The evolving concept of subjective well-being: the multifaceted nature of happiness
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Evolving conceptions of subjective well-being: The multifaceted nature of happiness
Subjective well-being (SWB) is the field in the behavioral sciences in which people's evaluations of their lives are studied. SWB includes diverse concepts ranging from momentary moods to global judgments of life satisfaction, and from depression to euphoria. The field has grown rapidly in the last decade, so that there are now thousands of studies on topics such as life satisfaction and happiness. Scientists who study aging have shown particular interest in SWB, perhaps because of concern that
Hierarchical structure: the components of SWB
In this section, we review the components that make up the domain of subjective well-being. We present these components as a conceptual hierarchy with various levels of specificity (see Fig. 1). At the highest level of this hierarchy is the concept of SWB itself. At this level, SWB reflects a general evaluation of a person's life, and researchers who work at this level should measure various components from lower levels in the hierarchy to get a complete picture of an individual's overall
Temporal sequence and stages
In this section we describe the multifaceted nature of SWB with an emphasis on the unfolding of different stages or components over time. These components, ranging from external events to global judgments of one's life, are depicted in Fig. 2. In particular, we highlight the transition between the stages and the divergences among measures of the different stages. Although convergence of measurement is often regarded as the ideal, we will see that discrepancies are also interesting and can
Stability and consistency of SWB
Subjective well-being variables are thought to reflect the actual conditions in a person's life. Thus, when these conditions change, reports of SWB should change accordingly. Yet, because there is some degree of stability in these conditions, we should also expect SWB measures to be relatively stable over time. Furthermore, SWB constructs are influenced by a variety of stable personality factors, a finding that supports the notion that SWB should be relatively stable (Diener and Lucas, 2000),
Affect vs. cognition
SWB includes both an affective (i.e. on-going evaluations of one's life) and a cognitive component (i.e. life satisfaction). Theorists have long debated the degree to which affect and cognition are related (see Zajonc, 1980; Lazarus, 1982, Lazarus, 1984). This controversy bears particular relevance to the study of SWB because it highlights the dependence, and yet separability, of the two systems, suggesting a need to measure affect and cognition separately (even though they are not entirely
The functioning mood system
Although negative emotions are usually unpleasant, theorists have recognized their functionality. For example, fear can motivate us to avoid danger, anger can push us to correct an injustice, and sadness can make us withdraw so that we can renew our resources and make new plans of action after loss. Volumes have been written on the adaptive functions of negative emotions, but much less on the positive side. Recently, Fredrickson, 1998, Fredrickson, 2001 outlined a “broaden and build model”
Tradeoffs
Just as the above conception of happiness is not the picture of uninterrupted ecstasy, we believe that people, moreover, do not desire a life of unvariegated joys, at least not without some qualifications. First, people want their happy feelings to be justified. This view marks a clear departure from hedonistic philosophy in which personal enjoyment was considered the ultimate goal (Tatarkiewicz, 1976). Robert Nozick's (1974) philosophical idea of an “experience machine” provides a good example
Implications for measurement
Subjective well-being measures should tap well-being from a respondent's own perspective. For this reason, most studies of SWB have relied on self-report measures of the constructs. However, there are many reasons to be cautious in our interpretation of results based solely on self-report measures. Various response sets and response styles may influence people's ratings. Certain people may appear to be happier than others simply because they use high numbers on a response scale or because they
Implications for research on aging
Research on SWB over the lifespan offers a unique opportunity for psychologists interested in the processes underlying SWB judgments. SWB judgments are thought to reflect the conditions in one's life, and many of these conditions deteriorate in old age. Thus, studies of aging can provide a useful test of SWB theories. Yet when we examine the empirical evidence regarding age-related changes in SWB, there is somewhat of a paradox (Kunzmann et al., 2000). On the one hand, the objective conditions
Conclusions: the take-home message(s) and directions for future research
From the early philosophical treatments of happiness to the modern science of subjective well-being, the concept of happiness has evolved considerably. Although subjective well-being can be defined simply as the way that people evaluate their lives, this simple definition belies the complex and multi-faceted nature of the construct. SWB is not a unitary dimension, and there is no single index that can capture what it means to be happy. Instead, SWB reflects a broad collection of distinct
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