The mediational role of emotion regulation in the relationship between personality and subjective well-being

Dorota Kobylińska,Karol Lewczuk,Konrad S Jankowski,Marta Marchlewska,Marcin Zajenkowski

doi:10.1007/s12144-020-00861-7

Abstract

In this research we examined relationships between Big Five personality traits, emotion regulation strategies and subjective well-being. In two studies we explored the mediational role of habitual use of two regulation strategies: reappraisal and suppression in the relationship between personality traits and two aspects of well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and experience of positive affect and negative affect). In Study 1 (n = 233) we found that the most robust predictors of higher life satisfaction were higher extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability (lower neuroticism) and reappraisal, as well as lower suppression of emotions. We obtained similar pattern of results in Study 2 (n = 265) which showed that higher positive affect was significantly predicted by higher extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and reappraisal. Negative affect was negatively predicted only by emotional stability. Additional analyses indicated that suppression mediated the link between extraversion and life satisfaction, whereas reappraisal mediated associations of emotional stability with life satisfaction and positive affect. The studies reveal the role of emotion regulation for extraversion and emotional stability and their association with well-being.

Highlights

Personality and Subjective Well-BeingSubjective well-being (SWB) is defined as a group of multidimensional, appraisals of one’s own life and functioning (Diener et al 1999)
In the present studies we examine whether specific emotion regulation strategies may explain the link between various personality traits and Subjective Well-BeingSubjective well-being (SWB)
Life satisfaction positively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and reappraisal but negatively correlated with suppression

Summary

Introduction

Personality and Subjective Well-BeingSubjective well-being (SWB) is defined as a group of multidimensional (cognitive, affective), appraisals of one’s own life and functioning (Diener et al 1999). From numerous studies devoted to the determinants of well-being, researchers have concluded that external events and objective variables, such as broad situational and demographic factors, explain surprisingly little in the variability of subjective well-being (Diener et al 1999). Two seem especially important for SWB: extraversion and neuroticism (sometimes labeled by its lower extreme ‘emotional stability’). Neuroticism correlates negatively, while extraversion positively with both cognitive (e.g., life satisfaction) and affective components (experienced mood and affect) of SWB (Diener and Lucas 1999). The relevant research (Matthews et al 2009; Thayer 1989; Watson 2000) has indicated that high neuroticism is connected to negative affect and tense arousal, while high extraversion is associated with positive affect, hedonic tone, and energetic arousal. The link of extraversion with affect is more dependent on external factors (Goryńska et al 2015; Matthews et al 2009; Zajenkowska et al 2015; Zajenkowski et al 2012)

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