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SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING (HAPPINESS)
Presented by
CONTINUING PSYCHOLOGY EDUCATION INC.
6 CONTINUING EDUCATION CONTACT HOURS
“Happiness and misery depend as much on temperament as on fortune.”
Francois de la Rochefoucauld, Maximes
Course Objective Learning Objectives
The purpose of this course is to provide an Upon completion, the participant will be able to:
understanding of the concept of happiness, 1. Describe major components and specific
entitled “subjective well-being” within elements of happiness.
psychological literature. Major topics include 2. Discuss demographic effects, such as sex,
the demographic correlates of happiness, age, income, education, etc., upon
associated traits, the effect of personality and subjective well-being.
temperament, and theories explaining personality’s 3. Acknowledge environmental effects
influence on happiness. including marriage, job satisfaction, health,
leisure, competencies, etc., upon happiness.
Accreditation 4. Understand causes, predictors, and
Continuing Psychology Education Inc. is recognized correlates of happiness, and accompanying
by the New York State Education Department’s theoretical justification.
State Board for: Social Work as an approved provider 5. Explain key personality traits which
of continuing education for licensed social workers promote greater well-being, such as
#SW-0387; Mental Health Practitioners as an approved extroversion, optimism, self-esteem, etc.
provider of continuing education for licensed mental 6. Determine personality and temperament
health counselors #MHC-0080, and licensed marriage effects upon happiness.
and family therapists MFT-0043; Psychology as an 7. Discuss the relationship between
approved provider of continuing education for licensed personality and happiness.
psychologists #PSY-0006.
Mission Statement
Continuing Psychology Education provides the Faculty
highest quality continuing education designed to Neil Eddington, Ph.D.
fulfill the professional needs and interests of mental Richard Shuman, LMFT
health professionals. Resources are offered to
improve professional competency, maintain
knowledge of the latest advancements, and meet
continuing education requirements mandated by
the profession. Copyright © 2021 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.
1 Continuing Psychology Education Inc. P.O. Box 12202 Albany, NY 12212 FAX: (858) 272-5809 phone: 1 800 281-5068
Email: contpsyched@netzero.com www.texcpe.comSUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
INTRODUCTION with specific life domains, the presence of frequent positive
affect (pleasant moods and emotions), and a relative absence
Since the dawn of civilization great thinkers have discussed of negative affect (unpleasant moods and emotions).
the quality of human existence and “the good life.” To some The major components are reduced into more specific
individuals the ideal state is one of wealth, to others, having elements. Positive affect is commonly divided into joy,
significant relationships, while some report helping those in elation, contentment, pride, affection, happiness and ecstasy.
need is central. These individuals vary in external Negative affect is separated into guilt and shame, sadness,
circumstance, yet they may share a subjective feeling of anxiety and worry, anger, stress, depression, and envy. Life
wellbeing. satisfaction is categorized by satisfaction with current life,
The term “subjective well-being” (SWB) refers to people’s satisfaction with past, satisfaction with future, significant
evaluations of their lives - including cognitive judgments, others’ views of one’s life, and desire to change life. Domain
such as life satisfaction; and affective evaluations (moods satisfaction is composed of work, family, leisure, health,
and emotions), such as positive and negative emotional finances, self, and one’s group.
feelings. People are said to have high SWB if they are The field of SWB has several cardinal characteristics
satisfied with their life-conditions, and experience frequent (Diener, 1984). First, it is concerned with well-being from
positive emotions and infrequent negative emotions. SWB is the perspective of the respondent, hence, importance is
the psychological term for “happiness” and is preferred due granted to the respondent’s own views of his or her life.
to the many connotations of the latter term. Within the Second, the researcher is mainly interested in long-term
literature, the terms are used interchangeably. levels of satisfaction and affect, though, short-term moods
The scientific study of subjective well-being has shown and emotions are studied as well. For example, a state lottery
increasing interest the past two decades as psychology winner will be examined longitudinally for stable and
progressed from radical behaviorism and emphasis on permanent changes in mood and life satisfaction. Third,
negative states. Psychological articles researching negative healthy personality variables are researched, not only
states outnumber those examining positive states by a ratio of negative states such as depression and anxiety. Attainment
17 to 1 (Myers & Diener, 1995). SWB researchers explore of SWB not only involves avoiding sadness, but also
the full range of psychological well-being such that focus is experiencing life satisfaction and pleasant emotions.
upon factors that keep one from being depressed and factors Transient factors such as current mood and even current
that lead one to becoming elated. This trend is not surprising weather conditions affect judgment of life satisfaction
because happiness and life satisfaction are major goals for (Schwarz and Strack, 1991), however, despite these
most people. Emphasis is placed on understanding the temporary perceptions, SWB is moderately stable across
processes which underlie happiness, in turn, people’s goals, situations (Diener and Larsen, 1984) and across the life span
coping efforts, and dispositions are studied. (Costa and McCrae, 1988; Magnus and Diener, 1991).
The interaction of one’s personality, personal goals, and Hence, as we move through life our goals and needs change
available resources affects SWB and highlights the relative but SWB remains somewhat stable.
importance of these variables across the life span. Our wants A significant proportion of stable SWB is due to
and resources to accomplish goals change over time and offer personality. Francois La Rochefoucauld stated that
insight into the role these domains play in subjective “happiness and misery depend as much on temperament as
wellbeing. on fortune.” Research supports this notion that pleasant or
External demographic factors which change across the life unpleasant emotion, and life satisfaction vary more in
span such as income, health, and social contacts have a accordance with temperament than life circumstances or
surprisingly small effect on SWB. Diener and Suh (1998) momentary factors. Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers
revealed that from ages 40 to 90, average income and percent (1976) found that the demographic factors of age, sex,
of people who are married drop steadily, yet mean levels of income, race, education, and marital status accounted for less
life satisfaction remain stable across age groups. than 20% of the variance in SWB. Argyle (1999) determined
As many nations of the world enter an era of that external circumstances account for approximately 15%
postmaterialism in which basic survival needs are met, of the variance in SWB. It is concluded that personal
interest in SWB is likely to grow affecting ways reactions to life’s circumstances are more important than the
policymakers govern. Continued research into SWB may events themselves and that personality affects our reactions.
ultimately answer the question of what composes the “good In fact, personality is one of the strongest and most consistent
life.” predictors of subjective well-being.
