Well-being

For other uses, see Welfare (disambiguation).

Well-being, wellbeing, welfare or wellness is a general term for the condition of an individual or group, for example their social, economic, psychological, spiritual or medical state; a high level of well-being means in some sense the individual or group's condition is positive, while low well-being is associated with negative happenings.

In philosophy the term 'well-being' (and 'welfare', 'utility' etc) is used to refer to how well a person's life goes for the person who lives it. Philosophers such as Fred Feldman and Brad Hooker have suggested that we think of well-being through thinking about what parents want for their children ('the crib test'). Philosophical study of well-being has identified a number of different kinds of theory. These include: hedonism, desire-fulfilment theory, objective list theory, perfectionism, and some 'mixed' or 'hybrid' views of well-being. Well-being features in normative ethical theories, most notably utilitarianism. One need not be a utilitarian, or a consequentialist more generally, to think that well-being matters morally. Any plausible ethical theory will give at least some role to well-being.

In economics, the term is used for one or more quantitative measures intended to assess the quality of life of a group, for example, in the capabilities approach and the economics of happiness. As with the related cognate terms 'wealth' and 'welfare', economics sources often contrast the state with its opposite. The study of well-being is divided into subjective well-being and objective well-being.

Background

Although there has not been a clear definition established for well-being, it can be defined as “...a special case of attitude”. This definition serves two purposes of well-being: developing and testing a [systematic] theory for the structure of [interrelationships] among varieties of well-being, and integration of well-being theory with the ongoing cumulative theory development in the fields of attitude of related research”. One’s well-being develops through assessments of their environment and emotions and then developing an interpretation of their own personal self. There are two different types of well-being: cognitive and affective.. Social well-being is mentioned in Canadian law.

A more current definition of wellness and its distinction from health is the following: "Wellness refers to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being that extend beyond the traditional definition of health. It includes choices and activities aimed at achieving physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfillment." In other words, although health is part of wellbeing, some people are able to maintain satisfactory wellbeing despite the presence of psychological symptoms.

Cognitive

Cognitive well-being is developed through assessing one’s interactions with their environment and other people. “Welfare economics ultimately deals with cognitive concepts such as well-being, happiness, and satisfaction. These relate to notions such as aspirations and needs, contentment and disappointment”. People tend to assess their cognitive well-being based on the social classes that are in their community. In communities with a wide variety of social statuses, the lower class will tend to compare their lifestyle to those of higher class and assess what they do and do not have that could lead to a higher level of well-being. Whenever someone interprets their needs and wants as to being satisfied or not, they then develop their cognitive well-being.

Affective

These are the different levels of affect on well-being: “...high negative affect is represented by anxiety and [hostility]; low negative affect is represented by calmness and relaxation; high positive affect is represented by a state of pleasant arousal enthusiasm and low positive affect is represented by a state of unpleasantness and low arousal (dull, sluggish)”. Well-being is most usefully thought of as the dynamic process that gives people a sense of how their lives are going, through the interaction between their circumstances, activities and psychological resources or sense of their own ‘mental capital’." Or, as has been recorded elsewhere, it could be said that well-being "...is a state of complete wellness".

Psychology

According to McNulty (2012),“...positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences”. Well-being is an important factor in this subjective experience, as well as contentment, satisfaction with the past, optimism for the future and happiness in the present. People are more likely to experience positive psychology if they take in the good things in each experience or situation. Even with regard to the past, if a person only focuses on the negative the brain will only be able to recognise the negative. The more the brain has access to the negative, the easier it becomes, because that is what is more memorable. It takes more effort for the brain to remember the positive experiences because typically it is the smaller actions and experiences that are the positive ones. James McNulty's (2012) research examines this idea further. He argues that, “...well-being is not determined solely by people’s psychological characteristics but instead is determined jointly by the interplay between those characteristics and qualities of people's social environments”. When people experience well-being, they are experiencing a sense of emotional freedom – there is nothing negative that is holding them back from experiencing positive emotions. This is true if a person is in a certain setting, because it has been demonstrated in previous research that particular environments can hold a lot of memories for an individual just because of what was shared there and the meaning of it (source?). Therefore, “...well-being is often equated with the experience of pleasure and the absence of [pain] over time”. The less psychological pain an individual is experiencing the more he or she is going to experience well-being.

When someone is experiencing well-being they are also experiencing several other things. It involves a sense of self-fulfillment, which is the feeling of being happy and satisfied because one is doing something that fully uses one's abilities and talents (Merriam-Webster). The feeling of having a purpose in life and connection with others are also contributors to the idea of well-being. When people feel as though they have a [purpose] in the world, they feel like they belong. They feel like they matter.

The tripartite model of mental well-being is one of the most comprehensive models of well-being in psyhcology. This model views mental well-being as having three components of hedonic (or subjective), psychological, and social well-being. Hedonic well-being concerns emotional aspects of well-being, whereas psychological and social well-being concerns skills, abilities, and optimal functioning. The tripartite model of mental well-being has received extensive empirical support across cultures.

