Happy as an extraverted clam? The role of personality for subjective well-being

Personality characteristics, especially the traits of extraversion and neur oticism, have been proposed as the primary determinant of subjective well-b eing (SWB). Meta-analytic evidence presented here suggests personality is i ndeed strongly related with SWB, and that only health is more strongly corr elated with SWB. In a study of 137 personality traits that have been correl ated with SWB, neuroticism was one of neuroticism was one of the strongest negative correlates of SWB. However, extraversion was not the primary facto r associated with increased SWB. Rather, several personality characteristic s that focus on the characteristic experience of emotions, on enhancing rel ationships, and on one's characteristic style of explaining the causes of l ife events are most intimately tied to SWB.