Disentangling the personality pathways to well-being

Abstract

Recent genomic, psychological, and developmental research shows that human personality is organized as a complex hierarchy that ascends from individual traits in many specific situations to multi-trait profiles in two domains that regulate emotional reactivity (temperament) or goals and values (character), and finally to three integrated temperament-character networks that regulate learning to maintain well-being in changing conditions. We carried out person-centered analyses of the components of subjective well-being (positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) to personality in both adolescents (N = 1739) and adults (N = 897). Personality was considered at each level of its organization (trait, temperament or character profiles, and joint temperament-character networks). We show for the first time that negative affect and life satisfaction are dependent on the personality network for intentional self-control, whereas positive affect is dependent on the personality network for self-awareness that underlies the human capacities for healthy longevity, creativity, and prosocial values.