Life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is an evaluation of a person's quality of life. It is assessed in terms of mood, relationship satisfaction, achieved goals, self-concepts, and the self-perceived ability to cope with life. Life satisfaction involves a favorable attitude towards life—rather than an assessment of current feelings. Life satisfaction has been measured in relation to economic standing, degree of education, experiences, residence, and other factors.
Life satisfaction is a key part of subjective well-being. Many factors influence subjective well-being and life satisfaction. Socio-demographic factors include gender, age, marital status, income, and education. Psychosocial factors include health, illness, functional ability, activity level, and social relationships. People tend to gain life satisfaction as they get older.
Factors affecting life satisfaction
Personality
using the Five Factor Model of Personality found that, among its "Big Five" personality traits, low neuroticism was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, followed by high extraversion and conscientiousness. Other key factors include openness to experiences and socialization. Socially engaged people tend to be more satisfied with life.Apart from the Five Factor model, a person's chronotype correlates with life satisfaction; morning-oriented people showed higher life satisfaction than evening-oriented individuals.
An individual's genes affect their life satisfaction, so life satisfaction is partly heritable. One study found no significant differences between men and women in terms of the heritability of life satisfaction.
Self-esteem
Several studies have shown that self-esteem is a strong predictor of life satisfaction. Those with high levels of self-esteem are more likely to take a positive approach to dealing with day-to-day challenges and not be overwhelmed by them. Having higher self-esteem also leads to being more open about life and its opportunities. Those with diminished self-esteem tend to be more fearful, less social and hold a generally negative outlook.Outlook on life
An individual's mood and outlook on life greatly influence their perception of their life satisfaction. Two correlating emotions that may influence how people perceive their lives are hope and optimism. Both of these emotions consist of cognitive processes that are usually oriented towards the perception and reaching of goals. Additionally, optimism is linked to higher life satisfaction, whereas pessimism is related to symptoms of depression.According to Martin Seligman, the happier people are, the less they focus on the negative aspects of their lives. Happier people also have a greater tendency to like other people, which promotes a happier environment. This correlates to a higher level of the person's satisfaction with their life, due to the notion that constructiveness with others can positively influence life satisfaction. However, others have found that life satisfaction is compatible with profoundly negative emotional states like depression.
In a study carried out by Juan Pedro Serrano, José Miguel Latorre, Margaret Gatz, and Juan Montanes from the department of psychology at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, researchers used life-review therapy with 43 older adults. The test they used was designed to measure participants' ability to recall a specific memory in response to a cue word while being timed. Thirty cue words, including five words classified as 'positive', five as 'negative', and five as 'neutral', were presented orally in a fixed, alternating order to each member of a focus group. To ensure that the participants understood the instructions, examples were provided of both 'general' memories and 'specific' memories. For each cue word, participants were asked to share a memory evoked by that word. The memory had to be of an event that should have occurred only once, at a particular time and place, and lasted no longer than a day. If the person could not recall a memory within 30 seconds, then that cue instance was not counted. Two psychologists served as raters and independently scored the responses of each participant. Each memory was tagged either as 'specific'—if the recalled event lasted no more than one day—or, otherwise, as 'general'. The raters were not informed regarding the hypotheses of the study, the experimental group's membership, nor the content of the pretest or post-test. The results of this study showed that with an increased specificity of memories, individuals showed decreased depression and hopelessness, as well as increased life satisfaction.
Age
A common view is that age and life satisfaction have a "U-shape," with life satisfaction declining towards middle age, and then rising as people get older. Other scholars have found that there is no general age trend in life satisfaction, arguing that Blanchflower and Oswald's work is misguided for including inappropriate control variables.The psychologists Yuval Palgi and Dov Shmotkin studied people who were primarily in their nineties. This subject group was found to have thought highly of their past and present. But generally, the group thought less of their future. These people were very satisfied with their lives up until the point they were surveyed but knew that their death was sooner to come. Intelligence is also a factor because life satisfaction grows as people get older; as they grow older, they become wiser and more knowledgeable, so they begin to see that life will be better and understand the important things in life more.
On the other hand, a study finds that adolescents have a lower level of life satisfaction than their older counterparts. This could be because many decisions are imminent, and an adolescent could be facing them for the first time in their life. Although many adolescents have insecurities about many aspects of their lives, satisfaction with friends stayed at a consistent level. This is hypothetically attributed to the amount one can identify with those in one's age group over other age groups. In this same study, researchers found that satisfaction with family decreased. This could be because more rules and regulations are typically implemented by parental figures, and adolescents tend to demonize those in control of them. Additionally, the same study reports that life satisfaction in terms of sexuality increased. This is because at this age, many adolescents reach sexual maturation, which can encourage them to find verification and satisfaction in the idea of a sexual partnership.
Life events and experiences
There are several factors that contribute to and influence self-reported levels of life satisfaction, including unique life events and experiences. These include both acute events and chronic, daily experiences. In the book Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment, Harvard lecturer Tal Ben-Shahar argues that happiness should be one's ultimate goal and the primary factor in evaluating alternative choices. As the subtitle implies, Happier recommends the pursuit of an immediate joyful experience in ways that contributes to more long-term, meaningful satisfaction. Ben-Shahar further argues that pursuing genuine self-motivated goals, rather than just instant pleasure or selflessness in service of long-delayed enjoyment, results in an optimal combination of short- and long-term happiness.Life experiences significantly effect a person's view of their external environment. There are several influences this can have on their world view, both generally and more specifically, such as the way they interact with others, the way they behave, and the way they view the world around them—all of which affect their life satisfaction. Someone who tends to see the world in a more negative light may have a completely different level of satisfaction than someone who is constantly admiring the beauty of their surroundings. People who are engaged with more stress on average can contribute to higher levels of self-report life satisfaction as long as they understand how to deal with their stress positively.
Recent research in the hospitality industry has found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly exacerbated mental health problems among hotel employees, leading to increased absenteeism and decreased life satisfaction. This study highlights the profound impact that global health crises can have on individuals' mental well-being and overall life satisfaction, particularly in high-stress work environments like hotels.
Seasonal effects
A recent study analyzes time-dependent rhythms in happiness, comparing life satisfaction by weekdays, days of the month, and year with gender and education and outlining the differences observed. Primarily within the winter months of the year, an onset of depression can affect one, called seasonal affective disorder. It is recurrent, beginning in the fall or winter months and remitting in the spring or summer. It is said that those who experience this disorder usually have a history of major depressive or bipolar disorder, which may be hereditary, having a family member affected as well.Seasonal affective disorder is hypothesized to be caused by diminishing exposure to environmental light, which can lead to changes in levels of the neurotransmitter chemical serotonin. Diminishing active serotonin levels increases depressive symptoms. There are currently a few treatment therapies in order to help with seasonal affective disorder. The first line of therapy is light therapy. Light therapy involves exposure to bright, fluorescent lighting that acts to mimic outdoor light, counteracting the presumed effects of SAD. Due to the shifts in neurochemical levels, antidepressants are another form of therapy. Other than light therapy and antidepressants, there are several alternatives that involve agomelatine, melatonin, psychological interventions, as well as diet and lifestyle changes.
Research has found that the onset of SAD typically occurs between the ages of 20 and 30 years, but most affected people do not seek medical help. This could be due to the stigma of mental health issues. Many are afraid to state they are suffering and would rather hide it. This suggests that more education and acceptance might be needed to solve these issues.