Context

Imagine that you are asked to go to the supermarket and buy all the ingredients to make a cake, but you are not given the recipe. Based on your experience, what ingredients do you think you should buy? What are the essential ingredients? How do you know? We all have some ideas of what ingredients we would need in our life to be happy. In this topic you will explore the "ingredients of well-being", this is made up of different components, all important and as a whole they contribute to our living a full life.

Explanation

2.1 Theory of Wellbeing

Constructing theories and explanations about positive functioning has been a complex task, in which many researchers interested in understanding the characteristics and conditions of human well-being have participated.

The foundations of positive psychology have been developed by applying the scientific method to answer different questions on the subject.

To measure and quantify the components of well-being, the following have been carried out:

  • Quantitative studies
  • Qualitative studies
  • Biological measurements
  • Interviews
  • Surveys
  • And other kinds of instruments

 

All this considering the subjective experiences, the individual characteristics and the contexts in which people develop.

Some pioneering researchers in this change are the following (Tarragona, 2012):

Martin Seligman
He has studied primarily character strengths and virtues.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Research on the best experiences or flow experiences, creativity, the development of talents and well-being at work.

Christopher Peterson
Research on the strengths and virtues, positive interpersonal relationships and optimism.

Edward Diener
He is considered the father of the study of happiness, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction.

George Vaillant
Conducted a study on people recovering from addictions and mental disorders, as well as the longest longitudinal research that has been done on adult development.

Barbara Fredrickson
He has studied the psychophysiology of positive emotions and their role in human flourishing.


In addition, many researchers continue to enrich with their work the explanations of this new approach to psychology.


What is wellbeing according to Seligman?

Watch the following video about the PERMA model

Click on the icon to watch the video

Oregon State University Ecampus. (2017, April 21). Beyond Happiness: Flourishing – PERMA model [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWavCPydQ5k





Seligman’s model of wellbeing has five elements and each of them has three properties.  

The 5 elements are the following:

  1. Positive emotions 
  2. Engagement 
  3. Positive relationships 
  4. Meaning 
  5. Achievement

None of the five elements constitutes wellbeing in itself, but each of them contributes to achieving it.

Each of them has the following three properties:

  1. They contribute to well-being.
  2. They are wanted and chosen freely by many people.
  3. They are defined and measured independently of the other elements.

2.2 Elements of Wellbeing: PERMA

Feeling positive emotions has important repercussions in many areas of life ...

Review the elements of PERMA well-being and learn more about emotions, positive relationships and more, in the following mini-magazine.

Click on the button to view the mini-magazine.


2.3 How Wellbeing is Measured

People need good physiological and psychological sensors to measure their well-being or discomfort, and to be able to regulate their behavior.

Click on each element to read its information.

How to know if someone feels pleasure or pain?

When we want to know if someone feels pleasure or pain, or if they are satisfied with life, the most direct and valid method is to ask directly. This, which may seem trivial, has faced serious resistance from some scientists because they consider it a very subjective and unfeasible method (Vázquez and Hervás, 2009).

How is wellbeing investigated?

Wellness research follows the same methods that are used to measure other subjective psychological variables; studies can be strengthened using other types of measurements, such as external observer judgments, psychophysiological data, behavior observation and case studies, among others.

Obstacles in measuring wellbeing

The biggest problem in measuring well-being is finding consistent indicators that are significantly associated with other variables or tangible results. There is currently a large collection of studies and measurements on both positive and negative affects, as well as all the elements of life satisfaction, which have a very good level of validity and reliability. (Vázquez and Hervás, 2009).

Positive psychology is a new approach to psychology. It seeks, through rigorous scientific studies, to offer answers to a central question in our existence.

What is good about us and how can we use these skills to build good lives and make a better world?

The goal of positive psychology is to increase the possibility of human flourishing and the impact that this flourishment has on our life and our environment. We also reviewed each of the elements that integrate well-being (PERMA), the scientific foundation that positive psychology has through the investigations that have been carried out, and the many questions that arise and that this new approach seeks to answer.

Closure

In this topic, you learned to identify the components of well-being in your behavior using the PERMA model. All the components of the model are necessary to achieve your well-being.

Below, review the Checkpoint:

Make sure you understand:

  • The five elements of well-being.
  • The characteristics and effects of each of the five elements in people's lives.
  • How is well-being measured?

References