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According to a recent study, certain personality traits would allow us to better appreciate life. A finding that is also verified with age, and which can evolve positively throughout life. Discover these 5 keys to happiness!
What is happiness about?
For many researchers in psychology, this notion, although subjective, would still be correlated to the way we apprehend life. Thus, 5 personality traits precisely would allow us to touch happiness and feel satisfaction on a daily basis: open-mindedness, conscientiousness, extroversion, friendliness and emotional stability.
But a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, rated how the personality traits of this “Big Five” were linked to professional, social and personal satisfaction throughout adult life and whether they persisted with age.
Emotional stability, the first ingredient to be happy in life
To better understand how the relationship between personality and life satisfaction changes with age, the researchers assessed data from 9,110 Dutch people aged 16 to 95, who for 11 years completed multiple surveys on their personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability/neuroticism) and their satisfaction with their social relationships, careers, and life.
The team found that the link between personality traits and ‘happiness’ was stable across the lifespan, meaning that regardless of age, personality traits continue to strongly influence happiness global.
“Results indicated that emotional stability – a trait related to stress management, emotion regulation, and flexibility in the face of challenges and change – was the strongest predictor of overall job satisfaction. life and career,” said Janelle S. Peifer, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Richmond
The team also found that different traits had a greater impact on different facets of life. Conscientiousness, for example, was more closely related to job satisfaction, while extraversion and agreeableness had a stronger effect on social satisfaction.
Good in your body, good in your head!
Cultivating happiness: a fact that is always possible as you age
People who unfortunately did not benefit from emotional stability in childhood or in their love life can be reassured, however: not everything is a foregone conclusion. According to the study, people who scored higher in any of the personality traits as they aged generally experienced more satisfaction later in life, suggesting that our personality traits aren’t etched in the memory. marble.
Furthermore, the relationship between emotional stability and job satisfaction strengthens as people age because, according to researchers, older people are more willing to leave unsatisfying jobs and apply for more challenging roles.
If personality traits therefore tend to remain stable, they can also change and improve throughout our lives. Openness and curiosity, for example, can be nurtured for life through our discoveries. According to Manon van Scheppingen, previous research suggests that people can influence and change their personality. “If we try to become more curious, outgoing or disciplined – to name a few examples – it could also increase our happiness.”
Another tactic to increase this happiness is to study your own personality and find activities that match your personality traits. “It is always possible to develop new skills, such as the ones listed, (stepping out of your comfort zone, being more outgoing, cultivating your kind side). But there is also room to study what really inspires you, as you are” concludes Dr. Peifer.
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