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The Evolving Concept of Subjective Well-Being: The Multifaceted Nature of Happiness

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Book cover Assessing Well-Being

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 39))

Abstract

Subjective well-being, or what is popularly often called “happiness,” has been of intense interest throughout human history. We review research showing that it is not a single factor, but that subjective well-being is composed of a number of separable although somewhat related variables. For example, positive feelings, negative feelings, and life satisfaction are clearly separable. In understanding the various types of subjective well-being, it is important to remember that appraisals move from immediate situations to a later recall of feelings, and then to global evaluations of life. At each stage, from momentary feelings to large global life eval-uations, somewhat different processes are involved in what is called “happiness.” In order to understand how to measure subjective well-being, one must understand the time course and components of the phenomenon in question, and be clear about what is most important to assess. On-line feelings are very different from global evaluations of life, although both have been studied under the rubric of subjective well-being. Although debate has focused on which type of subjective well-being should be called “true happiness,” the goal of scientists is to understand each type, their relations with each other, and their causes. The future of the field depends on understanding the differences between various types of well-being, and the different and similar causes of each.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

    Ed Diener

  2. School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, 178903, Singapore

    Christie Napa Scollon

  3. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, MI, USA

    Richard E. Lucas

Authors
  1. Ed Diener
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  2. Christie Napa Scollon
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  3. Richard E. Lucas
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Correspondence to Ed Diener .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 E. Daniel St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

    Ed Diener

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, B.V.

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Diener, E., Napa Scollon, C., Lucas, R.E. (2009). The Evolving Concept of Subjective Well-Being: The Multifaceted Nature of Happiness. In: Diener, E. (eds) Assessing Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_4

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