Well-Being: what it is and how to meauser it
The concept of Well-Being (WB) is a complex construct that refers to an optimal psychological functioning and experience. A voluminous literature exist were it is possible to differenciate two traditions: the hedonic view and the eudaimonic view (Ryan and Deci, 2001). In the hedonic view, individuals are seen as experimenting more WB when experiencing more pleasure and less pain. Therefore, is based in the internal experience of the individual, a concept we call Subjective Well Being (SWB), and that has two components: affective WB (possitive affect and negative affect) and cognitive (satisfaction with life). The SWB measurement ussually includes all aspects of a person´s life and may cover from a period of a few weeks to the entire life (Diener, 1984). The two components, affective and cognitive, are the most commonly used in research to measure SWB with self-report survey like the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffing, 1985). Kahneman and Krueger (2006) stablished that measures collected in real time (experience sampling), have the advantage of minimizing the filter of memory and therefore measuring the everyday level of affect and well-being of people. The experience sampling (ES) method collects information in real time of individual´s experiences in their natural environments and is the current gold standard for measurement of SWB (Kahneman, Krueger & Schkade, 2004).
In the eudaimonic view, the experience of WB is possible if people experience challenges, grow and life purpose. This view adopts Self-Determination Theory, (Keyes et al., 2002; Deci & Ryan, 2000) s...
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...luence in Well-Being
The literature to date examining the effects of the use of SNSs on WB has yielded scarce and contradictory findings. Since the study conducted by Kraut et al. (1998), were the results showed that internet adversely affects social involvement and well-being, the Internet Paradox has been consistent in later studies, offering contrasting findings. As a result, the nature of this relationships remains unclear. Therefore, with this literature review, it is intended to provide insight into the emerging phenomenon of Internet social network use and potential influence in SWB, through the analysis and comparison of empirical studies with conflicting results, critically appraising the quality indicators of differences in demographic data, study design and methods that could be contribuiting to the dispare results and identifying areas for improvement.
Taking the following questionnaire: Satisfaction with Life Scale, Approaches to Happiness Scale, and Authentic Happiness Inventory, helped me evaluate my life. Many times due to circumstance we forget in what positon our life is standing at the moment. We forget how much we have accomplished in the past and how much we have invested to make our future a good one. For the Satisfaction with life scale, I score a 33(love their life and feel that everything is going very well). People may might say well she is living a perfect life, but to be honest is not that is being perfect, is that one day years ago I made a decision of not letting anything take away what I have worked hard for. According to Earl & Carol Diener, because positive moods energize approach tendencies, it desirable that people on average be in a positive mood (1996). If I make a mistake, which is possible because am human, what I do is learn from it. It’s like what the Apostol from the church I go to says” you control life, not life controlling you.”
Evidence by Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, and Gross (2000) states “In this study, those who were lonely or depressed were not more drawn to the Internet. Rather, the HomeNet results suggest that using the Internet in itself caused the declines in social well-being” (p. 135). The conclusion of the studies provides supporting evidence that the internet will cause depression and loneliness, since depressed individuals were not already drawn to the internet. The isolation that comes with internet usage can too add to the less likelihood of face-to-face interaction. The more one is isolated the less contact of friends and family. Adolescents have to be mindful of their usage of the internet and the effects. Social face-to-face interaction skills are a key skill to have in the ‘real-world’ versus a fix virtual
According to Wolf, all meaningful lives have both a subjective and an objective aspect to them. These basics can make lives important only together. The general idea is that a person’s projects and activities in the end make his or her life meaningful,
The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was developed as a measure of subjective, overall wellbeing. The SWLS draws on existing understandings of subjective wellbeing, and the scale has been specifically designed to measure the cognitive evaluation of satisfaction. It was established from 48 self-reported statements, including items regarding life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. Through factor analysis, researchers were able to detect these three factors, and remove the items that corresponded to the affect components, leaving ten statements, which were reduced to five to account for similarities in wording. It claims to allow respondents to cognitively evaluate multiple domains of life they may value, and for them to independently weigh these during response. This measure differs from past measures of subjective wellbeing with existing assessment commonly measuring affect (positive and or negative) and emotion, and not overall life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin,
The idea of needing social networking sites to connect with everyone else knows or may meet have become embedded in American culture throughout recent years, especially among the teenage population. Facebook is easily one of the most popular sites, to the point where it would be considered unusual for someone attending high school to not have a profile on the site. However, does Facebook actually create a stronger connection between people, or does it simply creates the illusion of a healthy social life, while really creating distances a distance between them? Facebook can function as a placebo for some users in the place of genuine, healthy social life. Users with massive amounts of Facebook friends, but sub-par social lives can become pre-occupied
Positive psychology utilizes five pillars in order to flourish, achieve fulfillment, and satisfaction in life: Positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). The five mainstays of positive psychology are not intended to be means to some other end; these foundations are selected for their own value in personal efforts to flourish, and are fundamental to human well-being. Positive psychology describes the “good life” as being pleasant, engaging, meaningful, and full of achievements and connections. Seligman proposes positive subjective experiences illicit and promote positive emotions. Positive psychology distinguishes two types of happiness that can be derived from experiences and events: Hedonic and eudemonic happines...
Well-being is a combination of physical, mental, emotional and social factors. It is seen, as a stable state of being satisfied with one’s self and their life that doesn’t fluctuate due to a single even, person, or feeling (Begley and Begun, 2000). Well-being consists of eight dimensions, emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual (Begley and Begun, 2000). For the purpose of this study we are going to be looking at the emotional and occupational sides of well-being. Emotional state of well being is the ability to recognize, understand and express a full range of emotions and channel our emotions into healthy behaviours that satisfy our personal and social goals (Ryff, 1985). Occupational is achieving personal satisfaction and enrichment in one’s life through work, education, and personal goals and passions (Ryff, 1985).
Happiness has three dimensions namely the pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life. The pleasant life is achieved if an individual learns to appreciate and value the basic pleasures like companionship, the natural environment and bodily needs. The first dimension of Seligman regarding happiness is in contradiction of Veenhoven’s idea of happiness that it is not merely pleasure and stimulation of the basic senses. However, Seligman argued that an individual can evolve from this initial stage if he or she can experience the good life which is realized through discovering one’s set of values and strengths, and employing them productively to advance lives. Modern theories of self-esteem established the idea of believing one’s abilities and worth or value. It is the extent to which one likes, accepts, and respects oneself (Masters & Wallace, 2011). Likewise, life is only genuinely satisfying if one is able to discover the value within. One of the most superlative ways of discovering this value is through nourishing strengths with the goal of contributing to the happiness of others. The concluding stage which is meaningful life pertains to the deep sense of fulfillment by employing the strengths not only for oneself. The theory reconciles two contradicting views of human happiness between individualistic approach and altruistic approach. The goal to take care of oneself and improve one’s set of potency is reunited with the value of sacrificing for greater function. (http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org). The last dimension of Martin Seligman’s theory which is meaningful life supports the concept utility of life that existence has a purpose and for others. The three fractions of Martin Seligman’s definition of happiness serve as one the frameworks of the development of happiness scale. It propels the idea of an escalating source
In the Oxford English dictionary the definition of wellbeing is “a state of being healthy, happy or prosperous; physical, psychological and moral welfare.” In correlation with KE 206 module, wellbeing is indeed all these things but also how they shape and influence the lives of children and young people. The wellbeing of children and young people can be understood objectively and subjectively. Objectively, the wellbeing of children and young people can be understood by looking at and measuring basic needs in life food shelter and safety. The wellbeing of children and young people can be understood subjectively by asking how one perceives themselves, their own wellbeing and emotions. In general, wellbeing is also affected by external factors
The issue of the Internet having psychological benefits has two sides, as does any issue. James E. Katz and Philip Aspden present the yes side of this issue. Katz and Aspden used a national random telephone survey to back up their side on the issue. The survey conducted in October of 1995 compiled the individuals who took the survey into five specific groups. The groups consisted of those not aware of the Internet, non-users aware of the Internet, former users, recent users-those who started using the Internet in 1995, and longtime users-those who started using the Internet prior to 1995. The survey questioned community involvement (community, leisure, and religious,) involvement in existing communities (face to face, family, Internet,) and friendship formation (Internet and beyond.) They drew the conclusion that the Internet is helping to form new friendships and social relationships. Therefore, giving people the chance to join new groups and organizations other than those in their own community.
By using Gross Domestic Product as the main indicator of well-being, many important factors are neglected. As defined in the New Merriam-Webster Dictionary, well-being is the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous (1989, p.831). Economically, perhaps the only relevant state under the definition is prosperity, but in reality happiness and health have a great impact on well-being, significant enough to be recognized even when focusing mainly on wealth in numbers. If society hopes to have a more accurate and complete indication of well-being, globally or nationally, a new system of measurement must be developed, leaving GDP to its original function of totaling the dollar value of all domestically-produced goods and services sold over a period of time.
Subjective well-being is a broad term that encapsulates how a person appraises his or her life and emotional experiences. It has different aspects which includes life satisfaction, positive and negative affect (Diener et al., 2016). Positive affect refers to pleasant feelings such as joy, ecstasy, pride. While negative affect is defined as emotions that are troublesome or that can cause disturbance like anger and guilt. Life satisfaction is the cognitive domain of subjective well-being as it refers to the judgments made by the person about his life as a whole (Suldo and Huebner, 2005). For example, a person evaluates his subjective well-being by looking at his health satisfaction, job satisfaction, and other facets of his life including feelings regarding his life experiences (Diener et al., 2016). People with high subjective well-being are
...ile Steven Pinker believes that social networking is improving society and Sherry Turkle finds it to be harmful to individuals, the real answer lies in-between the two positions. “It is a well-known fact that the web is a valuable asset for research and learning,” stated Sue Scheff in her article “Social Networking Sites Can Limit Interpersonal Skills and Physical Activity,” “…[but] it can also be a very dangerous place” (1). While the Internet is beneficial in gaining knowledge and connecting with others, it will always come with downsides as well because it can become addictive and an easy source for predators and bullies to prey on those who are vulnerable. Ultimately, “it is in our collective interest to ensure that the Internet lives up to its potential as a revolutionary connective medium” (Pariser 11) while being aware of the risks and practicing self-control.
The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.
In the end, social networking is the act of expanding one’s social circle by connecting other individuals, specifically in relation with the use of the Internet. It is rather common to find individuals of all ages using social sites to stay in-contact with others. While many can argue that social networking is more beneficial for teens, studies prove that the use of such forms of communication can negatively affect the lives of teens anywhere through its ability to create interpersonal and intrapersonal trials.