The Impacts of Attributional Styles and Dispositional Optimism on Subject Well-Being: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

Abstract

The current study examined the impact of attributional styles on subjective well-being, with a primary focus on confirmation of the mediator role of dispositional optimism among a sample of 384 college students. Participants completed a questionnaire packet containing life orientation test-revised, Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale, and Subjective Well-Being Scale. The results revealed that both dispositional optimism and attributional styles were significantly correlated with subjective well-being. Confirmatory factor analysis identified the latent structure of attributional styles in Chinese college students and found out that both positive and negative effort need to exclude from the structure which was different from findings in Western. Structural equation modeling indicated that optimism partially mediated positive attributional styles to subject well-being (SWB) and negative attributional styles to SWB. The final model also revealed significant both paths from positive and negative attributional styles to subjective well-being through optimism. The findings extended prior researches and shed light on how attributional styles influence subjective well-being; this provides valuable evidence on how to promote subjective well-being in positive psychology.