Happiness by personality Traits: the mediating role of decision-making tendencies.

Background: Prior work has shown that happiness is associated with high levels of extroversion and low levels of neuroticism; whereas conscientiousness and agreeableness have also been found to be moderately associated with subjective well-being and happiness. Nevertheless, the reasons why personality traits are linked to subjective well-being remain poorly interpreted. As a consequence, the identification of mediating variables could be strategic for better understanding of the reasons for well-being. One promising avenue has been the focus on individuals’ tendencies in decision-making which may alter happiness levels. The relationships between well-being and maximizing vs. satisficing tendencies have mainly been explored. However, the perspective that maximizing is related to low levels of well-being and happiness has been questioned due to the different conceptualizations and measurement of the constructs. The present research sought to clarify these relationships by testing a mediational model in which decision-making tendencies would mediate the effects of personality traits on orientations to happiness (meaningful, pleasant and engaged life) considered as hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Methods: A sample of 978 participants (Mage = 21.54 years, SD = 4.88; 558 females) filled out a battery of questionnaires composed of the Ten Item Personality Inventory, the Decision Making Tendency Inventory, and the Orientation to Happiness Questionnaire. Results: Data from structural equation modeling analyses partially confirmed the hypothesized relationships: the effects of extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience on meaningful and pleasant orientations were mediated by maximizing, whereas satisficing mediated the relationships between agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience and the pleasant orientation. Discussion and Conclusion: These findings provided new insights into the potential predictors of the hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being and suggested intriguing considerations about the nature of the linkages between personality, decision-making tendencies, and well-being.