The mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between morningness–eveningness and subjective well‐being

Abstract

Studies show that morningness preference and subjective well-being are positively related. However, little is known about potential factors that may underpin this association. In the present study, we explored the mediational role of general social support and its facets (family, friends, and significant other) in the relationship between morningness-eveningness and subjective well-being. The present study was conducted with a sample of 1,067 adults (51% women), with a mean (SD, range) age of 36.41 (9.95, 18-55) years. Our results corroborated earlier findings that morningness was positively associated with both subjective well-being and social support.Controlling for age and gender, we obtained significant mediation effects, showing that the association between morningness-eveningness and subjective wellbeing might stem, at least in part, from the higher levels of social support received by morning-oriented individuals. This may lead to the conclusion that social support is an important antecedent of the greater well-being reported by morning-oriented individuals.

Social support mediates the effect of morningness on changes in subjective well‐being over 6 months

“…The purpose of this study was to provide a longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between morningness–eveningness and subjective well‐being over a 6‐month period. Consistent with a previous study (Gorgol et al, 2022), we found that morningness was positively correlated with social support and SWB. We also found that morningness in T1 was positively related to a shift in SWB between T1 and T2.…”

“…Hence, our results corroborate the earlier findings regarding the role of lower social support in explaining the undesirable consequences for SWB among eveningness chronotypes (Gorgol et al, 2022).…”

“…Research also indicates that life satisfaction, one of the main components of SWB, may be predicted by perceived social support (Siedlecki et al, 2014). As we demonstrated in a previous study, higher levels of perceived social support may be responsible for the higher level of SWB among morning‐oriented individuals and an important factor in the lower level of SWB reported by evening‐oriented individuals (Gorgol et al, 2022).…”

“…In a recent cross‐sectional study, we found that perceived social support mediated the relationship between morningness–eveningness and subjective well‐being (SWB; Gorgol et al, 2022). The aim of the present study was to extend that research by investigating the mediating influence of perceived social support on change in SWB over a period of 6 months.…”

“…These differences in emotional functioning may also be seen in SWB, a construct defined as the presence of PA, the relative absence of negative affect (NA), combined with an assessment of overall satisfaction with life (Diener et al, 1999). Research shows that morning‐oriented individuals experience higher levels of all components of SWB than evening‐oriented individuals (Gorgol et al, 2022; Walsh et al, 2022).…”