Who are you and what do you want? Life aspirations, personality, and well-being

In two studies with undergraduate samples, we investigated the relations between life aspirations and personality and evaluated whether aspirations added to the prediction of psychological well-being and sexuality. Within the HEXACO framework, aspirations were highly related to Honesty–Humility. Within the Big Five framework, intrinsic aspirations were related to high Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, and extrinsic aspirations were most related to low Openness and Agreeableness. Aspirations did not add to the HEXACO’s prediction of well-being in study one, but in study two, aspirations added to the prediction of sexuality variables beyond the two personality frameworks. These results suggest that aspirations may account for beyond personality in explaining specific types of well-being.

► For the 1st time, the Aspirations Index (AI) has been mapped onto HEXACO personality.
► The AI did not add to HEXACO prediction of self-esteem and body shame.
► The AI added to the Big Five/HEXACO prediction of sexuality variables.