Subjective well-being: a general overview

Ed Diener
Psychology Department, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, U S A
ediener@cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu

Katherine Ryan
Psychology Department, University of Illinois

We provide a comprehensive review of the field of subjective well-being in terms of its societal and
individual benefits, demographic correlates, theories of origin, and relationship to culture. Inter-
ventions to increase well-being are also presented as well as the argument that national accounts
of well-being for public policy should be instituted and utilized, alongside economic and social
indicators, to both reveal and improve the quality of life within nations.

Keywords: happiness; life satisfaction; social indicators; subjective well-being

INTRODUCTION
Because “happiness” is a popular term that can refer to pleasant moods and emotions experienced
at any given moment (positive affect), to general evaluations of life such as life satisfaction, or to
subjective well-being, it is used generally by psychologists but is not useful for more precise com-
munication. In contrast, subjective well-being is an umbrella term used to describe the level of well-
being people experience according to their subjective evaluations of their lives. These evaluations,
which can be both positive and negative, include judgments and feelings about life satisfaction,
interest and engagement, affective reactions such as j o y and sadness to life events, and satisfaction
with work, relationships, health, recreation, meaning and purpose, and other important domains.
However, it is important to note that although well-being is subjective in that it occurs within a
person’s experience, manifestations of subjective well-being can be measured objectively in verbal
and non-verbal behavior, actions, biology, attention, and memory.
Self-report measures are commonly used to assess subjective well-being. They require respon-
dents to indicate either a global evaluation such as life satisfaction or how much they experience
certain feelings. These measures may differ on the response scale, on the time frame, and on whether
they are on-line versus retrospective reports, but they are all rooted in their measure of well-being
from the subjective standpoint of the respondent. Although there are many measures, some of the
most cited are Cantril’s (1965) Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, Fordyce’s (1977) sixty-second
happiness measure, Watson, Clark, and Tellegen’s (1 988) PANAS, and the Satisfaction with Life
Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; see Pavot & Diener, 1993b; Pavot & Diener, 2008
for review).
Although self-report measures are the most common measures in the field of subjective well-
being research and generally show high convergence with one another, it is important to realize the
danger ofmeasurement bias. When everything measured with self-report correlates, the results could
indicate a method-variance problem. Therefore, scientists also utilize non-self-report methods, such
as observer reports, facial measures, physiological measures, and emotion-sensitive tasks, in order
to achieve an objective measure of well-being. Sandvik, Diener, and Seidlitz (1993) found that
self-report measures showed reasonable convergent validity with non-self-report measures, and also
showed high stability over time. However, research has demonstrated that a number of factors, such
as current mood or the surrounding environment, can in some cases influence responses to items
measuring global subjective well-being of life satisfaction (Pavot & Diener, 1993a). Therefore, while
subjective measures do show high reliability with non-subjective measures, the non-self-report

Q Psychological Society of South Africa. All rights reserved. South African Journal of Psychology, 39(4), pp. 391-406
ISSN 0081-2463
392 Ed Diener and Katherine Ryan

measures are useful in providing a more comprehensive account of well-being and life satisfaction.
Assessing Well-Being: The Collected Works of Ed Diener (2009) provides an in-depth discussion
of the construction, validity, and reliability of many of the well-being measures.
The main applied goal of researchers who study subjective well-being is the improvement of
people’s lives beyond the elimination of misery. Because subjective well-being is a key component
of quality of life, its measurement is crucial to understanding how to improve people’s lives. In
addition, a growing body of research shows that high levels of subjective well-being are beneficial
to the effective functioning of societies beyond the advantages they bestow on individuals.

BENEFITS OF WELL-BEING
Early research focused on the causes of well-being, but recently researchers have begun to focus on
its consequences, and particularly on whether high levels of subjective well-being are beneficial to
effective functioning, or alternately, whether they hamper success. A growing body of evidence
suggests that high well-being and life satisfaction significantly improve life within the four areas of
health and longevity, work and income, social relations, and societal benefits (see Diener & Biswas-
Diener, 2008; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005 for a full review).

