Are Changes in the Perception of Major Life Events Associated With Changes in Subjective Well-Being?

Abstract

Major life events can lead to changes in subjective well-being (SWB), but people differ in the extent and duration of these changes. Recent research indicates that individual differences in how people perceive major life events can explain some of these differences in event-related changes in SWB. But how events are perceived does not only vary between individuals, it also changes over time. Theories such as affective adaptation theory and appraisal theory suggest that such changes in the event perception are related to changes in SWB (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). The present article examined the dynamic interplay between perceived event characteristics and SWB using two longitudinal studies (NStudy1 = 619; NStudy2 = 691). In both studies, perceived event characteristics and SWB were assessed at two measurement occasions 3 months apart. We used bivariate latent change score models to estimate correlated changes of these constructs. Perceiving events as more externally controlled and as more social status threatening was consistently associated with a decrease in life satisfaction. Furthermore, perceiving events as more challenging over time was consistently associated with a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect. Consequently, feedback loops between these constructs are a possible mechanism that explain event-related changes in SWB. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of assessing perceived characteristics of major life events longitudinally to gain a better understanding of event-related changes in SWB.

Examining individual differences in personality trait changes after negative life events

“…However, previous studies focused on the mere occurrence of different event types. Recently, attention has turned to a more detailed assessment of life events: understanding how specific subjective and objective characteristics of life events might affect personality change and stability (Blackie & Jayawickreme, 2022;Bleidorn et al, 2020;Haehner et al, 2023a;Jayawickreme et al, 2020;Luhmann et al, 2021).…”

“…Life events vary not only in their perceived characteristics but also in their objective characteristics. Objective-descriptive event characteristics reflect the causes, content, and circumstances of a life event and are (more or less) not subject to interpretation 1 (Haehner et al, 2023a). However, whereas perceived event characteristics such as valence or impact could apply to any life event, objective-descriptive event characteristics are specific to a certain life event.…”

“…However, there are theoretical reasons to assume that objective-descriptive characteristics are relevant for personality trait changes. First, objective-descriptive event characteristics provide important details about life events and may thus indicate the relevance of an event for people's everyday life and the associated behavioral, affective, and cognitive changes (Haehner et al, 2023a;Halford & Sweeper, 2013, van der Houwen et al, 2010. For example, think again about a relationship breakup and its possible consequences.…”

Examining interindividual differences in unemployment-related changes in subjective well-being: The role of psychological well-being and re-employment expectations

“…Research on the ECQ underlines that the nine dimensions are differentially stable over time (Haehner, Kritzler, et al, 2022) and that life events vary in their perceived characteristics (Kritzler et al, 2022). The ECQ has already been used to study the relationship between event characteristics and subjective well-being (Haehner, Pfeifer, et al, 2022) as well as prosociality and empathy (Fassbender et al, 2022), underlining that it is a highly informative measure for researching life events. Importantly, analytically controlling for situational circumstances of unemployment will likely also increase the statistical power for identifying internal (coping) resources that moderate the effects of unemployment on SWB.…”

Examining Individual Differences in Personality Trait Changes After Negative Life Events

“…Furthermore, as can be seen in Figure 1, there were substantial individual differences in personality trait change within the time frame of our study. Finally, as indicated by research on other constructs such as subjective well-being (Doré & Bolger, 2018;Haehner, Pfeifer, et al, 2022;Suh et al, 1996), the first months after the occurrence of an event might even be particularly relevant to better understand the implications of such an event.…”