Contributions of Personality and Life Events to the Subjective Well-Being
Keywords:
Subjective well-being, Personality, Life eventsAbstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the contributions of personality traits and life events as predictors of subjective well-being (SWB). Therefore, 274 students were participants, 69% women. Results showed neuroticism and extraversionas the main predictors of SWB. Furthermore, six life events contributed to the explanation of SWB, for example, “relationship breakup” showed was a positive predictor of PositiveAffect;and “financial problems” predicted Life Satisfaction negatively. The results suggest that although people can evaluate their lives as more positive and experience more positive emotions depending on their personality traits, it is pertinent to adopt an integrative approach in the field of SWB, incorporating intrinsic factors such as personality, as well as extrinsic factors such as life events.
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References
Brajsa-Zganec, A., Ivanovic, D., & Lipovcan, L. K. (2011).
Personality traits and social desirability as predictors of
subjective well-being. Psihologijske Teme, 20(2), 261-276.
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and
neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy
people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(4),
668-678. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.38.4.668
Crowley, B. J., Hayslip, B. J., & Hobdy, J. (2003). Psychological
hardiness and adjustment to life events in adulthood.
Journal of Adult Development, 10(4), 237-248. doi:
10.1023/A:1026007510134
DeNeve, K. M., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality:
A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective
well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2),197-229. doi:
10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin,
95(3), 542-575. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Diener, E., & Lucas, R. F. (1999). Subjective emotional well-being.
In M. Lewis, & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions
(pp. 325-337). New York: Guilford.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. (2003). Personality, culture and
subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of
life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425. doi: 10.1146/
annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Diener, E., & Suh, M. E. (1998). Subjective well-being and age:
An international analysis. In K. W. Schaie, & M. P. Lawton
(Eds.), Annual Review of gerontology and geriatrics: Focus
on emotion and adult development (Vol. 17, pp. 304-324).
New York: Springer.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective
well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin,
125(2), 276-302. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276
Diener, E., Suh, E., & Oishi, S. (1997). Recent findings on subjective
well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24(1),
25-41.
Donnellan, M. B., Conger, R. D., & Bryant, C. M. (2004). The
big five and enduring marriages. Journal or Research in
Personality, 38, 481-504. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2004.01.001
Eid, M., & Larsen, R. J. (2008). Ed Diener and the science of
subjective well-being. In M. Eid, & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The
science of subjective wellbeing (pp. 1-11). New York, NY:
Guilford Press.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and
the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American
Psychologist, 60,678-686. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.60.7.678
Garcia, C. R. (2007). Eventos de vida em pacientes adultos com
transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (Unpublished
doctoral dissertation). Programa de Pós-Graduação em
Ciências Médicas, Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS.
Garcia, D., & Erlandsson, A. (2011). The relationship between
personality and subjective well-being: Different association
patterns when measuring the affective component in frequency
and intensity. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(6), 1023-1034.
doi: 10.1007/s10902-010-9242-6
Gomez, V., Krings, F., Bangerter, A., & Grob, A. (2009). The
influence of personality and life events on subjective wellbeing
from a life span perspective. Journal of Research in
Personality, 43, 345-354. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.014
Grant, S., Langan-Fox, J., & Anglim, J. (2009). The Big Five
traits as predictors of subjective and psychological wellbeing.
Psychological Reports, 105(1), 205-231. doi: 10.2466/
pr0.105.1.205-231
Haslam, N., Whelan, J., & Bastian, B. (2009).Big five traits mediate
associations between values and subjective well-being.
Personality and Individual Differences, 46(1), 40-42. doi:
10.1016/j.paid.2008.09.001
Hayes, N., & Joseph, S. (2003). Big 5 Correlates of three measures of
subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences,
34(4), 723-727. doi: 10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00057-0
Headey, D., & Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events, and
subjective well-being: Toward a dynamic equilibrium model.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4),731-739.
doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.731
Hutz, C. S., Midgett, A., Pacico, J. C., Bastianello, M. R., &
Zanon, C. (2014). The relationshiop of hope, optimism, selfesteem,
subjective well-being, and personality in Brazilians
and Americans. Psychology, 5, 514-522. doi: 10.4236/
psych.2014.56061
Hutz, C. S., Nunes, C. H., Silveira, A. D., Serra, J., Anton, M., &
Wieczorek, L. S. (1998). O desenvolvimento de marcadores
para a avaliação da personalidade no modelo dos cinco grandes
fatores. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 11(2), 395-411. doi:
10.1590/S0102-79721998000200015
Hutz, C. S., Nunes, C. H. S. S., Serra, J., Silveira, A. D., & Anton,
M. (1999, julho). Relações entre Bem-Estar Subjetivo e
Características de Personalidade. Trabalho apresentado no
VIII Congresso Nacional de Avaliação Psicológica, Porto
Alegre, RS.
