A decade of life’s ups and downs: Testing nonlinear life satisfaction trajectories on nationally representative UK social surveys

Happiness research provides robust evidence that living a satisfying life has external, secondhand benefits for families and communities. Yet, the field faces ongoing debates, including the extent to which life satisfaction is stable versus changeable, the validity of the U-shaped age trajectory, and the relative contributions of domain-specific satisfactions to global evaluations of life quality. We examined life satisfaction trajectories and how demographic covariates and satisfaction with specific domains influence life satisfaction over 13 waves of data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (N = 6,711). Using nonlinear growth curve modeling, we found that life satisfaction remained relatively stable over the 13 waves (average of 5.06 to 5.26 out of 7), with small but significant variations based on demographic characteristics. Older individuals and those identifying as ethnic minorities reported higher baseline satisfaction, while males experienced steeper changes over time relative to females. Domain-specific satisfaction (leisure, income, health) predicted global life satisfaction at each wave; leisure satisfaction was consistently the strongest predictor. Plotting observed life satisfaction against age provided descriptive support for a U-shaped pattern, with higher satisfaction in early and later adulthood and lower satisfaction in midlife. These findings contribute to theoretical debates by showing that while life satisfaction has trait-like qualities (i.e., is stable over time), is also influenced by domain-specific appraisals (particularly leisure). The results thus support bottom-up models of well-being, highlighting the importance of personally valued life domains in understanding both stability and change in life satisfaction.