Emotional intelligence predicts components of subjective well-being beyond personality: A two-country study using self- and informant reports

This study aimed to examine the ability of overall emotional intelligence (EI) to predict cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being. University students in Germany and Turkey responded to self-report measures of EI, Big Five personality traits, life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. Multiple informant ratings on subjective well-being measures were obtained to further support the validity of the findings. Results indicated a positive relationship between EI and affective as well as cognitive facets of well-being, with a closer association on part of the affective aspect. The incremental validity of EI was established in that EI predicted both affect balance and life satisfaction when controlling for the Big Five. Whereas participants in Germany reported better well-being than those in Turkey, personality traits and EI explained more variance in well-being measures in Germany than in Turkey. However, the relationship between EI and well-being did not appear to be culturally bound.     

The Role of Life Satisfaction in Predicting Student Engagement and Achievement

Much research has investigated how individual components of subjective well-being (e.g., life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect) influence adolescent functioning. Little is known, however, about how the third component of subjective well-being (SWB), life satisfaction, contributes to positive adolescent outcomes when investigated simultaneously with positive and negative emotions. The current study extends Lewis et al.’s (J Psychoeduc Assess 27:397–408, 2009. doi:10.1177/0734282908330571) work by considering the incremental validity of life satisfaction (LS) relative to negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) as predictors of student engagement and achievement in a sample of middle school students. Results indicated LS provided incremental validity over affective states in predicting student engagement and some aspects of academic achievement. Gender also moderated these relationships. Practitioners are encouraged to include all components of SWB in assessments, especially when trying to understand students’ school functioning.     

Well-being during the coronavirus pandemic: The effect of big five personality and COVID-19 beliefs and behaviors

This study examined the relationship between personality traits, COVID-specific beliefs and behaviors, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2020, at the onset of a second major lockdown, Australian adults (n = 1453) completed measures of Big Five personality, COVID beliefs and behaviors (i.e., belief in a rapid recovery, perceived risk, compliance, change in exercise, and change in interpersonal conflict), subjective well-being and COVID-specific well-being. Personality correlates of COVID-specific well-being differed from those with general life satisfaction. The benefits of conscientiousness were elevated whereas the benefits of extraversion and agreeableness were reduced. Neuroticism was related to greater perceived risk from the pandemic, elevated interpersonal conflict during the pandemic, and more pessimistic views about the rate at which society would recover from the pandemic. In contrast, conscientiousness was notably related to greater compliance with directions from public health authorities. While regression models showed that general well-being was largely explained by personality, COVID factors provided incremental prediction, and this was greatest when predicting COVID-specific well-being and lowest for global evaluations of life satisfaction. The observed prediction by beliefs and behaviors on well-being beyond personality, provides potential opportunities for targeted interventions to support the management of future novel stressors.     

Time Perspectives Predict Mood States and Satisfaction with Life over and above Personality

The present study aimed to test the incremental validity of Time Perspective (TP) scales in predicting satisfaction with life and mood, over and above the Big Five personality traits. It also investigated whether the new TP construct of Future Negative perspective contributed to prediction of these outcomes. Participants (N = 265) completed four measures: Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), UWIST Mood Adjective Checklist (UMACL), a modified Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), and NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results confirmed the incremental validity of TP, although Big Five dimensions were independently predictive of life satisfaction and certain mood scales. Past Negative TP was the strongest single predictor of life satisfaction. However, Future Negative TP was be the strongest mood predictor from the TP universe, after controlling for the Big Five and remaining TP dimensions. Findings suggest that TP is an important aspect of personality for understanding individual differences in well-being.     

Emotional Intelligence in Personnel Selection: Applicant reactions,criterion, and incremental validity

In two studies, based on four samples and more than 600 participants, the authors examined applicant reactions, criterion and incremental validity, and differential prediction of emotional intelligence (EI) in personnel selection using the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. The first study examined applicant reactions in terms of face validity and fairness evaluation of the EI test. The second study examined across three samples (salespeople, front‐desk public employees, and hospital chief executive officers) the criterion validity, incremental validity, and differential prediction of EI. Results suggest that the EI test is perceived as a fair selection tool, and is predictive of performance. The EI test has incremental validity over cognitive abilities and personality (big five) when predicting subjective and objective performance criteria. Based on these results, the authors encourage further research on the use of EI in selection settings.     

