Correlates of Self-Assessed Wellness

Abstract

Background: This study was concerned with correlates of self-assessed health and wellness on ten dimensions including emotional, financial and physical health. All 10 self-ratings loaded on one factor with high internal reliability. Method: In all 506 adult participants, completed short measures of the bright side, Big Five traits (TIPI) and a short measure of the dark side, personality disorders (PID-5-BF). Results: Correlations and regressions suggested that wellness was related to sex, education and religious beliefs as well as four of five bright- and dark-side traits. Being Sanguine was most positively, and Choleric most negatively, associated with subjective wellness. Detachment and Negative Affect were the highest dark-side correlates. The final regression suggested that over a third of the variance in subjective wellness could be explained by four bright- and two dark-side factors. Conclusions: Personality factors, especially instability and negative affectivity, play a crucial role in all aspects of wellness. Implications and limitations are acknowledged.