Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

The More Negative the More Impact

Evidence From Nationally Representative Data on the Relation Between Domain Satisfactions and General Life Satisfaction

Published Online:July 10, 2017https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000305

Abstract

Abstract. The present research investigates the relation between different domain satisfactions (e.g., health, income, etc.) and overall life satisfaction. Based on theorizing on the differences between positive and negative information, we assumed that specific domain satisfactions particularly are correlated with overall life satisfaction when the specific domain satisfactions (a) are low rather than high and (b) have declined rather than increased. Relying on a nationally representative sample of the German population (Socio-Economic Panel), we tested these considerations with both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. The findings strongly support that the more negative the domain satisfaction the more pronounced was the relation between domain and overall life satisfaction – both when negativity was assessed relative to other domains as well as when negativity was assessed relative to prior satisfaction with the same domain.

References

  • Albert, I., Labs, K. & Trommsdorff, G. (2010). Are older adult German women satisfied with their lives? GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 39–49. doi: 10.1024/1662-9647/a000002 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Alves, H., Koch, A. & Unkelbach, C. (2016). My friends are all alike – The relation between liking and perceived similarity in person perception. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 62, 103–117. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2015.10.011 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Alves, H., Koch, A. & Unkelbach, C. (2017). Why good is more alike than bad: Processing implications. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21, 72–82. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.12.006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Alves, H., Unkelbach, C., Burghardt, J., Koch, A. S., Kruger, T. & Becker, V. D. (2015). A density explanation of valence asymmetries in recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 43, 896–909. doi: 10.3758/s13421-015-0515-5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Argyle, M. (2001). The psychology of happiness. London, UK: Routledge. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C. & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323–370. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.323 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Blanchflower, D. G. & Oswald, A. J. (2008). Is well-being U-shaped over the life cycle? Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1733–1749. doi: 10.1007/s11205-011-9903-9 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bless, H. & Burger, A. M. (2016). A closer look at social psychologists’ silver bullet: Inevitable and evitable side effects of the experimental approach. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 296–308. doi: 10.1177/1745691615621278 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bless, H. & Schwarz, N. (2010). Mental construal and the emergence of assimilation and contrast effects: The inclusion/exclusion model. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 319–373. doi: 10.1016/S0065-2601(10)42006-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Campbell, A., Converse, P. E. & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. doi: 10.1017/S0008423900050976 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cheng, S.-T. & Chan, A. C. (2006). Relationship with others and life satisfaction in later life: Do gender and widowhood make a difference? Journal of Gerontology, 61B, 46–53. doi: 10.1093/geronb/61.1.P46 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cohen, S. & Herbert, T. B. (1996). Health psychology: Psychological factors and physical disease from the perspective of human psychoneuroimmunology. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 113–142. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.113 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cumming, G. & Finch, S. (2005). Inference by eye: Confidence intervals and how to read pictures of data. The American Psychologist, 60, 170–180. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.60.2.170 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cummins, R. A. (1996). The domains of life satisfaction: An attempt to order chaos. Social Indicators Research, 38, 303–332. doi: 10.1007/BF00292050 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • DeNeve, K. M. & Copper, H. (1998). The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197–229. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. The American Psychologist, 55, 34–43. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. (2012). New findings and future directions for subjective well-being research. The American Psychologist, 67, 590–597. doi: 10.1037/a0029541 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. (2013). The remarkable changes in the science of subjective well-being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8, 663–666. doi: 10.1177/1745691613507583 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E. & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 653–663. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.68.4.653 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E., Oishi, S. & Lucas, R. E. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 403–425. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E. & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fiske, S. T. (1980). Attention and weight in person perception: The impact of negative and extreme behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 889–906. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.38.6.889 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Frey, B. S. & Stutzer, A. (2002). What can economists learn from happiness research? Journal of Economic Literature, 40, 402–435. doi: 10.1111/1468-0297.00570 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gershoff, A. D., Mukherjee, A. & Mukhopadhyay, A. (2007). Few ways to love, but many ways to hate: Attribute ambiguity and the positivity effect in agent evaluation. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 499–505. doi: 10.1086/510223 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Heller, D., Watson, D. & Ilies, R. (2004). The role of person versus situation in life satisfaction: A critical examination. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 574–600. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.574 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ito, T. A., Larsen, J. T., Smith, N. K. & Cacioppo, J. T. (1998). Negative information weighs more heavily on the brain: The negative bias in evaluative categorizations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 887–900. