Occupations and well-being: A study of personal projects

Objective. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship betwee n occupation and subjective well-being (SWB). Method. A convenience sample of 120 adults completed a personal projects an alysis, a method of rating their current goal-directed pursuits. They also completed measures of SWB (Affect Balance Scale, Life Satisfaction Index Fo rm A) and personality traits (Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory). Characte ristics of personal projects were correlated with SWB scares. Multiple regr ession analysis was wed to investigate possible predictors of well-being fr om among the characteristics of personal projects, personality traits, and demographic variables. Results. The stress associated with personal projects was significantly and inversely correlated with well-being, as was project difficulty. Perceived progress in completing projects was Significantly positively correlated wi th well-being. The strongest predictors for well-being were the composite p roject factors of stress and efficacy. Two personality traits, sensing and extraversion, interacted with the project dimension of stress to emerge as significant predictors of well-being. Together, these four variables explai ned 42% of the variance in well-being scores. Conclusion. These findings are consistent with assumptions that attributes of meaningful occupations are significantly related to people's perceived w ell-being.