Satisfaction with Life and Prospects for the Future versus Objective and Subjective Factors Affecting One’s Situation in Life

Abstract

This article is concerned with happiness and satisfaction with life and prospects for the future. The subject matter is always relevant, especially in these times, called by some authors (A. Giddens, U. Beck) late modernity. It is worth stopping and thinking, especially in such social conditions, whether we are happy and what the future will bring us. These doubts are explained in the first part of the paper, which contains the meanings of terms such as: life quality, happiness, satisfaction and psychological well-being. Moreover, objective and subjective factors are pointed out which have influence on that well-being. In addition, the assumptions of the theory of psycho-logical well-being are presented: bottom-up and top-down models, the onion theory of happiness. Another aspect is the future in the context of psychological well-being, including the importance of hope, faith, optimism and confidence. The second part of the paper contains the results of the research obtained on the basis of the project entitled Social Diagnosis. The variable being ex-plained is satisfaction with future prospects and the extent of that satisfaction is presented with reference to years 2000-2013. The presentation of variables that have the greatest impact on satisfaction with future prospects and learning to what extent the variables affect the satisfaction is of key importance. The socio-economic status and close social relations such as having friends, being married and participation in church services have a positive influence on our satisfaction. Moreover, our satisfaction varies depending on our age, health condition, having children to maintain or if we abuse alcohol. Since there are a lot of things in our life that depend on us, it is worth analyzing in which aspects we can increase our satisfaction with the prospects for the future.