Social re la t io ns h ips
While high subjective well-being has been consistently correlated with high levels of sociality,
evidence suggests that the causal arrow between these two variables moves in both directions. In-
dividuals who have a greater number of friends and family members tend to have higher levels of
subjective well-being; however, individuals who have higher well-being to begin with tend to have
closer and more supportive social relationships than individuals with low baseline life satisfaction
(Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008).
By examining people’s daily interactions and the effects of social bonds, it is clear that sup-
portive relationships are a causal factor in high subjective well-being. Numerous studies show that
the best part in people’s days are when they are involved in social interaction - in general, people
are simply happier when they are around other people (Kahneman & Krueger, 2006). Moreover,
social bonds such as marriage can also increase subjective well-being as evidenced by the fact that
married people experience, on average, higher levels of subjective well-being than non-married
people (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003).
However, evidence showing that people with high subjective well-being tend to have higher
levels of self-confidence, warmth, leadership ability, sociability, and more friends to begin with
suggests the other side of the causal arrow - people with high subjective well-being actually gene-
rate their own social support systems (Cunningham, 1988; Isen, 1987). One example of this pheno-
menon is the baseline difference between people who get married and divorced. While people with
high life satisfaction prior to marriage are more likely than others to get married, stay married, and
be happy in their marriages, people with low life satisfaction prior to marriage are far more likely
to get divorced (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003; Lucas, 2005).

Work and income

Another benefit of high subjective well-being lies in the fact that people who attain it are likely to
earn more money than others, regardless of occupation (Diener, Nickerson, Lucas, & Sandvik, 2002),
and are more likely to enjoy their work (see Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005 for review).
Importantly, this result indicating that well-being causes economic and career success has been
replicated in studies conducted in other parts of the world (Graham & Pettinato, 2002; Marks &
Fleming, 1999). Continuing research also suggests that individuals who enjoy their work tend to have
higher supervisor ratings (Wright & Staw, 1999; Cropanzo & Wright, 1999) and are judged as
having more productivity, dependability, creativity, and overall higher work quality while on the job
(Staw, Sutton, & Pelled, 1994). Moreover, happy workers also tend to have higher levels of organi-
 Subjective well-being 393

zational citizenship, which means they are more likely to do tasks not required by their job, such as
helping co-workers (Donovan, 2000; Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008).

Health and longevity

There are a number of studies that provide evidence that subjective well-being improves both health
and longevity. In general, people who report high subjective well-being also report better health and
fewer unpleasant physical symptoms (Roysamb et al., 2003). In a recent study where researchers
infected participants with the common cold, those who reported higher levels of well-being were
more resistant to the virus (Cohen et al., 2003). Danner, Snowdon, and Friesen (2001) also found
that baseline subjective well-being predicted longevity for nuns living under identical environmental
conditions, and Pressman & Cohen (2007) achieved a similar result in a study of autobiographies of
psychologists. Furthermore, individuals with higher subjective well-being tend to have stronger
immune systems and better cardiovascular health (i.e. fewer heart attacks and less artery blockage),
to engage in healthier behaviours, such as wearing seatbelts and sunscreen, and to have fewer life-
style diseases, such as addictions to alcohol or drugs (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008).

Societal benefits of happiness

Finally, high subjective well-being not only benefits individuals, but also benefits society as a whole.
It is sometimes thought that people who seek happiness are selfish and irresponsible, engaging in
activities for their own gain rather than for the betterment of their community. In actuality, those who
seek high subjective well-being engage more frequently than people with low subjective well-being
in altruistic, pro-social activities such as volunteering for community and charity groups (Tov &
Diener, 2008, Thoits & Hewitt, 2001; Krueger, Hicks, & McGue, 2001). Furthermore, of the people
who do volunteer, people who report high subjective well-being tend to invest the most hours (Thoits
& Hewitt, 2001). Moreover, people who experience high levels of well-being on average tend to
have more trusting, co-operative, and pro-peace attitudes, more confidence in the government,
stronger support for democracy, and lower levels of intolerance for immigrants and racial groups
(Tov & Diener, 2008; Diener & Tov, 2007). Therefore, while well-being of citizenry may result from
a structurally sound society, high levels of subjective well-being can contribute towards a more
stable, productive, and effectively functioning society as well.

Can people be too happy?

One important caveat to the evidence which suggests that high well-being causes better functioning
at the individual and societal levels is that it is not necessary for people to be euphorically happy all
of the time in order to achieve a better life. In fact, reporting high subjective well-being too often
may have negative effects on certain life domains. For example, people who experience the very
highest levels of well-being are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer
work; however, those who experience slightly lower levels of well-being are the most successful in
terms of income, education, and political participation (Oishi, Diener, & Lucas, 2007). In addition,
constantly striving for higher levels of well-being could lead an individual to more risk-seeking and
potentially dangerous behaviours such as illicit drug use and an abundance of sexual partners. There-
fore, while it is important to recognize the benefits of high subjective well-being for individuals and
societies, it is a mistake to think that constant euphoria is a desired outcome.