Studying the Incremental Validity of Family Environment among Maltese University Students with Past Mental Trauma

This study tried to establish the incremental validity of family environment among Maltese university students in view of childhood mental trauma, highlighted mainly through past abuse. Participants (N = 312) completed the Brief Adjective Rating Scale, a personality measure based on the five-factor model of personality, the Family Environment Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which covers all aspects of abuse and neglect, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, a cognitive well-being scale. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the family environment’s relationship dimension explained 35% of the variance for the subjective well-being component, over and above the contribution of key variables such as personality. This study replicates classic research on the important role that family environment plays in children’s holistic development. The study strongly suggests that the inclusion of family environment offers a better and more holistic perspective on the reality of child abuse and its consequences.     

Differential correlates of irrational belief

One hundred and ten students completed a battery which included Jones' Irrational Belief Test (IBT), and measures of subjective well-being, affect, alienation, personality, goal characteristics, and goat attainment. Correlations and canonical composites showed a general relationship between irrational beliefs and emotional difficulty, but the specific pattern differed for subgroups of IBT scales. Correlations supported the construct validity of IBT scales, but suggested they also reflect motives, conflicts, affects and personality characteristics. Interdependence of these processes was hypothesized and use of subscore composites rather than total IBT scores was suggested.     

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.     

Predicting Performance with Contextualized Inventories,No Frame‐of‐reference Effect?

A recent meta‐analysis showed that contextualized personality inventories have incremental predictive validity over generic personality inventories when predicting job performance. This study aimed to investigate the differences between two types of contextualization of items: Adding an ‘at work’ tag versus completely modifying items. One hundred thirty‐nine pharmacy assistants from 29 pharmacies filled out a generic, a tagged, and a completely modified personality inventory. The assistants also provided participant reactions for each of the personality inventories. Performance ratings were collected from the supervising pharmacists. We expected to find incremental criterion validity for both the tagged inventory and the completely modified inventory for predicting job performance. However, the results showed an unexpected decrease in predictive validity for the contextualized inventories. Contextualized inventories were liked less than the generic inventory, but were considered somewhat more face valid and predictive by the participants.     

人格和主观幸福感关系探新

在对主观幸福感的概念、研究现状介绍的基础上,从特质、自我、目标、需要等四个方面回顾了当前人格和主观幸福感的关系研究,分析了在文化和主观幸福感的关系中人格的中介作用,并从研究内容、研究方法、研究对象、研究过程、研究方向等五个方面阐述了未来人格和主观幸福感关系的研究趋势。     

Mindfulness and spirituality as predictors of personal maturity beyond the influence of personality traits

Historically, the concept of human maturity has been discussed in the social science field. The process of attaining maturity has also been explored since last century. This study investigates the possible influences of mindfulness practice and spirituality in predicting maturity. The model of causes of maturity in this study assesses the contributions of personality, mindfulness, and spirituality in the prediction of maturity in a random sample of 537 Chinese adults. Results indicated that personality, mindfulness, and spirituality all correlated with maturity in many aspects. Multiple regression analyses found that mindfulness and spirituality each added an additional significant amount of variance in maturity after controlling for the influence of age and personality. As expected, when mindfulness and spirituality were practiced together, the amount of combined incremental influence on maturity was significantly greater than the amounts of incremental influence mindfulness and spirituality each alone had on maturity.     

大学生个人奋斗、人格特质与主观幸福感的关系

本研究采用问卷调查法,以武汉市6所高校的533名本科生为被试,通过结构方程建模的方法,探讨了人格特质、个人奋斗与主观幸福感三者之间的关系,并比较了个人奋斗和人格特质对主观幸福感的影响作用。研究发现,个人奋斗和人格特质都对主观幸福感有影响;人格特质对主观幸福感的影响大于个人奋斗对主观幸福感的影响;人格特质对个人奋斗有影响。因此,人格的特质因素与动机因素对主观幸福感有不同的影响作用。     

An Intentional Model of Emotional Well-Being: The Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Subjective Well-Being

The major problem with the current emotional well-being scales is that they lack intentionality (being about something), which makes them incongruent with the definition of subjective well-being. A new emotional well-being scale with new affect adjectives has been developed by addressing intentionality. It focuses on individuals’ affective evaluations of their life and has showed good psychometric quality. In the first and second studies, the factor structure of the scale, the Emotional Well-Being Scale, was determined by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 showed that the scores on the scale were stable in time. The fourth and fifth studies indicated that this new construct did not overlap with personality dimensions of extraversion and neuroticism, with impressive predictive and incremental validity estimates.     

