The primary purpose of this research was to examine whether appreciation explains variance in life satisfaction after controlling for gender, positive affectivity, self-esteem, and coping skills. Two hundred ninety-eight undergraduates went to the informed consent page of the online survey composed of the Appreciation Scale, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), The Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale (RSE), and part of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Of these, 267 completed the survey, which after screening yielded a usable N of 247. A number of hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the contributions of each variable to life satisfaction. When controlling for gender, positive affectivity, self-esteem, and coping skills, appreciation still made a significant contribution (p = 0.004) to life satisfaction (i.e. over-and-above the contribution of the others). Self-esteem also made a significant contribution to life satisfaction, which remained significant, albeit smaller, even when the other variables (including appreciation) were controlled. However, coping skills failed to make a significant contribution to life satisfaction when controlling for the other variables. This was mostly due to its correlation with positive affectivity, so that when positive affectivity was partialled out, the contribution of coping was not significant. These findings highlight the importance of appreciation in understanding life satisfaction and well-being in general, and build on previous research in the area of positive psychology. The findings also highlight the importance of controlling for positive affectivity when assessing contributions of other constructs to life satisfaction. Limitations of the study, such as the nature of the sample and the correlational design, are discussed. Implications for clinical interventions (e.g. appreciation lists) and applications for schools (e.g. integrating concepts of appreciation into social-emotional curricula) are discussed. Implications for future research such as examining the effect of appreciation interventions in the geriatric population, or the effects of parents modeling/teaching appreciativeness to their children are discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]