The influence of personality and life events on subjective well-being from a life span perspective

We investigate the relation between personality (Big Five) and positive and negative life events as predictors of subjective well-being (SWB) in a sample of 766 young, middle-aged, and old adults. Analyses comprised data on personality, SWB, and reconstructed positive and negative life events. Results for the total sample indicate a strong relation between neuroticism and SWB, and an important influence of reconstructed life events on SWB with a stronger effect for negative as compared to positive events. Age differences in the prediction of SWB emerge for personality and life events: extraversion is only a predictor of SWB in young adults and the effect of neuroticism is more pronounced in old adults. Moreover, the influence of negative life events on SWB is stronger in young and middle-aged adults as compared to old adults. These results emphasize the need to study dispositional and situational variables across the life span in order to better understand the underlying mechanisms of SWB.