The relationship between decision-making style and self-construal and the subjective happiness of Native Americans

What is the effect of decision-making-style (maximizer versus satisficer) and an interdependent-versus-independent self-construal on the subjective happiness of Native Americans? One hundred seventy-nine Native American adult community members were administered the Maximization Inventory, the Self-Construal Scale, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. Correlations between variables in addition to multiple regression analyses were conducted with predictors of decision making style, self-construal, gender, annual income, traditionalism, and Native language ability with subjective happiness as the dependent variable. These variables explained a significant amount of the variance of subjective happiness for this sample of Native Americans. The most variance was explained by satisficing. Maximizing was associated with unhappiness. Individuals with greater satisficing tendencies also tended to be more interdependent. Higher income was positively associated with happiness and negatively associated with maximizing. Interdependence did not have an effect on happiness. However, independence increased happiness while having no effect on maximizing. No gender differences were found for maximizing. Traditionalism and Native language ability were not associated with satisficing nor interdependence. Limitations, implications for counseling, and future directions are explored.