Social worth as a source of subjective well-being: Empirical evidence and theoretical explanations

Abstract

This chapter presents an integrative review of theories and empirical findings of how feeling socially valued by others affects a person’s subjective well-being and life satisfaction. We start by clarifying the involved constructs, namely social worth on the one side and subjective well-being and lifesatisfaction on the other. Next, we try to answer the question of whether being credited with social worth increases subjective well-being by reviewing the empirical evidence for causal relationships between them. The evidence turns out to be suggestive but inconclusive. We then discuss three theoretical pathways via which an effect of social worth on subjective well-being might occur: A self pathway, a needs pathway, and a social capital pathway. We end with a discussion of avenues for future research.