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User:Phlsph7/Well-being - Components

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Components and contributing factors

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To avoid the deep disagreements surrounding the essential features of well-being, some researchers examine components and contributing factors independent of whether they are integral parts or external causes. For example, there is wide agreement that positive emotions, achievements, interpersonal relationships, and health typically contribute to well-being in some form, despite academic disagreements about their precise roles.[1]

Feelings, emotions, and life satisfaction

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Positive and negative feelings of pleasure and pain are basic experiences of what is attractive and aversive. Pleasures promote well-being while pains diminish it. Additionally, they also influence how individuals perceive their lives and interact with their social and physical environments.[2] Pleasure and pain are commonly seen as symmetric phenomena that counterbalance each other. According to this view, the disvalue of an episode of intense pain can be annulled by the value of an episode of intense pleasure. A different perspective argues that their relation is more complex, asserting that pleasure and pain influence experience, motivation, and well-being in distinct ways. As a result, some theorists hold that avoiding pain is more important than seeking pleasure.[3]

Emotions include subjective experiences of pleasure and pain but are more complex psychological phenomena that encompass various additional aspects. They are temporary states of arousal and include an evaluative assessment of a situation and a disposition to engage in certain types of behavior. For example, fear evaluates a situation as dangerous and is associated with a behavioral disposition to flee. Additionally, emotions are associated with physiological changes, like sweating, and bodily expressions that signal the emotional state to others.[4][a] High well-being is associated with frequent positive emotions and infrequent negative ones.[6] Moods are a closely related factor of well-being. They typically last longer than emotions and have a less specific origin and evaluative assessment.[7]

Life satisfaction is the subjective judgment of a person about how well their life is going. As an evaluation of a person's life as a whole, it is not limited to one particular area, like employment or financial status. Even though life satisfaction is influenced by the feelings and emotions a person currently has, it is not limited to them and encompasses a broader perspective. For example, a person may be overall satisfied with their life even if they are experiencing intense stomach pain at the moment. Individuals vary in how they arrive at their judgment of life satisfaction. For instance, some rely on instinctive gut feelings while others engage in deliberate and systematic reflections. Sometimes, individuals make inaccurate assessments and deceive themselves about their true quality of life, like cases of false happiness.[8]

Achievements and meaning

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Achievements or accomplishments refer to various types of success in life. They usually involve sustained effort in which an individual sets a goal they consider valuable and strives to actualize it. Achievements take many forms such as earning an educational degree, attaining athletic success, contributing to scientific research, writing a well-received novel, starting a successful company, and bringing up a happy family.[9] The contribution of achievements to well-being depends not only on their quantity but also on their significance. For example, a difficult achievement that helps many people, like finding a cure for cancer, may contribute more to the achiever's well-being than a trivial and pointless achievement, like determining the exact number of crumbs in a cookie jar.[10] High achievement typically has a positive influence on other factors of well-being. For example, it can help a person make more friends and improve their standard of living. In some cases, however, it can have negative side effects, like when an obsession with success increases anxiety and alienates loved ones.[11]

Finding purpose or meaning in life is a closely related factor of well-being. It involves a judgment about the role and value of one's life in a wider context, but its precise characterization is disputed.[12] Subjectivists argue that meaning is a subjective phenomenon. They suggest that people actively create it and make their lives meaningful by dedicating themselves to what they love. Objectivists contend that meaning is an objective phenomenon achieved by engaging with concrete values, like truth, moral goodness, and beauty. Some objectivists seek meaning in religious practice, arguing that a supernatural purpose is the source of meaning for individuals who work towards its realization.[13] Other suggested sources of meaning include altruism, creativity, and self-actualization.[14] The inability to find meaning in life can lead to an existential crisis, associated with anxiety and spiritual confusion.[15]

Friendship and other relationships

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Positive social connections and interactions are further key elements of well-being. In addition to the intrinsic joy of engaging with others, social networks can offer material and emotional assistance during challenging times. They also help people build trust, share values, promote the exchange of information, and provide access to new opportunities. There are various types of social relationships that may influence well-being in different ways, including friends, family members, romantic partners, co-workers, and teammates.[16][b]

