Testing a model of subjective well-being: The roles of optimism, psychological vulnerability, and shyness

Abstract

This research extended current positive psychological research by investigating the mediating effect of shyness on the association between optimism, psychological vulnerability and subjective well-being. Two hundred fifty-five volunteer university students (131 females and 124 males, mean age = 23.14) participated in the study. The structural equation modeling revealed shyness fully mediated the effect of psychological vulnerability on subjective well-being, while shyness partially mediated the effect of optimism on subjective well-being. Also, bootstrapping procedures confirmed that psychological vulnerability was indirectly associated with subjective well-being through shyness, whereas optimism was directly associated with subjective well-being. The implications for future studies and the limitations of the study were discussed in the context of the relevant literature.