Age-Related Differences in Lay Conceptions of Well-Being and Experienced Well-Being

Abstract

Conceptions of well-being are defined as a system of beliefs concerning the nature and experience of well-being and can be described generally by the degree to which four dimensions, representing (1) the experience of pleasure, (2) avoidance of negative experience, (3) selfdevelopment, and (4) contribution to others, are emphasized. A first main objective of the current study was to investigate age-related differences in younger and older adults' conceptions of well-being. A second main objective was to address whether conceptions of well-being are differentially associated with experienced wellbeing in younger and older adults. Results indicated several age-related differences in conceptions of well-being, with younger adults reporting more emphasis on the experience of pleasure and self-development, older adults reporting more emphasis on avoidance of negative experience, and younger and older adults reporting similar levels of emphasis on contribution to others. Results further indicated several age-related differences in associations between the experience of pleasure and avoidance of negative experience dimensions and well-being, with these two dimensions being more strongly and positively associated with well-being in older adults. Self-development and contribution to others were found to be positively associated with well-being regardless of age.Keywords Aging Á Happiness Á Well-being Á Hedonia Á Eudaimonia Numerous psychologists and philosophers have described ''the good life'' and what factors define a high level of well-being. For example, both Epicurus and Aristippus emphasized the importance of pleasure and sensory gratification in well-being (see Baggini 2004;

Everyday Understandings of Happiness, Good Life, and Satisfaction: Three Different Facets of Well-being

“…In other words, the concepts of well-being are far less empirically studied than the phenomena related to wellbeing. Nonetheless, some researchers have explored the conceptual understanding or terminological usage of well-being across countries, either taking the general concept of wellbeing as their point of departure (Ryff 1989;Westerhof et al 2001;Sastre 1999;McMahan and Estes 2012) or specifically investigating the concepts of happiness, good life or satisfaction, to which we now turn.…”

Lay Understanding of Happiness and the Experience of Well-Being: Are Some Conceptions of Happiness More Beneficial than Others?

“…This method limits the participant's freedom to choose his or her own understanding of what happiness is. Even though categories presented by researchers such as McMahan and Estes (2012) are correlated with those that people often spontaneously mention, complete reliance on spontaneous understanding of happiness may yield interesting results. In summary, research indicates possible differences between genders and between developmental periods in lay conceptions of happiness.…”

Helse i hvert smil?

“…Mer sikkerhet er det imidlertid knyttet til at det er sosiodemografiske forskjeller i hvordan folk forstår og definerer wellbeing. Et funn fra studier i denne tradisjonen peker på at den subjektive definisjonen av wellbeing saerlig varierer med alder (McMahan og Estes, 2012;Naess, 2011b;Rojas, 2005;Westerhof et al, 2001). Yngre personer har en tendens til å vektlegge indre opplevelse, mens eldre mennesker i større grad rapporterer ytre faktorer og helse.…”