The Influence of Goal Striving and Self-Efficacy on Life Satisfaction, Mediated by Hope, among Thai Working Persons

Abstract

This investigation attempted to examine the influence of goal striving and self-efficacy on life satisfaction, being mediated by hope, among Thai working persons. Data were collected from 523 working persons in the Bangkok area. A self-administered survey questionnaire in Thai was employed for data collection. The questionnaire consisted of the following: a researcher-constructed set of questions to elicit demographic information, the Goal Striving Scale (GSS) to measure the level of goal attainment in various areas of life, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) to measure optimistic self-belief or self-efficacy, the Adult Trait Hope Scale (ATHS) to measure the global concept of hope, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life. The results of Study I revealed that the Thai versions of the GSS, GSE, ATHS, and SWLS are psychometrically sound and, therefore, reliable and valid for use with Thai participants. In Study II, the fully identified path model demonstrated that both goal striving and self-efficacy have indirect significant influence on the criterion variable of hope and, subsequently, effected a higher level of life satisfaction, whereas only goal striving has direct positive influence on life satisfaction. It was also found that the full indirect model best explains the interrelationships among the core variables.