Researchers often focus specifically on friendship, understood as a voluntary social relationship between people characterized by mutual concern, trust, and support. Friends tend to spend time with each other, enjoy each other's company, and know personal facts about one another.[18] A central aspect of a friendship is its strength, distinguishing close friends from distant ones. Strength is determined by factors such as time spent together, trust, emotional intensity, and readiness to support each other in difficult times.[19] The number of friends a person has is another relevant factor,[20] and having many friends is usually beneficial. However, if a person already has numerous friends, making even more friends may not significantly impact their well-being.[21] Some people prefer large friend networks with looser connections, while others have few but strong friendships.[22][c]

Health and disabilities

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Main articles: Health and Disability

Health is the overall condition in which an organism functions as it should, both physically and mentally.[25] Good physical health is associated with high energy and the ability to perform everyday activities. Physical illnesses and disabilities can negatively impact well-being by causing pain, limiting mobility, and reducing the capacity to engage in enjoyable or necessary activities.[26] Good mental health is a state of internal equilibrium in which mental capacities work the way they should. Mental disorders are associated with some form of cognitive impairment. They typically disrupt the equilibrium by causing some form of distress and can also limit the activities a person can engage in.[27] Discrimination can amplify the negative effects of socially stigmatized illnesses and disabilities.[28]

Despite its general impact, health does not determine well-being and some individuals affected by severe illnesses and disabilities report high levels of subjective well-being.[29] The availability of healthcare services can mitigate negative effects by providing treatments to restore health or manage and alleviate symptoms.[30] Similarly, adopting a healthy lifestyle, like regular physical activity and a balanced diet, is associated with long-term benefits to well-being.[31]

Other components

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Knowledge is a cognitive success through which people stand in contact with reality.[32] As such, it impacts well-being in various ways by influencing how people think, feel, and act. Knowledge assists in making good decisions, achieving positive outcomes, and avoiding negative ones. For example, knowledge of traffic rules helps prevent accidents and knowledge of a disease can aid in its treatment.[33] However, it is controversial whether all types of knowledge contribute to well-being. For example, knowing unimportant facts, such as the exact number of blades of grass in one's backyard, may have no real benefits. Practically relevant knowledge about oneself and deep insights into general truths of the world, by contrast, typically have a more substantial impact on well-being.[34]

In addition to knowledge, many related epistemic goods contribute to well-being, such as intelligence, problem-solving skills, creativity, open-mindedness, understanding, and wisdom. The value of epistemic goods is reflected in the emphasis given to education to foster the development of the minds of students.[35]

Autonomy and freedom are often-discussed factors of well-being. They concern the possibility to choose, the ability to make informed decisions without coercion, and the capacity to act without being constrained by external forces.[d] Individuals with a high level of autonomy and freedom tend to be more satisfied by having control over their lives. This enables them to decide between important options and choose a life that reflects their desires, preferences, and values. However, these conditions may not automatically lead to well-being and can sometimes have negative consequences. For example, a person lacking mental maturity and wisdom may freely engage in short-sighted egoism while ignoring negative long-term outcomes.[37]

Eudaimonic conceptions of well-being stress the importance of character traits and virtues.[38] Character traits are stable and consistent aspects of personality that influence how people think, feel, and act. Traits associated with well-being include wisdom, courage, kindness, justice, temperance, and gratitude.[39] Virtues are character traits that promote ethical excellence, serving as dispositions to act morally. Virtue-based theories of well-being argue that virtue can be its own reward, for example, because living a morally upright life can be a fulfilling experience. However, virtue and well-being may also conflict, for instance, when altruistic service to a greater good requires personal sacrifice.[40]

Various social factors influence well-being, such as income, quality of work, work-life balance, personal security, and schooling. Similarly, the physical environment plays a role, with factors like housing conditions, pollution, noise, and access to nature and recreational areas.[41]

Models

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Models of well-being are frameworks to understand and measure well-being by clarifying its concept and components.[42] Ed Diener's tripartite model identifies three essential components of subjective well-being: the presence of positive affects, the absence of negative affects, and a positive evaluation of one's life as a whole.[43] Carol Ryff proposed the six-factor model of psychological well-being. It states that the main elements are self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others.[44] Focusing on social well-being, Corey Keyes developed a five-component model based on social integration, social contribution, social coherence, social actualization, and social acceptance.[45]

