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Does it really feel the same? Changes in life satisfaction following repeated life events
1Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. maike.luhmann@fu-berlin.de
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|July 29, 2009
Summary
Repeated unemployment lowers life satisfaction, while adaptation occurs with repeated divorces. Life satisfaction remains stable with repeated marriages, showing event-specific effects on well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Economics
Background:
- Common life events like unemployment, divorce, and marriage significantly impact individuals.
- Understanding the long-term effects of recurring life events on life satisfaction is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how repeated occurrences of unemployment, divorce, and marriage influence life satisfaction.
- To explore individual differences in responses to repeated life events.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study utilizing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel.
- Multilevel modeling was employed for data analysis.
Main Results:
- Repeated unemployment generally leads to a decrease in life satisfaction (sensitization).
- Individuals show adaptation to repeated divorces, with higher satisfaction at the second divorce compared to the first.
- Repeated marriages show no significant change in life satisfaction.
- Personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion) and gender moderate the effects of repeated unemployment.
Conclusions:
- The impact of repeated life events on life satisfaction is event-dependent.
- Individual characteristics and the nature of the event play a significant role in shaping long-term well-being.
- Even before the first event, individuals experiencing repeated events tend to report lower life satisfaction.
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