THEORIES OF WELL-BEING
There are a variety of theoretical frameworks within which well-being is examined, ranging from
biological theories concerned with the genetic predispositions for happiness to relative standards
theories, which examine how comparing oneselfto others influences perceived subjective well-being.
Several of the more prominent theories are described below (see Diener, 1984; Kesebir & Diener,
2008 for reviews); however, a closer connection between theory and research is still needed in order
to advance the field.
394 Ed Diener and Katherine Ryan

Telic theories
Telic theories of subjective well-being state that individuals achieve happiness when a certain end-
point, such as a goal or need, is reached. The point of contention within these theories is what that
certain endpoint comprises. For example, philosophers in the past have questioned whether fulfill-
ment of desires leads to well-being, or whether some desires are deleterious to well-being. Is it better
to satisfy a short-term desire at the expense of long-term consequences, and what happens if an indi-
vidual’s desires are in conflict with each other? Others have asked whether moving towards a desire
is actually more fulfilling than achieving the desired object itself. Need theories, such as Ryff and
Singer’s (1 996) concept ofpsychological well-being and Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination
Theory, suggest that there are certain inborn needs a person seeks to fulfill in order to achieve well-
being. Related to these, goal theories suggest that people are consciously seeking certain goals,
which, when fulfilled, result in high well-being (Emmons, 1986; Michalos, 1980). However, in goal
theories, goals may arise from additional sources beyond inborn needs.

Top-down versus bottom-up theories

The debate between “top-down’’ and “bottom-up’’ theories of well-being has been important to the
field. “Bottom-up’’ theories claim that the positive and negative moments which comprise a person’s
life are summed in order to produce that person’s perceived subjective well-being. In this view, a
positive or “happy” moment will cause a person to experience well-being, and the more positive mo-
ments a person experiences, the more their levels of well-being rise. In contrast, top-down theories
claim that a person’s inherent propensity to experience the world in a certain way will affect that
person’s interactions with the world. Therefore, according to top-down theories, aperson with amore
positive state of mind may experience or interpret a certain event as “happier” than a person with a
more negative perspective might, making the positive attitude rather than the objective events the
causal factor in well-being.
There are two general debates in the field of subjective well-being concerning these two op-
posing theories. The first concerns whether well-being is defined as a trait or a state. Those who
maintain well-being is a trait suggest that high well-being is a propensity to react positively rather
than necessarily feeling happy. Others maintain that well-being is a state caused by a collection of
happy moments. The second debate concerns the role of pleasant events in creating well-being. For
example, does a lack ofpleasant events lead to depression, or does depression lead to a failure to feel
pleasure when engaged in normally pleasant events?

Cognitive theories
Related to “top-down’’ approaches, cognitive theories of well-being focus on the power of cognitive
processes in determining individual well-being. The AIM - Attention, Interpretation, and Memory
- model of well-being is one such cognitive theory, and suggests that individuals with high sub-
jective well-being tend to focus their attention on positive stimuli, interpret events positively, and
recall past events with a positive memory bias (see Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008 for a review). In
terms of attention, participants who are able to focus relatively more on positive stimuli compared
to negative stimuli tend to fare better in overall levels of well-being. Perhaps more importantly, the
ability to direct attention outward away from oneself is a significant predictor of well-being. Studies
show that although people who ruminate teitd to worry more and experience lower subjective well-
being in general, directing attention inward can cause people who normally experience high well-
being to experience significantly lower well-being. Furthermore, people with high subjective well-
being have been shown to naturally interpret neutral and ambiguous events in a positive way. In this
way, positive interpretation acts as a protective buffer. Finally, while dispositionally “happy” people
have been shown to be no different in the amount of positive and negative events they experience,
they tend to remember events as better than they actually were, engaging in a positive and protective
memory bias.
 Subjective well-being 395

Evolutionary theories
Recently emerging theories for the origins of well-being are evolutionary models, which suggest that
feelings of pleasure and well-being are produced by that which aids humans in survival. The evolu-
tionary value of negative emotions (e.g. fear, anger, and anxiety) that aided our ancestors in reacting
to environmental threats has long been recognized. However, the adaptive advantages provided by
well-being, and specifically the role ofpositive emotions as motivators that drive adaptive behaviour,
are just now beginning to be understood. Fredrickson’s (1998) “broaden and build theory” is a rela-
tively new evolutionary model, which proposes that positive feelings allow individuals to broaden
their thought-action repertoires and consequentially build intellectual, psychological, social, and
physical resources over time. Therefore, Fredrickson suggests that high subjective well-being and
positive affect yield a state from which individuals can confidently explore their environment, ap-
proach new goals, and thereby gain important personal resources. In this way, well-being is not an
epiphenomenon, as previously thought. Rather, like negative emotions, positive emotions have their
own adaptive advantages that contributed to the evolutionary success of the species and continue to
aid humankind in survival.