COMPONENTS OF SUBJECTIVE CAUSES AND CORRELATES OF
WELL-BEING HAPPINESS
Subjective well-being is composed of several major Extensive research exists on the correlations of
components, including global life satisfaction, contentment demographic and other environmental factors with happiness.
2 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
These findings started with Cantril’s (1965) study of 23,875 opportunity for intense levels of happiness upon encountering
people in 11 countries, the research of Bradburn (1969) and good events.
Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers (1976) in the United
States, and Inglehart’s (1990) analysis of Eurobarometer AGE
studies of 16 countries with over 163,000 respondents.
Veenhoven and colleagues (1994) later reviewed 603 such Campbell (1981) stated that “the literary image of the
studies from 69 countries. It is concluded that demographic crotchety old person, dissatisfied with everything, is not a
and environmental factors affect happiness at varying levels, very realistic picture of older people” (p. 203). This pleasant
but to a lesser degree than personality. finding may be due to older people being healthier and
staying involved in more life domains compared to past
SEX DIFFERENCES generations (Bass, 1995). Current studies agree that life
satisfaction often increases, or at least does not drop with age
Sex differences in SWB are small or nonexistent in (Herzog & Rodgers, 1981; Horley & Lavery, 1995; Larson,
Western nations. The greatest data comes from the World 1978; Stock, Okun, Haring, & Witter, 1983).
Value Survey (Inglehart, 1990) in which approximately International studies of representative samples from
170,000 representatively sampled respondents from 16 multiple countries also indicate that life satisfaction does not
nations were surveyed; the differences in SWB between men decline with age (Butt & Beiser, 1987; Inglehart, 1990,
and women were very small. Michalos (1991) studied Veenhoven, 1984). Diener and Suh (1998) surveyed 60,000
18,000 college students in over 30 nations and found very adults from 40 nations and discovered a slight upward trend
small sex differences in life satisfaction and happiness. in life satisfaction from the 20s to the 80s in age, and little
Due to the breaking down of traditional sex roles for men change across age cohorts with respect to the experience of
and women, the trait which was formerly called negative affect. In contrast, pleasant affect declined with
“masculinity” is now called “agency,” and the trait formerly age. Likewise, Okma and Veenhoven (1996) found no
called “femininity” is now called “communion.” evidence of a decrease in life satisfaction across the life span
Communion includes characteristics as warmth, concern for but did observe a small decline in mood. The reported age
others, and understanding. Agency includes independence, declines in positive affect may disappear, however, if lower
selfconfidence, and decisiveness. These new terms are arousal states such as contentment and affection were studied
preferred to the old terms because they recognize that men or rather than the standard higher arousal states of “energetic”
women can possess either set of characteristics. Although and “feeling on top of the world” which are used. Supporting
men do not report higher SWB than women, men and women this belief is the finding that emotional intensity declines with
who are agentic have higher SWB, and men and women who age (Diener, Sandvik, & Larsen, 1985).
are low in agency have lower SWB. The lack of significant decrease in life satisfaction across
Another interesting finding within the sex and SWB the life span suggests people’s ability to adapt to their
literature is that women report more negative affect and conditions. Declines in income and marriage occur across
depression than men and are more likely to seek therapy for age cohorts in later adulthood, yet, life satisfaction is stable.
this disorder; yet, men and women report approximately the Some researchers have suggested that these findings serve as
same levels of global happiness. One explanation is that evidence that people readjust their goals as they age
women more readily admit to negative feelings whereas men (Campbell et al., 1976; Rapkin & Fischer, 1992). Continuing
deny such feelings. Thus, it is possible that both sexes with this line of thinking, Ryff (1991) found that older adults,
experience similar levels of negative affect and depression, compared with younger people, demonstrate a closer fit
but women report these feelings and seek professional help between ideal and actual self-perceptions. Brandtstadter and
more often. Another explanation for the paradoxical sex Renner (1990) believe that overcoming adversities is
differences in SWB is offered by Fujita, Diener, and Sandvik performed either by changing life circumstances to personal
(1991). They suggest that in the social role of nurturer, preferences (assimilative coping) or by adjusting personal
women are socialized to be more open to emotional preferences and goals to given situational constraints
experiences, including both positive and negative emotions, (accommodative coping). Both types of coping strategies
in turn, they may experience more positive and more were related to life satisfaction, but they found a gradual shift
negative affect. Their research did reveal that women report from the assimilative to the accommodative style with
greater amounts of positive affect as well, thus, it may be that increasing age. This supports Campbell et al.’s conclusion
women experience, on average, both positive and negative that the gap between one’s goals and circumstances decreases
emotions more strongly and frequently than men. These with age. Further, the lack of life satisfaction decline with
researchers also discovered that gender was responsible for age suggests that the connection between life circumstances
less than 1% of the variance in happiness but over 13% of the and SWB is mediated by expectations.
variance in the intensity of emotional experiences. Fujita et
al. hypothesize that women’s, on average, openness to
intense emotional experiences, creates a vulnerability to
depression given many bad events, but also creates
3 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
EDUCATION declining at least one-half a standard deviation in income
over a 10-year period.
Small but significant correlations between education and Income change at the national level, as with the personal
SWB are indicated (Campbell et al., 1976; Cantril, 1965; level, shows little effect upon SWB. Despite strong
Diener et al., 1993). In a meta-analysis of the literature, economic growth in France, Japan, and the United States
Witter, Okun, Stock, and Haring (1984) observed a median from 1946 to 1990, there was no increase in mean reports of
effect size of .13. This effect size was similar to education’s SWB (Diener & Suh, 1997). Disposable income rose
influence upon life satisfaction (.15), morale (.15), and dramatically (even controlling for inflation and taxes), but
quality of life (.12). Education correlates with well-being well-being levels remained stable. Oswald (1997) studied
more for individuals with lower incomes (Campbell, 1981; nine European nations during a time of rapid economic
Diener et al., 1993), and in poor countries (Veenhoven, growth and also found virtually no increase in SWB.
