Life satisfaction (LS) is the way in which people show their
emotions, feelings (moods) and how they feel about their directions and
options for the future. It is a measure of well-being assessed in terms of mood, satisfaction with relationships, achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with one's daily life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude
towards one's life rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life
satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree
of education, experiences, residence, among many other topics.
Life satisfaction is a key part of subjective wellbeing.
Life satisfaction is a key part of subjective wellbeing.
Factors affecting life satisfaction
Personality
One of the primary concepts of personality
is the Big Five factor model. This model illustrates what some
researchers believe to be the building blocks of every individual's
personality. This model considers the dimensions of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
In a study carried out by Deneve and Cooper in 1998, multiple studies
were analyzed with certain personality questionnaires that linked
subjective well-being and personality measures. They found that
neuroticism was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction.
Neuroticism is also linked to people who have difficulty making up
their mind, and is common in people who suffer from mental illness. The
personality factor "openness to experience" is positively correlated
with life satisfaction. Apart from the personality dimensions studied in
the Big Five model, the trait chronotype
has been related to life satisfaction; morning-oriented people
("larks") showed higher life satisfaction than evening-oriented
individuals ("owls").
More frequent socialization can also contribute to overall
well-being. Social support via others has been shown to affect the
well-being of adults and the overall health of those individuals.
Therefore, people who tend to communicate, and who are considered to be
more open to others would have a higher-level of life satisfaction.
Heritability has been shown to have an effect on how one is
ranked in terms of life satisfaction. Heritability plays a role in both
personality and individual experiences. Research suggests that
heritability can influence life satisfaction to some degree.
This study found that there were no individual differences between
males and females in terms of the heritability of life-satisfaction,
however the personality elements that were affected by heritability did
seem to have an effect on their overall life-satisfaction.
It has been further suggested that being able to independently
deal with negative emotions can influence long-term life-satisfaction.
Having a personality capable of properly dealing with emotions like
anger, angst, or hate can be beneficial when dealing with similar things
later in life. People who are more easy-going tend to deal with their
negative emotions differently than someone who is up-tight. These
individual differences can influence the way people deal with problems
in the present and how they deal with similar situations in the future.
Self-esteem
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) is a single scale that is used by UNESCO, the CIA, the New Economics Foundation, the WHO, the Veenhoven Database, the Latinbarometer, the Afrobarometer, and the UNHDR to measure how one views his or her self-esteem, well-being and overall happiness with life.
Previous modeling showed that positive views and life satisfaction were
completely mediated by the concept of self-esteem, together with the
different ways in which ideas and events are perceived by people.
Several studies found that self-esteem plays a definite role in
influencing life satisfaction. When a person knows himself and his
worth, he is driven to think in a positive way. There is also a homeostatic model that supports these findings.
Outlook on life
A person's mood and outlook on life can also influence his or her perception of his or her own life satisfaction. There are two kinds of emotions that may influence how people perceive their lives. Hope and optimism
both consist of cognitive processes that are usually oriented towards
the reaching of goals and the perception of those goals. Additionally,
optimism is linked to higher life satisfaction, whereas pessimism is
related to symptoms in depression.
According to Seligman, the happier people are, the less they
focus on the negative aspects of their lives. Happier people also have a
greater tendency to like other people, which promotes a happier
environment. This correlates to a higher level of the person's
satisfaction with his or her life, due to the notion that
constructiveness with others can positively influence life satisfaction. However, others have found that life satisfaction is compatible with profoundly negative emotional states like depression.
Life-review therapy using Autobiographical Retrieval Practice
for older adults with depressive symptoms, in a study carried out by
Serrano JP, Latorre JM, Gatz M, and Montanes J, Department of Psychology
at Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, demonstrated that, with increased
specificity of memories, individuals show decreased depression and
hopelessness and increased life satisfaction. The test was designed to
measure participants' ability to recall a specific memory in response to
a cue word while being timed.
Thirty cue words; including five words classified as 'positive' (e.g., funny, lucky, passionate, happy, hopeful), five as 'negative' (unsuccessful, unhappy, sad, abandoned, gloomy), and five as 'neutral' (work, city, home, shoes, family);
were presented orally in a fixed, alternating order to each member of a
focus group. To ensure that the participants understood the
instructions, examples were provided of both 'general' memories (e.g.,
summers in the city) and 'specific' memories (e.g., the day I got
married). For each cue word, participants were asked to share a memory
evoked by that word. The memory had to be of an event that should have
occurred only once, at a particular time and place and lasted no longer
than a day.
If the person could not recall a memory within 30 seconds, then that cue
instance was not counted. Two psychologists served as raters and
independently scored the responses of each participant. Each memory was
tagged either as 'specific' – if the recalled event lasted no more than
one day – or, otherwise, as 'general'. The raters were not informed
regarding the hypotheses of the study, the experimental (control)
group's membership, nor the content of the pretest or post-test.
