousness and life satisfaction. This relation was found to be significantly stronger for female students. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to prior studies on the relation between personality traits and different aspects of well-being in Iran.     

Big Five personality traits: Are they really important for the subjective well‐being of Indians?

This study empirically examined the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and subjective well‐being (SWB) in India. SWB variables used were life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect. A total of 183 participants in the age range 30–40 years from Pune, India, completed the personality and SWB measures. Backward stepwise regression analysis showed that the Big Five traits accounted for 17% of the variance in life satisfaction, 35% variance in positive affect and 28% variance in negative affect. Conscientiousness emerged as the strongest predictor of life satisfaction. In line with the earlier research findings, neuroticism and extraversion were found to predict negative affect and positive affect, respectively. Neither openness to experience nor agreeableness contributed to SWB. The research emphasises the need to revisit the association between personality and SWB across different cultures, especially non‐western cultures.     

Longitudinal Relationships Between Personality Traits and Social Well-Being: A Two-Decade Study

Journal of Happiness Studies - This study examined the temporal relationships between social well-being and the Big Five personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness,...     

大五人格5个维度及10个面的发展水平——基于我国15～75岁横断样本调查

基于人格毕生发展理论及中国社会文化背景,调查了我国从青少年到老年3192名被试,探究了中国人大五人格5维度及10个面毕生发展水平。总体上,年龄与神经质、焦虑、抑郁、活跃、开放性、审美、创意显著负相关,与外倾性、宜人性、尽责性、自信、利他、顺从、条理和自律显著正相关。在60岁以下的人群中,年龄大的个体神经质更低,而在大于60岁的人群中,年龄大的个体神经质反而更高;在50岁以下的人群中,年龄大的个体外倾性水平相对较高,但50岁之后年龄大的个体外倾性相对较低;整体上,年龄大的个体开放性水平相对较低,而年龄大的个体宜人性水平反而更高;年龄大的个体尽责性水平也相对较高,但较之40到49岁群体而言,50岁以上群体的尽责性则相对较低。男性和女性不同年龄群体的大五人格具有一定差异性,特别是男性的尽责性高于女性,以及女性的神经质高于男性等性别差异。进一步分析了年龄与大五人格10个面的关系,描绘了不同年龄群体10个面的发展水平。     

Person Memory: Organization of Behaviors by Traits

Subjects studied a list of sentences describing a fictional person in terms of the “Big Five” personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience). Although recall improved across trials in both memorization and impression formation instructions, clustering of the sentences by Big Five categories remained at very low levels throughout the experiment. Nor did blocking the sentences by Big Five category improve recall. Although the Big Five structure has been suggested as a universally applicable framework for personality structure, it does not appear to play a salient role in organizing person memory.     

The Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between the Big Five Personality Traits and Perceived Stress: A Weekly Assessment Study

A cross-sectional study design may not be a reliable procedure for indicating the effects of stable individual structures on transient conditions in stress situations. In order to address this gap, we aimed to explore the role of the direct and indirect effects of the big five personality traits with the mediating effect of self-efficacy on perceived stress using a weekly diary method. The sample comprised 79 full-time workers who filled in a questionnaire that included the Big Five Inventory and General Self-Efficacy Scale at the initial administration and the Perceived Stress Scale over 12 weeks. Data were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling to examine the relationship between the big five personality traits and weekly perceived stress and the mediating role of general self-efficacy in this relationship. The results indicated that neuroticism and extraversion were significantly associated with general self-efficacy and perceived stress. The results further indicated that general self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between extraversion and perceived stress. General self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between neuroticism and perceived stress. Our findings highlight the importance of personality and self-efficacy for predicting perceived stress. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Big Five traits and relationship satisfaction: The mediating role of self-esteem

This study examined the mediating role of self-esteem in the association between Big Five traits and relationship satisfaction. Using data of 237 heterosexual couples and the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM), self-esteem mediated the association between Big Five traits and relationship satisfaction. We also tested the directionality of the association using longitudinal data of 141 couples. Results indicate that only agreeableness (and neuroticism marginally) predicts relationship satisfaction two years later, but relationship satisfaction predicted partner’s extraversion. Further, significant indirect effects emerged between relationship satisfaction, self-esteem, and later neuroticism. These results underline the importance of studying Big Five traits and self-esteem conjointly when studying relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, testing for alternative longitudinal associations elucidates the role of romantic relationships in personality development.     