1994a); possibly in the former case due to education’s Contrarily, Gross National Product (GNP) per capita
creating wider leisure interests resulting in other sources of correlated approximately .50 with life satisfaction across 39
happiness, and in the latter case due to the social status nations (Diener et al., 1993). These results were supported
conveyed by education. The effect of education on SWB has by a sample of 55 nations using both GNP and purchasing
become weaker over time in the United States. Campbell power as indicators of national financial status (Diener,
(1981) notes that in 1957, 44% of college graduates reported Diener, and Diener, 1995). The relation between national
being very happy compared to 23% of those with no high wealth and SWB may be due, in part, to other benefits
school, while in 1978, the corresponding percentages were 33 received by people of wealthier countries such as more
and 28 percent. Oishi, Diener, and Lucas (2007) found that democratic and egalitarian treatment, hence, the direct effect
moderately happy people but not the happiest people attained of wealth itself may not be the only determining factor.
the highest levels of educational achievement and income. When examining the effect of materialistic goals
Much of the relation between education and SWB results themselves upon SWB, Richins & Dawson (1992) found that
from the correlation of education with occupational status people who value money more highly than other goals are
and income (Campbell, 1981; Witter et al., 1984). Hence, in less satisfied with their standard of living and with their lives,
America, education is only indirectly related to well-being. and this association persists even when income is controlled
Surprisingly, education may even potentially interfere with (Crawford, 1998). Several theories attempt to explain why
SWB if it leads to expectations which cannot be met, thus materialism is a negative predictor of SWB. Materialistic
increasing the goal-achievement gap. pursuits may be counterproductive because they interfere
with other prosocial and self-actualization goals (Scitovsky,
INCOME 1976), and the extrinsic goal of money is not conducive to
meeting inherent needs in economically advanced societies
Overall, a small but significant correlation of .12 between (Kasser, 1997).
income and SWB was found in a nationally representative Thus, findings do not support a strong causal direction from
sample in the United States (Diener et al., 1993). income to SWB. Wealthy people are only somewhat happier
The effects of income on happiness are small even when than poor people in rich nations, though, wealthy nations
examining extremely wealthy individuals. Individuals with a appear much happier than poor nations, and changes in
net worth over $125 million were compared to randomly income may sometimes have negative effect. Studying
selected controls from the same geographical areas. Results expectations and material desires would be beneficial in
showed the very rich to be, on average, somewhat happier explaining these patterns. For example, wealth affects SWB
than the mean of national samples, but there was more in countries where basic needs of food, shelter, and
considerable overlap in the distributions of the wealthy and health care are of concern, but has a much lesser effect within
not wealthy groups (Diener, Horwitz, and Emmons, 1985). countries where basic needs are met.
Generally, wealthier people are happier than poorer people, Interpreting these results may lead public policy-makers as
however, the effects are small. Brickman et al. (1978) well as individuals to question the worth of pursuing ever
determined that lottery winners were happier than controls greater amounts of money. Many experience increasing time
but not significantly so. Smith and Razzell (1975) studied shortage yet choose to work even longer hours. The sacrifice
individuals who won large amounts of money in the British of important values such as self-growth, leisure time, and
football pools and found 39% described themselves to be significant relationships to attain more wealth may interfere
very happy compared to 19% of the controls. Unexpectedly, with happiness rather than enhance it. In question is not the
some negative affect also surfaced as the winners quit their pursuit of wealth and economic growth by nations and
jobs and then experienced lost relationships and decreased individuals, rather, how increases in wealth may be used and
feelings of accomplishment, as well as some tension from at what costs.
family and friends who expected financial assistance. Diener
et al. (1993) found no differences in hedonic level (pleasant
versus unpleasant affect) between groups advancing or
4 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
MARRIAGE level of stimulation that people find pleasurable
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Scitovsky, 1976), positive social
The positive relation between marriage and SWB has been relationships, and a sense of identity and meaning.
consistently reported in the United States (Glenn, 1975; Gove Characteristics of satisfying jobs have been extensively
& Shin, 1989), Canada (White, 1992), Norway (Mastekaasa, researched; for example, person-organization fit generally
1995) and in international studies (Diener, Gohm, Suh, & correlates with job satisfaction (Bretz & Judge, 1994), and
Oishi, 1998). These large-scale surveys indicate that married intrinsic rewards and social benefits are significant predictors
people report greater happiness compared to those who were of satisfaction (Mottaz, 1985).
never married or are divorced, separated, or widowed. Those People satisfied with their lives generally find more
who cohabit with a partner and are not married are satisfaction in their work (Sones & Kozma, 1986) revealing
significantly happier in some cultures than those living alone the relation between job and life satisfaction may reflect
(Kurdek, 1991; Mastekaasa, 1995). Marriage and well-being internal personality factors.
correlate significantly even when age and income are Unemployed people have higher distress, lower life
controlled (Glenn & Weaver, 1979; Gove, Hughes, & Style, satisfaction, and higher rates of suicide than employed
1983). A meta-analysis by Haring-Hidore, Stock, Okun, and individuals (Oswald, 1997; Platt & Kreitman, 1985).
Witter (1985) determined an average correlation of .14 Unemployment typically causes lower SWB (Clark, 1998).
between marital status and SWB.
Lee, Seccombe, & Shehan (l991) studied the differences HEALTH
between married and nonmarried men and women from 1972
to 1989 and found that married women were consistently Campbell et al. (1976) found respondents to judge “good
happier than unmarried women, and married men were health” as the most important of various life domains.
consistently happier than unmarried men. Diener et al. Pressman and Cohen (2005) illustrated many benefits of
(1998) discovered that marriage offers greater benefits for positive attitude upon health, such as fewer symptoms, less
men than for women in terms of positive emotions, but pain, and better pulmonary function. Strong correlations
married men and women do not differ in life satisfaction. between health and SWB exist for self-reported health
Many researchers believe that marriage serves as a buffer measures (George & Landerman, 1984), but not for objective
against the hardships of life and it provides emotional and health ratings by physicians (Watten, Vassend, Myhrer, &
economic support which produces positive states of Syversen, 1997). Therefore, perceptions of health appear to
wellbeing (Coombs, 1991; Gove, Style, & Hughes, 1990; be more important than objective health in their effects on
Kessler & Essex, 1982). Marital benefits may be limited, SWB. Explanation for this unexpected result is that people in
however, given the finding by Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and poor health downplay the importance of their health when
Diener (2003) that marriage did not lead to lasting changes in evaluating their global life satisfaction, and secondly, people
happiness. use cognitive coping strategies that promote a positive image
In a longitudinal study, Headey, Veenhoven, and Wearing of their health condition.
