Core self-evaluations in Japan: relative effects on job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and happiness

The present study tested, in a non-Western culture (Japan), the relative validity in predicting job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and happiness of core self-evaluations (CSE), positive and negative affectivity (PA/NA), and the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ). Consistent with previous results in primarily Western cultures, the four lower-order traits that comprise CSE—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism— indicated a higher-order factor. While each lower-order trait was itself related to the study’s criteria, the CSE concept displayed in general, higher correlations with the dependent variables, and explained incremental variance in two of the study’s three outcomes beyond PA, NA, and the NOSQ. These results indicate initial support for the generalizability of CSE in a culture that differs in many respects from Western cultures, and suggest that judgments of satisfaction and happiness in a non-Western culture have a dispositional source. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.