Temperament and personality

A number of studies have confirmed the importance of temperament and personality in determining
an individual’s capacity for well-being. Research demonstrating that identical, or monozygotic, twins
are considerably more similar to each other in well-being levels than fraternal, or dizygotic, twins
has shown the importance of genetic inheritance (Lykken & Tellegen, 1996; Tellegen et al., 1988),
as have studies demonstrating the stability of subjective well-being levels longitudinally (Costa &
McCrae, 1988; Magnus & Diener, 199 1). Among different personality traits, extroversion and neuro-
ticism have been shown to be the most consistently and strongly related to well-being (Diener &
Lucas, 1999; Rusting & Larsen, 1997). Extraversion has been shown to predict positive affect (Lucas
& Fujita, 2000), while negative affect is strongly predicted by neuroticism (Fujita, 199 1). Moreover,
studies across nations show that extroverts everywhere tend to experience a higher number of posi-
tive feelings and experience them more intensely than introverts (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008).
Therefore, while the environment plays a role in the expression of genetics, it is clear that heritable
traits have a substantial effect on the well-being levels of individuals.

Relative standards
Relative standards theories maintain that well-being results from a comparison between some stan-
dard, such as one’s past, others, goals, or ideals, and the actual conditions. According to social
comparison theory, one uses other people as the standard, which means that a person will experience
higher well-being if they are better off than others (Carp & Carp, 1982; Michalos, 1980). For ex-
ample, Easterlin (1 974) suggested that the amount of income that will satisfy people depends on the
income of others in their society. In addition, Emmons, Larson, Levine, and Diener (1 983) found that
social comparison was the strongest predictor of satisfaction in many domains.
In other theories, such as Brickman, Coates, and Janoff-Bulman’s (1978) adaptation theory, an
individual’s past is the standard for comparison. For example, if an individual’s current life exceeds
their past standard, they will be content. However, adaptation theory also proposes that the power
of events to evoke emotions decreases over time. For example, if a person experiences a positive
event such as a promotion, adaptation theory suggests that this person will experience a spike in
well-being due to the promotion being above their previous standard. However, as time proceeds,
adaptation theory postulates that the promotion becomes a new standard, thereby losing its power
to evoke feelings of well-being in the individual (Brickman & Campbell, 1971). In this way, indi-
viduals are constrained by what is called the “hedonic treadmill”, which describes the process by
which recent changes in life circumstances increase an individual’s subjective well-being temporarily
before the individual’s standard eventually acclimates to the new conditions. Thus, according to
396 Ed Diener and Katherine Ryan

adaptation theory, events and circumstances matter only in the short-term, temperament being the
major long-term influence on well-being. Support for this theory comes from studies which report
that the handicapped are no less satisfied than controls (Feinman, 1978), and spinal cord injury
victims experience a steep drop in well-being after the accident, followed by a rapid rise approaching
their previous levels (Wortman & Silver, 1982).
Importantly, the stronger forms ofthese “hedonic treadmill” adaptation theories have now been
disproved (Diener, Lucas, & Scollon, 2006). The staggering differences between national levels of
well-being alone reveal that humans do not adapt to everything they experience; in actuality, nations
differ substantially not only in life satisfaction and judgments, but also dramatically for both positive
and negative feelings (Diener, Kahneman, & Helliwell, 2009).
However, there is validity to more nuanced theories of adaptation, as evident by studies on
bereavement, marriage, and divorce. Bereavement studies show that the death of a spouse causes a
sharp decline in life satisfaction for widows, which can require up to seven years to overcome
(Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008). Studies on marriage and divorce show that people often recover
from negative life events and are able to experience feelings of well-being after extremely positive
events (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003). These and other studies show that an individual’s
happiness “set-point’’ can change so that people can experience well-being after positive events like
marriage, and can recover from negative life-altering events such as the death of a spouse (Diener
& Biswas-Diener, 2008).
Some new studies provide evidence that repeated events, rather than causing adaptation, can
actually have the opposite effect, causing sensitization (Luhmann & Eid, in press). Moreover, there
are distinct cultural differences in adaptation (Oishi et al., 2007), and there is also evidence that
adaptation can be different for different types of experiences, specifically consumption versus acqui-
sition (Hsee, Yang, Li, & Shen, 2009). While we have made progress in terms ofwhat we understand
about the human capacity for adaptation, much more research is needed in order to gain a more
comprehensive understanding.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND WELL-BEING

