Prediction of Chinese life satisfaction: Contribution of collective self-esteem

Psychologists try hard to better predict life satisfaction and happiness using different predictors. The general public, especially in the Western culture, appreciates the importance of individual self-esteem in ordinary human functioning. Therefore, high individual self-esteem was suggested to be the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction (Diener, 1984) and this claim was supported by empirical studies (e.g., Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976; Neto, 1993). However, taking the importance of collective self-esteem (CSE) in collective cultures, this investigation evaluated whether CSE has added value in prediction of life satisfaction beyond established predictors, i.e., demographic predictors, personality predictors, and individual self-esteem. Participants were 1347 Mainland Chinese across three generations (aged from 14 to 88 years, 52.3% female). They finished the General Life Satisfaction Scale (Leung & Leung, 1992), Life Domain Satisfaction Scale (revised from Michalos, 1985), Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), Collective Self-Esteem Satisfaction Scale (revised from Michalos, 1985), Chinese Version of NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Hierarchical regression analysis and dominance analysis were used to evaluate the contribution of CSE. The result indicated that CSE added 1% explained variance to general life satisfaction and 3% explained variance to life domain satisfaction beyond demographic variables, individual self-esteem, and personality traits. The result also revealed that, when predicting general life satisfaction, 26% of the predicted variance was attributed to CSE among the four best predictors (individual self- esteem, CSE, extraversion, and openness to experience). When predicting life domain satisfaction, 20% of the predicted variance was attributed to CSE among the five best predictors (individual self-esteem, neuroticism, CSE, extraversion, and agreeableness). Among two self-esteems and the Big Five personality traits, CSE was the second most powerful predictor of life satisfaction. These results suggested that CSE might be important in helping people cope with threat, reduce uncertainty, and achieve a high level of subjective well-being.