Well-Being

There seems to be a convergence of opinion among researchers in the area of well-being that the notion of well-being can be construed in terms of happiness, life satisfaction, and absence of ill-being. Happiness refers to an affective state that involves positive and negative affect. This affect derives from positive and negative emotional reactions we experience from life events. Happiness researchers make the distinction between short-term happiness and long-term happiness. Short-term happiness is mostly influenced by environmental factors, whereas long-term happiness is more dispositional.

Life satisfaction involves cognitive evaluation of one's life. Life satisfaction is a result of comparison of one's current life situations or accomplishments against certain standards of comparison—one's ideal life, expectations of personal utility, individual goals, values, needs, opulence, and the lives of ...