More personalient people are happier

The general factor of personality (GFP) has been proposed as the personality equivalent of the general factor of intelligence (g). Because GFP is likely an indicator of social effectiveness and emotional intelligence, conducive to smoother social and interpersonal relations, and because humans evolved to be profoundly social, the savanna theory of happiness predicts that more personalient individuals (with higher GFP) are happier. The analyses of the National Child Development Study in the UK (Study 1) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health in the US (Study 2) confirm the prediction. In both studies, the effect size ranged from small to medium. Additional analyses suggest that more personalient individuals are happier, not for genetic reasons, but because of the smoother social and interpersonal relations in everyday experiences. The current analyses add further evidence to the psychometric validity of GFP.