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Personality and well-being: reexamining methods and meanings
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|September 19, 1997
Summary
This study clarifies personality
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Well-being Research
Background:
- Previous links between personality and well-being may be inflated due to shared measures.
- Need for distinct measures to understand the true relationship between personality traits and psychological well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the unique correlates of psychological well-being (PWB) dimensions with personality traits.
- To control for shared variance from affective underpinnings and item content in personality-well-being research.
Main Methods:
- Two independent samples of midlife adults (N=215, N=139) completed distinct measures of personality and PWB.
- Analyses employed rigorous controls for source overlap, affective commonalities, and item content overlap.
- The NEO Five Factor Inventory and Ryff's Psychological Well-Being inventory were utilized.
Main Results:
- Specific personality traits were uniquely associated with different PWB facets.
- Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness correlated with self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and purpose in life.
- Openness to Experience and Extraversion linked to personal growth; Agreeableness and Extraversion to positive relations; Neuroticism to autonomy.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between personality and psychological well-being is more nuanced than previously assumed.
- Distinct personality correlates exist for each dimension of psychological well-being.
- Future research should utilize conceptually and methodologically distinct measures.
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