Life Satisfaction as it Relates to Sociosexual Orientation, Political Orientation, and Group Affiliation

Abstract

Previous research has found that there are many factors that may influence an individual’s life satisfaction, including group affiliation seeking and political orientation (Brelsford & Danieu, 2018; Taylor, 2006). Additionally, research has found that intimate relationships play a role in a reported satisfaction with life (Amati, Meggiolaro, Rivellini & Zaccarin, 2018). Researchers are interested in the association between these variables in relation to life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the influence of cognitive and emotional components on an individual's level of life satisfaction, specifically sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking, and political orientation. This study also aimed to show that these traits were significant predictors of life satisfaction. The data were collected from 300 American and Canadian participants recruited from an online crowdsourcing marketplace who filled out online questionnaires in exchange for monetary compensation. Satisfaction with life was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Sociosexual orientation was measured with the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory. Group affiliation seeking was measured the Fundamental Social Motives Inventory. Political orientation was measured with a single self-report item. The trait scales were averaged and the political orientation data were dichotomized into conservative and liberal. Consistent with the hypothesis, the study found that group affiliation seeking and political orientation correlated positively and significantly with the level of life satisfaction. Contrary to the hypothesis, the study found that sociosexual orientation did not have a significant correlation or significance with the level of life satisfaction. Political orientation was the only significant predictor of life satisfaction.

Life Satisfaction as it Relates to Sociosexual Orientation, Political Orientation, and Group Affiliation

Life satisfaction is a component of subjective well-being that has been identified as a representation of cognitive and global evaluations of the quality of an individual’s life (Pavot & Diener, 1993). Diener and Fujita (2005) have linked high levels of life satisfaction with being higher in desirable attributes including health, social skills, and energy. There is variation among individuals in regard to specific factors that have the largest influence over personal evaluation of life satisfaction. Pavot and Diener (1993) suggest that satisfaction with life is driven by both top-down influences, such as personality dispositions, as well as bottom-up influences, such as current mood or immediate life circumstances.

The importance of life satisfaction is applicable to any individual regardless of age or gender. Many studies have investigated the differences of life satisfaction among men and women of various ages yet it has been suggested that these variables show little or no relation to it (Palmore, 1972). Therefore, it is relevant to investigate other influential factors that may affect a person's level of life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of top-down influential factors and satisfaction with life in order to further progress the research done on subjective wellbeing. The traits used for this study were sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking, and political orientation.

People often link happiness with the relationships in their lives, making people-to-people interactions an important variable to consider for levels of life satisfaction. Previous research has identified a positive association with happy intimate relationships and life satisfaction (Amati, Meggiolaro, Rivellini & Zaccarin, 2018). Sociosexual orientation, the willingness to engage in sexual activity outside of committed relationships or without deeper emotional commitment, plays a role in these intimate relationships (Fernández del Río, Ramos-Villagrasa, Castro & Barrada, 2019). Gómez-López, Viejo, & Ortega-Ruiz (2019) found that young adults who have romantic relationships are happier, report higher levels of life satisfaction, have fewer mental/physical illnesses, and have better levels of self-esteem. Therefore, we hypothesize that individuals with lower sociosexual orientation will have higher levels of life satisfaction because they will be more likely to engage in committed romantic relationships.

The potential benefits of relationships extend beyond romantic interactions. Ozmen, Brelsford, and Danieu (2018) found that belongingness to a specific group can be an important source for a person’s personal or collective self-esteem. Social support and a shared sense of social identification increase the likelihood that individuals will provide effective support for one another, resulting in positive benefits for health and well-being (Jetten, Branscombe, Haslam SA, Haslam C, Cruwys, Jones, et al, 2015). Due to the evidence that group belonging can influence self-esteem and self-identification, we hypothesize that individuals with higher levels of group affiliation seeking will have higher levels of life satisfaction.

