This paper examines whether changes in personality traits influenced life satisfaction (LS). This involved investigating whether these associations were moderated by age and mediated by hedonic balance (i.e., positive and negative affect). Participants included 11,104 Australian adults aged 18–79 years, with data available from two time points (baseline and 4-year follow up). Latent difference score modeling indicated that increased neuroticism was associated with lower LS, whereas increased extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were associated with higher LS. These relationships were moderated by age, and were less evident in older adults. Hedonic balance partially mediated the relationships between change in neuroticism and extraversion with LS. These findings provide important insights into longitudinal associations between personality change and LS.
Subjective well-being (SWB) refers to how individuals evaluate their lives, and encompasses life satisfaction (LS), happiness, job satisfaction, and emotional reactions to events (Diener et al., 2003 and Realo and Dobewall, 2011). It has implications for numerous outcomes including marriage quality, job performance, social functioning, health, and quality of life (Realo & Dobewall, 2011). LS is an important cognitive component of SWB that incorporates an individual’s subjective judgment and/or evaluation of their life drawing on any information they deem relevant (Diener et al., 2003). It predicts happiness and quality of life (Diener et al., 2003), and has been widely examined in a range of different disciplines.
Several studies have reported relationships between personality traits and LS (Boyce et al., 2013, Mroczek and Spiro, 2005 and Specht et al., 2013). For instance, extraversion (E), conscientiousness (C), and agreeableness (A) are positively associated with LS, with neuroticism (N) inversely associated with LS (Mroczek & Spiro, 2005); openness to experience (O) is not a consistent correlate of LS (Heller, Watson, & Illies, 2004). Factors such as hedonic balance (i.e., positive and negative affect) have been proposed to underlie the association between personality traits and LS (Schimmack, Radhakrishnan, Oishi, Dzokoto, & Ahadi, 2002).
The objective of this paper is to investigate whether changes in personality traits over time are associated with LS. We extend on existing literature by examining whether these longitudinal relationships are moderated by age and mediated by hedonic balance. In aggregate, this paper aims to provide an improved understanding of the longitudinal relationship between personality change and LS.
