Are Changes in the Perception of Major Life Events Associated with Changes in Subjective Well-Being?

How people perceive major life events changes over time. We examined the longitudinal interplay between perceived event characteristics and subjective well-being (SWB) using two short-term longitudinal studies (NStudy1 = 619; NStudy2 = 691). In both studies, perceived event characteristics and SWB were assessed at two measurement occasions 3 months apart. Perceiving events as increasingly externally controlled and as increas-ingly social status threatening over time was consistently associated with a decrease in life satisfaction. Furthermore, perceiving events as increasingly challenging over time was associated with a decrease in positive affect and an increase in negative affect. Our results indicate that the development of SWB and perceived event characteristics is intertwined.