The Predictive Role of Life Goals and Psychological Need Satisfaction On Subjective Well-Being

The aim of this study was to examine the predictive role of life goals and psychological need satisfaction on subjective well-being. Participants of the study were composed of 1474 students from 14 state universities in Turkey. These students 777 were males and 697 were females who with age range of 18 to 28, and mean age of 21.6 (SD=2.1). In order to gather data Life Goals Scale (Ilhan, 2009), Negative-Positive Affect Schedule (Gencoz, 2000), Satisfaction with Life Scale (Koker, 1991), and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale (Cihangir-Cankaya ve Bacanli, 2003) were used. In order to test the hypotheses t-test and multiple hierarchical regression analysis were performed. Results demonstrated that female students gave more importance to intrinsic life goals and attractiveness (subscale of extrinsic life goals) compared to males. Intrinsic goals and need satisfaction were more significantly predictive with SWB than extrinsic goals. Results were discussed under the light of literature and some suggestions were presented for the future research.