Individuals' Assessments of Their Own Wellbeing, Subjective Welfare, and Good Life: Four Exploratory Studies

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 21;19(19):11919. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191911919.

Abstract

This paper reports on four exploratory online studies of how wellbeing and welfare are valued and perceived from a subjective, individual perspective. Study 1 (n = 707) compares individuals' subjective ratings and correlations of the importance of the three wellbeing dimensions happiness, meaning in life, and a psychologically rich life, as well as their welfare. Study 2 (n = 679) factor-analyses the same four (five-item) wellbeing and subjective welfare constructs. Study 3 (n = 710) gauges how individuals' global assessments of the three dimensions of wellbeing and of subjective welfare contribute to their assessments of living a good life, using stepwise regression analysis. Study 4 (n = 663) replicates the stepwise regression analysis with global measures of relative, rather than absolute, wellbeing and subjective welfare.

Keywords: good life; happiness; meaning in life; psychological richness; subjective welfare; wellbeing.

MeSH terms

  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Happiness*
  • Humans
  • Social Welfare*

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.