Martin Seligman articulated the PERMA theory as a model of well-being in general. Its five elements are positive emotions, engagement by following one's interests, interpersonal relationships, finding meaning in life, and accomplishments in the pursuit of success and mastery.[46] Michael Bishop developed the network model of well-being, which includes components such as feelings, emotions, attitudes, traits, and interactions with one's environment. This model emphasizes that the different components form a causal network by influencing and reinforcing each other in complex ways.[47]


References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Although these elements are characteristic of most emotions, the precise definition of emotions is disputed and some emotions lack certain elements.[5]
  2. ^ These categories are not exclusive. For example, a co-worker can be a friend at the same time.[17]
  3. ^ Some theorists distinguish different types of friendship, arguing that they do not contribute to well-being in the same way.[23] For example, a friendship based on the enjoyment of each other's company is different from one based on achieving a common goal. An influential characterization by Aristotle holds that in the highest form of friendship, each friend cares about the other for the other's own sake.[24]
  4. ^ The exact definitions of these terms are disputed.[36]

Citations

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  1. ^
  2. ^
  3. ^
  4. ^
  5. ^ Zelenski 2020, § Defining Emotions and Other Affective States, § Positive emotions - Summing Up
  6. ^ Tov & Diener 2013, Lead section
  7. ^
  8. ^
  9. ^
  10. ^
  11. ^ Hooker 2015, pp. 21–22
  12. ^
  13. ^
  14. ^ Yalom 2020, pp. 431, 435, 437
  15. ^
  16. ^
  17. ^ Fehr & Harasymchuk 2017, pp. 104–105
  18. ^
  19. ^
  20. ^
  21. ^ Bradley 2015, pp. 63–65
  22. ^ Fehr & Harasymchuk 2017, p. 106
  23. ^
  24. ^ Jeske 2015, pp. 233–234
  25. ^
  26. ^
  27. ^
  28. ^ Schroeder 2015, pp. 221–222
  29. ^ Schroeder 2015, pp. 221–222
  30. ^
  31. ^
  32. ^ Steup & Neta 2024, Lead section, § 1. The Varieties of Cognitive Success
  33. ^
  34. ^
  35. ^
  36. ^
  37. ^
  38. ^
  39. ^
  40. ^
  41. ^
    • OECD 2011, pp. 23–24
    • Layard 2023, pp. 139, 142, 179, 203–204, 235–237
    • Zelenski 2019, § 7. Social and Physical Environments
  42. ^
  43. ^
  44. ^
  45. ^
  46. ^
  47. ^

Sources

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  • Barker, Sue (2019). "2. Mental Wellbeing". Mental Wellbeing and Psychology: The Role of Art and History in Self Discovery and Creation. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-78461-3.
  • Fisher, Zoe; Wilkie, Lowri; Hamill, Alexandra; Kemp, Andrew H. (2024). "Theories of wellbeing, practical applications and implications for coaching". [10.4324/9781003319016-4 The Health and Wellbeing Coaches' Handbook] (1 ed.). Routledge. pp. 20–37. ISBN 978-1-003-31901-6. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
  • Maddux, James E. (2024). "1. Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction". In Maddux, James E. (ed.). Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction: A Social Psychological Perspective. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-040-18620-6.
  • Bishop, Michael (2012). "The Network Theory of Well-Being: An Introduction". Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication. 7 (1). doi:10.4148/biyclc.v7i0.1773.
  • Gallagher, Matthew W.; Lopez, Shane J.; Preacher, Kristopher J. (2009). "The Hierarchical Structure of Well‐Being". Journal of Personality. 77 (4): 1025–1050. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00573.x.
  • OECD (2011). How's Life? Measuring Well-being. OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/9789264121164-en. ISBN 978-92-64-12116-4.
  • Miller, Christian (2011). "Guilt, Embarrassment, and the Existence of Character Traits". In Brooks, Thom (ed.). New Waves in Ethics. Springer. pp. 150–187. ISBN 978-0-230-30588-5.
  • Baril, Anne (2015). "20. Virtue and Well-Being". In Fletcher, Guy (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-40265-7.
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