(1991) found that among the six life domains they studied Individuals with a severe disabling condition or multiple or
(e.g., job, health), only marital satisfaction had a significant chronic problems, however, may report low SWB, whereas if
causal influence on global life satisfaction. the condition is less severe, adaptation is possible (Mehnert
Happy people may have a better chance of getting married, et al., 1990). Large-scale longitudinal studies show that
in turn, upon committing to the marriage, the benefits of many people do not adapt to severe life-circumstance
companionship can further raise SWB. Thus, both selection changes such as becoming disabled (Lucas, 2007), and they
effects and the benefits of marriage may underlie the relation may not regain their pre-incidence happiness level, which
between marriage and SWB (Mastekaasa, 1995). Marital suggests that the concept of a “set-point” of happiness is not
quality is obviously also a predictor of life satisfaction. fixed and static (Diener, Lucas, & Scollon, 2006).
Variables including the structure of interactions (Gottman & Poor health is thought to negatively influence SWB
Levenson, 1986), emotional expressiveness (King, 1993), because it interferes with goal-attainment.
and role sharing (Hendrix, 1997) are related to more
satisfying marriages. RELIGION
JOB SATISFACTION Marx described religion at the “opiate of the masses,”
proposing that it contributes to well-being. Many large
Tait, Padgett, and Baldwin (1989) performed a meta- studies, often based on national samples, do show that SWB
analysis of 34 studies and determined an average correlation correlates significantly (although the effect sizes are not
of .44 between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. They large) with religious certainty (Ellison, 1991), strength of
also discovered a stronger relation between job and life one’s relationship with the Divine (Pollner, 1989), prayer
satisfaction for women in recent decades as their societal experiences (Poloma & Pendleton, 1991), and devotional and
roles have changed and career-choice has expanded. Work is participatory aspects of religiosity (Ellison, Gay, & glass,
thought to be related to SWB because it offers an optimal
5 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
1989), even after controlling for age, income and marital through such activities, including intimacy, cooperation and
status. so forth (Argyle, 1996). Csikszentmihalyi and
Religious experiences may offer a sense of meaning in Csikszentmihalyi (1988) suggest that the greatest satisfaction
daily life (Pollner, 1989) and during major life crises is derived from activities in which challenges are met by
(McIntosh, Silver, & Wortman, 1993). Additionally, religion skills, producing a state of “flow.” Hence, leisure may be
offers social fulfillment through exposure to social networks more satisfying when there is some commitment, some use of
composed of people who share similar attitudes and values skill, and some kind of achievement.
(Taylor & Chatters, 1988). The benefits of church The most popular form of leisure in the modern world,
membership are greater for those who have lost other forms surprisingly, is watching television. Heavy television
of social support, such as retirees and widows, suggesting watchers are less happy than others. This activity, however,
increased social support may underlie a portion of the does provide positive and relaxing pleasure at a very low
advantages of religion. level of arousal - at a point between being awake and asleep
Ellison (1991) concluded that religious variables account (Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
for approximately 5%-7% of life satisfaction variance, but Holidays are a source of happiness and relaxation.
only 2%-3% of the variance in affective well-being. Ellison Rubenstein (1980) surveyed a large number of “Psychology
suggests that religion’s benefits are mainly cognitive, Today” readers and found that 21% had headaches when not
offering an interpretive framework to make sense of life on holiday compared to only 3% while on vacation; similar
experience, rather than eliminating negative events or differences were found for being tired, irritable, or
increasing positive events and therefore may not affect constipated.
emotional well-being.
Strawbridge, Shema, Cohen, Roberts, and Kaplan (1998) LIFE EVENTS
reported evidence that religiosity buffers the effects of some
stressors on depression, but exacerbates the effects of other The frequency of daily positive events correlates with
stressors, for example, marital problems and abuse. This positive affect at .33 (Kanner et al., 1981). The percentage of
implies that the effects of religiosity are not inevitably time when subjects were experiencing positive affect
positive, suggesting a need for more research in this area. correlated with happiness at approximately .50, and average
intensity of positive affect when subjects were feeling happy
LEISURE correlated with happiness at about .25 (Diener, Sandvik, and
Pavot, 1991). These researchers suggest that intense positive
In surveys reviewed by Veenhoven and colleagues (1994), experiences do not have much effect on happiness, partly due
happiness was correlated with leisure satisfaction and level of to their rare occurrence - they occurred in only 2.6 percent of
leisure activities at .40, but after controlling for various days in one study.
demographic variables including employment and social The main causes of joy in a study of five European
class, the correlation fell to .20. The correlation was greatest countries were: relationships with friends; the basic pleasures
for those not working such as the unemployed, retired, or old, of food, drink, and sex; and success experiences (Scherer et
those of greater wealth or social class, and the married al., 1986).
without children at home (Zuma, 1989). People experience a more positive mood when with friends
Causal effects of leisure on happiness are offered by compared to being with family or alone (Larson, 1990), and
longitudinal studies. Glancy, Willits, and Farrell (1986) happiness correlates with number of friends, frequency of
studied 1521 high school students for 24 years and seeing them, going to parties and dances, and belonging to
determined that adolescent leisure predicted adult life teams and clubs (Argyle and Lu, 1990). Headey, Holmstrom,
satisfaction, with a number of controls applied. Heady, and Wearing (1985) discovered that favorable events within
Holmstrom, and Wearing (1985) followed up 600 Australians the realms of friendship and work predicted increases in
at two-year intervals and found that leisure satisfaction SWB over two-year intervals.