The correlations between subjective well-being and a number of demographic variables have been
studied extensively, and the results of these studies are provided below. However, an important next
step in well-being research is the more precise pinpointing of causal rather than correlational factors.
For example, with many of the variables below such as social relationships, the causal relationship
is indeterminate -well-being is caused by having many friends, but individuals with high well-being
are better at making friends in the first place. Therefore, a future direction for research lies in longi-
tudinal studies which can tease apart correlational versus causal factors.

Gender
The relative well-being levels between the genders have frequently been examined, but the well-
being data gathered thus far indicate that women and men do not substantially differ in terms of
average subjective Well-being. While women appear more frequently in samples ofboth the extreme-
ly happy and extremely unhappy, evidence suggests that this over-representation is due to the fact
that women experience positive and negative emotions more frequently and more intensely than men.
In fact, Fujita, Diener, and Sandvik (1991) showed that while gender accounts for less than 1% of
the variance in well-being, it accounts for over 13% of the variance in the intensity of emotional ex-
periences. Therefore, while men and women show little comparative difference in average subjective
well-being, more women than men live at the extreme ends ofwell-being scales (Diener, Suh, Lucas,
& Smith, 1999).

Education
There exists in popular belief an inverse relationship between intelligence, or education, and the
 Subjective well-being 397

ability to lead a satisfying life. Gustave Flaubert best enunciated this sentiment through his popular
statement: “To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though
if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.” However, the “ignorance is bliss” aphorism is invalidated by a
number of studies, which show a positive (albeit weak) correlation between one’s level of education
and well-being, after controlling for other variables, explaining only 1-3% of the variance in well-
being (Witter, Okun, Stock, & Haring, 1984). Moreover, the link between intelligence as measured
by IQ tests and subjective well-being seems to be virtually non-existent; however, emotional
intelligence has consistently been linked to high well-being (Furnham & Petrides, 2003; Schutte et
al., 2002).

Age
The typical association ofthe elderly with the characteristics ofcrotchety, quarrelsome, and unhappy
with life have been proven false by a number of studies. While early assessments of well-being in
relation to age suggested that youth is a strongly consistent predictor of well-being (Wilson, 1967;
Bradburn & Caplovitz, 1965; Gurin,Veroff, & Feld, 1960; Kuhlen, 1948; Wessman, 1957), contem-
porary studies show that life satisfaction usually increases, or at least does not decrease, with age
(Herzog & Rodgers, 1981; Horley & Lavery, 1995; Larson, 1978; Stock, Okun, Haring, & Witter,
1983). Moreover, Mroczek and Spiro (2005) found that although there were significant individual
differences, life satisfaction actually increased from age 40 to 65, before declining only close to im-
pending death. In terms ofwell-being, longitudinal and cross-sectional data show that positive affect
slightly decreases with old age, and yet so does negative affect (Charles, Reynolds, & Gatz, 2001;
Mroczek & Spiro, 2005). Importantly, when examined internationally, there is no consistent rela-
tionship between age and subjective well-being; however, there is a tendency for life satisfaction to
decline much more rapidly with age in poorer countries than in rich ones (Deaton, 2008). Therefore,
while much more research is needed in this area, it is clear that old age is not necessarily a harbinger
of unhappiness.

Religion
The relation between religiosity or spirituality and well-being is a paradoxical one. In general, reli-
gious people tend to experience higher well-being, and more specifically, participation in religious
services, strength of religious affiliation, relationship with God, and prayer have all been associated
with higher well-being levels (Ferriss, 2002; Poloma & Pendleton, 1990; Witter, Stock, Okun, &
Haring, 1985). On a national level, higher levels of religiosity have been linked to higher life
satisfaction and lower suicide rates (Diener & Seligman, 2004; Helliwell, 2007). The positive link
between high well-being and religiosity is thought to originate from a sense of meaning and purpose
and from the social networks and support systems created by churches and other institutions of
organized religion. However, intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation towards religion is an im-
portant factor in the positivity of the link (Ardelt, 2003; Ardelt & Koenig, 2007), and the strength
of this link seems to be stronger for certain groups of people, specifically women, African
Americans, and the elderly as opposed to Europeans (Argyle, 1999). Moreover, ongoing research
reveals that some of the nations with the highest levels of well-being are not very religious, whereas
some of the most religious nations report very low levels of well-being.

