A Theoretic Construction And Empirical Study On Happiness Personality

Objectives:(1) Construct the theory of Happiness Personality and verify its structure by using the sample of teachers in primary and middle schools;(2) Design questionnaire about Happiness Personality of teachers in primary and middle schools, and its trial study;(3) Explore the influencing psychological factors on Happiness Personality.Methodology:Firstly this research constructs the theory and dimensions of Personality of Happiness through an extraction of individual characteristics in Chinese culture related to Feeling of Happiness, and the selection and factor analysis of adjectives on Feeling of Happiness. In addition, it takes an empirical study by verifying the theoretical structure of Personality of Happiness among the teachers in primary and middle schools. A trial study will then follow, which explores the socially and psychologically influential factors. Project (1): The theoretical and dimensional construction of the Chinese people’s Personality of Happiness; Project (2):Designing questionnaire about Personality of Happiness for teachers in primary and middle schools based on the sample of the above mentioned teachers from the metrological perspective, verifying the models of Happiness personality through confirmatory factor analysis, and testing the reliability and validity of questionnaire through internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, content validity, criterion validity and discriminate validity; Project (3):Applying the questionnaire about happiness personality to teachers in primary and middle schools in order to measure the scores of happiness personality and the characteristics of demographic variables; Project (4):Exploring the relevant factors in psychology for happiness personality, such as attribution preferences, self-efficacy, social support and work pressure.Results:(1) Exploratory factor analysis shows that the adjectives associated with "feeling of happiness" can be extracted into three dimensions, i.e. groupism-orientation which embodies the Chinese culture, benevolence, and optimism which reflects the core characteristics of "feeling of happiness".(2) The initial questionnaire about personality of happiness for teachers in primary and middle schools is made up of33adjectives describing the feelings of happiness. The internal consistency coefficient of the questionnaire is0.88. The test-retest reliability after five weeks is0.65. The correlation coefficient between various adjectives is0.05-0.69(Ps<0.01). The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates that the CFI of the trio-factor model (groupism-orientation, benevolence and optimism) x2/df=5.88, TLI=0.90, CFI=0.91, RMSEA=0.06. The above mentioned three factors have significantly positive correlation with positive dimensions for happiness feelings, including life satisfaction, positive affect, life vitality, health concern, altruism, self-worth, affiliation and personality development (r=0.21～0.48, Ps<0.01). They also have significantly positive correlation with the Big Five personalities, including extraversion, amenity and rigor (r=0.14～0.42, Ps<0.01). They have negative correlation with neuroticism (r=-0.15～0.31, Ps<0.01).(3) The score pattern of the questionnaire about happiness personality for teachers in primary and middle schools:from the highest to lowest scores are benevolence, groupism-orientation and optimism. The demographic variables’score pattern:the total score and individual scores for each dimension demonstrate significant differences for different age groups. The age group under25years-old scores higher than the other age groups. Females score substantially higher than males in total score, groupism-orientation and benevolence dimension. Unmarried individuals score higher than married ones in optimism dimension. However, different geographic locations, income level and educational level demonstrate no significant differences in total score or in each dimension.(4) Happiness personality and its three dimensions show significantly positive correlation with internal control, self-efficacy and social support (r=0.18～0.346, Ps<0.01), and significantly negative correlation with work pressure (r=-0.267～-0.129,Ps<0.01). Self-efficacy,internal control, social support and work pressure have substantial predictive value for happiness personality ((3=0.2, t=7.246; β=0.23, t=8.3; β=0.27, t=9.84; β=-0.14, t=-5.31)Conclusion:Among the Chinese people, especially teachers in primary and middle schools,"happiness" can serve as a personality trait, which consists of the following three dimensions:groupism-orientation, benevolence and optimism. The preliminary questionnaire about happiness personality for teachers in primary and middle schools has high reliability and validity. Personality of happiness may be influenced by a number of psychological factors, such as internal and external control, self-efficacy, social support, and work pressure.