increased subjective well-being. Frequency of sexual intercourse correlates with happiness,
Stronger causal evidence is provided by the effects of sport as does satisfaction with sex life, being in love, and
and other forms of leisure. Exercise, such as aerobics for 8 to frequency of interaction with spouse, however, having liberal
10 weeks, two to four times a week, has increased happiness sexual attitudes has a negative relationship.
and reduced clinical depression and anxiety (Biddle and The great outdoors, including the sea, sun, mountains, and
Mutrie, 1991). Additionally, periods of exercise reduce the wild, natural settings also produces positive effects.
negative effects on heart rate and blood pressure resulting Rated highest is falling in love and the effects are positive
from performing stressful tasks (Kimbell and Basford, 1996). as long as the love lasts. Oishi, Diener, and Lucas (2007)
Sport and exercise are effective partly due to the release of discovered that the happiest people experienced the greatest
endorphins, the social interaction with others, and the success within the domain of romantic relationships.
experience of success or self-efficacy. Dance and music are Parenthetically, Lyubomirsky, King, and Diener (2005)
effective given their mood-inducing nature and social found a correlation between happiness assessed at one point
benefits. It is possible to fulfill a number of social needs in life with positive outcomes at a later time; specifically,
6 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
happy people were more likely to be experiencing a stable TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH SWB
romantic relationship than less happy people ten years later.
Having a baby is rated highly but also judged to be stressful Traits are behavioral response tendencies which show a
for some time. As noted earlier, winning a lottery offers a degree of consistency across situations and stability over
temporary increase in happiness but level of happiness time. DeNeve and Cooper (1998) identified 137 personality
returns to normal after a period of time. These events have traits correlated with SWB constructs, hence, recognizing the
complex effects upon SWB because they promote major most important traits needed for subjective well-being is
change in one’s life which may be positive yet disrupting at difficult. In recent years, the Five-Factor Model or “Big
the same time. Religious experiences, as noted earlier, can Five” has received the most theoretical attention, research,
have longlasting positive effects. Peak experiences have and popularity. Five cardinal traits compose the Five-Factor
been known to occur through religion, music, or other intense Model, including extroversion, neuroticism,
activities. conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to
experience. It is believed that other personality
COMPETENCIES characteristics (included in this section) are derived from
these and that many other traits may be mapped onto the Big
Studies have found very small, but positive correlations Five. The low pole of each BigFive trait is represented by its
between the competency of intelligence and happiness. corresponding antonym: introversion, emotional stability,
Similar to education, intelligence may raise aspirations which spontaneity, assertiveness, and low openness to experience.
might not be met, thereby, increasing the goal-achievement
gap. EXTROVERSION AND NEUROTICISM
Physical attractiveness has a stronger effect, especially for
young women. It generates greater happiness (Agnew, 1984) The traits having received the most empirical attention in
possibly because it produces popularity with the opposite sex, relation to SWB are extroversion and neuroticism.
teachers and employers, and it is a source of upward mobility Extroversion includes characteristics such as sociability,
(Argyle, 1994). Height in men has similar effects and has a stimulus seeking, dominance, high activity, warmth,
small correlation with happiness. dominance, and correlates significantly with pleasant
Social-skills are much more important than the preceding emotions, for example, joy and affection. Neuroticism
competencies. Argyle and Lu (1990) found that extroverts includes characteristics such as anxiety, pessimism,
have more social-skills and this is one reason for their irritability, bodily complaints and interpersonal sensitivity; in
happiness; also, they are happy due to their greater other words, it encompasses a wide range of unpleasant
assertiveness skills, which mediated the extroversion- thoughts and emotions.
happiness relation. Social-skills lead to happiness because Fujita (1991) determined the correlation between
they improve the probability of attaining desired relationships extroversion and pleasant affect to be .80 and that
with others. Contrarily, those who are socially incompetent neuroticism and the experience of negative affect were
are likely to be socially rejected, and become isolated and virtually indistinguishable. Many studies have replicated the
unable to find social support or companionship (Sarason and relationship between these constructs promoting Watson and
Sarason, 1985). Clark (1984) to relabel the trait of neuroticism as negative
Studies have also found that happiness is related to affectivity and they suggested that positive affectivity forms
cooperativeness, leadership, and heterosexual skills (Argyle, the core of the broad trait of extroversion (Watson & Clark,
Martin and Lu, 1995). 1997).
Fordyce (1977, 1983) formulated an intervention program Costa and McCrae (1980) discovered that extroversion
designed to assist individuals in acquiring the competencies predicted pleasant affect and neuroticism predicted
of happy people, such as being organized, staying busy, unpleasant affect over a ten-year period. Magnus and Diener
increasing socialization, creating and maintaining a positive (1991) showed that extroversion and neuroticism scores
outlook, and working on developing a healthy personality. predicted life satisfaction over four years; personality was a
The program increased levels of happiness as compared to a stronger predictor of life satisfaction than life events.
placebo control and to groups only receiving partial Diener, Sandvik, Pavot, and Fujita (1992) determined that
information, and the positive intervention effects were extant extroversion predicted SWB in a representative sample of
in follow-up evaluations 9-28 months after the study. Americans. Extroverts were on average happier despite
Similarly, kindness interventions (Otake, Shimai, living alone or with others, working in solitary or social
TanakaMarsumi, Otsui, & Fredrickson, 2006), and gratitude occupations, or living in small or large cities. They were also
interventions (Emmons & McCullough, 2003) have shown happier across diverse ethnic, gender, and age groups. The
promising results as a means of increasing SWB. close relation between extroversion and SWB across different
environments and samples suggested the bond may be due to
biological temperament rather than situational differences
between extroverts and introverts. A temperament factor was
suggested again when Pavot, Diener, and Fujita (1990) found
7 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
that extroverts reported more positive affect at random on neural approach-and-avoidance systems and are
moments in an experience sampling study regardless of being automatically associated with more positive or negative
alone or in a social setting. affect, respectively, the relation of conscientiousness and
Watson and Clark (1997) suggest extroverts and neurotics agreeableness to subjective well-being is thought to depend
have a temperamental susceptibility to experience positive on whether individuals with these traits are rewarded within
and negative affect, respectively. They base their belief on particular environments. These variables have not been
Gray’s (1991) theory of personality. Gray stated that two extensively studied and warrant additional analysis.