Hutz, C. S., Zanon, C., & Bardagi, M. (2014). Satisfação de Vida.
In C. S. Hutz (Ed.), Avaliação em Psicologia Positiva (pp.43-
48). Porto Alegre: Artmed.
Kozma, A., Stone, S., & Stones, M. J. (1997). Stability in
components and predictors of subjective well-being.Paper
presented at the First Conference of the International Society
of Quality of Life Studies, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Larsen, R. J., & Prizmic, Z. (2008). Regulation of emotional wellbeing:
Overcoming the hedonic treadmill. In M. Eid,& R. J.
Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 258-
289). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Lucas, R.E. (2005). Time does not heal all wounds: A
longitudinal study of reaction and adaptation to divorce.
Psychological Science, 16(12),945-950. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-
9280.2005.01642.x
Lucas, R. E. (2007a). Long-term disability is associated with lasting
changes in subjective well-being: Evidence from two nationally
representative longitudinal studies. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 92(4), 717-730. doi: 10.1037/0022-
3514.92.4.717
Lucas, R. E. (2007b). Adaptation and the set-point model of
subjective well-being: Does happiness change after major
life events? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16,
75-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00479.x
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003).
Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness:
Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 84, 527-539. doi: 10.1037/0022-
3514.84.3.527
Lucas, R. E., & Diener, E. (2008). Personality and subjective wellbeing.
In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.),
Handbook of personality-theory and research (pp. 795-814).
New York: The Guilford Press.
Lüdtke, O., Roberts, B. W., Trautwein, U., & Nagy, G. (2011). A
random walk down university avenue: Life paths, life events,
and personality trait change at the transition to university life.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,101(3), 620-637.
doi: 10.1037/a0023743
Luhmann, M., Hofmann, W., Eid, M., & Lucas, R. E. (2012).
Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A metaanalysis.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7,
592-615. doi: 10.1037/a0025948
Margis, R., Picon, P., Cosner, A. F., & Silveira, R. O. (2003).
Stressfull life-events, stress and anxiety. Revista de Psiquiatria
Rio Grande do Sul, 25(1), 65-74.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1991). Adding liebe und arbeit:
The full five-factor model and well-being. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17(2), 227-232. doi:
10.1177/014616729101700217
Minkov, M. (2009). Predictors of differences in subjective wellbeing
across 97 nations. Cross Cultural Research, 43(2),
152-179. doi: 10.1177/1069397109332239
Nunes, C. H. S., Hutz, C. S., & Giacomoni, C. H. (2009). Associação
entre bem estar subjetivo e personalidade no modelo dos cinco
grandes fatores. Avaliação psicológica, 8(1), 99-108.
Nunes, C. H. S. S., Hutz, C. S., &Nunes, M. F. O. (2010). Bateria
Fatorial de Personalidade. São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo.
Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2006). Personality and the
prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review
of Psychology, 57, 401-412. doi: 10.1146/annurev.
psych.57.102904.190127
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with
Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164-172. doi:
10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164
Savoia, M. G., & Bernik, M. (2004). Adverse life events and coping
skills in panic disorder. Revista do Hospital de Clínicas da
Faculdade de Medicina de São Paulo, 59(6), 337-340.
Steel, P., Schmidt, J., & Shultz, J. (2008). Refining the relationship
between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological
Bulletin, 134(1), 138-161. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.138
Watson, D., Clark, L.A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and
validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The
PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
54(6), 1063-1070. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
Woyciekoski, C., Natividade, J. C., Hutz, C. S., & Laskoski,
L. M. (2011, junho). Eventos de vida avaliados como
positivos, negativos e neutros: em busca de um consenso.
Pôster apresentado no V Congresso Brasileiro de Avaliação
Psicológica, Bento Gonçalves, RS.
Woyciekoski, C., Stenert, F., & Hutz, C. S. (2012). Determinantes
do bem-estar subjetivo. Psico (PUCRS), 43(3), 280-288.
Zanon, C., & Hutz, C. S. (2014) Escala de Afetos Positivos e
Negativos (PANAS). In C. S. Hutz (Ed.) Avaliação em
Psicologia Positiva (pp.63-67). Porto Alegre: Artmed.
