Analysis of the Concept of Subjective Well Being - Essay Example

?Running head: ive well-being ive well being Insert Insert Grade Insert July 26, ive well being Introduction For more than a century, the concept of happiness has raised debates in different disciplines of study with various scholars attempting to define the term and examine what brings it. Much concern about happiness was mainly in the fields of philosophy and religion. Despite the controversies that could arise, happiness could be considered as well being of an individual’s mental status. It was characterized by absence of negative emotions that upset the mindset of an individual (Baxter, 2010, para.1). It also points out to an individual’s feeling that he or she is headed to achieve the goals. Divergent views were provided by scholars, especially the philosophers, on what would lead to this happiness. There were also discussions as to whether happiness was sufficient to define the wellbeing of an individual in the society. In these earlier times, the psychologists were mainly concerned with the consequences of lack of happiness. Much focus was given to stress and depression as the negative consequences of negative emotions. The overwhelming emphasis on such negative states would later lead to a shift to focus on the positive elements of life (Diener et al, 1999, p.276). It was not until 1950s that philosophers began to focus on the positive emotions and their effects on an individual’s mental health (Hoorn, 2007, p.1). The psychologists realized that individual reports could be used shed light on the wellbeing of such individuals and their emotional states. The kind of well being that would be measured in this case is referred to as subjective wellbeing. The subjective well-being is far much broader than mere happiness. It is not only characterized by lack of negative affect (emotions) but is also characterized by the presence of positive affects. It provides an individual’s evaluation of his or her life in general, and not at a particular stage in life. It refers to considering life satisfaction in a broader perspective. This type of well being defines the individuals’ achievement of their goals and objectives in life. It provides the degree to which one is living to his expectations and to the expectation of the others. It also provides a comparison between one’s life performance and the performance of others in the society. The meaning of subjective well being Many individuals would wish to live and experience good life. The challenge that has been in existence for a long period is the description of such a “good life.” It could be thought that such a life is obtained through the love that individuals give to each other in the society or the level of pleasure that one derives from his life encounters. In deed, love could have significant contribution to good life through increased happiness, high levels of life satisfaction, and how positive emotions. An approach that has been adopted recently in defining and describing the quality of a good life is to let an individual to give his view of the worth of his life. This is termed as subjective well being (SWB) (Diener, 2000, p.34). It refers to an individual’s evaluation of his or her happiness following different dimensions of satisfaction in life. It is termed subjective because the evaluation will depend on the beholder (Institute of Subjective Well Being, n.d, para.1). What can be considered by one individual as “feeling very good” may as well be considered differently by another individual. As such, subjective well being can be observed as an alternative to global evaluation of life satisfaction. It has a distinction from a mere happiness that could refer to the absence of some negative affect. As such, it is fully defined by happiness, positive emotions with low negative emotions, and life satisfaction (Nistor, n.d, p.60). In this regard, subjective well being is considered to have two components: the cognitive component (life satisfaction) and the affective component (high positive and low negative emotions). The cognitive components of an individual’s subjective well being will provide the individual’s evaluation of his life (Kim & Hatfield, 2004, p.174). It will provide the level of satisfaction that the individual consider to have achieved in life. On the other hand, the affective component will seek to identify the emotions of an individual. These factors will provide the measurement scale for SWB (Stones et al, 2011, p.93). A subjective well-being will be evidenced if the individuals have high positive affects with little or negative affects (Kim & Hatfield, 2004, p.174). Subjective well being is the consequence of a hedonic approach to happiness. The hedonists believe that happiness is attained when factors contributing to pleasure are increased while those leading to pain are reduced (Baxter, 2010, para.4). Thus, the subjective well being of an individual will be ranked high if the individual has high positive affects and life satisfaction (Baxter, 2010, para.4). In measuring the subjective well being in individuals, the individuals will be required to respond to certain questions designed to evaluate the evaluation of life experiences. The individuals are required to evaluate their happiness as a measure of the subjective well-being. This happiness need to be considered throughout the individual’s life and can be deduced from the individual’s life experiences. The happiness will be realized if the individuals are actually achieving the goals and objectives that they have set in life. It will also be evidenced if the individual is performing in life much as the others in the society do. Typically, one would be happy if the achieved life objectives are similar to the objectives of the others that are role models in