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.887 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kahneman, D. & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 16489–16493. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1011492107 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47, 263–292. doi: 10.2307/1914185 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lucas, R. E. & Donnellan, B. M. (2012). Estimating the reliability of single-item life satisfaction measures: Results from four national panel studies. Social Indicators Research, 105, 323–331. doi: 10.1007/s11205-011-9783-z First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Luhmann, M., Lucas, R. E., Eid, M. & Diener, E. (2012). The prospective effect of life satisfaction on life events. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 39–45. doi: 10.1177/1948550612440105 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lyubomirsky, S. (2001). Why are some people happier than others?: The role of cognitive and motivational processes in well-being. The American Psychologist, 56, 239–249. doi: 10.1037//0003-066X.56.3.239 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Matheson, J. (2011). Measuring what matters: National statistician’s reflections on the National debate on measuring well-being. London, UK: Office for National Statistics. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Myers, D. G. (1999). Close relationships and quality of life. In D. KahnemanE. DienerN. SchwarzEds., Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 374–391). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Oishi, S., Diener, E., Suh, E. & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 157–184. doi: 10.1111/1467-6494.00051 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Oishi, S., Schimmack, U. & Colcombe, S. J. (2003). The contextual and systematic nature of life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 232–247. doi: 10.1016/S0022-1031(03)00016-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Peeters, G. & Czapinski, J. (1990). Positive-negative asymmetry in evaluations: The distinction between affective and informative negativity effects. European Review of Social Psychology, 1, 33–60. doi: 10.1080/14792779108401856 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Penedo, F. & Dahn, J. (2005). Exercise and well-being: A review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 18, 189–193. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Potter, T., Corneille, O., Ruys, K. I. & Rhodes, G. (2007). “Just another pretty face”: A multidimensional scaling approach to face attractiveness and variability. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 368–372. doi: 10.3758/BF03194079 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Pratto, F. & John, O. P. (1991). Automatic vigilance: The attention-grabbing power of negative social information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 380–391. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.61.3.380 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Robinson-Riegler, G. L. & Winton, W. M. (1996). The role of conscious recollection in recognition of affective material: Evidence for positive-negative asymmetry. The Journal of General Psychology, 123, 93–104. doi: 10.1080/00221309.1996.9921263 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rozin, P. & Royzman, E. B. (2001). Negativity bias, negativity dominance, and contagion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 296–320. doi: 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schimmack, U. (2009). Measuring wellbeing in the SOEP. Schmollers Jahrbuch, 129, 241–249. doi: 10.3790/schm.129.2.241 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schul, Y. & Schiff, M. (1993). Measuring satisfaction with organizations: Predictions from information accessibility. Public Opinion Quarterly, 57, 536–551. doi: 10.1086/269394 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schwarz, N. & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In D. KahnemanE. DienerN. SchwarzEds., Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schwarz, N., Strack, F. & Mai, H.-P. (1991). Assimilation and contrast effects in part-whole question sequences: A conversational logic analysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 3–23. doi: 10.1086/269239 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. & Reis, H. T. (1996). What makes for a good day? Competence and autonomy in the day and in the person. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 1270–1279. doi: 10.1177/01461672962212007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Skowronski, J. J. & Carlston, D. E. (1987). Social judgment and social memory: The role of cue diagnosticity in negativity, positivity, and extremity bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 689–699. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.52.4.689 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Skowronski, J. J. & Carlston, D. E. (1989). Negativity and extremity biases in impression formation: A review of explanations. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 131–142. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.105.1.131 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis). (2008). Datenreport 2008: Ein Sozialbericht für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland [Data report 2008: Social report for Germany]. Bonn, Germany First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A. & Fitoussi, J.-P. (2009). Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress. Retrieved from http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Strack, F., Martin, L. L. & Schwarz, N. (1988). Priming and communication: Social determinants of information use in judgments of life satisfaction. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 429–442. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2420180505 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Stutzer, A. & Frey, B. S. (2008). Stress that doesn’t pay: The commuting paradox. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 110, 339–366. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2008.00542.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wagner, G. G., Frick, J. R. & Schupp, J. (2007). The German socio-economic panel study (SOEP) – Scope, evolution and enhancements. Schmollers Jahrbuch, 127, 139–169. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Walasek, L. & Stewart, N. (2015). How to make loss aversion disappear and reverse: Tests of the decision by sampling origin of loss aversion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 7–11. doi: 10.1037/xge0000039 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wooldridge, J. M. (2010). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar