New Findings and Future Directions for Subjective Well-Being Research

Recent findings on subjective well-being (SWB) are presented, and I describe the important questions for future research that these raise. Worldwide predictors of SWB such as social support and fulfillment of basic needs have been uncovered, and there are large differences in SWB between societies....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American psychologist 2012-11, Vol.67 (8), p.590-597
Main Author: Diener, Ed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Affectivity. Emotion
Biological and medical sciences
Comparative Analysis
Conceptualization
Correlation
Correlation analysis
Cross Cultural Differences
Cultural factors
Culture
Emotions
Evaluation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Habituation
Human
Humans
Life Satisfaction
Personal relationships
Personal Satisfaction
Personality. Affectivity
Predictor Variables
Psychological factors
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Quality of Life
Research - trends
Research methodology
Selfreport
Social Comparison
Social relationships
Social Support
Subjective wellbeing
Subjectivity
Well Being
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Summary:Recent findings on subjective well-being (SWB) are presented, and I describe the important questions for future research that these raise. Worldwide predictors of SWB such as social support and fulfillment of basic needs have been uncovered, and there are large differences in SWB between societies. A number of culture-specific predictors of SWB have also been found. Research on social comparison suggests that a world standard for a desirable income has developed. New findings on adaptation indicate that habituation to conditions is not always complete and that circumstances in some cases can have a large and lasting effect on SWB. An important finding is that high SWB benefits health, longevity, citizenship, and social relationships. Because of the benefits of SWB as well as the strong effects societal conditions can have on it, I proposed national accounts of SWB, which are now being seriously considered by nations. Finally, I review advances in methodology that are needed to move beyond conclusions based on simple cross-sectional correlations based on global self-report scales. Each of the findings raises new and important questions for future research.
ISSN:0003-066X
1935-990X
DOI:10.1037/a0029541