The new reconceptualization of subjective well-being assumed to be synonymous of happiness by Diener (2006, p. 400) as: “An umbrella term for different valuations that people make regarding their lives, the events happening to them, their bodies and minds, and the circumstances in which they live” resulted in greater theoretical convergence between these constructs. This raises an issue as to the point in which conceptual overlap invites redundancy, and whether one or the other of the terms is now surplus to requirements. The Well-Being Journal is a simple yet effective tool to help you build a better version of yourself. By using this journal, you’ll be taking a step towards discovering your full potential and making positive changes in your life.

Journal of Wellbeing International Journal of Wellbeing

Farver-Vestergaard I, Ruggeri K. Setting National Policy Agendas in Light of the Denmark Results for Well-being. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017;74(8):773–4. Such a beautiful quote along with other amazing quotes and thoughtfulness. Thank you for making this amazing well-being journal! (: Naturally, it is not a compelling argument to simply state that more measures present greater information than fewer or single measures, and this is not the primary argument of this manuscript. In many instances, national measures of well-being are mandated to be restricted to a limited set of items. What is instead being argued is that well-being itself is a multidimensional construct, and if it is deemed a critical insight for establishing policy agenda or evaluating outcomes, measurements must follow suit and not treat happiness and life satisfaction values as universally indicative. The items included in ESS present a very useful step to that end, even in a context where the number of items is limited. Ruggeri K, Garcia Garzon E, Maguire Á, Huppert F. Chapter 1: comprehensive psychological well-being. In: Looking through the wellbeing kaleidoscope: Results from the European Social Survey. London: New Economics Foundation; 2016.

Multibuys

The hedonic concept of happiness does not consider that cognitive appraisal plays the important role in emotional functioning ( Frijda, 1998, 2007). According to the dual route model of emotional processing proposed by LeDoux (2000), triggering information is simultaneously sent to the amygdala, resulting in immediate physiological responses like “fight or flight” ( Cannon, 1929), and to prefrontal cortex for further cognitive appraisal. Evidence shows that activation of the amygdala could be inhibited by prefrontal brain structures involved in conscious cognition ( Thayer et al., 2009; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Also, the impact of cognition on emotional states is well supported by evidence-based cognitive therapy ( Butler et al., 2006; Ellis, 2002). Therefore, the definition of happiness as merely emotional well-being is limited, because it does not account for the cognitive component of happiness supported by both theories and empirical evidence ( Diener et al., 1999; Eid & Larsen, 2008; Frijda, 2007). Governments and researchers have attempted to assess the well-being of populations for centuries [ 2]. Often in economic or political research, this has ended up being assessed using a single item about life satisfaction or happiness, or a limited set of items regarding quality of life [ 3]. Yet, well-being is a multidimensional construct, and cannot be adequately assessed in this manner [ 14, 24, 29]. Well-being goes beyond hedonism and the pursuit of happiness or pleasurable experience, and beyond a global evaluation (life satisfaction): it encompasses how well people are functioning, known as eudaimonic, or psychological well-being. Assessing well-being using a single subjective item approach fails to offer any insight into how people experience the aspects of their life that are fundamental to critical outcomes. An informative measure of well-being must encompass all the major components of well-being, both hedonic and eudaimonic aspects [ 2], and cannot be simplified to a unitary item of income, life satisfaction, or happiness. There is a clear pattern of MPWB scores increasing with education level, though the differences were most pronounced between low and middle education groups (β = .12, t (36508) = 9.538; p< .001). Individuals with high education were significantly higher on MPWB than those in the middle education group (β = .10, t (36508) =11.06; p< .001). Differences between groups were noticeably larger for countries with lower overall well-being, and the difference was particularly striking in Bulgaria. In Portugal, medium and high education well-being means were above the European average (though 95% confidence intervals crossed 0), but educational attainment is significantly lower in the country, meaning the low education group represents a greater proportion of the population than the other 21 countries. In the six countries with the highest well-being, mean scores for all levels of education were above the European mean. Utilizing ten dimensions for superior understanding of well-being Figure 7 complements those insights more specifically by showing how Finland and Norway, with a number of social, demographic, and economic similarities, plus identical life satisfaction scores (8.1) arrive at similar single MPWB scores with very different profiles for individual dimensions. By understanding the levers that are specific to each country (i.e. dimensions with the lowest well-being scores), policymakers can respond with appropriate interventions, thereby maximizing the potential for impact on entire populations. Had we restricted well-being measurement to a single question about happiness, as is commonly done, we would have seen both countries had similar and extremely high means for happiness. This might have led to the conclusion that there was minimal need for interventions for improving well-being. Thus, in isolation, using happiness as the single indicator would have masked the considerable variability on several other dimensions, especially those dimensions where one or both had means among the lowest of the 21 countries. This would have resulted in similar policy recommendations, when in fact, Norway may have been best served by, for example, targeting lower dimensions such as Engagement and Self-Esteem, and Finland best served by targeting Vitality and Emotional Stability. Don’t forget there is an online version of the journal available on My LJMU if you would prefer to keep a digital journal.

Well-being is more than happiness and life satisfaction: a Well-being is more than happiness and life satisfaction: a

Certainly, it is well known that higher income is related to higher subjective well-being and better health and life expectancy [ 1, 42], so reduced income following unemployment is likely to lead to increased inequalities. Further work would be particularly insightful if it included links to specific dimensions of well-being, not only the comprehensive scores or overall life satisfaction for unemployed populations. As such, effective responses would involve implementation of interventions known to increase well-being in these groups in times of (or in spite of) low access to work, targeting dimensions most responsible for low overall well-being. Further work on this subject will be presented in forthcoming papers with extended use of these data.Well-being has been defined as the combination of feeling good and functioning well; the experience of positive emotions such as happiness and contentment as well as the development of one’s potential, having some control over one’s life, having a sense of purpose, and experiencing positive relationships [ 23]. It is a sustainable condition that allows the individual or population to develop and thrive. The term subjective well-being is synonymous with positive mental health. The World Health Organization [ 45] defines positive mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. This conceptualization of well-being goes beyond the absence of mental ill health, encompassing the perception that life is going well. It should be noted that Round 6 was treated as the focal point of these efforts before repeating for Round 3, primarily due to the revised items that were problematic in Round 3, and considering that analyses of the 2006 data are already widely available. Deaton A. Income, health and wellbeing around the world: evidence from the Gallup world poll. J Econ Perspect. 2008;22(2):53–72. Brendan Case, Victor Counted, Jim Ritchie-Dunham, Richard Cowden, Christina Gibson, Hayami Koga, Tim Lomas, Noah Padgett Steptoe A, Deaton A, Stone AA. Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing. Lancet. 2015;385(9968):640–8.