Wortman Jessica, Lucas Richard E
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2016 Apr;110(4):625-33. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000065. Epub 2015 Oct 5.
Previous research has explored possible origins of individual differences in subjective well-being, focusing largely on stable, internal characteristics of traits as predictors of life satisfaction (Diener & Lucas, 1999). Although past work has demonstrated that life satisfaction is largely stable over the life span, other evidence has also demonstrated the lasting impact of life events. In this study, we use married couples as a test of the impact of life circumstances on life satisfaction, focusing on similarity in life satisfaction before and after divorce. If life satisfaction is impacted by shared life circumstances, married couples (who share life circumstances) should show greater similarity in life satisfaction before divorce than after. We tested this possibility using a dyadic latent-state-trait model that examined cross-spouse similarity in the stable and changing components of life satisfaction. Using a nationally representative panel study from Germany (Wagner, Frick & Schupp, 2007), we showed that similarity declined substantially following divorce. This suggests that life satisfaction is related to shared life circumstances.
以往的研究探讨了主观幸福感个体差异的可能来源，主要聚焦于特质的稳定内在特征作为生活满意度的预测指标（迪纳和卢卡斯，1999）。尽管过去的研究表明生活满意度在很大程度上在整个生命跨度内是稳定的，但其他证据也证明了生活事件的持久影响。在本研究中，我们以已婚夫妇为对象，测试生活环境对生活满意度的影响，重点关注离婚前后生活满意度的相似性。如果生活满意度受到共同生活环境的影响，那么已婚夫妇（共享生活环境）在离婚前的生活满意度应该比离婚后表现出更大的相似性。我们使用二元潜态-特质模型来测试这种可能性，该模型考察了生活满意度稳定和变化成分中的配偶间相似性。利用德国一项具有全国代表性的面板研究（瓦格纳、弗里克和舒普，2007），我们发现离婚后相似性大幅下降。这表明生活满意度与共同的生活环境有关。
