*연구과제명: Essentializing Happiness Mitigates the Changes in Subjective Well-Being Following Negative Life Events
-연구 기관: 서울대학교, 위스콘신대학교 매디슨 캠퍼스 (연구팀)
-저자: Xyle Ku, Seung Eun Cha, Youngju Kim, Young Joo Jun, Incheol Choi
Abstract
People hold different beliefs about the changeability of happiness. Some believe that happiness is biologically predetermined and thus unchangeable (essentialist beliefs), while others believe that it is malleable and can be changed (non-essentialist beliefs). Do these beliefs have a tangible impact on how individuals actually experience well-being? Here, we predict and empirically demonstrate that endorsing essentialist beliefs about happiness (EBH) can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy that buffers the changes in subjective well-being (SWB) following life events. Through a series of four studies utilizing diverse methodologies (total N = 7,364), we provide converging evidence that happiness essentialists, compared to non-essentialists, experience relatively stable levels of SWB following life events, particularly negative ones. We find that this pattern also emerges when people recall past events or anticipate hypothetical or impending future events. Together, happiness essentialism extends beyond mere belief and has real-world implications for how individuals experience fluctuations in SWB.
Keywords
essentialist beliefs about happiness, self-fulfilling prophecy, subjective well-being, changeability, life events
*연구과제명: Essentializing Happiness Mitigates the Changes in Subjective Well-Being Following Negative Life Events
-연구 기관: 서울대학교, 위스콘신대학교 매디슨 캠퍼스 (연구팀)
-저자: Xyle Ku, Seung Eun Cha, Youngju Kim, Young Joo Jun, Incheol Choi
Abstract
People hold different beliefs about the changeability of happiness. Some believe that happiness is biologically predetermined and thus unchangeable (essentialist beliefs), while others believe that it is malleable and can be changed (non-essentialist beliefs). Do these beliefs have a tangible impact on how individuals actually experience well-being? Here, we predict and empirically demonstrate that endorsing essentialist beliefs about happiness (EBH) can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy that buffers the changes in subjective well-being (SWB) following life events. Through a series of four studies utilizing diverse methodologies (total N = 7,364), we provide converging evidence that happiness essentialists, compared to non-essentialists, experience relatively stable levels of SWB following life events, particularly negative ones. We find that this pattern also emerges when people recall past events or anticipate hypothetical or impending future events. Together, happiness essentialism extends beyond mere belief and has real-world implications for how individuals experience fluctuations in SWB.
Keywords
essentialist beliefs about happiness, self-fulfilling prophecy, subjective well-being, changeability, life events