title: Life satisfaction in middle-aged Koreans: mediating effects of domain-specific self-esteem satisfaction, and sex differences.
abstract: The current study was an attempt to examine the interplay between domain-specific self-esteem and life satisfaction with middle-aged Koreans. For four domains (Social/Objective Ability, Positive Characteristics, Interpersonal Relationships, and Family), the mediating effects of the satisfaction index of domain-specific self-esteem between the importance index of domain-specific self-esteem and life satisfaction were tested using structural equation modeling. 364 Koreans in their 40s and 50s were recruited through stratified sampling. Overall, the satisfaction index of domain-specific self-esteem was found to be a strong mediator across all the four domains; for middle-aged Koreans, if they appraised their self-esteem in a given domain as important and they felt satisfied in that domain, their life satisfaction was likely to be higher. Additionally, results of multi-group analysis suggested that the strengths of associations in the model were different between men and women in the Interpersonal Relationships domain.
authors.affiliation: 1 Dongguk University, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong-Gwi
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Nan Mee
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D012649:Self Concept; D012727:Sex Characteristics