Abstract
Life satisfaction is an important component of psychological health and wellbeing. Although personality is consistently linked to life satisfaction, its ‘innate’ and stable nature can make it a difficult target for intervention by practitioners. More malleable and context-specific factors such as multidimensional self-concept may prove to be better targets for such intervention. However, the extent to which multidimensional self-concept predicts life satisfaction over and above personality is unclear. The present study, then, examines the extent to which these two factors predict life satisfaction with a view to ascertaining their relative salience for subsequent research and practice. Among a sample of 523 (predominantly young) adult students from two universities/colleges in Sydney, structural equation modelling using LISREL examined a process model of personality, multidimensional self-concept, and life satisfaction. Results suggest a strong direct role for the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness but also an important mediating role for parent, same-sex peer, physical ability, and appearance self-concepts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-29 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- personality
- quality of life
- self, perception
- university students