Marriage, divorce, and social relationships

The number and quality of social relationships a person has are highly confirmed correlates and
antecedents of high subjective well-being (see Diener & Biswas Diener, 2008 for review). In gene-
ral, people are simply happier when they are around other people, social interactions being among
the most enjoyable points in the day (Kahneman & Krueger, 2006). People tend to express more
positive affect when they are with others (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008). Furthermore, while per-
ceived loneliness is strongly linked to depression (Anderson & Arnoult, 1985), social interaction not
398 Ed Diener and Katherine Ryan

only increases well-being levels but also acts as a buffer to such major life stresses as bereavement,
rape, and unemployment (Myers, 1999).
Subjective well-being increases through social bonding such as marriage, and other strong social
relationships can also be very fulfilling (Helliwell, Barrington-Leigh, Harris, & Huang, 2009). Mar-
ried people typically experience higher subjective well-being than non-married people according to
large representative samples (Glenn, 1975; Lee, Seccombe, & Shehan, 199 1) and longitudinal studies
(Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003); however, data show that people quickly adapt to mar-
riage and return to their baseline levels of well-being (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2003).
One explanation which may concomitantly account for the relatively low impact of marriage and the
higher average levels of well-being of married people is that people who tend to get married have
high life satisfaction prior to marriage. Consequentially, this group of people is far most likely not
only to marry in the first place, but also to stay married and experience their marriage positively.
Predictably, as married people tend to show higher levels of well-being on average, divorced
people show lower levels of well-being on average (Lucas, 2005). As Lucas (2005) has shown, di-
vorce generally causes a decline in subjective well-being prior to the divorce, and divorcees do not
rebound back to baseline levels of satisfaction over time. In this way, the event of divorce seems to
affect subjective well-being more than the event of marriage; however, pre-existing differences in
well-being levels may also account for the causal relationship between divorce and well-being, as
divorced people generally show lower levels of satisfaction prior to marriage (Lucas, 2005).
Diener, Gohm, Suh, and Oishi (2000) found that the relation between marital status and sub-
jective well-being is very similar around the world despite small variations due to cultural variables.
For example, the benefit of marriage over cohabitation for life satisfaction seems greater in collec-
tivist rather than individualist nations, and in terms ofpositive emotions, the benefit ofbeing married
over divorced or separated is smaller in collectivist than individualist nations (Diener, Gohm, Suh,
& Oishi, 2000). Finally, in terms of negative emotions, the benefit of being married over being
divorced or separated is smaller in nations with high divorce tolerance (Diener, Gohm, Suh, & Oishi,
2000). Therefore, while small variations exist from country to country, it is clear that the general
trends for marriage, divorce, and their relation to well-being are consistent across the globe.

Unemployment
Unemployment has been shown to have a consistent and unequivocally negative impact on subjective
well-being (Clark, 2009). Clark (2009) showed that people do not adapt to unemployment the way
the hedonic treadmill theory might suggest (for men especially, the third year of unemployment is
just as difficult as the first), and this finding is confirmed by other studies that suggest that while
individuals do recover somewhat after the initial strong reaction to unemployment, they never return
to their former baseline levels of satisfaction, even after re-employment (Lucas, Clark, Georgellis,
& Diener, 2004). Importantly, these results indicate that even a short period of unemployment can
cause a permanent alteration in a person’s long-term happiness set-point. However, comparison
effects may alleviate some of the decline in subjective well-being associated with unemployment,
as evidenced by the fact that living in an economically depressed area where unemployment levels
are high for everyone significantly increases the well-being ofunemployed individuals (Clark, 2009).