One way that an individual may find this shared sense of social identification is through their affiliation and involvement with a specific group. Belief systems have been found to shape psychological processes and subjective wellbeing (Ozmen, Brelsford, and Danieu, 2018). One group involvement, participation in a political group, can be linked to civic involvement and building personal connections outside of the home or workplace. It is important to consider the influence of specific political orientation on life satisfaction in order to determine if particular group affiliations can be linked to varying levels of satisfaction with life. Taylor (2006) found that conservatives report greater life satisfaction than liberals. Due to the fluctuation of political attitudes since this study, it is relevant to evaluate if these findings are still true. Considering the lack of research to challenge these findings, we hypothesize that individuals who identify as conservative will have higher levels of life satisfaction.

In addition to these correlations, we were interested in whether or not certain personal traits predict the amount of life satisfaction. Previous research has found personality variables to be influential in perceived life satisfaction (Lachman et al., 2017). In order to investigate these relationships, I developed three additional hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1 tested the relationships between sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction, predicting that sociosexual orientation will uniquely predict life satisfaction when group affiliation seeking and political orientation are held constant.

Hypothesis 2 tested the relationships between sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction predicting that group affiliation seeking will uniquely predict life satisfaction when sociosexual orientation and political orientation are held constant. Further, I hypothesized that group affiliation seeking is the most robust predictor of life satisfaction.

Hypothesis 3 tested the relationships between sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction predicting that political orientation will uniquely predict life satisfaction when sociosexual orientation and group affiliation seeking are held constant.

This study aims to explore the relationships between traits of sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking, and political orientation as they relate to life satisfaction. This research also aims to determine the association between these constructs and whether they have a significant relationship with life satisfaction

Method

The participant pool was comprised of 300 American and Canadian citizens between the ages of 20 and 71 (Mage = 37.39, SD = 10.89) with 154 males and 145 females.

Materials
For the purpose of this study there were four variables measured, satisfaction with life (SWL), political orientation, sociosexual orientation (SOI), and group affiliation seeking.

Satisfaction with life scale. Satisfaction with life was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale, a five item instrument designed to measure cognitive judgements of one’s life (Diener et al., 1985). Participants rated their level of agreement on a five point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) for items such as “In most ways my life is close to ideal” and “The conditions of my life are excellent.” Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with life. The Cronbach’s α for this measure was .907.

Sociosexual orientation inventory. Sociosexual orientation was measured with the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, a nine item instrument designed to measure how open people are with their sexual behaviors. The first three items assessed numbers for items such as “With how many partners have you had sex on one and only one occasion?” (0 = 1, 9 = 20 or more). The fourth item assessed frequency of sex fantasies with someone other than a current sex partner (1 = never, 9 = at least once a day). The remaining items measured agreement with statements such as “Sex without love is ok” (1 = strongly agree, 9 = strongly disagree). Higher scores indicate higher levels of openness with sexual behavior. The Cronbach’s α for this measure was .860.

Fundamental motives inventory. Group affiliation seeking was measured with the Fundamental Social Motives Inventory (FSMI), a 66 item instrument designed to measure the degree to which individuals are driven by various social motives. Group affiliation seeking is related to six items on the FSMI for items such as “Being part of a group is important to me” (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Higher scores indicate higher degrees of importance for group affiliation seeking in an individual. The Cronbach’s α for this measure was .151.

Political orientation scale. Political orientation was measured with a single item in which participants were asked to rate their political orientation on a seven point scale (1 = very liberal, 4 = moderate, 7 = very conservative). Due to the nature of this single item measure, there is no Cronbach’s α. The item was dichotomized into liberal (1 - 3) and conservative (4-7) for further analysis.

Procedure

Participants were recruited through advertisements on the Amazon Mechanical Turk Website where they were redirected to a Qualtrics survey website and completed a series of questionnaires in exchange for monetary compensation of $3.60. The questionnaires consisted of surveys measuring satisfaction with life, sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking, and political orientation.

Satisfaction with life was measured via the SWL scale, sociosexual orientation via the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, group affiliation seeking via the Fundamental Social Motives Inventory, and political orientation via a single item self-report scale. Participants filled out the surveys online and Amazon Mechanical Turk sent the raw data to researchers. Data evaluation was performed using SPSS correlational analysis. Each variable was averaged to compute a total mean score before analysis was performed. All correlations were two-tailed. A single sample t-test was conducted for political orientation in order to compare specific political group affiliation with life satisfaction (1-3 = liberal, 5-7 = conservative).

