Subjective Well-Being

Subjective Well-being: Examinations from a Health Psychology Grad Student

    Greetings!  As a graduate student of psychology, please allow this blogpost to have some nerdy citations along with an offering of insight for health and wellness supported on this website.  I am thrilled you found this today, and I look forward to feedback.  Please feel free to reach out to me with questions, concerns, jokes, or any other shareable input for the topic of subjective well-being.

To start, how are you today?  

You are probably sitting in a comfortable and safe place.  If you are reading this blog on a computer or personal device, you have achieved some form of wealth.  And insomuch as you can read and are interested in this topic, you have also met some of the education beyond elementary levels.  Without knowing you personally, as a writer and student of psychology, I can presume that you are doing okay or even feeling good. Still, maybe you also have un-named emotions that don’t surface right away.  Perhaps you are not well, and this is a search for a way to feel better.  Answering this simple question of “how are you” is not always so simple.  It includes influences from the many facets of our life histories, our personalities, our local environment, our relationships with family and friends, our employment, the weather, politics, how we woke up today, and so on and so on.  Dissecting the variables can get complicated quickly.  The question may be simple, but the information we use to answer this question is not.  Could this be the reason why so many of us often say that we are “fine” even when we are not?  Avoiding the deeper emotions in casual interactions is good, right?  

The world of psychology is a fascinating field of discovery, theory, and research dedicated to understanding and improving the lives of people.  The development of reasoning in an attempt to explain and create positive life experiences can be seen far back into history, starting with the philosophers of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.  Existing as a human beyond survival has brought introspection to our behaviors and our mental states, mainly because the experiences of being human are different for each of us.  

Psychology, as described by the American Psychological Association (APA), is the scientific exploration of the human mind and behavior.  Psychology uses a scientific method that links deep philosophic questions of human existence with medical applications in an attempt to explain, and sometimes heal, processes that originate within the mind.  The history of psychology as a scientific field is not long, with the first psychological researchers recognized in the late 1800s, and the foundational theories that built modern psychology following shortly after that in the early and mid-1900s.  By the end of WWII, the executive function of psychology alongside medical professionals was established, and the work to explain, intervene, and treat mental illness began (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  Since that time, psychology has undergone many specializations including, industrial psychology, health psychology, and positive psychology (just to name a few).

This blog is not meant to provide a detailed history of psychology or mental disorders, though.  This is just to set the scene for how the topic of subjective well-being is understood through the eyes of positive psychology in the decades since its birth.  The majority of people do not suffer from mental disorders or illnesses at clinical intervention levels, and the answer to the question at the beginning does not spur endless processions of explanations of personal emotional states for most people.  Though many people do express a variety of emotional states of being throughout their lifetimes, from the lows of trauma or stress to the highs of holiday travel or marriage, the following writing will focus on the ways positive psychology as science understands the state of well-being.  

Positive Psychology is the newest viewpoint that takes on a different approach to understanding the human mind rather than the historical method of psychology I mentioned before that was built to address mental dis-ease by introducing psychiatric interventions.  The science of psychology was created to decipher the wrong in us, and the reverse is now being explored by utilizing the scientific method, to understand what is right in us and discover how to enrich the positive effects of being human. 

So back to the original question I asked in the beginning, how are you?  When asked such a question, the knee-jerk reaction is to say “fine” or “good.”  Am I right?  We all say we are fine or good when we needed to share that one thing on our list that is producing anxiety, or the feelings from last night’s fight with our spouse that still hurt. 

But a person may say, “I don’t recognize any of those things when I think of my emotions.” Indeed, one may not take all that information into account every time the question is asked or be comfortable sharing it. Still, the function of the brain and mind is to use those influences of our past, present continually, and future to keep us upright, adequately energized, and motivated.  When there is disharmony in any of the facets of our life, one could then “feel” unhappy, sad, lazy, or upset.  Our experience is subjective to personal interpretation, and the ways we define our emotions and feelings are individual as well.  Subjective well-being is, therefore, an extension of our own feelings cumulated with our life experiences created within ourselves.   

If we take the cognitive theory approach and relate it to subjective well-being, it is not the events that create a person’s well-being, but the way the person interprets those events that create well-being (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  So, we can change our minds to reflect a more positive or negative view of an event, and the event that is being experienced is just an outside process.  When understood in this way, subjective well-being is defined as a mental state with opportunities to change according to the mindset of the individual.  Michael Frisch’s Quality of Life Therapy states that the sense of well-being can be evaluated and altered through “objective life circumstances…our attitude…our standards…how important we believe an area is to our life…or focus attention on other areas that already give us a sense of satisfaction” (Compton & Hoffman, p 47). 

If we use a psychoanalytic approach related to subjective well-being, a person holds inherent motivations to achieve well-being based on the unconscious. Through social connection and personal development, optimal mental health can be achieved (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  In this view, it is like we all have an inner compass pointing us in the direction of positive social and personal achievements. Still, we must act on those motivations in the proper modalities to achieve our best health.  Subjective well-being in this approach is experienced as an effect of actions rather than the goal of the actions.  

