Does Infant Happiness Forecast Adult Life Satisfaction? Examining Subjective Well-Being in the First Quarter Century of Life

John Coffey (), Michael Warren and Allen Gottfried

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2015, vol. 16, issue 6, 1421 pages

Abstract: Few empirical studies have focused on young children’s happiness (high positive affect and low negative affect) and specifically whether it is related to adult well-being. Adult well-being indices (e.g., life satisfaction, workplace hope, and optimism) may have developmental roots in early affect. In the 28-year Fullerton Longitudinal Study (N = 129) we examined positive affect and negative affect as independent constructs during infancy (parent report) and adolescence (self-report) to determine their relationship to global adult life satisfaction (self-report). In addition, we tested the generalizability of the effects of positive and negative affect in relation to domain-specific adult well-being constructs (i.e., workplace hope and optimism), which hold utility for concurrent and prospective well-being. Structural equation modeling revealed that positive affect during infancy and adolescence each uniquely predicted adult life satisfaction. In a separate model for a subsample of employed adults, infant positive affect showed significant positive associations with workplace hope and optimism. Neither infant nor adolescent negative affect predicted any adult well-being outcomes. Our results highlight the need for more developmental studies examining the relationship between children’s positive and negative affect and long-term well-being. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Happiness; Positive affect; Negative affect; Life satisfaction; Development; Hope; Optimism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-014-9556-x

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