TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of life satisfaction, personality and family transitions in young adulthood
AU - Soons, J.P.M.
AU - Liefbroer, A.C.
N1 - Reporting year: 2009
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Little is known about individual patterns of life satisfaction (LS) over the life course. Therefore, we examine individual long-term patterns by making a distinction between the shape of the LS pattern and its mean level. Further, in order to contribute to the discussion about the impact of personality and life events on LS, we examine the effects of both factors on the mean level and the pattern. A Dutch Panel Study is used in which young adults were followed for 18 years (N = 766). Six satisfaction patterns are defined: stable, increasing, decreasing, U-shaped, reversed U-shaped and fluctuating. A stable pattern is found to be most common, but the majority of the young adults have a changing LS pattern. The multivariate analyses show that neuroticism exerts negative and extraversion positive effect on the long-term LS mean. Life events in the relationship domain are related to the mean level and the pattern of LS. In addition, there are several interaction effects of events and personality.
Keywords: life satisfaction; relationships; life course; transitions; personality; set-point; family
AB - Little is known about individual patterns of life satisfaction (LS) over the life course. Therefore, we examine individual long-term patterns by making a distinction between the shape of the LS pattern and its mean level. Further, in order to contribute to the discussion about the impact of personality and life events on LS, we examine the effects of both factors on the mean level and the pattern. A Dutch Panel Study is used in which young adults were followed for 18 years (N = 766). Six satisfaction patterns are defined: stable, increasing, decreasing, U-shaped, reversed U-shaped and fluctuating. A stable pattern is found to be most common, but the majority of the young adults have a changing LS pattern. The multivariate analyses show that neuroticism exerts negative and extraversion positive effect on the long-term LS mean. Life events in the relationship domain are related to the mean level and the pattern of LS. In addition, there are several interaction effects of events and personality.
Keywords: life satisfaction; relationships; life course; transitions; personality; set-point; family
U2 - 10.1016/j.alcr.2009.09.001
DO - 10.1016/j.alcr.2009.09.001
M3 - Article
SN - 1040-2608
VL - 14
SP - 87
EP - 100
JO - Advances in Life Course Research
JF - Advances in Life Course Research
IS - 3
ER -