Abstract
Need satisfaction has been linked to a variety of important healthy aging outcomes. One open question is whether and how the expression of personality traits predicts need satisfaction in daily life. To address this question, we examined associations between momentary satisfaction of the needs for relatedness, competence, and autonomy and expressions of the Big Five personality traits. Older adults (aged 60 to 91 years, M = 70.45) participated in an ambulatory assessment study. Across 10 days, they reported twice per day on their need satisfaction and trait expressions. Multilevel models revealed that older adults showed a considerable amount of within-person variability in momentary need satisfaction. Trait expressions predicted need satisfaction in daily life at the within-person level. Implications are discussed with respect to how these findings advance our understanding of the role of trait expressions for healthy aging processes.
Lindner, Stefanie