The Mediating Roles of Interdependent Happiness and Individual Depressive State in the Relations of Extraversion and Neuroticism to Life Satisfaction

Research on personality and well-being consistently showed that personality dimensions as measured by the Five Factor Model predict life satisfaction across cultures. Different mechanisms behind the effect of personality on life satisfaction have been identified, and culture was typically found to moderate the relative impact of these mechanisms (e.g., Kwan, Bond, & Singelis, 1997; Schimmack, Radhakrishnan, Oishi, Dzokoto, & Ahadi, 2002). Most of these studies tested the mechanisms with university students; it would be important to also examine community samples to enhance the generalizability of findings. In Hong Kong (n=248) and the U.S. (n=155), we examined the effects of extraversion and neuroticism on life satisfaction via interdependent happiness (Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015) and individual depressive state among community adults. Consistent with previous findings based on university student samples, extraversion and interdependent happiness positively related to life satisfaction, whereas neuroticism and individual depressive state negatively correlated with life satisfaction, in both HK Chinese and American samples. Using structural equation modeling, we found that among Hong Kong Chinese adults, interdependent happiness explained the effect of extraversion and part of the effect of neuroticism on life satisfaction, but no significant indirect effects were found with depressive state. Among American adults, interdependent happiness explained part of the effect of extraversion on life satisfaction, while both interdependent happiness and depressive state mediated the effect of neuroticism on life satisfaction. These findings will be discussed in terms of the cultural influences on the connection between individual characteristics and life satisfaction.