Character as a predictor of life satisfaction in Czech adolescent sample: 3-Year follow-up study

The study examined personality predictors (based on Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament and character – TCI) of life satisfaction in a sample of 15-year-old Czech adolescents (N = 173) and subsequently 3 years after. The focus of the study was to determine the personality dimensions that predict life satisfaction and how those change over 3 years of adolescence. Of all dimensions, significant differences between the two age groups were found only in the character dimensions Self-Directedness and Self-Transcendence. Using stepwise regression analysis, the character scale Self-Directedness alone accounted for 15% of the variance in life satisfaction among 15-year-old adolescents, whereas in the 18-year-old group, 30% of the variance in life satisfaction was explained by the character dimension Self-Directedness and the temperament dimensions Harm Avoidance and Reward Dependence. In both age groups, only Self-Directedness seems to make a unique contribution towards explaining life satisfaction. The results demonstrate that character changes might also account for a great amount of variance in life satisfaction.

► Personality as a predictor of life satisfaction among Czech adolescents. ► In adolescence, temperament stays stable while character matures. ► Character predicts life satisfaction better than temperament. ► With increasing age, character predicts life satisfaction to a greater extent. ► Adolescents characterized as self-directed experience greater life satisfaction.