The Contribution of Self–Regulatory Efficacy Beliefs in Managing Affect and Family Relationships to Positive Thinking and Hedonic Balance

In line with prior work, the present study aimed at examining a conceptual model that assigns a crucial role to affective and family interpersonal self–regulatory efficacy beliefs in influencing the cognitive and affective components of subjective well–being, namely, positive thinking and hedonic balance. Positive thinking is posited as the latent dimension underlying life satisfaction, self–esteem, and optimism. In contrast, hedonic balance is posited as the difference between positive affect and negative affect, as they are experienced in a variety of daily life situations. The present study was conducted on 347 Italian married males and females, and its findings corroborated the paths of posited relations linking the variables of interest. In particular, both one's perceived capacities to manage negative and positive affect and to manage relationships with the spouse and children accounted for a considerable portion of the variance in both subjective well–being components.