Thinking About One's Subjective Well-Being: Average Trends and Individual Differences.

ABSTRACT: In two studies, participants reported what they had been thinking about while completing measures of subjective well-being (SWB). These thought reports were analyzed with respect to life domain, valence, and how strongly they were related to actual levels of SWB. Most people focused on their life circumstances (e.g., career) rather than on dispositional predictors (e.g., personality) of SWB. The domains mentioned most frequently (career, family, romantic life) were also the ones that were most strongly related to actual SWB, indicating that most of people think about things that actually contribute to their SWB. Some domains are predominantly mentioned in positive contexts (e.g., family) whereas others are predominantly mentioned in negative contexts (e.g., money). On average, people thoug

SUBMITTER: Luhmann M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4201388 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature