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Writing Excellence Award Winners Student Research and Creative Works

Spring 2017

It's Complicated: A Literature Review of Happiness

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Bengtson, Lilly, "It's Complicated: A Literature Review of Happiness and the Big Five" (2017). Writing Excellence Award Winners. 69.
http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/writing_awards/69

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Lilly Bengtson
PSYC330
It’s Complicated: A Review of Literature on Happiness and the Big Five

One of the great quests of an individual’s life is often to find happiness. But what does
“happiness” mean? Can it even be “found?” These questions and more have been addressed with
the growth of the positive psychology movement, a modern attempt to examine happiness from a
scientific perspective. A natural first step in the study of happiness is evaluating exactly who is
happy, and why. While a great many factors influence one’s satisfaction with life, personality is
an especially relevant contributor to consider. Personality factors influence how people see the
world, how they behave, and how they move through life, so it follows that these same factors
would strongly influence one’s ultimate failure or success in achieving happiness. The Five
Factor model of personality is a tried-and-true trait model which breaks personality down into
five basic components: extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and
neuroticism. This empirically-validated model has been combined with the relatively recent
positive psychology movement to study how personality traits affect individuals’ overall
happiness. The Big Five traits of neuroticism and extraversion have been shown to correlate
strongly with measures of individual happiness, but this effect is moderated by both internal and
external factors of an individual’s life circumstances.
In order to study the relationship between personality traits and happiness, one must first
establish exactly how to evaluate this concept. A common measure for happiness is subjective
well-being, which can be broken down into individual scales of life satisfaction, positive affect,
and negative affect. This measure of happiness was utilized by Luhmann, Hawkley, and
Cacioppo (2013), who noted that people often attribute their happiness to the wrong sources, an
error known as “source confusion.” Considering the question of how accurate people are at
assessing the sources of their own happiness or unhappiness, these researchers conducted a study
to evaluate what people think about when evaluating their subjective well-being. In this study,
414 participants (64% female) completed an online survey which contained personality
measures, a life satisfaction questionnaire, affect measures, and questions requiring an
explanation of participants’ considerations throughout the rest of the test. 80% of participants
indicated that they had primarily considered their life circumstances when completing the
happiness measures, especially topics such as career, family life, and romance. Researchers
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noted that these factors actually do play a large role in determining happiness, and so participants
had displayed relatively little source confusion in their responses. However, few people
mentioned personality as a factor which influenced their subjective well-being. Results indicated
that people low in neuroticism expressed less negative affect, but that negative thoughts were
more strongly correlated with subjective well-being for these emotionally stable individuals than
for highly neurotic participants. This is likely because less neurotic individuals tended to report
only seriously negative life events, rather than minor stressors, making their perceptions of
negativity more accurate than participants scoring high on neuroticism. Individuals
underestimated the role that personality plays in their well-being, focusing more on external
influences such as work and family. While this study indicates that personality is not the be-all,
end-all of happiness research, results suggest that personality -- and, specifically, the Big Five
traits -- tend to be overlooked as factors influencing one’s happiness and well-being.
Considering the relationship between happiness and personality, a study by Soto (2013)
evaluated the longitudinal correlation between the Big Five personality traits and measures of
subjective well-being. This study built on previous research which indicated that personality
traits can indirectly affect one’s happiness by influencing behaviors which ultimately lead to
greater subjective well-being for an individual. If someone is highly agreeable, for instance, they
might engage in more prosocial behaviors, leading to stronger social relationships and an
ultimately higher perception of their own well-being. Researchers used a survey of the Big Five
Mini-Markers, Positive and Negative Affect Medical Outcome Scales, and an eight question life
satisfaction interview, all of which were assessed annually over five years. Participants were
16367 Australians between the ages of 15 and 93 years old, split relatively evenly between male
and female. Results of this study indicated that high subjective well-being, infrequent negative
affect, and frequent positive affect were correlated with higher agreeableness, extraversion, and
conscientiousness, as well as with lower neuroticism. The only Big Five trait which was not
significantly related in this study was openness. The most strongly predictive traits studied here
were extraversion (related to positive affect) and neuroticism (related to subjective well-being
and negative affect). These results indicate a relationship between subjective well-being and
personality, but researchers are careful to note that it is as yet unclear which direction causality
flows in this relationship. Personality and happiness are somewhat reciprocally connected: a high
subjective well-being might lead to the development of specific traits (such as extraversion), and
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these traits will in turn continue to raise well-being. In addition, the effects of changes in
personality on subjective well-being may be cumulative over time -- this study evaluated a five-
year span of participants’ lives, but different traits may come to have differing values as an
individual ages. While low neuroticism and high extraversion were here shown to be the
strongest predictors for subjective well-being, further research should consider the intricacies of
these traits in different environments and demographics.
Extraversion and neuroticism have proven to be some of the best personality indicators
for happiness, and so considering the effects of these specific traits is a necessary step towards
advancing our understanding of the relationship between traits and well-being. High positive
affect and low negative affect, which are correlated with extraversion and neuroticism, include
high energy, full concentration, and engagement in activities. However, these same qualities also
place an individual at risk for hypomania. Hypomania is understood as a subclinical expression
of mania, which manifests affectively, cognitively, and somatically in individuals. Kirkland,
Gruber, and Cunningham (2015) created a study which evaluates neuroticism and extraversion,
with the goal of examining the positive and negative outcomes associated with these two traits in
the sphere of positive psychology. Researchers broke down both traits into two tenets in order to
better understand the intricacies of their relationship with well-being: extraversion was studied as
assertiveness and enthusiasm, and neuroticism as volatility and withdrawal. In this study, 352
undergraduate students completed a survey which evaluated trait positive and negative affect,
Big Five personality traits, subjective well-being, and hypomania risk. Results suggested
extraversion and neuroticism were significantly related to both subjective happiness and
hypomania risk, but this effect was dependant on the specific factors of each trait. Happiness was
associated with high enthusiasm and low withdrawal, and hypomania was related to high
assertiveness and high volatility. In this sense, both of these traits were associated with positive
and negative outcomes. Extraversion promotes well-being in that it leads an individual to be
enthusiastic, but an overly assertive extravert might be at risk for hypomania. In the same way,
only one specific aspect of neuroticism (volatility) is associated with hypomania, meaning that
the trait as a whole may not be negative. Exploring traits and personality requires a detailed
approach; simply considering the correlation between a basic trait and happiness ignores the
many mediating factors which influence how a trait relates to one’s well-being.
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Further advancing research on the intricacies of the relationship between Big Five traits
and happiness, Suldo, Minch, and Hearon (2014) investigated personality and life satisfaction
factors in high school students. Researchers had noted that higher subjective well-being in
adolescence is related to higher cognitive engagement, greater academic aspirations, and better
relationships with teachers. It naturally follows that these outcomes might also be associated with
specific personality traits. However, research has shown that Big Five factors may not affect all
individuals equally. Boys and girls tend to be similar in levels of extraversion, but girls express
more neuroticism and agreeableness. In addition, extraversion and openness have been used to
predict GPA, but this predictive relationship is much stronger for girls than it is for boys. This
study recruited 624 high school participants between the ages of 13 and 19 (63% female), who
completed self-report measures of life satisfaction and Big Five traits. Analysis revealed that
47% of the variance in individuals’ satisfaction scores was accounted for by the Big Five factors,
with neuroticism as the strongest predictor. Researchers posited that this correlation is due to the
psychopathological symptoms associated with high neuroticism (such as anxiety, anger, and
depression) which tend to decrease life satisfaction in most individuals. Openness, extraversion,
and conscientiousness were also predictors of life satisfaction, although they were not as strongly
related as neuroticism. Finally, gender differences in trait expression appeared in the study of
agreeableness: high agreeableness was correlated with higher life satisfaction for girls, but lower
life satisfaction for boys. This significant difference in the effect of a trait on happiness indicates
that traits are mediated by outside factors; cultural roles and expectations may influence which
traits are valuable and for whom, thereby making it difficult to generalize about the valuability of
any one specific trait over another.
When considering mediating forces on the relationship between traits and personality, it
is essential to consider other dimensions of personality. McAdams and Pals (2006) discuss five
dimensions of personality which extend beyond solely traits: cultural influences, life narratives,
characteristic adaptations, dispositional traits, and evolution. Characteristic adaptations, which
include goals and motivations, act as strong mediators to the expression of traits, an immediately
adjacent level of personality in McAdams and Pals’s model. Albuquerque, Pedroso de Lima,
Matos, and Figueiredo (2012) sought to examine this personality framework further, and studied
the mediator effect of personal projects between Big Five traits and subjective well-being. The
researchers noted that individual traits might influence one’s appraisal of their personal projects,
 Bengtson 5

