Role of personal factors in citizen’s satisfaction with governance and quality of life: Implications for positive psychological intervention

Abstract

The study explores the role of personal factors (trust in government, dispositional optimism and compassion for country) in citizens’ perception of satisfaction with governance and quality of life in the African albeit Nigerian context. Data were collected from 239 undergraduate students in a Nigerian University using psychometrically sound instruments. Results of hierarchical regression, which controlled the effects of covariates in the first step of the equation, indicate that trust and compassion significantly predicted citizen’s satisfaction with governance (p < .001 respectively) but dispositional optimism was not significant. Conversely, while dispositional optimism accounted for a significant variance in citizens’ quality of life (p < .001), trust and compassion were not significant predictors. The practical implications of the findings for political leadership and positive psychology intervention were discussed.

Keywords: Trust, Compassion, Optimism, Satisfaction with governance, Quality of Life, Positive Psychological Intervention.