Zhang, J. P., Yao, S. Q., Ye, M., Huang, H. S., He, G. P., & Leng,
X. H. (2009). A study on the subjective well-being and its
influential factors in chronically ill inpatients in Changsha,
China. Applied Nursing Research, 22(4), 250-257.
Personality traits and social desirability as predictors of
subjective well-being. Psihologijske Teme, 20(2), 261-276.
Costa, P., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and
neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy
people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(4),
668-678. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.38.4.668
Crowley, B. J., Hayslip, B. J., & Hobdy, J. (2003). Psychological
hardiness and adjustment to life events in adulthood.
Journal of Adult Development, 10(4), 237-248. doi:
10.1023/A:1026007510134
DeNeve, K. M., & Cooper, H. (1998). The happy personality:
A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective
well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2),197-229. doi:
10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin,
95(3), 542-575. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Diener, E., & Lucas, R. F. (1999). Subjective emotional well-being.
In M. Lewis, & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions
(pp. 325-337). New York: Guilford.
Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. (2003). Personality, culture and
subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of
life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403-425. doi: 10.1146/
annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
Diener, E., & Suh, M. E. (1998). Subjective well-being and age:
An international analysis. In K. W. Schaie, & M. P. Lawton
(Eds.), Annual Review of gerontology and geriatrics: Focus
on emotion and adult development (Vol. 17, pp. 304-324).
New York: Springer.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective
well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin,
125(2), 276-302. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276
Diener, E., Suh, E., & Oishi, S. (1997). Recent findings on subjective
well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24(1),
25-41.
Donnellan, M. B., Conger, R. D., & Bryant, C. M. (2004). The
big five and enduring marriages. Journal or Research in
Personality, 38, 481-504. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2004.01.001
Eid, M., & Larsen, R. J. (2008). Ed Diener and the science of
subjective well-being. In M. Eid, & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The
science of subjective wellbeing (pp. 1-11). New York, NY:
Guilford Press.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and
the complex dynamics of human flourishing. American
Psychologist, 60,678-686. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.60.7.678
Garcia, C. R. (2007). Eventos de vida em pacientes adultos com
transtorno de déficit de atenção/hiperatividade (Unpublished
doctoral dissertation). Programa de Pós-Graduação em
Ciências Médicas, Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS.
Garcia, D., & Erlandsson, A. (2011). The relationship between
personality and subjective well-being: Different association
patterns when measuring the affective component in frequency
and intensity. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(6), 1023-1034.
doi: 10.1007/s10902-010-9242-6
Gomez, V., Krings, F., Bangerter, A., & Grob, A. (2009). The
influence of personality and life events on subjective wellbeing
from a life span perspective. Journal of Research in
Personality, 43, 345-354. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.014
Grant, S., Langan-Fox, J., & Anglim, J. (2009). The Big Five
traits as predictors of subjective and psychological wellbeing.
Psychological Reports, 105(1), 205-231. doi: 10.2466/
pr0.105.1.205-231
Haslam, N., Whelan, J., & Bastian, B. (2009).Big five traits mediate
associations between values and subjective well-being.
Personality and Individual Differences, 46(1), 40-42. doi:
10.1016/j.paid.2008.09.001
Hayes, N., & Joseph, S. (2003). Big 5 Correlates of three measures of
subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences,
34(4), 723-727. doi: 10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00057-0
Headey, D., & Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events, and
subjective well-being: Toward a dynamic equilibrium model.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4),731-739.
doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.731
Hutz, C. S., Midgett, A., Pacico, J. C., Bastianello, M. R., &
Zanon, C. (2014). The relationshiop of hope, optimism, selfesteem,
subjective well-being, and personality in Brazilians
and Americans. Psychology, 5, 514-522. doi: 10.4236/
psych.2014.56061
Hutz, C. S., Nunes, C. H., Silveira, A. D., Serra, J., Anton, M., &
Wieczorek, L. S. (1998). O desenvolvimento de marcadores
para a avaliação da personalidade no modelo dos cinco grandes
fatores. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 11(2), 395-411. doi:
10.1590/S0102-79721998000200015
Hutz, C. S., Nunes, C. H. S. S., Serra, J., Silveira, A. D., & Anton,
M. (1999, julho). Relações entre Bem-Estar Subjetivo e
Características de Personalidade. Trabalho apresentado no
VIII Congresso Nacional de Avaliação Psicológica, Porto
Alegre, RS.
Hutz, C. S., Zanon, C., & Bardagi, M. (2014). Satisfação de Vida.
In C. S. Hutz (Ed.), Avaliação em Psicologia Positiva (pp.43-
48). Porto Alegre: Artmed.