Age
The psychologists Yuval Palgi and Dov Shmotkin
(2009) studied people who were primarily in their nineties. This
subject group was found to have thought highly of their past and
present. But generally, the group thought lower of their future. These
people were very satisfied with their life up until the point they were
surveyed but knew that the end was near and so were not quite as hopeful
for the future. Intelligence is also a factor because life
satisfaction grows as people become older; as they grow older, they
become wiser and more knowledgeable, so they begin to see that life will
be better and understand the important things in life more.
It has been recorded that adolescents seem to have a lower level
of life satisfaction than their older counterparts. This could be
because many decisions are imminent, and an adolescent could be facing
them for the first time in his or her life. Although many adolescents
have insecurities about many aspects of their lives, satisfaction with
friends stayed at a consistent level. This is hypothesized to be due to
the amount one can identify with those in one's age group over other age
groups. In this same study, researchers found that satisfaction with
family decreased. This could be because more rules and regulations are
typically implemented by parental figures, and adolescents tend to
demonize those in control of them. Also, it was found that life
satisfaction in terms of sexuality increased. This is because at this
age many adolescents reach sexual maturation, which can encourage them
to find verification and satisfaction in the idea of a sexual
partnership.
Life events and experiences
It
has been suggested that there are several factors that contribute
towards our level of life satisfaction. Experiences that are both acute
events (e.g., death of
a loved one) and chronic, daily experiences (e.g., ongoing family
discord) influence self-reports of life satisfaction. The book “Happier”
by Harvard lecturer Tal Ben-Shahar argues that happiness should be
one's ultimate goal, the primary factor in evaluating alternative
choices. As the subtitle implies, Happier recommends for us to pursue
immediate joyful experience in ways that contributes to more long-term,
meaningful satisfaction. Furthermore, Ben-Shahar argues that pursuing
genuine self-motivated goals, rather than just instant pleasure or
selflessness in service of long-delayed enjoyment, results in an optimal
combination of short- and long-term happiness.
Differences in experience can greatly shape the way that we
observe and engage with the world around us. It can influence the way we
speak to people, the way we act in public, and our general outlook.
These experiences which shape the way we think about our surroundings
affect our life-satisfaction. Someone who has the tendency to see the
world in a more negative light may have a completely different level of
satisfaction than someone who is constantly admiring the beauty of his
or her surroundings. People who engage with more stress on average tend
to have higher levels of stress can contribute to higher levels of
self-report life satisfaction, as long as those who understand how to
deal with their stress in a positive way.
Seasonal effects
A
recent study analyzes time-dependent rhythms in happiness comparing
life satisfaction by weekdays (weekend neurosis), days of the month
(negative effects towards the end of the month) and year with gender and
education and outlining the differences observed.
Primarily within the winter months of the year, an onset of depression
can affect us, which is called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It is
recurrent, beginning in the fall or winter months, and remitting in the
spring or summer.
It is said that those who experience this disorder usually have a
history of major depressive or bipolar disorder, which may be
hereditary, having a family member affected as well.
Seasonal affective disorder is hypothesized to be caused by the
diminishing of the exposure to environmental light which can lead to
changes in levels of the neurotransmitter chemical serotonin.
Diminishing active serotonin levels increases depressive symptoms. There
are currently a few treatment therapies in order to help with seasonal
affective disorder. The first line of therapy is light therapy. Light
therapy involves exposure to bright, white light that mimics outdoor
light, counteracting the presumed cause of SAD. Due to the shifts in
one's neurochemical levels, antidepressants are another form of therapy.
Other than light therapy and antidepressants, there are several
alternatives which involve agomelatine, melatonin, psychological
interventions, as well as diet and lifestyle changes.
Research has found that the onset of SAD typically occurs between
the ages of 20–30 years, but most affected people do not seek medical
help.
This could be due to the stigma of mental health issues. Many are
afraid to state they are suffering and would rather hide it. As a
society, we should push forward towards greater acceptance and gain
knowledge in order to solve these issues.
Values
It is
proposed that overall life satisfaction comes from within an individual
based on the individual's personal values and what he or she holds
important. For some it is family, for others it is love, and for others,
it is money or other material items; either way, it varies from one
person to another. Economic materialism
can be considered a value. Previous research found that materialistic
individuals were predominantly male, and that materialistic people also
reported a lower life satisfaction level than their non-materialistic
counterparts.
The same is true of people who value money over helping other people;
this is because the money they have can buy them the assets they deem
valuable.
Materialistic people are less satisfied with life because they
constantly want more and more belongings, and once those belongings are
obtained they lose value, which in turn causes these people to want more
belongings and the cycle continues. If these materialistic individuals
do not have enough money to satisfy their craving for more items, they
become more dissatisfied. This has been referred to as a hedonic treadmill.
Individuals reporting a high value on traditions and religion reported a
higher level of life satisfaction. This is also true for reported
routine churchgoers and people who pray frequently. Other individuals
that reported higher levels of life satisfaction were people who valued
creativity, and people who valued respect for and from others – two more
qualities seemingly not related to material goods.
