ZVJEZDAN PENEZIC, LOZENA IVANOV

PREDICTION OF LIFE SATISFACTION IN THREE DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

            The available literature deals with measurement and defines satisfaction with life in the larger context of subjective well-being. This concept includes: 1. satisfaction with life, as a cognitive component, 2. positive, and 3. negative affects, as affective components.

            One of the aims of this investigation was to find out which personality dimensions and other personality characteristics could be treated as significant predictors of life satisfaction. Investigation covered 228 subjects. Because of some disagreements about the effects of age on satisfaction with life, and  heedful of the Levinson's theoretical insight about life transitions, the subjects were sorted into three groups: a group of students, a group of middle aged people, and a group of older people.

Generally speaking, results indicate that there are no common predictor of life satisfaction among the three age groups. In the group of students, as well as in the group of middle aged people, the largest predictor of life satisfaction was factor named Positive attitudes toward life. In the group of the older people the largest predictors were subjective health assessment and factor named Depression. It is very interesting but the extraversion was the only one personality dimension which could be treated as significant predictor od life satisfaction, but just in a group of students.