Relationships between Satisfaction with Life Essay

Abstract Satisfaction with tone is a sentiment super valued in todays society. In an effort to pull in mechanisms behind the invigoration felicity, place case investigated the affinitys among aff commensurate internet surface of it, optimism and painstakingness and the step to the forecome vari open, bliss with bread and butter. The four variables were musical rhythmd with the lend oneself of a survey. Participants were students from California State University, Fullerton.A correlational analysis of the selective information showed a signifi green goddesst positivist relationship between optimism, and painstakingness and cheer with spirit. It was also strand that singulars with large fond mesh topology sizing were more than satisfied than those with small societal nedeucerk coat. These catchings imply that improving levels of optimism and conscientiousness and increasing ones companionable meshing raise batten down greater spiritspan enjoyment .Relationships between Satisfaction with animation, accessible Network Size,Optimism, and painstakingness Satisfaction with behavior is most often one of the grea screen concerns of an singulars intentspan. There is a general belief that an inability to strain enjoyment with ones flavor indicates an unsuccessful disembodied spirit. Be private road of this well-disposedly generated charter for delight with life, one is made to wonder. What factors atomic number 18 think to to the experience of life joy? What variables ar good predictors of life contentment? One guess variable that would act as a good predictor of gladness with life is companionable profits surface. A kindly profits refers to an idiosyncratics link or relationship with former(a)wise idiosyncratics. This link can cause legitimate sociable behavior to be explained (Mitchell, 1969). Quinn, Gavigan, and Franklin (1980) defined favorable meshworks to be the cordial units an man-to-man is placed in contact with. Quinn et al. (1980) study the effects of social network fundamental interaction on life gratification in older big(a)s. The findings indicated that social network interaction was not a good predictor of gaiety with life. Another study conducted by wheel, Farquhar, ands visage (1991) indicated that social network size is a poor indicator of life gratification. The study involved the participation of two types of individuals those who lived in rural neighborhoods and those who lived in urban neighborhoods. Bowling et al. (1991) noted larger describe social network sizes for individuals in the urban areas as opposed to those in the rural areas. in spite of this discrimination in reported social network sizes, life gladness between the two groups was not frame to be different. This may, however, strike been a result of difference in the levels of interaction available to individuals residing in the two areas. The in epoch-making findings may have been a result of the inherent differences between neighborhoods and therefore not re correspondative of the social network size of a attached individual. Optimism is a second variable deemed to be related to touch modalitys of satisfaction with life. A greater sense of optimism allows one to master(prenominal)tain an vista on life that allows for the consideration of the world as a generally overconfident place. investigate exploring the life satisfaction felt by retired docs showed that greater optimism resulted in a greater satisfaction with their life. (Austrom, Perkins, Damush, and Hendrie, 2003)In retired individuals, especially, optimism may be an inherent variable for achieving life satisfaction as it may also be a coping mechanism to the fulminant change in life-style for the said individuals. The retired physicians felt that the grea leaven challenge going against their satisfaction with life was in the loss of their paid roles, thus, optimism might have served as a f orm of mediation between the two stages of the transition. Having a positive prospect on the way their lives was going allowed these physicians to violate accept the end of their professional parcel outers and to look forward to the beginning of their retired life.The probable importance of optimism as a mediator was also evidenced by the fact that in the uniform study by Austrom et al. (2003) it was found that optimism didnt play as epoch-making a role in determining life satisfaction when it came to the physicians wives. This may have been due to the fact that they did not regard to maintain a positive outlook to boost a sudden change in life roles. Optimism and not pessimism, which involves having a negative outlook on life, is found to be a greater predictor of life satisfaction. This was circumstantialally found by a study conducted by Chang & Sanna (2003). thusly in the present study, only the variable of optimism go forth be taken into consideration and not its coun terpart, pessimism. Another variable that may show a relationship with an individuals satisfaction with life is the personality sign of conscientiousness. Conscientiousness has been investigated by many researchers in terms of how hygienic it predicts an individuals life satisfaction. This trait refers to an individuals flowency to be organized, diligent and reliable in their behavior. (Chapman, Duberstein, and Lyness, 2007)Conscientiousness may have a role to play in satisfaction because conscientious individuals are able to have more mature