Abstract
Research has shown that personality has a strong effect on happiness, subjective wellbeing, and positive mental health. More specifically, research has shown that subjective wellbeing is positively related with traits such as extraversion, self-esteem, positive affective disposition, mindfulness, optimism, locus of control, expectancy of perceived control, pollyannaism, and resilience. Subjective wellbeing is also negatively related with many forms of psychopathology—neuroticism, anxiety, and depression. The positive traits predispose people to seek positive situations and respond to them is ways that enhance their subjective wellbeing, while the negative traits have the opposite effect. Also, people who are mindful of their surrounding tend to report higher levels of subjective wellbeing, especially using measures that focus on the here and now. From positive psychology we learn that people who have certain character strengths (signature strength: hope, zest, gratitude, love, and curiosity) are likely to experience higher levels of wellbeing compared to those who lack these strengths. The effect of personality on wellbeing and positive mental health can be explained by instrumental theory, temperament theory, top-down theory, set-point theory, the genotype theory of happiness, dynamic equilibrium theory, and homeostatically-protected mood theory.
Keywords
- Personality
- Happiness
- Subjective wellbeing
- Positive mental health
- Extraversion
- Self-esteem
- Positive affective disposition
- Mindfulness
- Optimism
- Locus of control
- Expectancy
- Pollyannaism
- Resilience
- Neuroticism
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Instrumental theory
- Temperament theory
- Top-down theory
- Set-point theory
- Genotype theory
- Dynamic equilibrium
- Homeostatically-protected mood
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
— Winston Churchill ( https://in.pinterest.com/pin/512988213783944676/)
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- 1.
For an illuminating discussion of brain structures and neurochemicals associated with individual differences and social relations in relation to wellbeing, see Dolcos, Moore, and Katsumi (2018).
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Sirgy, M.J. (2021). Effects of Personality on Wellbeing. In: The Psychology of Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 83. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71888-6_9
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