Results

After quantitative analysis, the means and standard deviations for the four variables were analyzed. The mean for life satisfaction was 3.25 and the standard deviation was 1.04. The mean for sociosexual orientation was 3.74 and the standard deviation was 1.72. The mean for group affiliation seeking was 4.44 and the standard deviation was 0.76. The mean for political orientation was 3.58 and the standard deviation was 1.81.

Concerning the bivariate correlations among the variables, sociosexual orientation was not found to be negatively correlated with life satisfaction r(298) = -.001, p = .989). Life satisfaction was found to be significantly positively correlated with group affiliation seeking r(298) = .116, p = .045) and significantly positively correlated with political orientation r(298) = .284, p <.001). Regarding political orientation, there was a significant difference in the scores for conservatives and liberals t(235) =-38.077 p = < .001).

We conducted a multiple regression analysis entering sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking and political orientation as predictors of life satisfaction. The R2 for the two predictors was .287. First, we tested the hypothesis that sociosexual orientation would be predictive of life satisfaction over and above political orientation and group affiliation seeking. Contrary to the hypothesis, sociosexual orientation was not a significant predictor of life satisfaction, (β = -030, SE = -.018, t(297) = -.532, p =.595).

Second, we tested the hypothesis that group affiliation seeking would be predictive of life satisfaction over and above political orientation and sociosexual orientation. However, group affiliation seeking was not a significant predictor of life satisfaction, (β = .040, SE = .055, t(297) = .680, p =.497).

Third, we tested the hypothesis that political orientation would be predictive of life satisfaction over and above sociosexual orientation and group affiliation seeking. Political orientation was found to be a significant predictor of life satisfaction over and above both sociosexual orientation and group affiliation seeking, (β = .275, t(297) = 4.715, p < .001).

In conjunction with the second and third hypotheses, we also predicted that group affiliation seeking would be a stronger predictor of life satisfaction as compared to political orientation. Contrary to this hypothesis, political orientation (β = .275) was a stronger predictor than group affiliation seeking (β = .040).

Discussion

The goal of this study was to investigate life satisfaction as it relates to sociosexual orientation, group affiliation seeking, and political orientation. The bivariate correlation findings supported two out of three hypotheses. The hypothesis that life satisfaction and sociosexual orientation would have a significant negative correlation was not supported. Current research has found that sexual frequency and satisfaction are positively correlated with higher levels of life satisfaction (Schlenker, Chambers, & Le, 2012). However, there are limited findings in current research that report a relationship of sociosexual orientation and overall life satisfaction. This study presents a novel investigation that has yet to be explored by other researchers and indicates that sexual satisfaction of sociosexual orientation is not directly linked.

Life satisfaction and group affiliation were hypothesized to be positively correlated. The data suggests that the more affiliated an individual is with a group, the more satisfied they are with their life. The positive influence of group affiliation on self-esteem and life experience has been supported through previous research (Brelsford & Danieu 2018).

Specific group affiliation in terms of political orientation was hypothesized to be positively correlated with life satisfaction. Further, we hypothesized that conservatives would display higher levels of life satisfaction than liberals. These hypotheses were supported by our findings. Previous research supports our findings and has cited a possible reason for this difference as the relationship between conservatism and stability, situational factors that can influence an individual’s subjective experience of the meaning of life (Newman et al., (2019)

Following research done on correlation, a multiple regression analysis was performed in order to investigate the extent that each variable uniquely predicts life satisfaction. The multiple regression results refuted our hypothesis that sociosexual orientation would uniquely predict life satisfaction when group affiliation seeking and political orientation are held constant. Although there was no significant relationship found prior to the multiple regression, we decided to perform the regression including sociosexual orientation due to the lack of published research done in this area of psychology. Individuals who report lower levels of sociosexual orientation do not tend to report higher levels of life satisfaction in comparison to individuals who report higher levels of sociosexual orientation.

