Introduction: Subjective Well-being (SWB)
Also recognized as self-reported Well-being
Introduced by Ed Diener, a psychologist in 1984
Components entails:
- Positive Affect (PA)
- Life Satisfaction (LS)
- Negative Affect (NA)
Relationship Between SWB and Physical Health
- Physical health is influenced by the satisfaction of life and enjoyment of life
- Positive affect (PA)
Associated with Reduced pain and symptoms:
- Life satisfaction (LS)
Higher life satisfaction results in better physical health:
- Negative Affect (NA)
Stable tendency associated with the frequent experience of negative emotions
Involves poor self-concept leading to conditions such as anorexia
Creates negative attitudes, chronic stress leading skins problems and hormonal imbalance
Associated with poor health leading to weak immune system
Relationship Between SWB and Mental Health
- SWB contributes through life satisfaction, determined by mental illness
- SWB as a measure of happiness and mental health
- Entails satisfaction and dissatisfaction
- Positive subjective Well-being leads to healthier mental health
Relationship Between SWB and Work
Job satisfaction influences Subjective Well-being
Negative state of mind or poor mental health leads to a lack of interest in work
Negative Affects (NA) can lead to poor physical health and hence negatively affects work
Work affects one’s life satisfaction
Relationship Between SWB and Intelligence
Age influences both emotional intelligence and SWB
Emotional intelligence leads to higher levels of subjective Well-being
Being emotionally unstable negatively affects both SWB and intelligence
SWB may negatively influence emotional intelligence
Through emotional factors one is able to control SWB
Relationship Between SWB and Race, Ethnicity
Whites report higher levels of SBW than the blacks
With the shifting racial inequality patterns
Individuals from ethnic groups considered inferior have low SWB
Relationship Between SWB and Stigma
- Stigmatization leads to low SWB
- Social support lows the degree that stigma has on SWB
- States that influence SWB include:
- Body size
- Type of disease
- How individuals who are incompetent are treated
Relationship Between SWB and Religion
Religiosity and spirituality is recognized as a positive predictor of SWB (Villani et al., 2019)
Experience of closeness to the supreme being tends to positively affect SWB
Negative SWB results can be contributed by unstable religiosity
Conclusion
SWB is affected by both physical health, religious, work, stigma and race
Increased emotional intelligence leads to increased SWB
Increased rate of stigmatization results into low self satisfaction
Poor working conditions or nature of work leads to low SWB
Individuals who experience high racial disparity or racism are likely to be dissatisfied
References
Lombardo, P., Jones, W., Wang, L., Shen, X., & Goldner, E. M. (2018). The fundamental association between mental health and life satisfaction: results from successive waves of a Canadian national survey.BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-9. Web.
Patel, J., & Patel, P. (2019).Consequences of repression of emotion: Physical health, mental health, and general well being. International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 1(3), 16. Web.
Villani, D., Sorgente, A., Iannello, P., & Antonietti, A. (2019).The role of spirituality and religiosity in subjective well-being of individuals with different religious status. Frontiers in Psychology, (10), 1525. Web.