Do causal attributions mediate the relationship between personality characteristics and life satisfaction in adolescence?

• Published in: Psychology in the schools Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 91 - 99
• Main Authors: Rigby, Ben T., Huebner, E. Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.01.2005; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Attribution Theory; Biological and medical sciences; Developmental psychology; Emotional Development; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health Promotion; High School Students; Life Satisfaction; Personality; Personality Traits; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Social attribution, perception and cognition; Social psychology; Human; Correlation analysis; Attitude; Adolescent; Satisfaction; Personality; Cognitive style; Causality; Attribution; Social cognition; Quality of life
• ISSN: 0033-3085; 1520-6807
• DOI: 10.1002/pits.20026

This study examined relationships among personality traits, causal attributions, and global life satisfaction in a sample of 212 high school students. A chief aim of this research was to explore whether causal attributions mediate the relationship between personality characteristics and global life satisfaction as hypothesized by DeNeve and Cooper (1998). Specifically, a mediational model was proposed whereby extraversion and emotional stability relate to causal attributions, which in turn relate to life satisfaction. The results of this research revealed that the personality characteristic of emotional stability, but not extraversion, was related significantly to adolescent life satisfaction. Moreover, this study indicated that adolescents' causal attributions for good events mediated the relationship between life satisfaction and emotional stability. These findings should enhance understanding of potential pathways to the development of increased life satisfaction in adolescents as well as inform adolescent health promotion efforts. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 91–99, 2005.