Test 5

• Subjective Wellbeing (SWB): also known as self-reported wellbeing, refers to how people experience and evaluate different aspects of their lives. It is often used to measure mental health and happiness, and it can be an important predictor of individual health, wellness, and longevity
• Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a self-reported measure of wellbeing, typically obtained by questionnaire.
• Ed Diener developed a tripartite model of SWB in 1984, which describes how people experience the quality of their lives and includes both affective components = both positive emotions and negative emotions and then our satisfaction with our life (cognitive) to determine our subjective wellbeing.
• Positive Affect (Affect): this involves experiencing positive emotions and moods on a frequent basis
• • Negative Affect (Affect): this involves experiencing negative feelings or moods often
• Life Satisfaction (Cognition): defined as the overall equilibrium / balance between positive and negative affect,
• Life Satisfaction (Cognition): defined as the overall equilibrium / balance between positive and negative affect, and usually measured as the difference between the two. High positive affect and low negative affect are often highly correlated, but not always
• Affect: the experience and outward expression of emotions – these are the moods and emotions individuals experience that make up “emotional” wellbeing
• A global judgement of happiness is continually assessed by people comparing their negative affect with their positive affect and this overall equilibrium between the two affects is called hedonic balance
• Strengths of the Theory

  • This theory is applicable across multiple cultural contexts as its main components, life satisfaction and affective components can be applied to different cultures – known as cultural universality
  • Diener’s model of wellbeing is a comprehensive and holistic (encompasses positive, negative, and cognitive) approach to wellbeing due to the three components it entails
• only focuses on the emotions and personal experiences of the individual. However, external factors also affect wellbeing.
• Experiencing negative emotions (rather than trying to get rid of them) actually has a significant impact on lasting happiness – one learn to develop resilience through negative affect
• The idea of being able to research happiness from a scientific point of view seems very limited as self-report measures (done through questionnaires) is the basis of this model and these measures specifically assess explicit attitudes. – this is subjective and can therefore be biased
• Eudaimonic: subjective experiences associated with living a life of virtue in pursuit of human excellence
• 1. Self-Acceptance: Positive attitude toward the self; acknowledgement and acceptance of multiple aspects of self, including good and bad qualities; positive feelings about ones past