Development and empirical validation of a motivational model of life-satisfaction regulation

在过去的几年里，多项研究表明，高生活满意度与生活中许多领域的积极成果有关，包括社会关系，成就和健康。然而，解释这些影响的机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。一个可能的解释是，生活满意度通过其对目标选择和目标追求的激励作用而导致这些积极的结果。这一假设是生活满意度调节动机模型的核心，本项目将开发和验证这一模型。生活满意度是主观幸福感更一般结构的认知组成部分。认知幸福感反映了人们对生活的总体评价，它与情感幸福感不同，情感幸福感反映了积极和消极情感的频率。认知和情感幸福在结构和功能上是不同的结构，其原因和后果不同。一个主要的区别是，当人们评价他们的生活满意度时，他们会考虑他们的生活环境，当他们评价他们的情感幸福感时，他们会考虑他们最近的活动。从这一发现中，我们可以得出该模型的核心命题：当人们试图改变他们的生活满意度水平时，他们会改变那些他们认为是生活满意度来源的东西，也就是说，他们的生活环境，而不是他们的个性或活动。因此，主要的假设是，生活满意度（而不是情感幸福）是负相关的愿望，以改变一个人的生活环境。此外，有人提出，这种愿望的变化转化为实际的目标与改变一个人的生活环境，如果一个特定的生活领域的感知控制水平高（同化）。相反，如果控制感较低，人们更有可能调整自己的愿望（适应）。这一假设将在特定的生活领域内和跨特定的生活领域进行测试，使用各种方法，包括相关性，实验和现有的纵向研究。此外，我研究是否对特定目标的变化的愿望的效果是温和的感知控制。此外，还将探讨模型中中心变量之间关系的年龄差异。最后，使用档案纵向数据，成功和不成功的目标实现对生活满意度的影响将被检查。总之，这些研究将导致一个完善和验证的生活满意度调节模型，可以解释为什么生活满意度可以导致生活中的积极成果。

In the past years, multiple studies have shown that high life satisfaction is associated with positive outcomes in many areas in life, including social relationships, achievement, and health. However, the mechanisms that account for these effects are largely unclear. One possible explanation is that life satisfaction leads to these positive outcomes through its motivational effects on goal selection and goal pursuit. This hypothesis is the core of the motivational model of life-satisfaction regulation that shall be developed and validated in this project. Life satisfaction is the cognitive component of the more general construct of subjective well-being. Cognitive well-being reflects people_s evaluations of their lives overall and can be distinguished from affective well-being which reflects the frequency of positive and negative affect. Cognitive and affective well-being are structurally and functionally distinct constructs that differ in their causes and consequences. One central distinction is that people think about their life circumstances when they rate their life satisfaction and they think about their recent activities when they rate their affective well-being. From this finding follows the central proposition of the proposed model: When people try to change their level of life satisfaction, they change those things that they perceive to be the sources of their life satisfaction, that is, their life circumstances, not their personality or their activities. Thus, the main hypothesis is that life satisfaction (but not affective well-being) is negatively related to the desire to change one_s life circumstances. Furthermore, it is proposed that this desire for change translates into actual goals associated with changing one_s life circumstances if the level of perceived control over a particular life domain is high (assimilation). If, in contrast, perceived control is low, people are more likely to adjust their aspirations (accommodation). This hypothesis will be tested within and across specific life domains, using a variety of methodological approaches including correlational, experimental, and existing longitudinal studies. In addition, I examine whether the effect of the desire for change on specific goals is moderated perceived control. Moreover, age differences in the relationships among the central variables in the model will be explored. Finally, using archival longitudinal data, the effect of successful and unsuccessful goal attainment on life satisfaction will be examined. Together, these studies will lead to a refined and validated model of life-satisfaction regulation that may explain why life satisfaction can lead to positive outcomes in life.