Predictors of Intraindividual Change in Personality and Well -Being

Abstract

The present study examined predictors of intraindividual change in well-being and personality over a 9-year period. Data were from the Australian Quality of Life Panel Study (Headey & Wearing, 1989; 1992). One thousand one-hundred thirty participants (aged 16--70, M = 37.2, SD = 13.3) completed measures of subjective well-being (SWB), personality, and life events every two years beginning in 1981. Seventy-four percent of the sample participated in at least 2 measurement occasions. Structural equation models of latent growth curves (see McArdle, 1989; in press) were used to estimate rates of change in extraversion, neuroticism, life satisfaction, work satisfaction, marital satisfaction, and meaning in life over time. Increased work satisfaction predicted increased life satisfaction and extraversion and decreased neuroticism over time. Increased marital satisfaction predicted decreased neuroticism. Changes in life satisfaction and a sense of meaning and purpose in life paralleled changes in personality. Life events did not predict personality trajectories, nor did initial levels of extraversion or neuroticism predict life satisfaction trajectories.