http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/27572/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22191/ 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z This paper addresses issues of causal direction in research on subjective well being (SWB). Previous researchers have generally assumed that such variables as domain satisfactions, social support, life events, and levels of expectation and aspiration are causes of SWB. Critics have pointed out that they could just as well be consequences (Costa and McCrae, 1980, Veenhoven, 1988). In some contexts this has been referred to as the top-down versus bottom-up controversy (Diener, 1984). The main purpose is to propose a general statistical model which holds promise of resolving this controversy. The model can be used when three or more waves of panel data are available. It is used here to assess causal direction between six domain satisfactions (marriage, work, leisure, standard of living, friendship and health) and SWB. Data are drawn from four waves of an Australian Quality of Life panel survey (1981-1987) with an initial sample size of 942. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22229/ 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z The appreciation of a life-as-a-whole affects evaluative perceptions of various aspects of life. When people get happier, they become more satisfied with their jobs and attainments, they see more nice events happen to them and they rise in their own estimation. This appears in an analysis of the Australian QOL-panel study, involving 4 interviews over a 7 year period. There is no ground to dismiss these effects as rosily unrealistic, but there are good reasons to consider them beneficial for the individual and the society