The Moderating Role of Authenticity in the Relationship Between Valued Living and Life Satisfaction in Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the moderating role of authentic behavior on valued living and life satisfaction. The study group consisted of a total of 328 university students (249 female, 79 male) between 18-32 years old. The average age of the students in the study group was 20.3 and the standard deviation was 1.65. Participants of the study were selected through convenient sampling methods (Fraenkel et al., 2011). The data of this study was obtained by applying the Valued Living Scale (Wilson &Groom, 2002), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al.,1985) and the Authenticity Scale (Wood et al., 2008). Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to test the moderating effect of authentic behavior on the relationship between valued living and life satisfaction. SPSS 20 package program (IBM, 2011) was used in the data analysis step. In this study, two models were created with hierarchical regression analysis and these two models were tested. In the first model, the individual effect of valued living on life satisfaction and in the second model, the moderating role of authentic behavior on this relationship was analyzed. Based on the obtained results, it was determined that valued living has positive and significant relationships with life satisfaction; as well authentic behavior increased the predictive power of the relationship between valued living and life satisfaction and moderated this relationship in a positive significant direction. Obtained results were considered under related information in the literature and recommendations were provided for future studies.