Top-down or button-up? The reciprocal longitudinal relationship between athletes’ team satisfaction and life satisfaction

The present study aims to explore the relationship between athletes’ team satisfaction and their life satisfaction. Drawing on the top-down theory (i.e., overall satisfaction predicts domain satisfaction) and bottom-up theory (i.e., overall satisfaction is predicted by domain satisfaction) of subjective well-being, the authors propose that a reciprocal longitudinal relationship exists between athletes’ team satisfaction and their life satisfaction. A three-wave longitudinal study is conducted with adolescent athletes from diverse sports. The results of latent difference score modeling support the hypothesis by showing a reciprocal longitudinal relationship between athletes’ team satisfaction and their life satisfaction, but the effect from athletes’ team satisfaction to life satisfaction is more consistent across waves. Implications, limitations, and future studies are discussed.