. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jul 1.

Published in final edited form as: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2019 Sep 2;119(1):229–248. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000261

Table 1.

Individual Differences in Evaluating Life Satisfaction (IDELS) Model

Model Propositions	Model Hypotheses
Proposition 1: People evaluate their life satisfaction using a combination of constructivist (i.e., constructed from temporarily accessible information) and direct-retrieval (i.e., retrieved directly from memory) processes. Proposition 2: Current emotions serve as sources of information about one’s life satisfaction. Proposition 3: Individuals differ substantially and reliably in the weighing of current emotions relative to more stable sources of information when evaluating their life satisfaction.	Hypothesis 1: Individual differences in short-term variability in life satisfaction should be substantial and moderately stable across time. Hypothesis 2: Individual differences in the strength of the association between life satisfaction and current emotions (i.e., emotion globalizing) should be substantial and moderately stable across time. Hypothesis 3: Greater emotion globalizing should be associated with greater short-term variability in life satisfaction. Hypothesis 4: Greater short-term variability in life satisfaction should be associated with a maladaptive profile of greater neuroticism and worse psychological health.

Model Propositions

Model Hypotheses

Proposition 1: People evaluate their life satisfaction using a combination of constructivist (i.e., constructed from temporarily accessible information) and direct-retrieval (i.e., retrieved directly from memory) processes.
Proposition 2: Current emotions serve as sources of information about one’s life satisfaction.
Proposition 3: Individuals differ substantially and reliably in the weighing of current emotions relative to more stable sources of information when evaluating their life satisfaction.

Hypothesis 1: Individual differences in short-term variability in life satisfaction should be substantial and moderately stable across time.
Hypothesis 2: Individual differences in the strength of the association between life satisfaction and current emotions (i.e., emotion globalizing) should be substantial and moderately stable across time.
Hypothesis 3: Greater emotion globalizing should be associated with greater short-term variability in life satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4: Greater short-term variability in life satisfaction should be associated with a maladaptive profile of greater neuroticism and worse psychological health.