Profiling Hoarding Within the Five-Factor Model of Personality and Self-Determination Theory

This study investigated the dispositional profile associated with hoarding symptoms by applying a personality and motivational trait perspective. A community sample oversampling high hoarding symptoms (N = 649, ages 18–74 years) completed an online questionnaire assessing hoarding, the five-factor model of personality, and general causality orientations drawn from self-determination theory. Personality aspects (10 traits), a level of measurement intermediate to factors (5 traits) and facets (30 traits), were assessed to provide greater specificity than a factor-level approach. Hoarding was correlated with neuroticism and conscientiousness. Aspects predicting hoarding were industriousness (C), orderliness (C), withdrawal (N), and assertiveness (E). Hoarding was significantly related to impersonal and control orientations, albeit with only slight (1.4%) incremental validity for general causality orientations above personality aspects in predicting hoarding. These findings may not generalize to a clinical treatment sample, and possible configurative interactions between traits were not assessed. This study extended the existing literature by reporting aspect-level personality and general causality orientation correlates of hoarding. These data may inform preventative monitoring and intervention programs, as well as predicting meaningful personality characteristics of hoarding clients.     

Effet médiateur de la satisfaction des besoins psychologiques entre les contraintes,justice organisationnelle et personnalité avec le bien-être subjectif et l’épuisement professionnel

The aim of this article was to measure subjective well-being and burnout for managers. We examined the links between psychological burden, decision latitude, organizational justice, as well as personality factors and self-esteem, and subjective well-being, and burnout. We measured the mediator effect of the basic psychological needs between the organizational factors and personality factors on subjective well-being and burnout. The data derived from a questionnaire submitted to 163 managers, allowed us to establish a correlation matrix, linear regressions on subjective well-being and burnout and mediation analysis. Significant links appeared between organizational inductors and burnout, between self-esteem, neuroticism, agreeableness, related need and burnout.     

农民工收入与主观幸福感的关系：社会支持和人格的作用

采用整群抽样方法对选自长沙市的452名农民工进行问卷调查,考察社会支持、人格在农民工收入与主观幸福感关系中的作用。结果表明：农民工收入对其主观幸福感有显著的正向预测性;在农民工收入与其主观幸福感的关系中,社会支持起部分中介作用,神经质和宜人性有缓冲作用,外倾性有增强作用;社会支持的中介作用受到宜人性的调节。     

Associations Between the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank and Measures of Personality and Psychopathology

The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (RISB; Rotter, Lah, & Rafferty, 1992) is a sentence completion test intended to detect psychological maladjustment. To investigate the construct validity of the measure, we investigated what aspects of personality and psychopathology are correlated with the RISB and also tested the incremental validity of the RISB in a combined sample of clinical (n = 72) and undergraduate participants (n = 69). Interrater reliability of the RISB was good (intraclass correlation > .80). The RISB overall adjustment score discriminated between clinical and undergraduate participants, and high scores on the RISB were associated with higher negative affect, more anxiety and depression, irrational thinking, and interpersonal problems. The incremental validity of the RISB was modest, but it did explain variance in satisfaction with life and personality disorder symptoms above and beyond an extracted measure of general psychological distress. Our findings support the construct validity of the RISB.     

大学生勇气与主观幸福感的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

在健全人格理论基础上构建有调节的中介模型,探讨勇气影响大学生主观幸福感的中介机制及其调节因素。采用整群抽样法选取重庆市550名18～28岁大学生为调查对象,让其自我报告勇气、主观幸福感、社会取向自我价值感等情况。多元回归分析表明：（1）大学生勇气对主观幸福感有显著正向预测作用。（2）大学生勇气通过社会取向自我价值感的中介作用间接影响主观幸福感。（3）该间接效应受到性别的调节,即女生的间接效应比男生更显著。研究结果验证了中国文化背景下大学生勇气具有预测主观幸福感的功能,并一定程度上揭示了二者关系背后可能的作用机制。