Abstract
To better understand the occurrence of major changes in people´s lives like job changes or relocations, we test a model of motivational consequences of life and domain satisfaction using data of the German socio-economic panel study (SOEP) (waves 2005–2015; Ns between 2,201 and 28,720). We examined job and location changes as outcomes that people may actively initiate as a result of dissatisfaction with these domains. One of our results indicates that for similar levels of job satisfaction, individuals with higher levels of life satisfaction were more likely to report a subsequent job change, presumably because they possess necessary resources to actively initiate such a major life change. The patterns were similar for relocation satisfaction and subsequent relocation, but not all effects were significant. Generally, the effects of life satisfaction and domain satisfaction on life events were independent of affective well-being. Contrary to what we expected based on life-span theories, perceived control did not significantly moderate the tested mechanisms. These findings furthermore show that examining life satisfaction and domain satisfaction in isolation can lead to theoretically and empirically false conclusions. Contrary to previous research, high life satisfaction appears to not be a general driver for stability but rather should be seen as an indicator of resourcefulness that allows people to strive for changes in specific life domains.
Highlights
Many people experience major changes in their life circumstances at some point in their lives
Hypothesis 1, according to which domain satisfaction is negatively related to changes in the focal domain if examined in the absence of general life satisfaction, could be confirmed for both examined life events: Domain satisfaction was negatively related to relocation (Table 2, Model 1, OR .837, p < .001) and to job change (Table 3, Model 1, OR = .791, p < .001) in the following year
The effects of life satisfaction were smaller than the effects of domain satisfaction, which is in line with the assumption that changes in the focal domain are more strongly related to domain satisfaction
Summary
Many people experience major changes in their life circumstances at some point in their lives. For some people, these major life changes just happen to them, with little control over whether and when they occur. They actively decide to relocate, change jobs, or enter or leave a relationship. People are more likely to relocate if they are dissatisfied with their current housing situation [1,2,3], to change jobs if they dislike their current one [4,5,6,7], or to file for divorce if they are dissatisfied with their marriage [8, 9]. Some studies have shown that one’s general life satisfaction prospectively predicts major life
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