Longitudinal Relationships Between Personality Traits and Social Well-Being: A Two-Decade Study

This study examined the temporal relationships between social well-being and the Big Five personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience), using a sample of 6452 American adults collected at 3 time points over 2 decades. The random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used, which allows associations between variables to be examined at the between-person and within-person levels. At the between-person level, neuroticism was negatively associated and the other traits were positively associated with social well-being. At the within-person level, increases or decreases in trait levels did not predict subsequent increases or decreases in social well-being. However, increased (i.e., higher-than-usual) social well-being was associated with increased future levels of extraversion and conscientiousness. Thus, sustained improvements in social well-being may precede and predict increases in extraversion and conscientiousness.

Source: Journal of Happiness Studies - April 30, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research