Openness to Experience, Extraversion, and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese College Students: The Mediating Role of Dispositional Awe

Awe is the emotion experienced when people confront stimuli so vast and novel that they require accommodation. Dispositional awe, in contrast, captures individual differences in the tendency to experience awe. Previous research has found that state awe could predict life satisfaction; however, no study has focused on the indirect effects of dispositional awe on the relationship between personality traits and subjective well-being. Previous studies have found that both openness to experience and extraversion were significant predictors of subjective well-being. Both openness to experience and awe involve cognitive flexibility. Awe can also arise from engaging in social events. Previous research has found that those who are higher in dispositional awe tend to be more extraverted and open to experience. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of dispositional awe among openness to experience, extraversion, and subjective well-being. To test this hypothesis, a total of 332 Chinese college students were invited to complete an anonymous survey using a cross-sectional design. The results of structural equation modeling showed that openness to experience and extraversion predicted higher levels of dispositional awe, while dispositional awe predicted higher levels of subjective well-being. Moreover, dispositional awe mediated the effects of openness to experience and extraversion on subjective well-being. The findings of this study suggest that openness to experience and extraversion may invite more experiences of awe and thus promote subjective well-being.