THE SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE MEANING AND IRRATIONAL BELIEFS AS PREDICTORS OF LIFE SATISFACTION
Abstract
There has been an increasing interest in the study of concepts within the domain of ‘positive’ psychology within the psychological research in the recent couple of decades. In contrast to the traditional focus on negative emotions such as depression and anxiety, an increasing number of researchers are focusing on the experience of happiness and/or subjective well-being and life satisfaction. The aim of this study is to determine whether the subjective experience of life meaning, rational, and irrational beliefs can predict the level of life satisfaction. The research was conducted online in 2022 and involved 189 participants of both genders, ages 18 through 70, from the general population. The instruments used were the Meaning of Life Scale (MOLS) to examine the sense of life, the Irrational and Rational Beliefs Scale (IRBS-16) to examine rational and irrational beliefs, and the Temporal Satisfaction with Life Scale (TSWLS) to measure the level of life satisfaction. The results confirm that the level of life satisfaction can be predicted based on the subjective experience of life meaning (F=145.631, p<0.01), as well as that the subjective experience of life meaning has a positive effect on the level of life satisfaction (β= 0.662, p<0.01). Furthermore, a negative impact of irrational beliefs (β= -0.149, p<0.05) and a positive impact of rational beliefs (β= 0.252, p<0.01) on overall life satisfaction were confirmed. It has also been shown that the level of life satisfaction can be predicted based on irrational and rational beliefs (F=8.758, p<0.01).
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/TEME241108026S
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