L. Seidlitz et al., COGNITIVE CORRELATES OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING - THE PROCESSING OF VALENCED LIFE EVENTS BY HAPPY AND UNHAPPY PERSONS, Journal of research in personality, 31(2), 1997, pp. 240-256
In a two-phase study, we examined the relations of subjective well-bei
ng with the cognitive processing of affectively valenced life events.
In Phase 1, both more intense and more enduring reactions to positive
Life events than negative ones were associated with higher well-being,
and for intensity of reactions, this relation was stronger for those
events that were subsequently recalled. When equal numbers of positive
and negative life events were eligible for recall, well-being was unr
elated to the relative likelihood of recalling the two types of events
. Phase 2 suggested that life events are organized in memory according
to the domain in which they occur but not according to their valence.
However, neither the organization nor the retrieval of life events co
rrelated with well-being. In combination, these findings suggest that
cognitive processes associated with the encoding of life events, but n
either the organization nor the retrieval of these events, are associa
ted with subjective well-being. (C) 1997 Academic Press.