Positive Affect and Self-Efficacy as Mediators Between Personality and Life Satisfaction in Chinese College Freshmen

Personality traits and self-efficacy have been shown to predict subjective well-being, but the two predictors have rarely been investigated together and it remains unknown whether personality traits and self-efficacy are associated with life satisfaction through affect. In the present study, a total of 318 college freshmen in China were administered a battery of questionnaires that assessed Big Five personality traits, generalized self-efficacy, positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction. Results from path analyses (AMOS) indicated that generalized self-efficacy mediated the relationship of extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism to positive affect. Furthermore, the association between self-efficacy and life satisfaction was fully mediated by positive affect. However, the regression coefficient for self-efficacy on positive affect was low and self-efficacy was not predictive of negative affect. Contrary to expectations, self-efficacy was of limited value in the prediction of subjective well-being. The current study may help explain how personality operates with self-efficacy and affect to predict life satisfaction in Chinese college freshmen.     

Early adolescents’ personality and life satisfaction: A closer look at global vs. domain-specific satisfaction

We examined relations between US early adolescents’ major personality traits and global life satisfaction (LS) and satisfaction in five specific domains (i.e., family, friends, school, self, living environment). A sample of 344 7th graders completed the Adolescent Personal Style Inventory (Lounsbury et al., 2003), which assesses the Big Five traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Furthermore, participants completed the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, 1991) and the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (Huebner, Zullig, & Saha, 2012), assessing global and domain-specific satisfaction, respectively. Neuroticism (inversely), and conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion (positively) were uniquely associated with early adolescents’ global LS, with neuroticism showing the strongest association. With respect to domain-specific satisfaction, neuroticism (inversely) and conscientiousness (positively) were uniquely related to satisfaction in all five domains. Extraversion displayed the strongest, unique (positive) association with friend and self-satisfaction reports. Openness displayed the strongest, unique (positive) association with school satisfaction. Agreeableness demonstrated a unique (positive) association with family satisfaction. The results demonstrated the importance of neuroticism in understanding early adolescents’ global LS, while the personality variables revealed varying patterns of relationships with domain-specific satisfaction reports.     

The Influence of Major Life Events and Personality Traits on the Stability of Affective Well-Being

The current study examines the influence of major life events compared to personality traits on the stability of affective well-being (AWB). It is shown how the decomposition of autocovariances can be used to estimate the degree of stability that is due to life events and personality traits. The approach is illustrated by an analysis of data from a nationally representative Australian sample with four consecutive waves of measurement. The autocovariances of positive and negative mood served as indicators of the stability of AWB. Big five personality traits as well as 21 major life events were used as predictor variables in a path analysis. In comparison to previous studies, this allowed to directly compare the effects of multiple events to the influence of personality traits in a longitudinal design. Results indicated medium stability coefficients for AWB. Ca. 10 % of the autocovariances could be accounted for by life events and about 20 % by personality traits. Both types of predictors together accounted for about 30 %. Among personality traits, emotional stability followed by extraversion had the highest effects. Among life events “financial worsening” and “serious personal injury/illness” had the highest effects. Additionally, life events were significantly correlated with personality traits as well as with other life events. In a next step, it might be interesting to compare the influence of Big Five personality traits and stable life circumstances on the stability of the cognitive well-being component, using a similar statistical procedure. Also, as the number of variables in large panel studies is limited, results should be complemented by more in-depth studies, favourably using multi-method approaches.     

Personality links to anger: Evidence for trait interaction and differentiation across expression style

Anger is a commonly experienced emotion, although marked individual differences in the expression of anger are observed. Basic dimensions of personality (e.g., Big Five traits) have been shown to predict the experience of trait anger; however, little work has addressed the personality correlates of broader conceptualisations of trait anger (e.g., inward or outward expressions). Additionally, while some recent work has suggested that basic personality traits may show interactive influences on anger expression this work has yet to be independently confirmed. In a large sample of adults we examined, firstly, how Big Five traits associated with several components of anger as measured by the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Secondly, we examined whether these associations were further qualified by interactions between Big Five traits. Results indicated neuroticism and, to a lesser extent, (low) agreeableness, were the traits most associated with components of trait anger. Conscientiousness and extraversion were also noted to show links to more focal components of anger. Moderation was observed: conscientiousness moderated neuroticism’s relationship with anger control, and agreeableness and conscientiousness, in a three-way interaction, moderated neuroticism’s relationship with trait anger. These observations help to further clarify the role of Big Five personality traits as a foundation for the experiences of anger, demonstrating how anger style varies across personality configuration.     

