Pathways to happiness: From personality to social networks and perceived support

Authors

Xiumei Zhu, Purdue University
Sang Eun Woo, College of Health and Human Sciences
Caitlin Porter, College of Health and Human Sciences
Michael Brzezinski, Purdue University

Abstract

The present study attempts to incorporate individual personality into a social network account of subjective wellbeing (SWB) by proposing and testing a path model in which social relationships (egocentric social networks and perceived social support, PSS) mediate the relationship between personality and SWB. We found that network characteristics (including network size, emotional closeness, and proportion of new contacts) are related to SWB largely via the mediation of PSS. Additionally, network size and proportion of new contacts function as important mediating mechanisms linking extraversion, agreeableness and openness to PSS and SWB. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Publication Title

Social Networks

Recommended Citation

Zhu, X., Woo, S., Porter, C., & Brzezinski, M. (2013). Pathways to happiness: From personality to social networks and perceived support. Social Networks, 35 (3), 382-393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2013.04.005