The Moderating Role of Trait Affect in the Relationship Between Negative Life Events and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

© 2018, Springer Nature B.V. This study investigated the moderating roles of trait positive affect (PA) and trait negative affect (NA), both separately and conjointly, in the relationship between negative life events and life satisfaction. The final sample consisted of 654 students (83.3% females; mean age = 19.58 years) who completed measures of dispositional PA and NA at Time 1, and measures of negative life events and life satisfaction at Time 2 (after 1 year). The results showed that neither PA nor NA alone moderated the negative life events–life satisfaction relationship. However, it has been found that an increase in the number of negative life events is associated with a substantial decrease in life satisfaction for individuals experiencing generally low levels of both PA and NA. Our findings indicate that high trait PA acts as a protective factor independently of the levels of trait NA, whereas low trait PA represents a vulnerability factor only in a combination with a low trait NA.