The Effect of Higher-Order Gratitude on Mental Well-Being: Beyond Personality and Unifactoral Gratitude

The purpose of this study was to examine whether higher-order gratitude consisting of multiple components (i.e., thanking others, thanking God, cherishing blessings, appreciating hardship, and cherishing the moment) explains variances in integrated mental well-being, including depression, self-esteem, and psychological well-being after controlling for gender, age, religion, the Big Five personality traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), and unifactorial gratitude (GQ). A total of 231 participants were recruited to complete questionnaires measuring the variables of interest. The results indicated that higher-order gratitude made a significant unique contribution to psychological well-being, self-esteem, and depression (3 % to 5 % of the variance, p?<?.05) above the effects of demographic variables, personality traits, and unifactorial gratitude. These findings suggested that higher-order gratitude is more than just personality traits or unifactorial gratitude, and it is important in its own right for integrated mental well-being.     

Big Five personality traits,job satisfaction and subjective wellbeing in China

This paper examines the effect of the Big Five personality traits on job satisfaction and subjective wellbeing (SWB). The paper also examines the mediating role of job satisfaction on the Big Five–SWB relationship. Data were collected from a sample of 818 urban employees from five Chinese cities: Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian, and Fushun. All the study variables were measured with well‐established multi‐item scales that have been validated both in English‐speaking populations and in China. The study found only extraversion to have an effect on job satisfaction, suggesting that there could be cultural difference in the relationships between the Big Five and job satisfaction in China and in the West. The study found that three factors in the Big Five—extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism—have an effect on SWB. This finding is similar to findings in the West, suggesting convergence in the relationship between the Big Five and SWB in different cultural contexts. The research found that only the relationship between extraversion and SWB is partially mediated by job satisfaction, implying that the effect of the Big Five on SWB is mainly direct, rather than indirect via job satisfaction. The study also found that extraversion was the strongest predictor of both job satisfaction and SWB. This finding implies that extraversion could be more important than other factors in the Big Five in predicting job satisfaction and SWB in a “high collectivism” and “high power distance” country such as China. The research findings are discussed in the Chinese cultural context. The study also offers suggestions on the directions for future research.     

Five‐Factor Model of Personality and Job Satisfaction: The Importance of Agreeableness in a Tight and Collectivistic Asian Society

Results from predominantly US‐based research have shown that personality can partly explain job satisfaction. As the issue of globalisation grows in importance for organisations, I researched in this study whether meta‐analytic findings on the relationships between job satisfaction and the Big Five personality traits extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism would hold in a tight and collectivistic Asian society. Additionally, I expected that in a tight and collectivistic society the personality trait agreeableness would have a strong positive relationship with job satisfaction. Study participants were 354 employees from organisations in Singapore. Results confirmed that extraversion, conscientiousness, non‐neuroticism (emotional stability), and also agreeableness were related to job satisfaction. The study advises scholars and practitioners that even in a tight and collectivistic Asian society—despite situations that demand abiding by norms and fulfilling obligations—job satisfaction is related to stable personality traits.     

Personality,Positivity and Happiness: A Mediation Analysis Using a Bifactor Model

Recent studies suggested an important role of neuroticism and extraversion facets as incremental predictors of subjective well-being outcomes. Research has shown that positive cognitions mediated the relation between personality traits and well-being. The present study examined the relationship between neuroticism and extraversion, measured as general and group factors, and subjective happiness through a general positivity factor. 770 community participants (69.4 % females; M = 55.34; SD = 16.01) completed personality, satisfaction with life, optimism, self-esteem, and subjective happiness scales. A bifactor model was used to parse general and specific variance components for multifaceted constructs. The general positivity factor completely mediated neuroticism-subjective happiness relationships and overlapped with general neuroticism, whilst it partially mediated extraversion-subjective happiness ones. Other paths to happiness involved cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Assertiveness, activity level and excitement-seeking had a weak relationship with subjective happiness and only through positivity. Gregariousness and friendliness had neither direct nor indirect effects on subjective happiness. Life satisfaction had a twofold role as a component of positivity as well as providing an independent contribution to variance in subjective happiness. In keeping with previous research, neuroticism acted as a sort of general negativity factor. Cheerfulness and extraversion made an incremental contribution to variance in subjective happiness. Our findings support the utility of a multifaceted approach to study pathways from personality to well-being. Theoretical and practical implications for promoting well-being were discussed.     

Which personality traits are associated with cognitions related to problematic Internet use?

The effects of the Big Five personality traits on cognitions regarding problematic Internet use (PIU) have not been studied. The present paper aims to evaluate the effects of personality traits on cognitions regarding PIU that are classified as loneliness/depression, diminished impulse control, distraction and social control. Additionally, the mediator effect of the Big Five personality traits on the relationship between time spent online and cognitions regarding PIU was tested in a sample of 494 Turkish university students. Hierarchical regression analysis results reveal that controlling the effects of socio‐demographic variables and time spent online, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness were related to cognitions regarding PIU. Moreover, results of structural equation modelling indicate that the relationship between time spent online and cognitions regarding PIU was independently mediated by extraversion, openness and agreeableness. Examining the role of all of the Big Five personality traits (especially neuroticism and conscientiousness) on PIU will increase understanding in further studies.     

