Situating Psychological Well‐Being: Exploring the Cultural Roots of Its Theory and Research

Christopher, John Chambers

doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02434.x

Cited by 311 publications

(240 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…More recent research has placed different emphases on what wellbeing is: ability to fulfil goals (Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project, 2008); happiness (Pollard & Lee, 2003) and life satisfaction (Diener & Suh, 1997;Seligman, 2002a). However, again, this highlights the problem that researchers have focused on dimensions or descriptions of wellbeing rather than on definitions (Christopher, 1999).…”

Section: What Constitutes Wellbeing?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenge of defining wellbeing

Dodge¹,

Daly²,

Huyton³

et al. 2012

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

1,523

1,272

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Abstract:Wellbeing is a growing area of research, yet the question of how it should be defined remains unanswered. This multi-disciplinary review explores past attempts to define wellbeing and provides an overview of the main theoretical perspectives, from the work of Aristotle to the present day. The article argues that many attempts at expressing its nature have focused purely on dimensions of wellbeing, rather than on definition. Among these theoretical perspectives, we highlight the pertinence of dynamic equilibrium theory of wellbeing (Headey & Wearing, 1989), the effect of life challenges on homeostasis (Cummins, 2010) and the lifespan model of development (Hendry & Kloep, 2002). Consequently, we conclude that it would be appropriate for a new definition of wellbeing to centre on a state of equilibrium or balance that can be affected by life events or challenges. The article closes by proposing this new definition, which we believe to be simple, universal in application, optimistic and a basis for measurement. This definition conveys the multi-faceted nature of wellbeing and can help individuals and policy makers move forward in their understanding of this popular term.

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Section: What Constitutes Wellbeing?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenge of defining wellbeing

Dodge¹,

Daly²,

Huyton³

et al. 2012

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

1,523

1,272

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(p.47). This contrasts with a large number of other approaches related to well-being that comprise a fixed number of dimensions that are collectively said to represent individual well-being; for example, see the conceptualization of However, it may be argued that one-sidedly operationalizing the cognitive component of SWB as SWL is in and of itself an act of imposing values (e.g., see Christopher, 1999;. That is, individuals may decide what they think is important for their SWL; however, it is assumed that these individuals find SWL to be the most important aspect of well-being in the first place.…”

Section: National Progress Indicators and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, individuals may decide what they think is important for their SWL; however, it is assumed that these individuals find SWL to be the most important aspect of well-being in the first place. Christopher (1999) argues that the SWL focus reflects the liberal individualism central to Western societies. In contrast, many Eastern cultures and traditions cherish harmony more than satisfaction (Joshanloo, 2014), where harmony is seen as a highly valued ideal (Li, 2006(Li, , 2008a.…”

Section: National Progress Indicators and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing and Measuring Well-Being Using Statistical Semantics and Numerical Rating Scales

Kjell¹

2018

Preprint

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How to define and measure individuals’ well-being is important, as this has an impact on both research and society at large. This thesis concerns how to define and measure the self-reported well-being of individuals, which involves both theorizing as well as developing and applying empirical and statistical methods in order to gain a better understanding of well-being.The first paper critically reviews the literature on well-being. It identifies an individualistic bias in current approaches and accompanying measures related to well-being and happiness; for example, through an over-emphasis on the importance of self-centered aspects of well-being (e.g., the unprecedented focus on satisfaction with life) whilst disregarding the importance of harmony in life, interconnectedness and psychological balance in relation to well- being. It is also discussed how closed-ended well-being measures impose the researchers’ values and limit the ability of respondents to express themselves in regard to their perceived well-being.The second paper addresses concerns regarding this individualistic bias by developing the harmony in life scale, which focuses on interconnectedness and psychological balance. In addition, an open-ended approach is developed in the paper, allowing individuals to freely describe their pursuit of well-being by means of open-ended responses analyzed using statistical semantics (including techniques from artificial intelligence such as natural language processing and machine learning). The results show that the harmony in life scale and the traditional satisfaction with life scale form a two-factor model of well-being, where the harmony in life scale explains more unique variance in measures of psychological well-being, stress, depression and anxiety, but not happiness. It is further demonstrated that participants describe their pursuit of harmony in life using words related to interconnectedness (including words such as: peace, balance, cooperation), whereas they describe their pursuit of satisfaction with life using words related to independence (including words such as: money, achievement, fulfillment). It is concluded that the harmony in life scale complements the satisfaction with life scale for a more comprehensive understanding of subjective well-being.The third paper focuses on developing and evaluating a method for measuring and describing psychological constructs using open-ended questions analyzed by means of statistical semantics rather than closed-ended numerical rating scales. This semantic measures approach is tested and compared with traditional rating scales in nine studies, including two different paradigms involving reports regarding objective stimuli (i.e., the evaluation of facial expressions) and reports regarding subjective states (i.e., the self-reporting of harmony in life, satisfaction with life, depression and worry). The results indicate that semantic measures encompass higher, or competitive, levels of reliability and validity compared to traditional numerical rating scales. In addition, semantic measures appear to be better suited for differentiating between psychological constructs, such as harmony in life versus satisfaction with life as well as depression versus worry.In this thesis, the findings from these three papers are elaborated and integrated into two independent perspectives. The first perspective focuses on the theoretical and empirical differences between harmony in life and satisfaction with life within a context of societal and national progress. It is concluded that harmony in life complements satisfaction with life. The second perspective focuses on the open-ended, statistical semantics approach. It is proposed that statistical semantics may beneficially be used more widely as a research tool within psychological research.

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“…Christopher [53] describes this process as becoming who we are and being the best that we can be. It is important for our psychological well-being to understand how our perception of the world has been shaped by society and from feeling inferior [54,55,56,57]. If people are not functioning well in life they cannot be expected to engage in learning new behaviors.…”

Section: Raising Awarenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Self-Awareness as a Means to Reduce Energy Consumption

Jansson‐Boyd

Cloherty

2014

Proceedings of the 4th World Sustainability Forum

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During a period of 6 months, 16 previously homeless male participants from a small town in the UK were encouraged to adopt an intrinsic and environmentally responsible attitude. The aim was specifically to reduce the participants' energy consumption. This was done through self-awareness sessions in parallel with traditional environmental educational sessions. Self-awareness was in this study used as a tool to help guide the participants towards a positive sense of self through the engagement of energy saving behaviors. The self-awareness sessions took place in the form of a series of small group sessions. Focus groups were conducted prior to the self-awareness sessions and individual interviews conducted after they had been completed, in order to measure whether their environmentally held beliefs had changed. Each focus group and interview was structured around their environmentally held beliefs and took less than 1 hour. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed that at the onset the participants lacked interest in energy reduction behaviors. However, after having taken part in the selfawareness sessions it became evident that a shift in attitude had occurred. This investigation was part of a bigger project with the participants in which their social housing underwent retrofitting with air-source heat pumps, to make the houses more energy efficient.

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Situating Psychological Well‐Being: Exploring the Cultural Roots of Its Theory and Research

Cited by 311 publications

References 50 publications

The challenge of defining wellbeing

The challenge of defining wellbeing

Conceptualizing and Measuring Well-Being Using Statistical Semantics and Numerical Rating Scales

Using Self-Awareness as a Means to Reduce Energy Consumption

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