which stem from the goals and motivations of the “characteristic adaptation” level of personality.
In the study, 398 Portuguese primary and high school teachers completed a survey in which they
were evaluated for Big Five traits, subjective well-being, and their personal analysis of projects
they have worked on over their lifetime. Analysis of personal projects focused on those activities
which individuals viewed as particularly defining, and required that participants evaluate projects
both in terms of objective success and their emotions towards the project. The results suggested
that all Big Five traits predicted components of subjective well-being, especially neuroticism and
extraversion (in keeping with the trends of existing literature). The efficacy of personal projects
was found to mediate the relationship between personality traits and well-being, and researchers
proposed that this was a result of the competence and control experienced in personal projects,
especially those with anticipated positive outcomes. This study by Albuquerque et al.
demonstrates the variety of factors which can not only affect happiness, but affect how strongly
personality relates to happiness.
The five studies reviewed here present strong evidence within the literature of
psychology for a relationship between the Five Factor model of personality and individuals’
subjective well-being, a pattern which is especially pronounced for the traits of neuroticism and
extraversion. These two traits’ overwhelming dominance over the other Big Five traits in terms
of predicting subjective well-being necessarily requires a discussion about why exactly
extraversion and neuroticism are so influential in determining one’s happiness. The chief
explanation for these traits’ salience in the literature comes from the fact that both extraversion
and neuroticism are related to how one interprets events. As extraversion is highly correlated
with positive affect, and neuroticism with negative affect (Soto 2013), it would appear that these
traits have a large effect on perception of life events. An individual low in neuroticism and high
in extraversion would more likely have an optimistic outlook on life, hoping for the best and
envisioning positive outcomes for their personal endeavors. While agreeableness,
conscientiousness, and openness all influence one’s behaviors, especially in a social setting, this
adds a degree of distance between perceptions of well-being and the trait itself -- rather than
influencing behavior which in turn influences well-being, extraversion and neuroticism cut to the
chase and immediately affect how positively one views the world. Examining these five studies
reveals that objective life circumstances, while they are significant, are not all that matters when
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considering happiness. It would appear that subjective well-being is largely about how one sees
the world.
As exemplified by Albuquerque et al. (2012) and Suldo et al. (2014), personality traits
are only one of a myriad of forces which influence one’s happiness. The higher levels of
McAdams and Pals’s “New Big Five” present other influences on personality which can affect
subjective well-being in a variety of ways. Albuquerque et al. discussed the role of characteristic
adaptations, but another level of personality, culture, plays a significant role within subjective
well-being. Suldo (2014) briefly discussed gender differences as a factor which determines how
traits relate to happiness, but this research might be expanded to include other cultural factors
such as individualism versus collectivism, age-related values and ideals, or normative
expectations of behavior. The relationship between personality and happiness depends on
internal factors such as goals and motivations as well as external factors like culture, all of which
influence how and when individuals may express or benefit from specific traits.
Research on the Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being indicates that, while
traits such as neuroticism and extraversion play a large role in predicting one’s happiness and life
satisfaction, this effect is mediated by a variety of other factors. The growth of the positive
psychology movement has presented an abundance of research into what makes people happy
and why, and personality is a large factor to consider in this investigation. Happiness largely
transcends specific circumstances, and pertains more to how these circumstances are interpreted,
so much remains to be studied in terms of how our perceptions of well-being are shaped, and
exactly how much control individuals have over their own life satisfaction. Traits are only a
small part of the larger image. Happiness, it would appear, is quite complicated.
 Bengtson 7

References

Albuquerque, I., Pedroso de Lima, M., Matos, M., Figueiredo, C. (2012). The interplay among
levels of personality: The mediator effect of personal projects between the Big Five and
subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14: 235-250. DOI 10.1007/s10902-
012-9326-6
Kirkland, T., Gruber, J., & Cunningham, W. (2015). Comparing happiness and hypomania risk:
A study of extraversion and neuroticism aspects. PLOS ONE, (7): 1-19. DOI
10.137/journal.pone.0132438
Luhmann, M., Hawkley, L., & Cacioppo, J. (2013). Thinking about one’s subjective well-being:
Average trends and individual differences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15: 757-781.
McAdams, D., & Pals, J. (2006). A New Big Five: Fundamental Principles for an Integrative
Science of Personality. American Psychologist, 61(3): 204-217. DOI 10.1037/0003-
066X.61.3.204
Soto, C. (2013). Is happiness good for your personality? Concurrent and Prospective relations of
the Big Five with subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 83(1): 1-12. DOI
10.11111/jopy.12081
Suldo, S., Minch, D., & Hearon, B. (2014). Adolescent life satisfaction and personality
characteristics: Investigating relationships using a five factor model. Journal of Happiness
Studies, 16: 965-983. DOI 10.1007/s10902-014-9544-1