The Role of a “Happy Personality” in the Relationship of Subjective Social Status and Domain-Specific Satisfaction in China

Most scholars have focused on group differences in overall life satisfaction, and little research has explored group differences in domain-specific satisfaction. This study investigated the variation in the effects of subjective social status on domain-specific satisfaction across personality styles (combined extraversion and neuroticism) in a sample of 1120 female and 745 male Chinese. Participants completed a questionnaire comprising demographics factors, MacArthur Scale, BFI personality scale and self-rated domain-specific satisfaction with interpersonal, health, political, financial, environmental, environmental, and cultural. The findings revealed that subjective social status positively, extraversion positively, and neuroticism negatively predicted six domain-specific satisfactions. Additionally, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that the moderating roles of personality traits, but neither extraversion nor neuroticism alone moderated the effects of subjective social status on six domains of life satisfaction. Higher subjective social status related to a substantial increase in domainspecific satisfaction with health, political and environmental for respondents with high extraversion and low neuroticism. Taking together, from the “bottom-up” perspectives, these findings provide support to extend Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory to explain the relationship between subjective social status and domain-specific satisfaction.

     

Examination of the Association Among Personality Traits,Anxiety Sensitivity,and Cannabis Use Motives in a Community Sample

Personality factors, such as neuroticism, are important for understanding motives for cannabis use; however, few studies have examined the role of neuroticism in the context of other personality factors, or possible mechanisms accounting for an association between neuroticism and motives for use. The present study examined concurrent associations between personality traits (i.e., conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and cannabis use motives, and the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the association between neuroticism and coping cannabis use motives. Seventy young adults endorsing past-month cannabis use (58.6 % female, M _age = 20.91) completed self-report measures. Linear regressions were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between personality factors and cannabis use motives. Higher levels of neuroticism, but no other personality traits, were significantly associated with greater coping (β = 45, p < .01) and expansion (β = 0.29, p = <.05) motives. Bootstrap analysis (10,000 re-samples) revealed that a significant portion of the relationship between neuroticism and coping motives was explained by AS (point estimate = 0.029, PB 95 % CI: 0.0089 to 0.0615). Greater neuroticism may result in heightened sensitivity to arousal, which may then increase motivation to use cannabis to alleviate such arousal.     

Genetic and Environmental Pathways Underlying Personality Traits and Perceived Stress: Concurrent and Longitudinal Twin Studies

The present study examined the genetic and environmental etiology underlying the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress, concurrently and longitudinally. In study 1, we used the twin sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health IV) data. The results indicated that about 70% of the association between the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress was due to genetic influences. In study 2, we used the twin sample from the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS I and II) to examine the genetic and environmental influences underlying the longitudinal relations between the Big Five personality traits and perceived stress. The results suggested that continuity in perceived stress was primarily accounted for by genetic influences, and changes in perceived stress were mainly due to nonshared environmental influences. The continuity in the association between the five personality traits and perceived stress was largely accounted for by genetic factors, and nonshared environmental factors made greater contributions to changes in the association between personality traits and perceived stress. Among the Big Five personality traits, the genetic components in conscientiousness and neuroticism made substantial contributions to the genetic link between personality traits and perceived stress across both studies. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Relative Importance of Personality,Financial Satisfaction,and Autonomy for Different Subjective Well-Being Facets

Abstract

Using a nationally representative sample (N?=?507) from Singapore, this study examined whether personality, financial satisfaction, and autonomy were important to subjective well-being (SWB), and how the importance of these predictors varied across different SWB facets—life satisfaction, happiness, positive feelings, and negative feelings. The findings indicated that neuroticism, financial satisfaction, and autonomy, were important predictors of happiness. Personality was most important for affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative feelings), whereas financial satisfaction was most important for life satisfaction. Specifically, neuroticism accounted for substantial variance in positive and negative feelings, and was the strongest correlate among the Big Five traits. In contrast, financial satisfaction explained most of the variance in life satisfaction. This highlights that the importance of well-being predictors depended on the facet of well-being examined. The findings suggest that residents in an affluent nation like Singapore do not emphasize only postmaterialist values (e.g., autonomy) and disregard materialist concerns (e.g., financial satisfaction). Though certain SWB facets (positive and negative affect) are largely influenced by dispositional factors, other facets (life satisfaction and happiness) are closely related to factors (e.g., financial satisfaction, autonomy) that may be affected by social policies. Policymakers can thus target those aspects to enhance people’s SWB.