brain systems are responsible for much of the individual
differences in personality. The behavioral activation system OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE
(BAS) is sensitive to cues of reward and nonpunishment and
controls approach behavior. The behavioral inhibition The fifth trait of the Big Five, openness to experience, is
system (BIS) is sensitive to cues of punishment and generally not related to an individual’s experience of positive
nonreward, corresponds to the dimension of anxiety and is or negative affect or life satisfaction. For example,
responsible for inhibiting behavior during the threat of Gottfredson (1994) determined that openness to experience
punishment. Individuals sensitive to signals of reward (high did not correlate with job satisfaction. This variable is
BAS) are extroverted and those sensitive to signals of thought to relate to emotional intensity by influencing how
punishment (high BIS) are introverted. Gray believes that happy and unhappy moments are experienced rather than
the BAS, a system reactive to reward stimuli, is responsible influencing how happy or unhappy a person is.
for the production of pleasant affect, while the BIS, a system
reactive to punishment stimuli, is responsible for the SELF-ESTEEM
production of unpleasant affect.
Based on Gray’s (1991) theories, Lucas et al. (1998) Many clinicians believe that self-acceptance is mandatory
suggested that extroverts are more sensitive to rewards and for psychological well-being. Supportively, Lucas et al.
this sensitivity results in greater pleasant affect when exposed (1996) found self-esteem to strongly predict SWB in Western
to rewarding stimuli. Greater positive affect then leads cultures. Contrarily, self-esteem is not a universal
individuals to approach rewarding stimuli such as social determinant of SWB. Diener and Diener (1995) determined
situations in which extroverts’ elevated positive affect and that self-esteem is a weak correlate (0.8) for women in
sensitivity to rewards leads to increased social behavior. collectivist societies where family is valued over the
Hence, these researchers believe that extroversion may result individual. Likewise, Kwan, Bond, and Singelis (1997)
from individual differences in pleasant affect. revealed a strong relation between self-esteem and life
The relationship between extroversion and positive affect is satisfaction in America but also discovered that relationship
strongly supported, but the reasons are not clear. One harmony was also a strong predictor of life satisfaction in
hypothesis is based on temperament in which extroverts are Hong Kong. Hence, self-esteem may not be a strong
biologically predisposed to react more strongly to rewards. predictor of SWB in cultures which value the group above
A second view states that extroverts spend more time in the individual but is significant in Western societies.
social situations which tend to produce positive affect. A
third view is that extroverts may experience more positive OPTIMISM
events due to an ability to elicit rewarding outcomes for
themselves; in fact, Headey and Wearing (1992) discovered Scheier and Carver (1985) developed a theory of
that extroverts experienced more positive events over a dispositional optimism in which optimism is a generalized
period of years. tendency to expect favorable outcomes in one’s life.
Neurotics generally experience more unpleasant life events. Specifically, those who believe that positive outcomes will
Headey and Wearing (1992) found that highly neurotic follow working toward a goal are more likely to achieve their
individuals recurrently experience more negative life events goal, whereas, those who expect failure are more likely to
than less neurotic people. One explanation is that negative disengage from their goal. This pattern leads optimists to
thoughts and emotions yield self-defeating behaviors. achieve their goals more often than pessimists. Lucas,
Schimmack, Oishi, Furr, & Funder (2004) concluded that Diener, and Suh (1996) revealed that optimism correlates
cheerfulness, a characteristic of extroversion, and depression, with measures of SWB such as life satisfaction, pleasant
a facet of neuroticism, explain individual differences in life affect and unpleasant affect. Scheier and Carver (1993)
satisfaction more than the global traits of extroversion and reviewed findings showing that optimists maintain higher
neuroticism as a whole. levels of SWB when facing a stressor. Evidence showing the
underlying mechanisms of optimism is offered by Scheier,
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND AGREEABLENESS Weintraub, and Carver (1986) who found that optimists tend
to use problem-focused coping, seek social support, and
Both these variables correlate moderately with SWB but at emphasize positive aspects of the situation upon encountering
lower levels than extroversion and neuroticism. Whereas difficulties. Pessimists tend to use denial, focus on stressful
research suggests that extroversion and neuroticism are based feelings, and disengage from relevant goals. It appears that
8 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
those who think positively use more effective forms of .50 range between the spouse’s ratings of the target person’s
coping. emotions at time 1 and the target person’s self-rating six
years later.
SELF-EFFICACY An alternative explanation that SWB stability is due to
constancy in people’s external conditions is not supported by
The feeling that an individual possesses what is needed to research of changing conditions across the life span. Costa,
accomplish important goals, termed self-efficacy, predicts McCrae, and Zonderman (1987) studied people living under
life satisfaction and positive emotions as shown by Feasel relatively stable circumstances versus those living in
(1995). Additionally, this researcher observed that feeling changing conditions such as divorce or becoming widowed.
high selfefficacy toward more important goals was a stronger The highchange group demonstrated only slightly lower
predictor of well-being than such a feeling toward less stability estimates than the low-change group. Diener et al.
important goals. This demonstrates that feeling efficacious is (1993) discovered that people revealed approximately the
important to well-being but also highlights the need to feel same level of SWB over a 10 year period regardless of their
competent in areas of life that one feels are significant. income increasing, decreasing or staying the same.
Personality has shown a more significant role than specific
POSITIVE ILLUSIONS life events in determining SWB. Magnus and Diener (1991)
found that over a four-year period, time 1 personality
Taylor and Brown (1988) noted that many people possess predicted time 2 life satisfaction and other measures of
positive illusions which include unrealistically positive subjective well-being beyond the effect of intervening life
selfperceptions, overly optimistic views of the future, and events. Further, highly valued resources such as wealth
overestimates of environmental control. Surprisingly, these (Diener et al., 1993), physical attractiveness (Diener, Wolsic,
illusions foster SWB as well as caring for others and the and Fujita, 1995), and objective health (Okun and George,
ability to engage in productive work. Taylor and Armor 1984) barely correlated with SWB.
