Value fulfillment and well‐being: Clarifying directions over time

Objective We investigate for the first time in a 9‐day diary study whether fulfilling one’s values predicts well‐being or whether well‐being predicts value fulfillment over time. Background The empirical associations between the importance of human values to individuals and their well‐being are typically weak and inconsistent. More recently, value fulfillment (i.e., acting in line with one's values) has shown to be more strongly correlated with well‐being. Method The present research goes beyond past research by integrating work from clinical, personality, and social psychology to model associations between value fulfillment and positive and negative aspects of well‐being over time. Results Across a nine‐day diary study involving 1434 observations (N = 184), we found that people who were able to fulfill their self‐direction values reported more positive well‐being on the next day, and those who fulfilled their hedonism values reported less negative well‐being on the next day. Conversely, people who reported more positive well‐being were more able to fulfill their achievement, stimulation, and self‐direction values on the next day, and those who reported more negative well‐being were less able to fulfill their achievement values. Importantly, these effects were consistent across three countries/regions (EU/UK, India, Türkiye), the importance people attributed to values, period of the week, and their prestudy well‐being. Conclusion These results help to understand the fundamental interconnections between values and well‐being while also having relevance to clinical practice.