Most people agree that having an easy-going personality will contribute to the overall well-being of the individual. Certain personality traits have an effect on individual well-being. Individuals with improvements in these characteristics, over time, will often show comparable improvement in well-being. Subjective well-being refers to how an individual evaluates the quality of their life. Simply put, subjective well-being is how an individual thinks and feels about their life. Subjective well-being includes the general concepts of positive and negative emotions and moods. Positive experiences lead to high subjective well-being. Negative experiences lead to low subjective well-being. The one thing most people agree on is that personality is an indicator of an individual's well-being. The big five will be used in this article as a reference to personality traits. The big five consist of five different personality traits that are considered universal due to their stability across many individuals from many different cultures. The big five include extroversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness. Extroversion refers to individuals who are considered social and lively. Neuroticism speaks of those who tend to be tense and moody. Conscientiousness refers to individuals considered prudent and responsible. Agreeableness refers to friendly individuals who are easy to get along with. Finally, openness refers to people who tend to be intellectually curious and open to trying new things and experiences. Although previous studies show that the Big Five traits stay the same over time, they have shown that they change as a person ages. Two articles in ...... middle of paper ...... ultimate goal that guides individual choices, particularly traits that lead to positive affect, which will then increase an individual's subjective well-being. Having a high level of well-being is an important concept in our lives because it allows us to see a purpose in our life and provides a way to evaluate our own life. Works Cited Gonzalez Gutierrez, JL, Jimenez, BM, Hernandez, EG, & Puente, CP (2005). Personality and subjective well-being: the five major correlates and demographic variables. Personality and individual differences, 38(7), 1561-1569. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2004.09.015 Boyce, C., Wood, A., & Powdthavee, N. (2013). Is personality fixed? Personality changes as much as “variable” economic factors and more strongly predicts changes in life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 111(1), 287-305. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0006-z