Measuring Subjective Wellbeing

Abstract

There are two main different views on what subjective wellbeing is, reflected in two different types of measures: the idea that humans experience a flow of "utility" and the idea that individuals now and then evaluate how they are going in life. The first idea is associated with measures of how individuals experience moments or episodes, while the second is associated with evaluative questions about how an individual views their life or some aspect of life. It used to be thought that the two measures would lead to the same advice for individuals and policy makers as to what to do, but it now turns out that the correlation between them is low. In terms of external uses, major life decisions fit the found determinants of evaluations better, but the experience of moments is more useful for predicting immediate reactions. The chapter describes both principles and the

Beyond QALYs and DALYs: factoring in the well-being effects of dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids in dry eye syndrome

“…Variations exist in the type and calculation of WALYs. But a unifying assumption is that measures of life satisfaction are useful proxies of an individual‘s underlying utility when faced with a health-related condition (Frijters, 2021). While QALYs and DALYs quantify the burden of disease and compare the cost-utility or cost-effectiveness of medical interventions, WALYs adjust by measuring subjective well-being, especially the patient’s hedonic experience and preference satisfaction.…”

“…The purpose of this paper was to explore, rather than advocate for, the potential uses and relevance of WALYs, in light of the utilitarian premises of neoclassical economics that continue to dominate health outcomes evaluation (Obermann and Thielscher, 2022). While QALYs and DALYs measure longevity and quality of life in terms of purely health-related aspects and outcomes of healthcare interventions, evaluative questions of subjective well-being seek to measure how individuals under treatment experience moments or episodes or how they personally view their life or some aspect of life (Frijters, 2021).…”

Digital well-being theory and research

“…Many studies of digital media have analyzed socially relevant outcomes, such as political participation (Boulianne, 2018) or social capital (Williams, 2019). The digital well-being framework (Figure 1) explicitly extends this perspective by including subjective well-being, or happiness, as the target variable of personal, organizational, and government decision-making (Frijters, 2020; Helliwell, 2020). We care about digitization because ultimately technology is expected to foster a good life—a life lived in accordance with socially negotiated and personally held values (Quan-Haase, 2015; Vallor, 2010; Van Dijck, 2019).…”

Positive affect and heart rate variability: a dynamic analysis

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