the society. Achieving an objective that is contrary to the expectation of the society might not generate a genuine happiness and the subsequent well-being. Certain factors may influence the kind of response that one provides in relation to his or her wellbeing. The measures of SWB may be biased depending on the situational factors that prevail at the time such information is sought. Researchers have shown that an evaluation of global life satisfaction may be affected by the mood of the respondent at the response time (Diener, 2000, p.35). The reports may also be affected by the order in which the items are delivered in the research measurement item. Similarly, the individuals under study may provide responses in relation to the aspects of happiness that might be of high value to the prevailing social norms (Diener, 2000, p.35). Various assessments methods can be integrated in a single assessment of SWB in order to remove these limitations. These include obtaining information from informants and applying memory measurement (Diener, 2000, p.35). In measuring the levels of emotions, the measurement items need to include both the measures of positive and negative affects (Diener, 2000, p.35). Influences subjective well being have on money, health, marriage Subjective well being in individual and the associated happiness has diverse influence on the individual’s socio-economic life. There is a notion that happiness is associated with material wealth. In as much as this might be the case, the subjective well-being provides a different approach. In responding to an inquiry of their SWB, many individuals believe that they are happy and can be happy whether they have material wealth or not. This is particularly significant when considering the other factors like love that contributes to happiness. Researches have revealed that contrary to the individual’s expectation that happiness should increase with increase in household incomes, there have been little or no significant increase (Blanchflower & Oswald, 1999, p19). In this regard, subjective well being will focus on material wealth as less essential in promoting happiness in life. The subjective well being also has influence on the mental health of an individual. An individual who scores highly in terms of positive affects and life satisfaction is less likely to suffer depression and anxiety than the other one with negative emotions. The individual’s perception that he or she is progressing in the right direction to achieve the life objectives enables him to develop peaceful mind. On the other hand, since this is subjective, the well being so described may have adverse effects on the individual’s health. For instance, an individual who has some health problem may live in denial and claim to be living a happy life. He will be enjoying his right to express the worth of his life as required in SWB only at the expense of his deteriorating medical condition. A significant relationship has also been established by researches between subjective well being and marriage. The researches have shown individuals who are happy in their lives tend to have a longer marriage than the individuals who have lower measurements of SWB (Blanchflower & Oswald, 1999, p14). Similarly, living as married couples is positively associated with happiness. It has been observed that married women are happier than single, divorced, or separated women are. The happiness is even better if the marriage has been conducted through legal procedures, whereby the females are assured of their rights in the relationship (Blanchflower & Oswald, 1999, p.16). This situation may be different in men, who are not prone to keeping in house and may consider legal marriage as unnecessary bondage. A criticism of subjective well being on the three things spoken about and in itself The above focuses of subjective well being on money, marriage, and health have certain challenges. The considerations do not provide solutions to the psychological problems that are encountered in the society. While SWB approach claims that happiness in life can be attained even if one lacks material wealth, the truth is that one of the causes of the psychological problems poverty. This gives a contradiction to some of the psychological principles. An individual’s inability to obtain the basic requirements in life like food and housing is a major cause of stress and other mental disorders. Such an individual would be forced to set minimal goals to be achieved in life. Still in this case, the individuals will not be able to achieve objectives that are comparable to the others in the society. Thus, one of the challenges of subjective well being as it is defined is that in as much as one might be concerned with pursuit and ultimate attainment of pleasure, this might not lead to happiness or neither might they be achieved (Baxter, 2010, para.1). The individuals are often reluctant to correct their economic situations and would soon be posing problems to other members of the society a well. There will then be no happiness. This will be the contradiction. SWB is also not standard and is affected by different factors. The individuals’ personalities (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998, p.3), demographic factors, and the situational factors have been seen to affect a SWB report (Hoorn, 2007, p.6). Besides, the factors like moods or temperament that determine one’s ability to make evaluations also change over time (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2003, p.404)The different responses have further adverse effects on the individuals. An individual’s independent evaluation of the life satisfaction may have negative effects on the individual’s mental health. An individual with some chronic infection but claims to be well is likely to develop more health