Kozma, A., Stone, S., & Stones, M. J. (1997). Stability in
components and predictors of subjective well-being.Paper
presented at the First Conference of the International Society
of Quality of Life Studies, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Larsen, R. J., & Prizmic, Z. (2008). Regulation of emotional wellbeing:
Overcoming the hedonic treadmill. In M. Eid,& R. J.
Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 258-
289). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Lucas, R.E. (2005). Time does not heal all wounds: A
longitudinal study of reaction and adaptation to divorce.
Psychological Science, 16(12),945-950. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-
9280.2005.01642.x
Lucas, R. E. (2007a). Long-term disability is associated with lasting
changes in subjective well-being: Evidence from two nationally
representative longitudinal studies. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 92(4), 717-730. doi: 10.1037/0022-
3514.92.4.717
Lucas, R. E. (2007b). Adaptation and the set-point model of
subjective well-being: Does happiness change after major
life events? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16,
75-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00479.x
Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003).
Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness:
Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 84, 527-539. doi: 10.1037/0022-
3514.84.3.527
Lucas, R. E., & Diener, E. (2008). Personality and subjective wellbeing.
In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.),
Handbook of personality-theory and research (pp. 795-814).
New York: The Guilford Press.
Lüdtke, O., Roberts, B. W., Trautwein, U., & Nagy, G. (2011). A
random walk down university avenue: Life paths, life events,
and personality trait change at the transition to university life.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,101(3), 620-637.
doi: 10.1037/a0023743
Luhmann, M., Hofmann, W., Eid, M., & Lucas, R. E. (2012).
Subjective well-being and adaptation to life events: A metaanalysis.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7,
592-615. doi: 10.1037/a0025948
Margis, R., Picon, P., Cosner, A. F., & Silveira, R. O. (2003).
Stressfull life-events, stress and anxiety. Revista de Psiquiatria
Rio Grande do Sul, 25(1), 65-74.
McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1991). Adding liebe und arbeit:
The full five-factor model and well-being. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17(2), 227-232. doi:
10.1177/014616729101700217
Minkov, M. (2009). Predictors of differences in subjective wellbeing
across 97 nations. Cross Cultural Research, 43(2),
152-179. doi: 10.1177/1069397109332239
Nunes, C. H. S., Hutz, C. S., & Giacomoni, C. H. (2009). Associação
entre bem estar subjetivo e personalidade no modelo dos cinco
grandes fatores. Avaliação psicológica, 8(1), 99-108.
Nunes, C. H. S. S., Hutz, C. S., &Nunes, M. F. O. (2010). Bateria
Fatorial de Personalidade. São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo.
Ozer, D. J., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2006). Personality and the
prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review
of Psychology, 57, 401-412. doi: 10.1146/annurev.
psych.57.102904.190127
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction with
Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164-172. doi:
10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164
Savoia, M. G., & Bernik, M. (2004). Adverse life events and coping
skills in panic disorder. Revista do Hospital de Clínicas da
Faculdade de Medicina de São Paulo, 59(6), 337-340.
Steel, P., Schmidt, J., & Shultz, J. (2008). Refining the relationship
between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological
Bulletin, 134(1), 138-161. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.138
Watson, D., Clark, L.A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and
validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The
PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
54(6), 1063-1070. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
Woyciekoski, C., Natividade, J. C., Hutz, C. S., & Laskoski,
L. M. (2011, junho). Eventos de vida avaliados como
positivos, negativos e neutros: em busca de um consenso.
Pôster apresentado no V Congresso Brasileiro de Avaliação
Psicológica, Bento Gonçalves, RS.
Woyciekoski, C., Stenert, F., & Hutz, C. S. (2012). Determinantes
do bem-estar subjetivo. Psico (PUCRS), 43(3), 280-288.
Zanon, C., & Hutz, C. S. (2014) Escala de Afetos Positivos e
Negativos (PANAS). In C. S. Hutz (Ed.) Avaliação em
Psicologia Positiva (pp.63-67). Porto Alegre: Artmed.
Zhang, J. P., Yao, S. Q., Ye, M., Huang, H. S., He, G. P., & Leng,
X. H. (2009). A study on the subjective well-being and its
influential factors in chronically ill inpatients in Changsha,
China. Applied Nursing Research, 22(4), 250-257.
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Published
2015-03-04
How to Cite
Woyciekoski, C., Natividade, J. C., & Hutz, C. S. (2015). Contributions of Personality and Life Events to the Subjective Well-Being. Psicologia: Teoria E Pesquisa, 30(4), 401–409. Retrieved from https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/revistaptp/article/view/18572
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Estudos Empíricos