Income
Overall, the research on the relation between income and well-being reveals that money has a posi-
tive, yet diminishing, effect as it grows in size. While increased income significantly affects well-
being for those living at the poverty level or in underdeveloped nations, the strength of the link
between wealth and life satisfaction decreases at higher levels of income, showing what economists
call “declining marginal utility” (Diener, Ng, & Tov, 2009; Frey & Stutzer, 2002). This effect has
been shown in a variety of studies, one showing that the wealthiest Americans experience only
slightly higher subjective well-being than the average American, and that 37% of these wealthy
 Subjective well-being 399

individuals actually experience lower subjective well-being than the average American (Diener,
Horowitz, & Emmons, 1985). Moreover, people who are heavily invested in the importance of
money and material possessions tend to feel less satisfied with their lives and experience less positive
affect and more negative affect (Kasser & Kanner, 2004).
In studies examining income differences between nations using the Gallup World Poll, the
income of nations is a strong predictor of satisfaction with life (Diener, Kahneman, Tov, & Arora,
2009; Inglehart, ZOOS), but importantly, recent studies show there are other factors which predict
emotional well-being to a better extent than income (Diener & Ryan, in press). Specifically, well-
being can be divided into three types of capital:
1. Monetary: how much money the country earns on average and how well this income satisfies
the basic needs of citizens.
2. Social: whether citizens can count on others, how frequently they have experienced violence,
and the level of government corruption and societal trust.
3. Psychological: whether people feel free, learn new things, and are able to do what they enjoy
on a daily basis.
Importantly, the level of the latter two types of capital, social and psychological, best predicts the
emotional well-being of nations (Diener & Ryan, in press). Thus, while national income does tend
to improve well-being scores, several other factors influence the well-being of citizens.

CULTURE AND WELL-BEING

A growing body of research has shown that while most people across nations report relatively high
subjective well-being, there are distinct differences in the subjective well-being between nations that
can be explained to some extent by the effects of culture. Diener and Diener (1 996) found that within
industrialized societies, most people score above neutral in surveys of well-being. However, inter-
national surveys of well-being reveal significant differences in subjective well-being levels (see
Diener & Suh, 2000 for a review), which can be explained to some extent by the level of economic
development of the countries surveyed. It is not coincidental that some of the nations who report the
lowest levels of well-being are also the poorest and least industrialized.
However, research also shows that people do not report higher well-being in industrial societies
simply because their basic needs are met. For example, Biswas-Diener, Vitterso, and Diener (2005)
found that the Maasai, Amish, and Inughuit cultures showed above average levels of subjective
well-being despite their relatively impoverished living conditions. This finding is consistent with
evidence that those living in slum housing, sex workers, and homeless pavement dwellers in Calcutta
show life satisfaction only slightly below neutral (Biswas-Diener & Diener, 2001). Interestingly,
while poverty seems not to be as devastating to life satisfaction as previously thought, there does
seem to be some variation in the effects ofpoverty, which is caused by culture. For example, Biswas-
Diener and Diener (2006) found that well-being in the homeless is predictably low; however,
pavement dwellers in Calcutta show higher levels of life satisfaction than homeless groups in the
United States, despite the better access to food, clean water, medical care, opportunities for employ-
ment, and adequate shelter available in the United States. In addition, low-income respondents in the
United States report higher negative affect and lower life satisfaction than their counterparts in
Denmark (Biswas-Diener, Vitterso, & Diener, 2008).
There are some universal factors, such as democratic governance, human rights, and longevity,
which seem to be related to high subjective well-being levels throughout different cultures (Diener,
Diener, & Diener, 1995). However, cultural differences do exist, as evident by the fact that self-
esteem is a strong predictor of subjective well-being in individualistic cultures, but not in collectivist
cultures (Diener & Diener, 1995). Moreover, there is also a substantial difference in which emotions
are valued across cultures and to what extent emotional arousal is desired. For example, Eid and
Diener (2001) found that guilt is of greater importance in collectivist cultures, whereas pride is more
valued in individualistic cultures. In addition, Tsai, Knutson, and Fung (2006) found that Asian-
400 Ed Diener and Kafherine Ryan

Americans and Chinese participants value low arousal positive affect (calmness) more so than
European-Americans, whereas European-Americans and Asian-Americans value high arousal posi-
tive affect (excitement) more than Chinese participants.

INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE WELL-BEING

A wide variety of interventions that have been developed to increase well-being are based in part on
pre-existing cognitive behavioural therapies for depression. Strategies such as Rational Emotive
Behavioral Therapy (previously called Rational Emotive Therapy) (Ellis, 1962) suggest that low
subjective well-being is caused by activating experiences such as family problems, difficulties at
work, and trauma as well as by irrational and self-defeating beliefs. While activating experiences do
cause disturbances in well-being, Ellis argues that irrational belief systems actually cause long-term
negative consequences such as anger, panic, and depression. Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
(1979) is an intervention closely related to Ellis’s and stresses the importance of correcting an in-
dividual’s cognitive “errors” about oneself and one’s environment, such as over-generalization,
minimization of positives, and maximization of negatives, in order to instill a more realistic and
functional cognitive model.
Certain contemporary subjective well-being interventions are based on the idea of mixing
positive thinking and activity theories, such as Csikszentmihaly’s (1 990) theory on the importance
ofthe heightened “interest” and “flow,” produced by “paratelic” activities. While individuals engage
in telic activities in order to accomplish a goal, such as working to make money, paratelic activities
are engaged in due to the inherent value they provide. Importantly, participation in paratelic activities
has been shown to have several positive effects on well-being and can be used as a therapeutic tool.
One example of an intervention that utilizes both activity theory and positive thinking theories is
Frisch’s (2006) Quality of Life Therapy. Strategies created by Lyubomirsky (2007) and Seligman,
Rashid, and Parks (2006) echo this focus on improving primary life areas using positive thinking and
by spending time in enjoyable activities. Other interventions focus on the effects of positive psycho-
logy, such as gratitude (Emmons & McCullough, 2004), compassion, forgiveness, and spirituality.
Within positive psychology, interventions are still in the early stages of development, while
interventions that address negative affect, depression, and general unhappiness have a long and deep
history. Therefore, while there are many interventions currently in existence, more interventions are
needed. Further research is required in order to pinpoint which intervention methods work best, and
there is also a need for research into culturally sensitive interventions that can be used by a variety
of cultures across the globe.

WELL-BEING ACCOUNTS FOR PUBLIC POLICY

W e suggest that complementing national measures ofwell-being should be used alongside economic
and social indicators in order to guide public policy. While economic indicators, such as gross
domestic product (GDP), and social indicators, such as crime or literacy rates, monitor important
areas affecting the welfare of a nation and its individual citizens, these indicators do not provide a
comprehensive view of quality of life within nations (see Diener & Seligman, 2004; Diener, Lucas,
Schimmack, & Helliwell, 2009, for a review). In order to remedy the exclusion of several important
variables which determine quality of life, we suggest utilizing national accounts of well-being to
monitor well-being within nations, with a view to increasing well-being and improving societal
conditions.
Well-being within societies should not only be measured because it will provide policy makers
with more information about the lives of their citizens, but also because subjective well-being has
become increasingly more important to citizens in the post-materialistic era. Individuals now rank
“happiness” as their most important life goal (Diener & Oishi, 2004), and yet, there is no current
measure used on a national scale that measures societal progress in providing conditions amenable
to increased subjective well-being. While economic measures were crucial when nations did not
 Subjective well-being 401

possess all the basic goods and services necessary to satisfy the needs of their populace, most people
living in modern industrialized societies today have the luxury of seeking a fulfilling life rather than
mere economic sustenance. This shift in focus from what Inglehart (1981) and others have called
materialist to post-materialist values has resulted in a new set of desires for citizens, and more im-
portantly, a set of goals which are not measured directly by income, GDP, and other economic and
social indicators. For an in depth discussion of national measures of well-being, see Well-Beingf o r
Public Policy (Diener, Lucas, Schimmack, & Helliwell, 2009).

FUTURE RESEARCH
While the data reviewed in this paper reveal important evidence on the causes and effects of sub-
jective well-being, much research is still needed for a more comprehensive view on how well-being
functions in societies. One area that deserves more attention is the outcome ofwell-being in a cultural
context - namely, what results ensue in different societies when people experience low or high
subjective well-being. More research is also needed on the connection between subjective well-being
and other forms of well-being, such as Ryff and Singer’s (1996) psychological well-being and Ryan
and Deci’s (2000) psychological needs. Moreover, research into the relation between the virtues or
character strengths proposed by Peterson and Seligman (2004) and well-being could provide im-
portant insights into what inherent qualities within individuals provide the most potential for
well-being.
Studies examining the efficacy of well-being interventions would also prove extremely useful.
Because the study of interventions is a relatively new field, many questions still exist as to the
outcomes of these therapies. Finally, the field of subjective well-being would benefit from a re-
duction in studies consisting only of self-report measures which all correlate at one point in time.
More longitudinal work is required with other forms of assessment in addition to self-report, such
as informant reports (see Diener et al., 2009 for a review of measures). While researchers have made
great strides in understanding subjective well-being on individual, societal, and international levels,
there is much more to learn and much that can be done to improve the well-being of people around
the world.

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