Shaping Your Well-Being
Although well-being is a concept that researchers have observed, it is highly subjective in nature (Kansky, & Diener, 2017). Well-being is currently defined as a multifaceted combination of cognition about oneself and feelings about oneself. Well-being is further defined as a balance of positive and negative feelings, leading to high life satisfaction (Kansky, & Diener, 2017). Despite the subjectiveness of well-being, researchers have used theoretical and applied techniques to investigate the relationship between subjective well-being and biological or social facets of wellness. Martin Seligman helped to spearhead the movement in psychology that lead to a larger focus on positive psychology; positive psychology is well-known for its scientific research on well-being (Yaden et al., 2018). This blog will serve to analyze applied and theoretical research methods on well-being, as well as address ways that technology and social media may affect well-being.
If you were asked, “what do you think about your well-being,” would you ponder about your level of happiness? Many individuals tend to utilize the words happiness and well-being as if they were the same word, but positive psychologists beg to differ. Martin Seligman (2011) hypothesized that happiness is merely a component of well-being. He hypothesized that well-being is measured by five elements: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (Seligman, 2011). Seligman stated that well-being is synonymous with flourishing, and he urged that positive psychology be aimed at increasing individuals’ ability to flourish (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). What do the five elements truly mean, and how are they applicable to the acquisition of a balanced well-being?
Positive emotions apply broadly to anything that elicits feelings of pleasure (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). Think of something that gives you feelings of pleasure; what is one of the first things to come into your mind? Is it food that you find to be delicious? Is it listening to an album from one of your favorite musical artists? Both of these examples would fall into the realm of positive emotion.
Engagement refers to being consumed and enthralled by activities that bring a feeling of fullness in life (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). What activities can you think of that give you a sense of fullness? Activities that make you feel as though the “real you” is shining through?
Relationships, or positive relationships was included as a component of well-being after Seligman postulated that supportive and positive relationships is a fundamental need that transcends any culture or era. What relationships in your life do you characterize as positive and supportive? Are there any relationships that you have that you feel can be more positive? What does a positive relationship look like to you?
The meaning that Seligman is referring to is the meaningful life. He hypothesized that individuals feel more fullness of life when they carry the notion that their lives are significant (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012).
Finally, Seligman added positive accomplishments as a component for well-being because he observed that individuals need goals to work for and challenges that they can overcome; this can promote a feeling of mastery and competence (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). What goals do you have set for yourself? Are there any challenges that come to mind that you feel competent to overcome?
Many psychological theories have been cultivated years ago, and at times they may seem outdated or difficult to apply to current society. For the well-being theory, this is seemingly not the case. Researchers that focus on well-being often utilize self-reporting measures to gauge a participant’s subjective well-being (Yaden et al., 2018). Early researchers aimed to investigate how happiness affected other facets of an individual’s life. To gather data, they did one simple thing, they asked the participants how happy they felt (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). This gave the researchers enough insight on the significance of happiness and satisfaction with life, and many researchers continue to utilize a self-reporting method to measure happiness. In a technologically advanced society, it is easy to question how psychological researchers may have evolved their tactics to better suite their savvy participants.
When the topic of technological advancements is on the table, many will think of computers, cell phones, the internet, and the infamous social media. Researchers have evolved their survey methods when investigating well-being and have turned to social media to assist in staying relevant. At the simplest level, self-reporting surveys that are distributed through online mediums is a popular practice of psychological researchers (Yaden et al., 2018).
Some researchers have started using social media posts and trends of users to complement the information obtained on a self-reporting survey of well-being (Chen et al., 2017). Algorithms can be put in place to obtain data based on the posts and language that social media users utilize to predict the level of happiness of each user (Chen et al., 2017). Some researchers predict that the use of algorithm
s with the formerly discussed ability to predict emotional state can help in creating tailored interventions for the users as they progress or relapse.
Social media and technology prove to be a large component of the daily lives of many users. Does the frequency of technological use suggest its ability to affect the well-being of its users? A question that more psychological researchers are paying attention to as technology becomes more integrated as an everyday normalcy. Many cell phone users are equipped with smart phones; most of their phone usage is for social media and other smart phone applications (Chen, & Li, 2017). Social media offers an opportunity for users to build on their social capital, which is composed of two layers: bonding capital and bridging capital. Each aspect of social capital either draws on the individual’s tie strength or the resources they can obtain through social networks (Chen, & Li, 2017).
Bonding capital involves the resources that individuals get from strong social ties (Chen, & Li, 2017). Familial ties, and close friendships fall into this category as they exhibit greater levels of trust and closeness. Individuals often characterize these relationships as supportive and draw strong emotional help from them. Bridging capital are resources that result from lesser ties that may have cultivated from connections or different clusters within one social network (Chen, & Li, 2017). These relationships, as the name suggest, simply bridge the gap and help facilitate a connection with acquaintances or individuals and groups that do not often interact with one another.
Researchers have hypothesized that social media has the
ability to strengthen social capital due to its users’ consistent connectivity (Chen, & Li, 2017). With the use of social media, familial ties can be strengthened, and social meetings may be easily arranged. With bridging capital, social media can help connect users within the same social network by reducing the amount of effort needed to communicate. Think about your own life and your use of social media or technology. Does constant connectivity allow you to increase ties with your family or close friends? Do you feel better connected with acquaintances or the “friend of a friend” that you may have met once on a rare occasion?
Due to the massive reduction in effort expenditure for maintaining social networks and the building of social capital, researchers Chen and Li (2017) hypothesized that social media can possibly enhance quality of life by increasing social capital and affecting subjective well-being. The researchers found that the use of social media as a communicative device and a platform for self-disclosure increased bonding and bridging capital; this then increased the psychological well-being of the participants. Adding friends on social media (a tactic that can connect acquaintances) was shown to increase bridging capital. Overall, the researchers concluded that smart phone usage in congruent with social media use may influence quality of life and overall well-being.
Well-being is a concept that has evolved throughout the history of psychology, with a current definition cultivated by Martin Seligman. The PERMA model offers five facets of overall well-being as: Positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievements (Compton, & Hoffman, 2012). As the m
eaning of well-being has evolved, so has the personal and subjective meaning of the word. Technology and social media has shaped the way individuals access information, and the way they form and maintain relationships (Chen, & Li, 2017).
References
Chen, H., & Li, X. (2017). The contribution of mobile social media to social capital and psychological well-being: Examining the role of communicative use, friend and self-disclosure. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 958-965. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.011
Chen, L., Gong, T., Kosinski, M., Stillwell, D., & Davidson, R. L. (2017). Building a profile of subjective well-being for social media users. Public Library of Science, 12, 1-15. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187278
Compton, W., & Hoffman, E. (2012). Positive Psychology: The science of happiness and flourishing 2nd ed. Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA.
Kansky, J., & Diener, E. (2017). Benefits of well-being: Health, social relationships, work, and resilience. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 1(2), 129-169.
Seligman, M. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York, NY, US: Free Press.
Yaden, D. B., Eichstaedt, J. C., & Medaglia, J. D. (2018). The Future of technology in positive psychology: Methodological advances in the science of well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00962
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