Previous research has found that sexual frequency and satisfaction, items associated with sociosexual orientation, are positively correlated with higher levels of life satisfaction (Schlenker, Chambers, & Le, 2012). However, there is no current research done on sociosexual orientation specifically. Due to the novelty of this research question, there is no previous research that supports or disputes our findings. Although there was no unique prediction found

between sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction, these findings are important to further the limited research done in this specific area of interest.

The multiple regression results refuted our hypothesis that group affiliation seeking uniquely predicts life satisfaction when sociosexual orientation and political orientation are held constant was not supported by the multiple regression. Individuals who report higher levels of group affiliation seeking did not report higher levels of life satisfaction. These findings go against previous research that has found higher levels of group affiliation predicts higher levels of life satisfaction (Wakefield et al., 2016). These results refuted our hypothesis that group affiliation seeking would be a stronger predictor of life satisfaction as compared to political orientation. The multiple regression results support the idea that there needs to be more research done on the difference between group affiliation and group affiliation seeking in order to determine which has a more significant impact on life satisfaction.

The multiple regression results supported our hypothesis that political orientation uniquely predicts life satisfaction when sociosexual orientation and group affiliation seeking are held constant. Individuals who report higher levels of political orientation did report higher levels of life satisfaction and even higher levels if they reported a conservative political orientation. Previous research has consistently found that conservatives are happier than liberals which supports our findings (Jetten et al., 2013).

The findings of this study offer many interesting topics for discussion in the psychology field regarding life satisfaction. The bivariate correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis appear to agree with each other very well in one case and not agree in two cases. We incorrectly hypothesized two relationships, further supporting the notion that more research needs to be done in this field. This is important because the three variables chosen for this study were selected due to their novelty and lack of representation in many studies.

These findings contribute to research on subjective well-being and satisfaction with life. The results further support previous research done on top-down influential factors of life satisfaction. All individuals, regardless of gender or age, can use these findings to aid in their journey with happiness. Although it may be difficult to alter levels of group affiliation seeking and political orientation, individuals can be aware that their involvement with these two traits may play a role in their level of life satisfaction.

Limitations of this study should be considered. Age and sex were the only two demographics considered with these questionnaires, leaving out important considerations such as race and ethnicity. There may be differences among findings for more specific demographics which could indicate that life satisfaction is influenced by demographics in addition to the trait factors researched.

Another limitation of this study is the method of data collection used. Using the Amazon Mechanical Turk website prevents the data from being observed and monitored by a researcher. Thus, participants could have lied about their age/sex as well as misrepresented themselves with their questionnaire answers due to self-report bias. The questionnaire answers may be biased by their lack of self-awareness or drive to be portrayed as socially desirable. We suggest that researchers conduct these questionnaires in-person to mitigate the possibility of self-report bias and false data. Future research should also use more than one trait evaluation in order to confirm results with different types of measures.

A novel finding of this study was the lack of a relationship between sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction. Due to the lack of studies done on this relationship, future researchers should develop these findings with a follow-up study that contributes to the data on this relationship. Further, future studies should consider demographics so that the results may be more applicable to a variety of individuals. This aspect of data analysis could provide a unique lens on the influence that demographics play on both sociosexual orientation and life satisfaction.

Further studies should also investigate the links between the difference of group affiliation seeking and group affiliation in order to understand the implications each variable has on life satisfaction. The relationship between group affiliation seeking and life satisfaction should be further investigated due to the discrepancy between our findings and previous research. Additionally, it is important to note that the limited number of questions for each scale may prevent a comprehensive understanding of each individual’s level for each variable. The p-value for life satisfaction and group affiliation seeking was .045, which indicates a need for further research to be done in order to evaluate the significance of this relationship.

Further development of research on life satisfaction is beneficial to both researchers and the population. These findings, in conjunction with future findings, will help individuals in their understanding of life satisfaction. As research is improved and replicated, these results can also have an influence on therapy strategies and coping mechanisms that psychologists suggest to their clients. Not only can individuals benefit from satisfaction with life studies, practicing psychologists can improve their practice as well.

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