Emotional Well-Being: What It Is and Why It Matters
Author: Crystal L Park1, Laura D Kubzansky2, Sandra M Chafouleas1, Richard J Davidson3, Dacher Keltner4, Parisa Parsafar5, Yeates Conwell6, Michelle Y Martin7, Janel Hanmer8, Kuan Hong Wang6
Affiliation:
1 University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT USA.
2 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
3 Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI USA.
4 Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA.
5 Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD USA.
6 University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY USA.
7 Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN USA.
8 Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA USA.
Conference/Journal: Affect Sci
Date published: 2022 Nov 15
Other:
Volume ID: 4 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 10-20 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s42761-022-00163-0. , Word Count: 184
Psychological aspects of well-being are increasingly recognized and studied as fundamental components of healthy human functioning. However, this body of work is fragmented, with many different conceptualizations and terms being used (e.g., subjective well-being, psychological well-being). We describe the development of a provisional conceptualization of this form of well-being, here termed emotional well-being (EWB), leveraging prior conceptual and theoretical approaches. Our developmental process included review of related concepts and definitions from multiple disciplines, engagement with subject matter experts, consideration of essential properties across definitions, and concept mapping. Our conceptualization provides insight into key strengths and gaps in existing perspectives on this form of well-being, setting a foundation for evaluating assessment approaches, enhancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of EWB, and, ultimately, developing effective intervention strategies that promote EWB. We argue that this foundation is essential for developing a more cohesive and informative body of work on EWB.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-022-00163-0.
Keywords: Hedonia; Positive emotions; Eudamonia; Meaning in life.
PMID: 37070009 PMCID: PMC10104995 (available on 2024-03-01) DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00163-0
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