The aim of this cumulative dissertation containing four articles is to complement existing research on determinants of subjective well-being (SWB) by analyzing how dispositional traits, life goals, and consequential life events relate to SWB. Furthermore, by means of a particular focus on three different age groups (i.e., young, middle, and late adulthood), this work strives for a novel understanding of these associations from a life span developmental perspective. The first article, “The influence of personality and life events on subjective well-being from a life span perspective” (Gomez, Krings, Bangerter, & Grob, 2009) addresses personality traits and positive and negative life events as determinants of SWB in young, middle-aged, and old adults. In a similar way, the second article “Subjective well-being as a function of traits and goals in young, middle-aged, and old adults” (Gomez, Allemand, & Grob, submitted), builds on evidence from the first article as far as the influence of personality traits on SWB is concerned and examines in a different sample how neuroticism, extraversion, and intrinsic and extrinsic goal importance relate to SWB in three different age groups. The next article “Cohort differences in personal goals and life satisfaction in young adulthood: Evidence for historical shifts in developmental tasks” (Krings, Bangerter, Gomez, & Grob, 2008) explores whether changing socio-historical conditions have influenced not only goal content but also goal characteristics leading to life satisfaction in young adulthood. Finally, the last article “Similarity of life goals in the family: A three-generation study (Grob, Weisheit, & Gomez, 2009) examines differences in goal importance and goal control in young, middle-aged, and old adults. The common ground of these four articles lies in their contribution to an extended knowledge on determinants of SWB across different age groups, either by directly addressing the interplay of different determinants and SWB in young, middle, and late adulthood, or by explicitly focusing on one determinant of SWB (i.e., life goals) and thus offering a thorough elaboration on the specific determinant across age groups.