complications. Eudaimonic as another type of wellbeing It should be noted that mere focus on subjective well being is not sufficient to provide a description of the kind of life that is desirable. It could be referring to a life that is only good for us and yet it is not morally acceptable (Angner, 2009, p.3). The deficiencies that are provided by subjective well being approach in defining good life and happiness calls for another kind of well being termed Eudaimonic well-being. In this case, wellbeing is considered to be far beyond happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001, p.143). Unlike the hedonistic (subjective) well-being, this approach considers happiness from an ethical perspective (Ryff & Singer, 2006, p.17) and that happiness should comprise both pleasure and virtue (Bauer, McAdams & Pals, 2008, p.82). It is a development over subjective well being that further focuses on the purpose of life, the meaning derived from life, the life challenges, as well as the developments that an individual has registered in life. Eudaimonic well-being is characterized by high level of autonomy, competence, self-acceptance, as well as social contribution in the society (Boniwell, n.d, para.10). It has been observed that total happiness does not result from pleasures but rather on how an individual succeeds in cultivating his strengths and virtues to achieve larger social objectives (Baxter, 2010, para.5). An individual will be happy if he has full control over his actions and has the ability to perform roles and responsibilities that may be assigned to him. Unnecessary forces that might hinder an individual’s independent decision-making may deny him total happiness. The happiness will be genuine if the individual has good reputation in the society and offers significant social contribution to the society. An effective approach in positive psychology is to integrate both hedonistic and Eudaimonic views to define the ultimate happiness that is desirable The resulting blend is a consideration of the pleasures obtained from positive emotions, proper engagement to develop an individual’s strengths and virtues, and striving to derive meaning out of life (Baxter, 2010, para.9). This is not hard to achieve since the concepts since the pursuit of Eudaimonic well being will definitely lead to attainment of SWB. References Angner, E. (2009). Subjective Well-being. University of Alabama at Birmingham. Retrieved from http://homepage.uab.edu/angner/pdf/SubjectiveWellBeing.pdf Bauer, J., McAdams, D. & Pals, J. (2008). Narrative Identity and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9:81-104. Retrieved from http://academic.udayton.edu/JackBauer/Mypubs/Bauer%2008%20narr%20iden%20EWB.pdf. Baxter, D. (2010). Happiness and Positive Psychology: Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Directory of Health and Mental Health Resources. Retrieved from http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive-psychology/24145-happiness-and-positive-psychology-hedonic-and-eudaimonic-well-being.html Blanchflower, D. and Oswald, A. (1999). Well-Being over Time in Britain and the USA. Working Paper 7487. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w7487.pdf. Boniwell, I. (N.d). The concept of Eudaimonic well-being. Positive Psychology, UK. Retrieved from http://www.positivepsychology.org.uk/pp-theory/eudaimonia/34-the-concept-of-eudaimonic-well-being.html DeNeve, K and Cooper, H. (1998). The Happy Personality: A Meta-Analysis of 137 Personality Traits and Subjective Well-Being. Retrieved from http://www.subjectpool.com/ed_teach/y4person/admin/talks2009/wellbeing_Presentations1-5.pdf. Diener, E. (2000). Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and a Proposal for a National Index. American Psychologist. Retrieved from http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~broberts/Diener%202000.pdf. Diener, E. et al. (1999). Subjective Weil-Being: Three Decades of Progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276-302. Retrieved from http://avatarcoaching.com/CoachPro/pics/SWB-Gelisimi-Diener.pdf Diener, E., Oishi, S and Lucas, R. (2003). Personality, Culture, and Subjective Well-Being: Emotional and Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 54:403–25. Retrieved from http://education.ucsb.edu/janeconoley/ed197/documents/DienerPersonalitycultureandsubjectivewell-being.pdf Hoorn, A. (2007). A short introduction to subjective well-being: its measurement, correlates, and policy uses. Paper prepared for international conference, University of Rome. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/16/39/38331839.pdf Institute of Subjective Well Being. (N.d). Subjective well being, science of happiness. Retrieved from http://www.iswb.org/ Nistor, A. (n.d). Developments on the Happiness Issue: a Review of the Research on Subjective Well-being and Flow. The scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=127&sid=405b3732-f26d-45c4-b962-603bf8d729b7%40sessionmgr104 Kim, J. and Hatfield, E. (2004). Love Types and Subjective Well-Being: A Cross-Cultural Study. Social Behavior and Personality, 32(2), 173-182. Retrieved from Http://Www.Elainehatfield.Com/103.Pdf. Ryan, R and Deci, E. (2001). On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Annu. Rev. Psychol, 52:141–66. Retrieved from http://www.rickhanson.net/wp-content/files/papers/HappinessLR.pdf. Ryff, C. and Singer, B. (2006). Know thyself and become what you are: A Eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9; 13-39. Retrieved from http://www.midus.wisc.edu/findings/pdfs/692.pdf Stones, M. et al. (2011). Overestimated Relationships with Subjective Well-Being. Canadian Psychological Association, 52(2), 93–100. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=127&sid=405b3732-f26d-45c4-b962-603bf8d729b7%40sessionmgr104 Read More