Personality, self-esteem, and demographic predictions of happiness and depression

Abstract

This paper examines correlations and causes of happiness and depression among adolescents. Personality, self-esteem, “aspects of life”, affect, depression, and happiness were all measured by self-report and the data explored through using multiple regression. In all 234 participants (mean age=18.23 years) completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, Positive Affect; Negative Affect; and Affect Balance Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Oxford Happiness Inventory. Results indicated that extraversion was significantly correlated with positive affect, negative affect, depression, and happiness (r=0.27, r=−0.22, r=−0.39, r=0.45; P<0.01 to P<0.001) and neuroticism significantly correlated with positive affect, negative affect, depression, and happiness to a similar degree (r=−0.24, r=0.35, r=0.53, r=−0.43; P<0.001). Self-esteem and relationship with parents had a direct predictive power on happiness (β=0.49, P<0.001; β=0.18, P<0.05) and the opposite relationship with depression (β=−0.39, P<0.001; β=−0.22, P<0.01) whereas extraversion and neuroticism predicted happiness and depression mediating through self-esteem (β=0.23, P<0.01; β=−0.47, P<0.001). Further, for depression, sex also showed direct predictive power (β=0.20, P<0.01). The “path model” which resulted from the analysis showed clearly the differences in the personality, self-esteem, and demographic predictions of happiness as opposed to depression.

Introduction

It was not until comparatively recently that psychologists have looked at the correlates, definitions and predictors of happiness (synonymous with psychological well-being, mental well-being, or subjective well-being; Argyle, 2001, Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, Diener et al., 1984, Diener et al., 1985, Diener et al., 1999, Diener, 1984, Diener, 1999, Eysenck, 1990, Myers, 1992, Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, Veenhoven, 1984). Depression and anxiety, the main manifestations of unhappiness, on the other hand, have been studied extensively by psychologists from various research areas and numerous textbooks and papers have been written on the topic over the past century (e.g. Beck, 1967, Seligman, 1991). This study focused on affective and cognitive correlates of both happiness and depression to see to what extent they are mirror images of, or different from, each other.

Over the past 30 years or so there have been various attempts by psychologists to define happiness or psychological well-being and explain its causes and consequences. Bradburn and Caplovitz (1965) conducted a pioneer study on American people's quality of life and their psychological well-being. They found that positive and negative feeling states were not correlated with each other, though both were correlated individually with general measures of happiness. Argyle (2001) has noted many recent studies which replicate this effect namely that positive and negative affect appear unrelated and further that personality traits are differently related to these different factors. Thus it seems the correlates and predictors of happiness and unhappiness maybe quite different (Cheng & Furnham, in press).

There is a fairly impressive and long established literature on trait correlates of happiness. Indeed DeNeve and Cooper (1998) reported on a meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Those most closely associated were: repressive-defensiveness, trait emotional stability, locus of control, hardiness, positive affectivity, self-esteem and leisure.

Recent studies in the Big Five tradition on trait correlates of happiness have tended to yield consistent findings. Costa and McCrae (1980) confirmed the hypothesis that temperamental traits of emotionality, fearfulness, hostility and impulsivity were associated with lower levels of happiness and especially with negative affect while the temperamental traits of sociability and activity will be associated with higher levels of happiness and positive affect. Consequently, they proposed a model of the relation between personality and happiness: extraversion, together with its components of sociability, tempo and vigour, predisposes individuals towards positive affect. Furnham and Cheng (1997) found happiness significantly correlated with all “big five” personality factors. When the five factor scores were entered into a hierarchical regression along with sex and age, using happiness (OHI) scores as the dependent variable, it accounted for 43% of the variance. In all, three factors were significant: Stability, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness.

Headey, Glowacki, Holmstrom, and Wearing (1985) found that extraversion predisposed young people to favourable life events which in turn led to a high level of positive well-being and to increases in extraversion. There is an assumption that personality influenced happiness could be attributed to short-term mood states that affect responses to personality measures (Schwarz & Clore, 1983). However, the long-term stability of extraversion and neuroticism was supported by Costa and McCrae (1980) in an examination of the relationship between personality measures and levels of happiness obtained ten years later. Furthermore, Costa, McCrae, and Norris (1981) found the relationship so robust that extraversion could predict happiness over a 17-year period. Heaven (1989) also found that extraversion was related to satisfaction with life which was negatively related to neuroticism for both sexes.

At least six studies on four continents in the 1990s demonstrated that extraversion (positively) and neuroticism (negatively) were closely related to happiness accounting for between a quarter and a half of the variance (Argyle and Lu, 1990, Brebner et al., 1995, Lu et al., 1997, Francis, 1999, Furnham and Brewin, 1990, Furnham and Cheng, 1997, Furnham and Cheng, 1999). DeNeve and Cooper (1998) found neuroticism the best predictor followed by extraversion and agreeableness. They note: “Positive affect is not tied solely to Extraversion. Rather, positive affect stems primarily from our connections with others, both in terms of the quantity of relationships (extraversion) as well as the quality of relationships (Agreeableness)” (pp. 220–221). This study in part also was to re-examine the relationship between personality traits and happiness. In particular, to look at to what extent happiness and unhappiness (depression) were opposite to each other in terms of their associations with personality and demographic variables.

High self-esteem has also been reported to be one of the strongest predictors of well-being (Wilson, 1967, Campbell, 1981). Indeed self-esteem is so closely related to happiness that it could be considered as a component of happiness (Argyle, 2001). In fact some items in happiness and self-esteem inventories are strikingly similar. Diener's (1984) review of well-being cites 11 studies in which a positive association between self-esteem and well-being was found. Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers (1976) compared satisfaction in different domains with overall life satisfaction and found that among all the variables, the highest correlation with life satisfaction was satisfaction with the self (r=0.55, P<0.001).

