Being or having? - young adults life orientations and their satisfaction with life

Abstract

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to examine if life orientations of young adults (“being” or “having”) differentiate respondents with respect to the degree of life satisfaction. Material and methods: A total of 187 persons (143 woman and 44 man) aged 18 to 29 years were included in the study. The following methods were used in the study: sociodemographic questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale by E. Diener, R.A. Emmons, R.J. Larson, S. Griffin and the Being and Having Orientations Scale of B. Grulkowski. Results: A life orientation is a kind of behaviour regulator, that set the direction of human activity. There is a distinction between a “being” orientation (which refers to spiritual values) and a “having” orientation (which refers to possessing material things) that are manifested in a variety of experiences, and is related to human thinking, feeling, and acting. Therefore, a life orientation may play a really important role in the satisfaction with life. Most of the respondents were characterised by a mixed orientation (“being-having”) and an average level of satisfaction with life. There is no significant difference in the level of satisfaction with life according to gender and the subject of studies. It was shown that people with the “being” orientation have greater satisfaction with life than people with the “having” orientation. The obtained results, which show no differences in satisfaction with life according to gender, are consistent with the earlier studies. And so is the result that people with the dominant of the “being” orientation have greater satisfaction with life, than those with the “having” orientation. Conclusions: Only few papers about “being” and “having” orientations have been published so far since the method used in the study occurs only in the Polish language and there is no data about its adaptations in different countries. Results of conducted research set the direction of educational impact and give the scientific basis for a well-known saying: money can't buy happiness.