Because hard times come around and often people count on their peers
and family to help them through, it is no surprise that a higher life
satisfaction level was reported of people who had social support,
whether it be friends, family, or church. The people who personally
valued material items were found to be less satisfied overall in life as
opposed to people who attached a higher amount of value with
interpersonal relationships.
accordance with the findings above, it is also fair to say that the
notion of how one values themselves plays a part in how someone
considers their own life. People who take pride in themselves by staying
mentally and physically fit have higher levels of life satisfaction
purely due to the content of their day. These values come together in
determining how somebody sees themselves in light of others.
Culture
Defining culture by reference to deeply engrained societal values and beliefs. Culture affects the subjective well-being.
Well-being includes both general life satisfaction, and the relative
balance of positive affect verses negative affect in daily life. Culture
directs the attention to different sources of information for making
the life satisfaction judgments, thus affecting subjective well-being
appraisal.
Individualistic cultures direct attention to inner states and
feelings (such as positive or negative affects), while in collectivistic
cultures the attention is directed to outer sources (i.e. adhering to
social norms or fulfilling one's duties). Indeed, Suh et al. (1998)
found that the correlation between life satisfaction and the prevalence
of positive affect is higher in individualistic cultures, whereas in
collectivistic cultures affect and adhering to norms are equally
important for life satisfaction. Most of modern western societies, such
as the United States and European countries are directed towards
individualism, while the eastern societies like China and Japan, are
directed towards collectivism. Those of a collectivistic culture
emphasize deeply on the unity one has with their families. They put
others' needs before their individual desires. An individualistic
culture is geared towards one's own personal achievements and it signals
a strong sense of competition. They are expected to carry their own
weight and rely on themselves. The United States is said to be one of
the most individualistic countries, and on the other hand Korea and
Japan are some of the most collectivistic countries.
However both groups have their flaws. With an individualistic approach,
one is inclined in possibly experiencing loneliness. Meanwhile, those
in a collectivist culture, may be prone to having a dismay of rejection.
Family
Life
satisfaction can also be looked at in a new one as influenced by a
family. Family life satisfaction is a pertinent topic as everyone's
family influences them in some way and most strive to have high levels
of satisfaction in life as well as within their own family. As discussed
by Gary L. Bowen in his article, "Family Life Satisfaction: A Value
Based Approach" he examines how family life satisfaction is enhanced by
the ability of family members to jointly realize their family-related
values in behavior (459). It is important to examine family life
satisfaction from all members of the family from a "perceived"
perspective and an "ideal" perspective. Greater life satisfaction within
a family increases through communication and understanding each
member's attitudes and perceptions. A family can make all the difference
for someone's life satisfaction.
In the article "Family System Characteristics, Parental
Behaviors, and Adolescent Life Satisfaction" by Carolyn S. Henry,
adolescent life satisfaction has much different origins than the life
satisfaction of adults. An adolescent's life satisfaction is heavily
influenced by his or her family's dynamic and characteristics. Family
bonding, family flexibility, parental support are all huge factors into
the adolescent's life satisfaction. The more bonding, flexibility, and
support there is within a family the higher the adolescent's life
satisfaction. Results of this study also revealed that adolescents
living in a single-parent family home had significantly lower life
satisfaction that adolescents in a two-parent home. An adolescent's age
is extremely important in terms of life satisfaction coming from their
family (Henry).
Family also relates to life satisfaction in a very different way:
a woman's decision to have children or not. In the "Relationship
between Information Search in the Childbearing Decision and Life
Satisfaction for Parents and Nonparents" article by Carole K. Holahan,
reveals that childless women have much higher life satisfaction than
women with children. Women who consciously decided not to have children
overall had very high life satisfaction. It was found that most of the
life satisfaction came from careers instead of children. On the other
hand, women who did have children had high life satisfaction which
depended on the reasons and decision making for having children. These
are just generalizations and life satisfaction comes from many different
sources which are unique and different for every person. Life
satisfaction can shift all the time from events, situations, family and
friend implications and many different things that all must be taken
into consideration.
On the other hand, life satisfaction is also affected by
parenthood and couples introducing children into their relationship.
Research has shown that adults with children are less happy (McLanahan
& Adams 1987) due to less life satisfaction, less marital
satisfaction, more anxiety and more depression.
Career
A
satisfying career is an important component of life satisfaction. Doing
something meaningful in a productive capacity contributes to one's
feeling of life satisfaction. This notion of accomplishment is related
to a person's drive. Need for accomplishment is an essential part of
becoming a fully functional person, and if someone feels accomplished
they would be more able to see bright sides in their life; thus
improving their life satisfaction.
Internationally, the salary one earns is important – income
levels show a moderate correlation with individual evaluations of life
satisfaction. However, in developed nations, the connection is weak and
disappears for the most part when individuals earn enough money to meet
basic needs (Kahneman & Deaton 2010; Diener et al., 2010; Myers and
Diener, 1995).
Social yardsticks
Daniel Kahneman has said that “Life satisfaction is connected to a large degree to social yardsticks–achieving goals, meeting expectations.”
Relationship with subjective well-being
Life satisfaction is one component of subjective well-being, along with affective balance.
