Exploring the Connection Between Personality and Happiness
A recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology provides new insights into how personality traits predict life satisfaction. The research, led by René Mõttus, a professor of personality psychology at the University of Edinburgh and University of Tartu, addresses previous methodological limitations and offers a comprehensive analysis of this important psychological outcome.
Life Satisfaction: Beyond Situational Factors
Life satisfaction has traditionally been studied through the lens of religion and philosophy. However, recent inquiries have shifted towards understanding its links to stable psychological traits, particularly the Big 5 personality traits. While situational factors and life circumstances play a role, underlying stable factors like personality may significantly shape one’s satisfaction with life.
Methodological Innovations
Extensive research has explored the relationship between personality and life satisfaction, often relying on self-report assessments. These methods may inflate associations due to biases. Mõttus and his team addressed this by employing a multitrait, multirated design across multiple samples, combining self-reports with ratings from close others to provide robust estimates of true correlations.
Diverse and Comprehensive Data
The study collected data from three distinct samples: 20,886 Estonian-speaking participants, 768 Russian-speaking participants in Estonia, and 600 English-speaking participants from various European countries. Participants completed the 100 Nuances of Personality survey, a 198-item tool designed to assess personality traits and life satisfaction across specific domains like job, financial situation, and residence.
Key Findings: Personality and Life Satisfaction
The results revealed significant correlations between personality traits and life satisfaction. Traits like emotional stability, extraversion, and conscientiousness were found to be particularly strong predictors of life satisfaction. Conversely, traits such as openness and agreeableness showed minimal impact. Specific personality nuances, such as feelings of being misunderstood, lack of excitement, indecisiveness, and envy, were associated with lower life satisfaction, while confidence and the belief that effort is rewarded were linked to higher satisfaction.
Longitudinal Insights
Longitudinal data from 514 Estonian participants who completed assessments 10 years prior showed that both life satisfaction and its correlations with personality traits remained stable over time. This suggests that the influence of personality traits on life satisfaction is consistent and persistent.
Implications for Understanding Life Satisfaction
The study’s use of informant data alongside self-reports helped control for biases, revealing that informant-reports generally supported the self-report findings. This robust methodological approach showed that life satisfaction is largely a reflection of one’s personality traits, emphasizing the importance of stable psychological characteristics in shaping overall happiness.
Future Directions
Mõttus highlighted the need to further isolate specific personality traits within broader categories like neuroticism and extraversion that are particularly relevant for well-being. This could lead to the development of tools to help individuals work with these traits to improve their life satisfaction.
Study Citation
The study, titled “Most people’s life satisfaction matches their personality traits: True correlations in multitrait, multirater, multisample data,” was authored by René Mõttus, Anu Realo, Jüri Allik, Liisi Ausmees, Samuel Henry, Robert R. McCrae, and Uku Vainik.