Two levels of personality: Temperament and values and their effects on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being

According to McAdams and Pals, American Psychologist, 61(3), 204-217 (2006), personality is not only expressed through traits but also through characteristic adaptations, including values. In the present study we analyze how two aspects of personality - temperament traits (Strelau 2008) and values (Schwartz 2007) - are related to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Earlier studies showed that temperament is linked to hedonic well-being, but the links between values and hedonic well-being are unclear. There is only little data on how traits and values are linked to eudaimonic well-being. We hypothesised that traits predict hedonic well-being, while values predict eudaimonic well-being because the roots of eudaimonia require the realization of one’s potential that may be achieved through realization of value related goals, while hedonic well-being is more closely linked to stable differences in emotionality. 130 adults reported on their temperament, values, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. We conducted hierarchical regressions for each well-being component. All components of hedonic well-being (positive affect, negative affect and satisfaction) were predicted by temperament only, while eudaimonic well-being was predicted by temperament and by value dimensions: positively by Openness to change, Self-transcendence, Conservation and negatively by Self-enhancement. This shows that mechanisms governing the experience of well-being are attached to at least two levels of personality - one stable and partly linked to human biology and the other to a culturally determined set of individual values. It also shows that the experience of eudaimonia relies on culturally acquired values, while hedonia may be determined more by temperamental dimensions.