Putting maximization dimensions and well-being in a daily context: the moderating role of choice domains and characteristics

ABSTRACT

The maximization-well-being relationship has been extensively studied at the person level, but rarely at the day level. Based on an event reconstruction method, daily data from 200 South Korean adults across 14 days were obtained to examine associations between maximization dimensions (i.e. maximization goal and strategy) and well-being, and the moderating effects of choice domains and characteristics. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that at the day level, maximization goal was significantly associated with well-being, while maximization strategy was not. Choice domain moderated the relationship between maximization goal and well-being; significant positive associations were shown in time use and life decisions but not in consumer goods. Finally, choice irreversibility was the only significant moderator among choice characteristics; it strengthened the positive association between maximization goal and well-being and weakened the negative association between maximization strategy and well-being. Theoretical implications, study limitations and future directions for research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Maximization
• well-being
• event reconstruction method
• daily data
• multilevel modeling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All data have been made publicly available via the project’s Open Science Framework and can be accessed at http://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/QJP8V.

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Data. The data are openly accessible at http://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/QJP8V

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOE).