SWB

Introduction

Term 'Subjective well-being'(SWB), which is used by psychologists as a synonym for 'happiness'(Lu, 2006) , was promoted by Ed Diener. Since 1984 “Dr. Happiness” - as Diener is called among colleagues (Wallis, 2005) - published about 200 works(Larsen & Eid, 2008), and his original work “Subjective Well-Being(1984)” was cites over 1200 times(Larsen & Eid, 2008).

The study of SWB focuses on how people evaluate their lives: both at the moment and during long periods of time(Diener _et. al._ 2003). These evaluations - according to Diener, Oishi, and Lucas - include emotional reactions to events, moods(affects), judgements about their life satisfaction, fulfilment(life satisfaction), and satisfaction with different life domains, such as marriage and work (domain satisfaction). SWB researchers have shown that these constructs are separable, moreover, pleasant(e.g. 'joy', 'pride', 'ecstasy') and unpleasant('envy','guilt', 'shame') affects are moderately inversely correlated, but clearly separable(Diener _et. al._ 1999).

Measuring SWB

In order to measure SWB, Satisfaction With Life Scale(SWLS) was developed(Diener _et. al._ 1985). SWLS consists of 5 items or statements, each in scale from 1 to 7, resulting into 5-35 scale. Diener suggests a number of factors that influence the overall life satisfaction: social relationships; work, school, or performance in an important role; satisfaction with the self, standing for spiritual life, learning, growth, and leisure(Diener, 2006). Though psychologists developed a lot of other tools to assess SWB, based on peer-reports, observations, emotion-sensitive tasks, and cognitive tasks, self-report assessment considered reliable, thus SWLS considered valid and reliable(Diener _et. al._ 1999) and used as a standard measure of SWB(Larsen & Eid, 2008).

Correlations

Through decades researches found relations between SWB and individual's income (Diener _et. al._ 1993), marriage

SWB + Social Production Function Theory:

\[ SWB = Physictal Well-Being (Health + Stimulation(activities, sports, study, etc.)) \\+ Social Well-Being (Status + Behevioral Confirmation(Social Skills, Compliance - Behave according to norms) \\+ Affection(emotional exchange, spending time together, empathy)) \]

Cultural fit

Chinese researcher Luo Lu claims that “cultural conceptions of happiness are critical aspects of SWB, which has largely been neglected”(Lu, 2005)

Proposed model 1:

\[ SWB ~ Health + Salary + Cultural fit \]

Proposed model 2:

\[ Social Fit = Compliance + Relative Status \]

Model

Data

Test results

Literature

• Ed Diener, Robert A. Emmons, Randy J. Larsen, Sharon Griffin, (1985) The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13
• Ed Diener, Ed Sandvik, Larry Seidlitz, Marissa Diener, (1993) The Relationship Between Income And Subjective Well-Being: Relative or Absolute?. Social Indicators Research 28 10.1007/BF01079018
• Ed Diener, Eunkook M. Suh, Richard E. Lucas, Heidi L. Smith, (1999) Subjective Well-Being: Three Decades of Progress.. Psychological Bulletin 125 10.1037//0033-2909.125.2.276
• Ed Diener, Shigehiro Oishi, Richard E. Lucas, (2003) Personality, Culture, And Subjective Well-Being: Emotional And Cognitive Evaluations of Life. Annual Review of Psychology 54 10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056
• Ed Diener, (2006) Understanding Scores on the Satisfaction with Life Scale. http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/Documents/Understanding%20SWLS%20Scores.pdf
• Michael; Larsen, Randy Eid, (2008) The Science of Subjective Well-Being.
• Luo Lu, (2005) In pursuit of happiness: The cultural psychological study of SWB. Chinese Journal of Psychology 47 (2)
• Luo Lu, (2006) “Cultural Fit”: Individual And Societal Discrepancies in Values, Beliefs, And Subjective Well-Being. The Journal of Social Psychology 146 10.3200/SOCP.146.2.203-221
• Claudia Wallis, (2005) The New Science of Happiness. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1015832,00.html