New Research Suggests That Certain Personality Traits Are Linked To Life Satisfaction Over Time
New research published by the American Psychological Association (APA) has found that specific personality traits are linked with life satisfaction.
And regardless of the responsibility, social role, or age changes that individuals experience over the course of their lives, the association with satisfaction in life remains stable.
“Many studies have shown that people with certain personality profiles are more satisfied with their life than others. Yet, it had not been extensively studied whether this holds true across the lifespan,” said Gabriel Olaru, the study’s co-author.
“For example, extraverted– that is sociable, talkative– people might be particularly happy in young adulthood when they are typically forming new social relationships.”
So, the research team set out to determine whether certain personality traits are more relevant or less relevant to social, work, and life satisfaction in different phases of life.
To study this, data collected between 2008 and 2019 by a nationally-representative survey of Netherlands households– known as the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS)– was analyzed.
A total of 9,110 Dutch participants between the ages of 16 and 95 years old answered various questionnaires to determine their Big Five personality traits– which include extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability/neuroticism. Additionally, the participants’ social connection satisfaction and life satisfaction overall were assessed.
At the time of the survey, only 5,928 participants were employed. So, this subgroup also answered questions related to work-life satisfaction.
The researchers found that the majority of associations between personality traits and life satisfaction remained the same throughout life.
Drobot Dean – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Moreover, one particular trait– emotional stability– was most strongly linked to an individual’s satisfaction in their social connections, career, and overall life.
“Over findings show that, despite differences in life challenges and social roles, personality traits are relevant for our satisfaction with life, work, and social contacts across young, middle, and older adulthood,” explained Manon van Scheppingen, the study’s co-author.
“The personality traits remained equally relevant across the adult lifespan, or became even more interconnected in some cases for work satisfaction.”
Conscientiousness as a personality trait was also found to be closely related to work satisfaction; meanwhile, agreeableness and extraversion were linked to social satisfaction.
And individuals who witnessed increases in these traits over time also saw increases in social, work, and life satisfaction.
It was found that work satisfaction over time was most impacted by age differences. So, as study participants grew older, the relationship between emotional stability and career satisfaction moderately increased as well.
And despite a weaker link between overall life satisfaction and openness, the research team did find that people who saw an increase in openness also witnessed a rise in life satisfaction over the 11 years of the study.
According to the team, the relationship may also be explained by indirect environmental impacts.
“A good example of how personality interacts with the environment can be found in the work context. One of our findings was that the link between emotional stability and work satisfaction increases across age,” van Scheppingen detailed.
“This might be explained by the fact that emotionally stable people are less scared to quit unsatisfactory jobs and more likely to apply for jobs that are more challenging and perhaps more fulfilling and enjoyable in the long run.”
Moving forward, the team believes that further research should be conducted to determine how other variables that change with age– including employment status, income, health, and marital status– impact the link between personality traits and life satisfaction overall.
In the meantime, this study shows that personalities and happiness are able to change. And if we can learn how to influence these changes, then we may be able to become more outgoing, friendly, organized, and even increase our social, work, and life satisfaction.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, visit the link here.
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