Relationship Of World Assumptions With Dispositional Personality Traits And Life Satisfaction

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship of world assumptions with dispositional personality traits and life satisfaction. World Assumption Scale, HEXACO-PI-R and Satisfaction with Life Scale were used for the diagnostics. The sample of 505 respondents (63.7% of women, 36.3% of men; aged from 18 to 78 years, M = 26.78, SD = 11.76), demonstrates the age and gender differences according to world assumptions of an individual. With age, people begin to evaluate themselves as more well-deserved and successful, and others as kinder and more cooperative. Women demonstrate a more positive self-image, compared to men, and consider the world fairer. Among the six factors emphasized in the HEXACO model, Extroversion is most closely associated with all five subscales of the World Assumption Scale. High Consciousness implies belief in a just world, appreciation of oneself as a good person capable of acting successfully in difficult situations. People with high Agreeableness consider the world to be benevolent and fair, and the destiny to be favorable to them. Honesty correlates with belief in a just world and success, while Openness to experience correlates with a positive self-image. Emotionality is not connected with world assumptions of an individual. Satisfaction with life correlates with all world assumptions of the individual (R ranging from 0.16 to 0.33, p <0.001). The world assumptions account for 17.6% of the variance of life satisfaction. The self-image and faith in a just world are significant predictors of life satisfaction.

Keywords: World assumptionsdispositional personality traitslife satisfaction

Introduction

The concept of “world assumptions” describes the global sustainable ideas of a human about the world and about himself. This concept is developed in different fields of psychological science, namely in social, cognitive, clinical psychology and psychotherapy. World assumptions can be considered as social attitudes characterizing the interaction of a person with the world in “ordinary” life, affecting his perception of current developments, emotional response, and behavior. The world assumptions are highlighted by the American scientist Janoff-Bulman (1989) in the form this article considers them, within the framework of the theory of psychological trauma, as factors determining the success of psychological adaptation to stressful events. Based on his implicit ideas about the structure of the world, a person interprets events in his life and forms his attitude to them. If a person considers the world as fairly fair and prosperous and sees himself as a worthy person capable to cope with difficulties, his level of psychological adaptation is high, otherwise he would hardly cope with post-traumatic experiences.

Problem Statement

The world assumptions represent the most important factor in overcoming post-traumatic experiences, as evidenced by a number of studies (Mikkelsen & Einarsen, 2002; Ehlers & Clark, 2000). In Russian psychology, world assumptions are also a subject of interest (Padun & Tarabrina, 2004). In a number of works, the analysis focuses on the interrelations of various world assumptions with other psychological constructs, in particular, with subjective well-being (Shamionov, 2016, Weber, Ruch, Littman-Ovadia, Lavy, & Gai, 2013), as well as with personality traits and BigFive factors (Nudelman, 2013; Uryvaev & Tarasova, 2011). Thus, belief in a just world is positively correlated with both cognitive and emotional aspects of subjective psychological well-being (Dalbert, Lipkus, Sallay, & Goch, 2001; Correia, Batista, & Lima, 2009; Dzuka & Dalbert, 2006). Analysis of the relationship of this attitude with dispositional personality traits indicates a unidirectional relationship with Extraversion and a multidirectional relationship with Neuroticism and Openness to new experience (Nudelman, 2013). The world scheme of the competitive world is typical for people with low Agreeableness, and it is considered dangerous by people with low Openness to experience and high Consciousness (Sibley & Duckitt, 2009).

Along with social worldviews, self-perceptions are also considered as world assumptions. Thus, high Self-esteem as an expression of the Self-image is observed in emotionally stable, extrovert, conscious people with moderate agreeableness and openness to new experiences (Robins, Tracy, Trzesniewski, Potter, & Gosling, 2001). Self-esteem is not only directly related to life satisfaction (Bajaj, Gupta, & Pande, 2016; Błachnio, Przepiorka, & Pantic, 2016), but also mediates the influence of other characteristics on it (Du, Bernardo, & Yeung, 2015; Joshanloo & Afshari, 2011).

Research Questions

It should be noted that the concept of world assumptions is not explicitly defined, and their list varies in different authors. The assumption “Belief in a just world” is the most developed to date, and other world assumptions are not sufficiently studied. It is not quite clear how they are related to other personal characteristics, what place they occupy in the personality structure, not only in the situation of post-traumatic experience, but also in everyday life.

Purpose of the Study

This work aimed to analyze the relationship of the world assumptions of an individual with the most generalized personality traits, as well as an assessment of the contribution of the world assumptions of an individual to the subjective satisfaction with life.

Research Methods

Findings

Age-related changes of indicators of world assumptions of an individual

Correlation analysis indicates a positive relationship between age and ideas about the benevolence of the surrounding world (r = 0.19, p <0.001), the “self-image” (r = 0.33, p <0.001) and “fortune” (r = 0.35, p <0.001). With age, people begin to consider others as more trustworthy, kind and supportive, and themselves as good people whose merits outweigh the deficiencies, and they believe that fate was favorable to them.

Figure 1 presents the results obtained for the five indicators of the world assumptions of an individual in six age groups (18–20, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, 61–78 years). The diagram shown in the figure demonstrates non-linear age-related changes in the world assumptions of an individual. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates the presence of significant differences between the age groups (F = 5.13, p <0.001).

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Conclusion

World assumptions of an individual are considered as attitudes towards the world and himself in it. Their role in psychological adaptation is to maintain the stability of the subjective world view in a changing reality. There are relationships between world assumptions and five of the six dispositional personality traits identified in the HEXACO model. Extraversion is most closely associated with them. Greater satisfaction with life is noted in people who have a positive Self-image, believe in the benevolence and justice of the world around them, and assess themselves as successful and able to cope successfully with difficulties.

Acknowledgments

The study was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the project № № 19-013-00274«Spouse, child-parent and sibling relationships: An actor-partner interdependence model»

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