What Makes a Life Good?

Author

Laura A. KING, Southern Methodist University
Christie N. SCOLLON, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

7-1998

Abstract

Two studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Samples of college students (N=104) and community adults (N=264) were shown a career survey ostensibly completed by a person rating his or her occupation. After reading the survey, participants judged the desirability and moral goodness of the respondent's life, as a function of the amount of happiness, meaning in life, and wealth experienced. Results revealed significant effects of happiness and meaning on ratings of desirability and moral goodness. In the college sample, individuals high on all 3 independent variables were judged as likely to go to heaven. In the adult sample, wealth was also related to higher desirability. Results suggest a general perception that meaning in life and happiness are essential to the folk concept of the good life, whereas money is relatively unimportant.

Keywords

subjective well-being, happiness, meaning in life

Discipline

Multicultural Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volume

75

Issue

1

First Page

156

Last Page

165

ISSN

0022-3514

Identifier

10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.156

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Citation

KING, Laura A., & SCOLLON, Christie N..(1998). What Makes a Life Good?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 156-165.

Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/933

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.156