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Background

Research into well-being has generated a substantial amount of interest in different areas of psychology. Although outcome studies have demonstrated that personality traits are related to particular facets of well-being, the pattern of these relationships tends to be complex and depends on both the nature of personality traits and specific dimensions of well-being (Garcia, 2011; Sheldon & Hoon, 2013). Two important factors that have been investigated in relation to well-being are optimism and meaning in life, which proved to play a significant role in determining one’s life satisfaction and happiness (Ferguson & Goodwin, 2010; Ho, Cheung, & Cheung, 2010). Yet there have been relatively few attempts to examine direct and indirect links between optimism, meaning in life, and well-being, which are most likely to be subject to mediational patterns. Well-being also needs to be examined from different perspectives as it encompasses a broad spectrum of dimensions reflecting the sphere of human happiness (Seligman, 2012). In addition, few studies (eg, Brassai, Piko, & Steger, 2011; Krok, 2015a) have focused exclusively on late adolescents, for whom finding meaning in life and happiness are the critical issues during this developmental period, as young people are in the stage of identity vs. role confusion (Erikson, 1982). Late adolescence generally encompasses the latter part of the teenage years, broadly between the ages of 16 and 20 (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013). This period involves important dynamic psychological changes, such as integrating human identity, acquiring abstract thinking skills, searching for a deeper view of life and social …