Association of Personality in the Well-Being of Academics of a Private College in Minas Gerais

Abstract

Introduction: Personality factors have stood out as possible predictors of subjective well-being (SWB), being named: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience, according to the Big Five model. Researches have indicated that SWB is mainly associated with high levels of Extroversion and low levels of Neuroticism. Objective: To analyze the association of Big Five personality factors with the well-being of academics. Method: Cross-sectional observational study that used the International Personality Pool and the Satisfaction with Life Scale questionnaires to measure personality attributes and subjective well-being, respectively, in university students. Results: With a total of 189 participants, a weak positive correlation was observed between the attributes Conscientiousness, Extroversion and Agreeableness with life satisfaction, meaning that as they increase, satisfaction tends to increase as well. Neuroticism had a weak negative correlation with life satisfaction, demonstrating that when it increases, satisfaction tends to decrease. Openness to Experience showed null correlation. This study is compatible with others presented in literature, which suggest that the subjective assessment of well-being has a certain correspondence with the personality trait. These results should not be generalized to the population, being only representative of the collected sample. Conclusion: Personality traits played a significant role in the subjective perception of happiness in the evaluated sample. In this study, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness had a greater influence on well-being, while some results in literature point to Extroversion.