Beyond Dispositional Optimism and Pessimism: Does the Tripartite Model of Meaning in Life Matter in Predicting Future Well-Being in Adults?

The present study sought to determine if dispositional optimism/pessimism and facets of the tripartite model of meaning in life (viz., comprehension, purpose, & mattering) represent important and additive prospective predictors of subsequent well-being (assessed 3 months later) in 166 adults. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the presence of optimism, but not the absence of pessimism, consistently predicted subsequent positive affect, life satisfaction, and subjective happiness. Moreover, beyond the variance accounted for by future expectancies, comprehension was found to predict life satisfaction, whereas purpose was found to predict positive affect. Mattering was found to predict subjective happiness and, to a weaker extent, positive affect. Overall, these findings not only indicate that the presence of optimism is important for experiencing future well-being in adults, but they go further to clarify which specific facets of meaning in life also play an important additive role in contributing to future well-being in adults.