(1996) observed that positive illusions correlate with These studies reveal that SWB, like personality,
successful adjustment to stressful circumstances, including demonstrates some stability over time. Hence, the amount of
extreme adversity. Erez, Johnson, and Judge (1995) found pleasant affect, unpleasant affect and life satisfaction one
that individuals with a positive disposition tended to use experiences during college years is likely to remain
more self-deception, which in turn increased their SWB. moderately stable unrelated to future events such as marriage,
Similarly, Lightsey (1994) indicated that negative events divorce, finding a job or becoming unemployed. Diener and
have a weaker relation to depression among people with Larsen (1984) report that average levels of pleasant mood in
automatic positive cognitions. Finally, Seidlitz and Diener work situations correlated .70 with average levels of pleasant
(1993) discovered that happy people can remember more mood in recreation situations. Average levels of unpleasant
good events; this results from their manner of initially affect in work situations correlated .74 with mean levels of
encoding more of their life-events in a positive way. unpleasant affect in recreation situations. Similar
consistency levels for pleasant and unpleasant affect were
PERSONALITY AND SWB noted across social versus alone situations, and novel versus
typical situations. Mean levels of life satisfaction were even
Personality is defined as characteristic response tendencies more consistent with stability coefficients in the .95 range.
in adults composed of biological and learned components; Thus, people display consistent characteristic emotional
extensive research supports its significant influence on SWB. responses to their environments even when the environment
Stability across time in SWB should predictably exist if changes.
personality is a major influence upon this concept. Costa Happiness remains moderately stable despite changing life
(1994) observed that over a period of up to 30 years, adults conditions. Moreover, evaluations of specific events and life
are stable in their personalities. Such support is noted by domains in one’s life are affected by one’s overall level of
Magnus and Diener (1991) who determined that life happiness. Kozma (1996) noted that life domain (work,
satisfaction correlated .58 with the same measure home, relationships) satisfaction judgments were correlated
administered four years later. The correlation was .52 when but upon overall happiness being controlled, correlations
life satisfaction was self-reported at time 1 and four years between the different domains were no longer significant.
later reported by family and friends of the respondent. Concluded is that overall happiness influences feelings about
Utilizing two measurement sources - self versus informant specific domains and contentment with specific domains is a
report - demonstrates the stability of SWB is not due to social function of specific factors within the domain and one’s
desirability or acquiescence. general level of SWB. The extent to which one’s needs are
The affective components of SWB (pleasant and unpleasant met is positively correlated with the level of life satisfaction
affect) also yield stability over time. Watson and Walker (Sheldon, Elliot, Kim, & Kasser, 2001).
(1996) determined that trait affect scales showed a moderate The stable individual difference of how people think about
level of time stability over a six-year period. Costa and and perceive the world affects SWB. Different levels of
McCrae (1988) found significant stability coefficients in the accessing pleasant versus unpleasant information, and how
9 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
accurate and efficient one can process pleasant versus Studies of temperament in early life indicate the influence
unpleasant information influences SWB (Robinson & of inherited biology upon SWB. Goldsmith and Campos
Kirkeby, 2005; Robinson, Vargas, Tamir, & Solberg, 2004). (1986) report that biologically based emotional reactions
Happy individuals attend to and remember the pleasant develop early in life, are somewhat stable over time, and
events and nuances of life to a greater degree than others offer the building blocks for adult personality dimensions.
(Tamir & Robinson, 2007). Furthermore, happy people often Kagan (1994) described two groups of infants that had
utilize broad, abstract criteria to judge their own lives while either an avoidant style to unfamiliar events (inhibited
unhappy people frequently use concrete criteria (Updegraff & children) or an approach-oriented style (uninhibited
Suh, 2007). These findings infer that happiness is not simply children). These different emotional styles are thought to be
a product of who we are, but of how we think about and biologically based resulting from differential excitability of
perceive our lives as well. the amygdala and its projections to the motor system, the
cingulate and frontal cortex, the hypothalamus, and the
TEMPERAMENT EFFECTS ON SWB sympathetic nervous system (Kagan, Snidman, & Arcus,
1992). LaGasse, Gruber, and Lipsitt (1989) were able to
Temperament is defined as a biological predisposition to predict inhibited behavior by observing sucking in two-day
certain types of responding that appears early in life and has a old newborns; these results suggest biologically rather than
large genetic component. Temperament is believed to exert a environmentallybased differences. The effects of this
causal role in predisposing some to experience high SWB inhibited style lasted at least eight years into childhood.
and others low SWB. Supporting evidence for this Kagan and Moss (1962) found that shyness (a trait of
temperamental predisposition to experience various levels of inhibited children) shown in the first three years of life
SWB is offered by behavior-genetic studies of heritability. persisted into adulthood. The researchers observed,
Heritability research estimates the effect of genetic makeup contrarily, that not all inhibited children remained as such
upon SWB. through childhood, suggesting environment may influence
Tellegen et al. (1988) examined monozygotic (identical) emotional development beyond early temperament.
and dizygotic (fraternal) twins who were reared together and The biological basis of SWB is further illustrated by
others who were reared apart. Comparing monozygotic twins Davidson and Fox (1982) who demonstrated that fearful
who share all of their genes with dizygotic twins who share behavior shown by infants in a laboratory situation correlates
on average half of their genes illustrates the effect of genes with the relative amounts of left frontal versus right frontal
on personality. Comparing such sets of twins reared apart cerebral activity displayed before testing began. Frontal
versus those reared together shows the effect of cerebral asymmetry appears to indicate current emotional
environmental differences upon personality. Tellegen states and a predisposition to experience those states.
discovered that even when monozygotic twins grew up in Implied is that genetic factors may lead to differences in the
different homes they were extremely similar in SWB and reactivity of the emotional centers of the brain; these
dizygotic twins raised in the same home were on average far differences predispose people to experience greater or lesser
less similar. Twins raised in the same family were not much amounts of pleasant and unpleasant mood and emotion. In
more similar compared to twins reared apart. The study fact, these differences may represent basic physiological
estimated that genetics account for about 40% of the variance predispositions to experience high or low levels of SWB.