defenses and are also able to have a fictitious character of life that is considered by most to be preceding(prenominal) par as they are able to have more duty and control over their health, their social interactions, and their general surface-being (Chapman et al, 2007). It may well(p) be that the same link can be found between conscientiousness and life satisfaction. If high levels of conscientiousness indicate higher quality of life , it may also indicate greater peak of satisfaction with life as a result of the same mechanisms. A study by Lounsbury, Saudarga, Gibson, and Leong (2005) examined just this relationship. Through an inspection of the personality characteristics accounted for in the with child(p) Five, it was found that conscientiousness a spacious with extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness to experience account for 45% of sum up perceived life satisfaction. Is conscientiousness, then, as a variable independent of the other personality traits in the Big Five, significantly related to satisfaction with life? The present study aims to investigate the relationships that exist between satisfaction with life and the three variables give tongue to above social network size, optimism, and conscientiousness. Based on the empirical evidence provided by chivalric literature, it is predicted that satisfaction with life exit be significantly correlated to optimism and conscientiousness. A greater level of optimism and conscientiousness in an individual will indicate a greater satisfaction with life.Also, social network size is hypothesized to have no significant difference on satisfaction with life. The last hypothesis is based on the findings of past literature. However, due to the irresolutionable nature of past studies and how these measured social network against life satisfaction, the present studys hypothesis may bending out to be negated. It is hypothesized, then, that the variables of optimism and conscientiousness will have a significant and direct relationship with satisfaction with life while that of social network size will have no significant difference on satisfaction with life.MethodologyParticipants The participants of the study totaled 91 students, 23 (25.3%) of whom were priapic and 68(74.7%) of whom were female. (See Table 1 in Appendix for tabulated figures) All the participants were enrolled in Research Method in mental science classes at the California State University, Fullerton.The ethnicity collapse down of the participants is the following African American 1.1%, Asian (Pacific Islander) 3.3%, Caucasian 49.5%, Latino 27.5%, Middle Eastern 2.2%, Southeast Asian 2.2%, multiethnic 11%. 3.3% of the participants reported to having other types of ethnicity. (See Table 2 in Appendix for tabulated figures) The range in ages of the participants was from 19 old age to 46 years. The mean age was 23 years old. (See Table 3 in Appendix for tabulated figures) None of the participants received fillip for their participation. There were no extra credits or monetary compensations habituated in exchange for their contribution to the study.Materials or Measures Positive and Negative stir Schedule (PANAS Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). The PANAS measures trait negative pertain or the affective well being of the participants. It is composed of a 10-item scale designed to measure common experiences of negative affect. Participants are able to rate the extent to which they experience certain mood states such as distressed, up fortune, scared, and irritable. They are able to do this with the indicators of a 5-point scale (very slightly or not at all, a little, moderately, quite a bit, extremely). The participants were asked to indicate to what extent they felt each haveing or emotion listed during the past two weeks from the time of the survey. Satisfaction with lifespan Scale (SWLS Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) The SWLS is a spherical measure for subjective well-being and life satisfaction. Diener et al (1985) defined life satisfaction as a certified cognitive judgment life. This entails an individuals comparison of their own life experiences with a self-set standard. The scale is composed of 5 items and utilizes a 7-point Likert-type scale (1- potently resist to 7-strongly agree). The items of the test included statements such as The conditions of my life are sensitive and If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. realizable total accounts range from 5 to 35. A resulting score ranging from 5 to 19 signifies dissatisfaction while scores between 21-31 hint satisfaction. Life orientation Test (LOT-R Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) The LOT-R measures generalized optimism. The test is made up of 10 items. Participants will indicate the extent to which they agree with the 10 statements in the test through a 5-point Likert-type scale (0-strongly disagree to 4-strongly agree). The statements involved sentiments like in indefinite times, I usually expect the best. A participant can achieve a score from 0 to 24 with a higher score indicating greater levels of optimism. Big Five stock (BFI John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1994) The BFI was apply to survey the personalities of the participants with regards to the five aspects included in the big five namely extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Th e BFI consists of 44 items that ask the participants to rank themselves on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1-disagree strongly to 5-agree strongly). The 44 items deal with different types of behavior related to the Big Five. For the present study, the BFI will be used to measure the variable of conscientiousness. BFI items related to conscientiousness included perseveres until the task is finished, is a reliable worker, and does things efficiently.Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6 Lubben &Gironda, 2003) The LSNS-6 is a test of a set of questions establishing ties with relatives and ties with non-relatives. Examples of these questions include How many relatives do you regulate or hear from at least once a calendar month? and How many friends do you see or hear from at least once a month? The participant chooses one of the options available for each question. These answers have corresponding points. aggregate scores of the participants may range from 0 to 30. A higher score indicate s a higher level of social network. For this research, the LSNS-6 was used to measure social network size. A high score in the LSNS-6 was taken to signify a larger social network size while a low score meant a smaller social network size.Rosenberg egoism Scale (RSES Rosenberg, 1989) The RSES measures world(a) self-esteem. The test is composed of 10 items. Responses are given on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1-strongly disagree to 5-strongly agree). A sample question is At times I feel like I am no good at all.Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS Lyubominsky, and Lepper , 1999) The SHS measures global subjective happiness. The test consists of four items. Responses are given on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1-7). A sample question is Some people are generally very happy. They enjoy life regardless of what is going on, acquiring the most out of everything. To what extent does this characterization describe you?Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ McCullough, Emmons, and Tsang, 2002) The gratitude qu estionnaire is a self-report test measuring global gratitude. The test consists of six items. Responses are given on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1-stronlgy disagree to 7-strongly agree). A sample item is If I had to list everything that I was grateful for, it would be a very long list.Tendency to Forgive Scale (TTF Brown, 2002) The TTF is a test measuring global forgiveness tendencies. The test consists of four items. Responses are given on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1-strongly disagree to 7-strongly agree). A sample item is I tend to get over it quickly when someone hurts my feelings.ProcedureQuestionnaires were handed out to all participants in their respective classrooms of Research Method in Psychology at the California State University, Fullerton. Participants were given instructions as a group and were told that participation in this study would be anonymous. It was also stated that they may voluntarily choose to participate and could withdraw at anytime. The satisfying se ssion took about 15-30 minutes. Participants were provided informed consent prior to the administration of the test and were de instructed after they finished.ResultsThe results showed that individuals with a smaller social network size (mean=4.10) were significantly less satisfied compared to those with life larger social network size (mean=5.05 t(89)= -3.79, p.001). There was a noted positive correlation between optimism and satisfaction with life (r = 0.543, p = 0.01). A positive correlation was also found between conscientiousness and satisfaction with life (r = 0.222, p = 0.05)Discussion The main purpose of this research was to establish whether a relationship existed between satisfaction with life and optimism, and satisfaction with life and conscientiousness. Another purpose was to establish whether social network size made a difference to satisfaction with life. The first hypothesis of the study stated that a significant positive relationship would be found between satisfac tion with life and optimism as well as between satisfaction with life and conscientiousness. It was also hypothesized that social network size would not have a significant difference on satisfaction with life. The hypotheses of the present study were based on the findings of past researches. (Quinn et al, 1980 Bowling et al, 1991 Austrom et al, 2003 Chang and Sanna, 2003 Chapman et al, 2007 Lounsbury et al, 2005)The results of the current study show that there is a significantly positive relationship between satisfaction with life and two variables it was compared against, namely, optimism and conscientiousness. Results also showed a significant difference with social network size and satisfaction with life. The initial hypotheses for optimism and conscientiousness were brooked. The hypothesis regarding social network size, however, was rejected by the statistical results. The findings on optimism and conscientiousness validate past research findings. These showed that greater opti mism in life contributed to greater satisfaction with life (Austrom et al., 2003).Optimism was also found to be a good predictor of life satisfaction (Chang and Sanna, 2003). Past findings established conscientiousness to be a contributing factor to life satisfaction (Lounsbury et al, 2005) as well as a variable directly related to higher quality of