Psychosocial determinants of life satisfaction

A comparative analysis between Bolivia and Italy

Abstract

This study represents the extension of a previous investigation developed by Steca et al. (2009) focused on the analysis of the role of some of the factors determining satisfaction with life in a youth population from Bolivia and Italy. Specifically, a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a model of structural equations were implemented using the data of university students to simultaneously evaluate the theoretical model proposed by Caprara (2002) in both countries. The results have not shown relevant differences between both groups at the level of the average values ​​reached in the various variables. However, our results confirm the expected relationship between the variables, confirming the relevance of the beliefs of emotional self-efficacy in influencing the beliefs of social self-efficacy, which, in turn, promote satisfaction with the life evaluated by the same individuals. This contribution represents a new attempt in favor of a greater understanding of this phenomenon, widely investigated in Anglo-Saxon and European contexts, but not yet sufficiently corroborated in Latin American reality.