Rosenberg (1965) found that those low in self-esteem isolate themselves from others more often, tend to be more self-conscious and are also more likely to be depressed than those with high self-esteem. On the other hand, self-esteem decreases during periods of unhappiness such as depression (Wessman & Ricks, 1966). This suggests the possible bidirectional causation between self-esteem and depression. However, no such evidence has been found between self-esteem and happiness (Argyle & Lu, 1990).

Some researchers argue that there are two distinct dimensions of global self-esteem: the positive and negative dimensions. For example, Owens (1993) argues that an overemphasis on global self-esteem has muted the theoretical, empirical, and substantive nuances, especially a more precise understanding of the development and maintenance of negative self-evaluation and its consequences for well-being. Using longitudinal Youth in Transition data he showed that comparing with the unidimensional model, the bidimensional model fits the data much more closely. He concludes: “…global self-esteem may be employed as a bidimensional construct marked by a self-deprecation subscale and a self-confidence subscale” (Owens, 1993; p. 288). This study aimed to look at the possible mediating role self-esteem may have between personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism) and the outcome variables.

As Myers and Diener (1995) have noted: happy individuals not only have specific traits but also have strong relationships. Two aspects of social networks family (relationship with parents) and school (peer relations and school performance) have been found by various studies to be important to young people's mental well-being and social adjustment (Argyle, 1987). Many researchers like Herz and Gullone (1999) argued that the quality of the parent–child relationship has a significant impact on the long-term confidence, resilience and well-being of individuals (Canetti et al., 1997, Hopkins and Klein, 1995, Kitamura and Suziki, 1993).

Furnham and Cheng (2000) examined the parental rearing styles (using the PAQ: Parental Authority Questionnaire designed by Buri, 1991), self-esteem and self-rated happiness in a normal, nonclinical, population of young people. They found that maternal authoritativeness was the only direct predictor of happiness when paternal and maternal rearing styles were examined together. However, when paternal and maternal styles were measured separately, paternal authoritativeness also showed a direct predictive power of happiness while paternal authoritarian behaviour appeared to reduce young people's happiness through weakening their self-esteem.

Leisure is also an important component of overall satisfaction (Argyle, 2001, Furnham, 1991). Various studies have looked at the relation between leisure (both social and solitary activities) and well-being among young people. For example, Argyle and Lu (1990) examined the relationship between leisure activities, personality traits, and happiness. They found that social activities were correlated with happiness. The frequencies of participation of those social activities were also correlated with happiness. Extraversion was also significantly correlated with social activities and frequencies of social participation. Regressional analysis showed that the frequencies of both social and solitary activities were the predictors of happiness indicating that frequently participating in solitary activities would also, like social activities, increase individuals' psychological well-being. In another study, Cooper, Okamura, and Gurka (1992) found that satisfaction with social activities was significantly correlated with psychological well-being (r=0.40, P<0.01). Thus this study also attempted to examine the social networks and leisure in relation to happiness and depression.

In summary, this study focuses on the relationship between personality traits, self-esteem, happiness, and depression which have been the focus of a number of previous research studies. This study also examines the impact of young peoples' lives including relationships with parents, relationships with friends, romance, and leisure on happiness and depression. Various demographic variables (such as sex, parental employment, number of siblings, etc.) were also examined to explain the determinants of happiness and depression. One aim of this investigation is to explore social and relationships factors associated with happiness and depression, together with personality and demographic factors. As Diener et al. (1999) have noted: “We are unsure how many additional personality traits are needed to complete a complete picture of the happy individual. Identifying which personality traits are related to SWB (subjective well-being), the direction of causality, and the mechanisms responsible for these relations have emerged as important goals in personality and SWB research” (p. 282).

Very few studies on happiness have included other measures that may intervene the relationship between personality and happiness such as self-esteem. Further, the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI; Argyle, Martin, & Crossland, 1989) which has been used in many studies to measure happiness is in both style and content almost the “psychological opposite” of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). Few, if any, studies on happiness have looked at “mental ill-health” measures such as BDI to see if they have mirror opposite correlates and predictions of happiness. Finally, previous studies have established that the measure of happiness is multi-dimensional (Furnham & Brewin, 1990). The factors of happiness may not all have similar correlations with other variables and this study explored both the correlates of the factors, as well as overall trait happiness.

This was in part a confirmatory and part exploratory study and a number of hypotheses were formulated:

• Although positive affect and negative affect (as measured by PA and NA) were found to be independent or partially independent in previous studies and correlated differently with happiness and unhappiness, cognitive evaluation (self-esteem) and health were found to be correlated with both happiness (or mental health) and unhappiness (such as anxiety and depression). It was thus hypothesised that general measures of happiness (as measured by OHI) and unhappiness (as measured by BDI) would be negatively correlated;

• Self-esteem subscales would affect happiness and depression differently: positive self-esteem (relative to negative self-esteem) would be a significant predictor of happiness whereas negative self-esteem (relative to positive self-esteem) would be a significant predictor of depression;

• Extraversion is a significant predictor of happiness but not depression; neuroticism is a significant predictor of both happiness (negatively) and depression (positively) because of its features of negative affectivity;

• The quality and quantity of social networks would be significantly correlated with both happiness (positively) and depression (negatively) because of their enhancing (in positive situations) and buffering (in negative situations) effects;

• Leisure activities would be a significant predictor of happiness due to its associations with positive affectivity.