Autonomy-supportive relationships tied to small boosts in well-being and personality
Mar 8th 2026
An 8-month longitudinal study of 1,403 university students found that perceiving close others as autonomy supportive was associated with small improvements in life satisfaction and slight increases in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
- Autonomy support means acknowledging perspectives, offering meaningful choices, and avoiding pressure or conditional approval.
- The study tracked 1,403 university students over about 8 months with six waves of data collection.
- Higher perceived autonomy support predicted small increases in subjective well-being over the study period.
- Recipients of more autonomy support showed slight increases in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
- Personality traits and well-being were mostly stable across the academic year despite these small changes.
- Informant reports backed the findings but the longitudinal design does not prove causation.