One hundred and seven respondents completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Aspiration Index, as well as measures of happiness, self-actualization, and self-esteem. Scores on the personality and aspiration scales were entered together in a regression equation to predict scores on happiness, self-actualization, and self-esteem. In accord with previous research it was found that greater extraversion and lower rated importance of financial success were associated with higher scores on happiness, self-actualization, and self-esteem. We also found that likelihood of financial success was associated with higher scores on self-esteem, likelihood of self-acceptance was associated with higher scores on self-actualization, and likelihood of community feeling was associated with higher scores on happiness.
Over the past decade, psychologists have become increasingly interested in what makes people happy. One avenue of research that has attracted much attention is the relationship between personality and happiness. Much research has now accumulated showing that extraversion is positively associated with well-being (Argyle and Lu, 1990, Brebner et al., 1995, Furnham and Brewin, 1990 and Headey and Wearing, 1989; Hotard, McFatter, McWhirter & Stegall, 1989; Lu, 1995, Lu and Argyle, 1991, Lu and Shih, 1997 and Lu et al., 1997) and that neuroticism is negatively associated with well-being (Argyle and Lu, 1990, Brebner et al., 1995, Furnham and Brewin, 1990, Headey and Wearing, 1989 and Hotard et al., 1989) (for reviews see Argyle, 1987, Eysenck, 1990 and Myers and Diener, 1995). However, because personality is conceptualised as an unchanging aspect of the person, knowing that personality is related to well being offers only very limited implications for psychotherapeutic practice. But, personality typically accounts for no more than 30% of the variance on well-being measures, and so there does remain much interest in discovering what other potentially modifiable factors are related to well being.
Another more recent approach to the study of well being which does provide a basis for psychotherapeutic practice is the focus on personal strivings (Emmons, 1986 and Emmons, 1991), personal goals (Brunstein, 1993) and aspirations in life (Kasser and Ryan, 1993 and Kasser and Ryan, 1996). This more recent line of work draws on the humanistic theories of Rogers, 1963 and Maslow, 1954, and Fromm (1976) in suggesting that the choices we make in life about what is important and what we want determine our level of well-being. Kasser and Ryan (1993) investigated the association between self-relevant values and expectations and psychological well-being, finding that when goals regarding extrinsic rewards or the contingent approval of others are more central to an individual than goals concerning intrinsic rewards, lower well-being occurs. Specifically, what Kasser and Ryan (1993) found was that well-being was negatively associated with a predominance of extrinsic life goals, i.e., aspirations towards financial success, and positively associated with a predominance of intrinsic life goals, i.e., aspirations towards affiliation, community, and self-acceptance. Kasser and Ryan (1996) present similar data. These data remain to be replicated in Britain. These studies, as well as others (King & Napa, 1998), provide support for the humanistic theories which emphasise intrinsic rather than extrinsic values as central to well being.
The objective of the present study is to investigate the association between personality, self-relevant intrinsic and extrinsic values and expectations, and psychological well-being. Are domains of aspiration able to explain variance in well being over and above dimensions of personality? If so, the emphasis on life goals and values is of potential importance in understanding how subjective well-being can be enhanced.