life ratings (Chapman et al., 2007). The findings on social network size, on the other hand, disagree with past research findings where social network interaction was not found to be related to life satisfaction (Quinn et al., 1980) and where the size of the individuals social network was determined to be a bad predictor of life satisfaction (Bowling et al., 1991).Optimism may be able to affect life satisfaction positively due to the fact that a positive outlook on life can also cause a better assessment of past experiences not just of present circumstances. If one is able to achieve a better liking towards life, the magnetic dip to o verlook the negativity that will detract from satisfaction felt towards life will be greater. This shows that the statistical significance of optimism (r=0.543, p=0.01) with satisfaction with life is warranted.Conscientiousness, on the other hand, was also positively correlated to (r=0.035, p=0.05) with satisfaction with life. This may be due to the fact that conscientiousness indicates a better ability to handle life experiences. Conscientiousness, as defined in the Big Five Inventory (Donahue et al., 2001), entails caution, dependability, organization and responsibility. These characteristics when applied to the everyday behavior and experiences of an individual are most likely to indicate an individual who achieves success.People who are more cautious, more dependable, more organized, and more responsible are the ones who are achievers in human society. It may be that the success and achievement tie in with conscientious people is also the link that sustains their satisfaction w ith life. This is not to adduce that individuals deemed to have low conscientiousness are not likely to feel satisfaction with life. The findings only suggest that a high level of conscientiousness predicts life satisfaction to great extent.The discussion of how social network size is related to satisfaction with life should be done with care. The fact that preceding research found no significant difference between social network and life satisfaction may have been due to the insufficiency of measurement with the past research. Quinn et al. (1980), for example, concentrated on the interaction that occurred in social network and not size. This meant that Quinn et al. (1980) focused on the quality of the individuals social network and not on the quantity.Bowling et al. (1991), on the other hand, compared two different localities and this is what might have caused the inconsistencies in their findings concerning social network size and life satisfaction. Inherent characteristics of urban and rural locations could have contend into action and caused the insignificant findings. For the present study, however, the significant difference between social network size and life satisfaction makes sense especially because social network size is also an indicator of an individuals degree of social interaction as well as sources of social support both of which are essential in an individuals development.The findings of this study are limited because of the small sample size used. A bigger sample that is more representative of the general population should be used in incoming research. In addition, only a hardly a(prenominal) variables concerning satisfaction with life were investigated. Future research should incorporate more variables that may affect life satisfaction into the study. The variables of social support, social interaction, and pessimism are a few of the factors that should be investigated. The significant relationship between social network size and life satisfaction should also be validated by future studies as the results in this study are not in symmetry with previous works.The implications of the study are far-reaching. Establishing the relationships existing between life satisfaction, optimism, and conscientiousness allows different clinicians and practitioners in the healthcare system a chance to mend their handling of clients with low satisfaction with life.This may most likely involve older adults. Because satisfaction with life in itself is a concept that health-care workers find hard to deal with, finding other personality traits and variables that are related to it enables these workers an alternative in aiding these types of patients. Increasing optimism and improving conscientiousness in an individual can help to increase their satisfaction with life. In addition, increasing the size of the clients social network will improve their satisfaction with life.The present studys findings can also be expand to teachers in t he field of education. Satisfaction of their students can be increased by allowing them to feel more optimistic about their activities also by channelise them to be more conscientious in their behavior. Also, increasing opportunities for students to enlarge their social networks can also help these students improve their feelings of satisfaction with life.ReferencesAustrom, M.G., Perkins, A. J., Damush, T. M., & Hendrie, H. C. (2003). Predictors of life satisfaction in retired physicians and spouses. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38, 134-141Bowling, A., Farquhar, M., & Browne, P. (1991). Life satisfaction and associations with social network and support variables in three samples of elderly people. International daybook of Geriatric Psychiatry, 6, 549-566Brown, R. (2003). 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