Bottom‐up or top‐down? Examining global and domain‐specific evaluations of how one's life is unfolding over time

Abstract

Objective We employed bottom‐up and top‐down perspectives to evaluate the link between how individuals view their lives as unfolding over time overall and in multiple life domains. Method Participants from an American adult lifespan sample (n = 1,003, mean age = 54.39 years, 49% female, 94% Caucasian) evaluated their recollected past, current, and anticipated future satisfaction in seven life domains (health, work, finances, contribution to others, relationships with one's children, close relationships, sex life) and for their lives overall (life satisfaction) at two time points separated by 9 years. Results Mean‐level trends varied by life domain and age. In cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses, domain‐specific beliefs about changes in one's life explained substantial amounts of variance in perceived changes in overall life satisfaction, and multiple domains had unique predictive effects. Domain‐specific beliefs also substantially mediated the predictive effect of age on perceived change in life satisfaction. Conclusions Findings provide consistent support for the bottom‐up perspective and limited support for the top‐down model. Accordingly, individuals seem to derive beliefs concerning how their lives overall are unfolding over time based on perceived changes across multiple life domains.

Domain Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction: Testing the Spillover-Crossover Model in Chilean Dual-Earner Couples

“…Taking into account the contribution of the three domains to overall life satisfaction, the high strength correlation between satisfaction with family life and overall life satisfaction in both members of the couple is consistent with previous studies concluding that satisfaction in the family domain is a stronger contributor to overall life satisfaction than satisfaction in the job [ 8 , 19 , 42 ] and food [ 20 , 21 ] domains. The strong association between satisfaction with family life and overall life satisfaction is also in line with studies reporting that satisfaction with close relationships, such as a spouse, and relationships with one’s children made a greater contribution to overall life satisfaction than satisfaction in the job domain [ 4 ]. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that satisfaction with family life was the main contributor to life satisfaction for both members of the couple.…”

“…The life satisfaction bottom-up theoretical approach suggests that an individual’s overall life satisfaction is informed by their satisfaction in diverse life domains [ 2 , 3 ]. Different studies have adopted this approach to assess the influence of different life domains (e.g., work, family, health, financial situation) on overall life satisfaction at an individual level in adult samples [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. These findings have shown that evaluations of various life domains can make independent contributions to (i.e., predict) life satisfaction [ 9 ].…”

“…According to the bottom-up approach, the domains that are the most immediate and important to people’s lives generally exert the strongest influence on overall life satisfaction [ 12 ]. However, bottom-up studies evaluating the contribution of various life domains to overall life satisfaction have yielded mixed results, which may be due mainly to culture-related aspects and the age of the participants [ 4 , 5 , 12 , 18 ]. In the US, Esterling [ 16 ] concluded that financial situation, job satisfaction and family life are the main domains that explain life satisfaction, while health was a secondary sphere.…”

“…Viñas-Bardolet et al [ 8 ] found that satisfaction with the standard of living, followed by the domains of family, social relationships and then work, were the main contributors to life satisfaction in workers in 28 EU countries. In a United States sample, Busseri and Mise [ 4 ] found that satisfaction with close relationships (such as a spouse), followed by satisfaction with finances, relationships with one’s children and job satisfaction positively contributed to higher levels of overall life satisfaction. Regarding the relative contribution of the family and food domains to overall life satisfaction, Schnettler et al [ 14 ] found that the contribution of satisfaction with family life was slightly higher than that of satisfaction with food-related life in undergraduate students’ life satisfaction in Chile.…”

“…Family forms a key unit of society which plays a crucial role in the individual’s psychological and social development [ 49 , 50 ]. The relevant role of the family domain for well-being has been stressed by numerous studies in adult samples [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 51 ]. Part of this role can be assessed using the concept of family life satisfaction, the person’s assessment of their own family life based on their own subjective criteria [ 52 ].…”