Education

When talking about the school system, the idea of well-being is not as well defined. It is argued that school should only be about learning and education but children also learn about social skills and themselves. When a child feels like they belong they are more likely to perform better in school. As well as accessing an education, ideally they need to learn how to believe in themselves and create purpose for themselves. If well-being is established in kids at a young age then it is more likely to play a part in their life as they get older. John White (2013) looked at public schools in Britain now and in the past. In the past schools only focused on knowledge and education but now Britain has moved to a broader direction. Their Every Child Matters initiative seeks to enhance children's well-being across the range of children's services.

Financial

“Wellbeing” has traditionally focused on improving physical, emotional and mental quality of life with little understanding of how dependent they all are on financial health. However, financial stress often manifests itself in physical and emotional difficulties that lead to increased healthcare costs and reduced productivity. A more inclusive paradigm for wellbeing would acknowledge money as a source of empowerment that maximizes physical and emotional health by reducing financial stress. Such a model would provide individuals with the financial knowledge they need, as well enable them to gain valuable insight and understanding regarding their financial habits, as well as their thoughts, feelings, fears and attitudes about money. Through this work, individuals would be better equipped to manage their money and achieve the financial wellness that is essential for their overall wellbeing.

Subjective

Subjective well-being is “...based on the idea that how each person thinks and feels about his or her life is important”. This idea is developed specifically in a person’s culture. People base their own well-being in relation to their environment and the lives of others around them. Well-being is also subject to how one feels other people in their environment perceive them, whether that positively or negatively. Well-being is also subject to pleasure and whether or not basic human needs are fulfilled, although it could be said one’s needs and wants are never fully satisfied. The quality of life of an individual and a society is dependent on the amount of happiness and pleasure the experience, as well as their relationship to human health. Whether or not other cultures are subject to internal culture appraisal is based on that culture's type. “Collectivistic cultures are more likely to use norms and the social appraisals of others in evaluating their subjective well-being, whereas those [individualistic] societies are more likely to heavily weight the internal [frame of reference] arising from one’s own happiness”.

Ethnic identity

Ethnic identity may play a role in an individual's cognitive well-being. Studies have shown that “...both social psychological and developmental perspectives suggest that a strong, secure ethnic identity makes a positive contribution to cognitive well-being”. Those in an acculturated society may feel more equal as a human being within their culture, therefore experiencing increased well-being.

Individual roles

Individual roles play a part in cognitive well-being. Not only does having social ties improve cognitive well-being, it also improves psychological health. Having multiple identities and roles helps individuals to relate to their society and provide the opportunity for each to contribute more as they increase their roles, therefore creating enhanced levels of cognitive well-being. Each individual role is ranked internally within a hierarchy of salience. Salience is “...the subjective importance that a person attaches to each identity”. Different roles an individual has have a different impact on their well-being. Within this hierarchy, higher roles offer more of a source to their well-being and define more meaningfulness to their overall role as a human being.

Sports

According to Bloodworth and McNamee sports and physical activities are a key contributor to the development of people's well-being. The influence of sports on well-being is conceptualized within a framework which includes impermanence, its hedonistic shallowness and its epistemological inadequacy. Researching the effect of sport on well-being is difficult as some societies are unable to access sports, a deficiency in studying this phenomenon.

See also

• Wellness

Additional reading

• Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Well-Being https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415714532
• 'Well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/well-being/
• 'Desire-satisfaction accounts of well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/desire-satisfaction-accounts-of-well-being
• 'Objective accounts of well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/objective-accounts-of-well-being
• 'Hedonistic accounts of well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/hedonist-accounts-of-well-being
• 'Perfectionist accounts of well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/perfectionist-accounts-of-well-being
• 'Hybrid accounts of well-being' http://philpapers.org/browse/hybrid-accounts-of-well-being
• Hooray for GDP! GDP as a measure of wellbeing (2012-12-22), Nicholas Oulton, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
• Happiness and satisfaction are not everything: Toward wellbeing indices based on stated preference (2015-01-02), Daniel J. Benjamin, Associate Professor of Economics, Cornell University; Samantha Cunningham, Project specialist, University of Southern California; Ori Heffetz, Associate Professor of Economics, Cornell University; Miles Kimball, Professor of Economics and Survey Research, University of Michigan; and Nichole Szembro, Assistant Professor of Economics, Trinity College.   Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
• Busts hurt more than booms help: New lessons for growth policy from global wellbeing surveys (2014-10-08), Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Michael I. Norton, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
• Science of Wellbeing. Measurements and Techniques Annie Wilson, 2014, Inner light publishers
• Ditch the ‘wellness’ logs, charts, apps and get a life (2015-01-18). "Most personal productivity measures are often a waste of time." The Financial Times