RESOURCES, PERSONAL STRIVINGS, AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING - A NOMOTHETIC AND IDIOGRAPHIC APPROACH

The covariation of resources such as money, family support, social ski lls, and intelligence with subjective well-being (SWB) was assessed in 195 college students. Informant ratings provided an index of resource s. Self-reports, daily experience sampling, and informant reports were used to measure SWB. The authors concluded that resources taken toget her are moderately strong predictors of SWB. This conclusion, however, was qualified by the fact that life satisfaction was more closely rel ated to resources than was affective well-being and that social and pe rsonal resources were in general more strongly related to SWB than wer e material resources. The findings also supported the hypothesis that resources correlate more strongly with SWB when they are relevant to a n individual's idiographic personal strivings. A tendency was found fo r people to choose personal strivings for which they have relevant res ources, and the degree of congruence of individuals' goals with resour ces was predictive of SWB.