If we put behavioral theories with subjective well-being, people are either encouraged or discouraged to complete social or personal actions by rewards or punishments, and based on these beliefs; people can repeat specific steps to increase well-being or neglect certain actions to decrease well-being (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  This is a view that reflects the process of learning and the ability to use actions and functions of social or personal beliefs to create subjective well-being.  

If we look at the humanistic approach to subjective well-being, the potential for well-being is available through the advancement of the person through self-actualization (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  Self-actualization is open to the interpretation of the person. In this way, subjective well-being can be an experience that is gainful for each individual based on their personal views.  In this approach, most positive psychology has bloomed.  The Modes of Fulfillment theory by Richard Coan highlights five basic modes: efficiency, creativity, inner harmony, relatedness, and self-transcendence as ways to find personal fulfillment in life (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).

The traditional psychological theories described here are useful to access the points for positive psychology researchers use for methods and definitions of the term well-being.  The relationship with well-being (along with the quest for well-being) is different for each person, and that is why it is subjective.  The experience of well-being can be expressed in a variety of ways through the different psychological approaches, but it could be one thing or many things that make us feel good, bad, sad, or any other way.  Positive psychology has taken the scientific method and applied its measurement to trials for the experience of subjective well-being.  When researchers can identify the values associated with well-being, there can be proof of having it or not having it.  If a person is low in well-being, the goal is to support interventions to cultivate more well-being.  If a person is high in well-being, the goal is to identify the actions, mental states, or any other identifiers that produce an ongoing state of well-being.  

Martin E.P. Seligman, credited with the introduction of the field of positive psychology in 1998, proposed the PERMA approach within the Well-Being Theory to create measurable and teachable traits for producing subjective well-being (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  PERMA is an acronym that means Positive emotion; Engagement; Relationships; Meaning; and Accomplishment (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  Each of these items is relatable to subjective well-being by inducing authentic happiness in the three domains that Seligman describes for the pleasant life, the good life of engagement, and the meaningful life (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  

Positive emotion (P) is the ability to increase well-being through physical or sophisticated pleasures that produce feelings like joy, and engagement (E) with activities increases the flow and the ability to be in the moment, which also increases well-being (Compton & Hoffman, 2013)—having positive relationships (R) and meaningful life (M) service the well-being of an individual by providing something outside of the self that is necessary to set the social life of an individual (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).  Lastly, accomplishment (A) is the development of self-discipline to create goals and challenges which evolve into competence and mastery (Compton & Hoffman, 2013).   

The internet and social media are becoming an everyday focal point of people worldwide.  In recent studies, the use of social media has increased stress and lead to difficulties dealing with emotions (Rasmussen, Punyanunt-Cartera, LaFreniere, Norman, & Kimball, 2020).   As people and technology evolve, there will be a discussion of the role of social media and internet use to well-being.  By this point, it should be evident that our well-being is influenced by more than our inner feelings.  Definition of feelings, emotions, mood, and the words to give them meaning are learned expressions of our internal state of being, but that is not the whole picture of a person’s state.  

What we share on social media is influencing our well-being, and young adult users of these internet platforms are showing signs of depression and less life satisfaction (Rasmussen et al., 2020).  The use of social media to fulfill any of the facets of well-being through the theories that have been discussed is limited.  In the land of Facebook, positive messages posted by an individual are seeking approval, while negative messages are seeking recognition (Luo & Hancock, 2020).  While disclosures that are positive produce well-being for the user when the post is approved, a false declaration from a person who has a negative self-image will further their disconnection and depression (Luo & Hancock, 2020).  This does not mean I wish to convey a sad desire to eliminate social media websites. Still, it does say that I want there to be more experiences outside the internet for people to base their social and personal well-being.  

The quality of our lives is represented in how we feel.  How are you?  Throughout this blog, I have presented a view of psychology that attempts to harness positivity towards life itself.  Cultivating a good sense of well-being can come from many places, but most of all, it needs to come from within our ability to recognize we have a good life.  Expression of our lives through how we engage with our family, friends, and neighbors will equate happiness and build healthy communities (Nima, Cloninger, Persson, Sikström, & Garcia, 2020).

The better we are, the better the world will be.  The better our experience of the world, the better we feel.  The better we feel, the better we are to others.  Share and spread the love and well-being.  Thank you for reading!

References

Compton, W.C., & Hoffman, E. (2013). Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and 

Flourishing. Independence, KY: Cengage

Luo, M., & Hancock, J.T. (2020). Self-disclosure and social media: motivations, mechanisms and 

psychological well-being. Current Opinion in Psychology, 31(1), 110-115. 

doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.019

Nima, A.A., Cloninger, K.M., Persson, B.N., Sikström, S. & Garcia, D. (2020). Validation of 

subjective well-being measures using item response theory. Frontiers in Psychology, 

10, 1-33. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03036

Rasmussen, E.E., Punyanunt-Cartera, N., LaFreniere, J.R., Norman, M.S., & Kimball, T.G. (2020). 

The serially mediated relationship between emerging adults’ social media use and 

mental well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 120, 206-213. 

doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.019

Seligman, M.E.P., Railton, P., Baumeister, R.F., & Sripada, C. (2013). Navigating into the future 

or driven by the past. Perspectives on Psychological Science 8(2), 119-141. DOI: 

10.1177/1745691612474317