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Subjective well‐being in dentists: the role of intrinsic aspirations
Author(s) -
Montasem Alexander,
Brown Stephen L.,
Harris Rebecca
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12084
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , life satisfaction , structural equation modeling , trait , medicine , intrinsic motivation , subjective well being , psychological intervention , social psychology , well being , psychology , happiness , nursing , statistics , mathematics , communication , computer science , psychotherapist , programming language
Objectives To take a motivational approach, testing an idea derived from self‐determination theory ( SDT ) that the pursuit of intrinsic life and professional aspirations is associated with enhanced subjective well‐being. Methods A cross‐sectional survey of a cluster sample of 583 dentists in E ngland provided data on the subjective importance of their intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations and their perceived likelihood of achieving those aspirations. The dependent variable was a four‐domain measure of subjective well‐being. Results Controlling measures of core self‐evaluations and trait emotional intelligence, the perceived importance and likelihood of achieving intrinsic aspirations were uniquely related to positive affect; the perceived likelihood of achieving intrinsic aspirations was uniquely related to job and life satisfaction and positive affect, and the perceived likelihood of achieving extrinsic aspirations was uniquely related to life satisfaction. No aspiration variables uniquely predicted negative affect. Conclusions These findings lend support to self‐determination theory and provide a platform for the future development of interventions that can promote and maintain well‐being in dentists.