in positive emotionality, 55% of the variance in negative Related to this research, Heady and Wearing (1989)
emotionality, and 48% of the variance in well-being. Shared discovered that people ultimately return to a baseline of
family environment accounts for 22% of the variance in positive or negative affect after the occurrence of good or bad
positive emotionality and 2% in negative emotionality. events. They offered a “dynamic equilibrium” theory which
Surprising is the finding that shared family environment has states that personality determines baseline levels of emotional
such a small influence. response; specific life experiences will move people above or
Lykken and Tellegen (1996) calculated that 80% of below this baseline, but, in time, they will return to their
longterm SWB is heritable. Hence, heritability has a stable set point.
moderate influence on happiness during a specific period in Valliant and Valliant (1990) showed the importance of
life and a substantial effect over the long term (this study temperament versus environment in a longitudinal study of
looked at the portion of affect that was stable over a 10 year Harvard graduates over a period of 45 years. Over time,
period). early childhood traumas such as a parent’s death and the
Caution is advised, however, in identifying a single, precise stability of the parental marriage had less effect on the well-
heritability coefficient for personality. The coefficient is being of respondents. By late midlife, effects of these early
influenced by a number of factors, including the sample and traumas were gone. Combined with heritability studies
measures used and the effects of environment. Still, several which reveal a small influence of early shared home
accepted studies examining the effects of genes on environment on personality, these results show that
experiencing positive and negative affect have consistently childhood events may not significantly affect later SWB.
found significant genetic effects between .30 and .60 Research has revealed the influence of temperament on
(Tellegen et al., 1988; Baker, Cesa, Gatz, & Mellins, 1992). SWB. Infants demonstrate typical emotional reactions that
10 Continuing Psychology Education Inc.SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
may persist over time. Twin studies indicate that subjective found that quadriplegics and paraplegics adapted to their
well-being is in part inherited and fairly stable over time. spinal cord injury in short time frames.
The strong stability of adult personality and the relative The concept of habituation underlies the idea of one’s
stability of SWB along with their inter-relatedness, suggests affect returning to baseline, however, research shows that
that personality may continually influence feelings of well- people do not habituate to all events. For example, Mehnert,
being. This notion has support from longitudinal studies Krauss, Nadler, and Boyd (1990) found that a representative
showing personality can predict SWB over a period of years. sample of people with disabilities was less satisfied with life
Biological indicators, such as cerebral asymmetry, can than a representative sample of the nondisabled. Further,
predict people’s typical emotional reactions. Environmental respondents in very poor countries, such as India and Nigeria,
factors often only exhibit minor influence upon long-term reported much lower SWB than people in highly
SWB. All told, people’s biologically based temperament is industrialized nations, such as northern Europe (Diener,
significant in determining their level of SWB and Diener, and Diener, 1995). Therefore, personality provides a
environment may be of less significance than previously long-term baseline effect on SWB, but, some life conditions
thought. also influence the baseline.
THEORIES EXPLAINING PERSONALITY’S EMOTION SOCIALIZATION MODELS
INFLUENCE ON SWB
This model attempts to explain the relation between
Identifying those personality traits which are related to personality and SWB by emphasizing that classical
SWB, their direction of causality, and the processes that conditioning, instrumental learning, and imitation, condition
underlie these relations is considered important in attaining a people from birth as to which emotions are acceptable to feel
complete scientific understanding of the concept of and express. These socialization processes lead to
happiness. This section explores established theoretical differences in affect among individuals.
models which explain the relationship between personality Mothers teach infants, through socialization, “how to
and SWB. modulate their feeling states and expressive behavior so as to
conform to cultural norms” (Malatesta et al., 1986). These
RETURN TO BASELINE MODEL researchers found that from age two and a half months to age
seven and a half months, infants revealed a linear increase in
The dynamic equilibrium model of Heady and Wearing pleasant affect and a decrease in unpleasant affect. There
(briefly discussed earlier) offers explanation for the were corresponding increases in maternal contingent
connection between personality and SWB. They believe that responding to infant pleasant affect expressions and
a person’s baseline level of happiness is determined by decreases in maternal contingent responding to infant
temperament; specifically, extroversion and neuroticism unpleasant affect expressions. Evidence for infant learning
determine one’s baseline level of happiness through the effects were found when the data was examined to establish
strength of his or her reward and punishment systems. direction of causality. Thus, long-term differences in the
Though life circumstances temporarily move people away amount of affect people express may be due to emotion
from their baseline, their reward and punishment systems will socialization processes.
ultimately return them to their baseline level. For example,
winning the lottery will move a person above his or her PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT
normal state for a period of time, but slowly the person will
adapt and move back to baseline as determined by The central idea behind this model’s attempt to explain the
temperament and the lottery money will not affect the connection between personality and SWB is that a person
person’s happiness. Likewise, a bad event such as the loss of will experience subjective well-being to the degree that he or
a loved one will move the person below baseline, but after she finds the environment rewarding and that environments
time needed to adapt and not suffer from the event, return to are most rewarding when the individual’s personality “fits”
prior baseline will occur. Due to biologically determined the situation. Thus, individuals in life circumstances that fit
“set-points” of reactivity to stimuli, one’s reward and their personalities should experience higher SWB than those
punishment system adapts to positive or negative stimuli, in life situations not fitting their personality.
causing a return to one’s baseline. Supportive to this model, Brandstatter (1994) found that
Heady and Waring (1989) determined that baseline levels extroverts are happier in high-stimulation situations whereas
of well-being were predicted by extroversion and this was not true for introverts. Diener, Sandvik, Pavot, and
neuroticism, even across a number of years, and that people Fujita (1992) determined that extroverts less often live alone
did return to previous levels of positive and negative affect and more frequently work in social occupations.
after good and bad events. Suh, Diener, and Fujita (1996) Nonetheless, the person-environment model has received
replicated this finding showing that people adapt to most life only mixed empirical support (Diener, Larsen, & Emmons,
events in a surprisingly short time period. Silver (1980) 1984; Furnham, Toop, Lewis, & Fisher, 1995). Although
people sometimes respond positively to an environment
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