There is a clear pattern of MPWB scores increasing with education level, though the differences were most pronounced between low and middle education groups (β = .12, t (36508) = 9.538; p< .001). Individuals with high education were significantly higher on MPWB than those in the middle education group (β = .10, t (36508) =11.06; p< .001). Differences between groups were noticeably larger for countries with lower overall well-being, and the difference was particularly striking in Bulgaria. In Portugal, medium and high education well-being means were above the European average (though 95% confidence intervals crossed 0), but educational attainment is significantly lower in the country, meaning the low education group represents a greater proportion of the population than the other 21 countries. In the six countries with the highest well-being, mean scores for all levels of education were above the European mean. Utilizing ten dimensions for superior understanding of well-being

Journal of Wellbeing International Journal of Wellbeing

The ESS is a biannual survey of European countries. Through comprehensive measurement and random sampling techniques, the ESS provides a representative sample of the European population for persons aged 15 and over [ 38]. Both Round 3 (2006–2007) and Round 6 (2012–2013) contained a supplementary well-being module. This module included over 50 items related to all aspects of well-being including psychological, social, and community well-being, as well as incorporating a brief measure of symptoms of psychological distress. As summarized by Huppert et al. [ 25], of the 50, only 30 items relate to personal well-being, of which only 22 are positive measures. Of those remaining, not all relate to the 10 constructs identified by Huppert and So [ 27], so only a single item could be used, or else the item that had the strongest face validity and distributional items were chosen.Separate CFA analyses per each country indicate that the final model fit the data adequately in all countries (.971 < CFI < .995; .960 < TFI < .994; .020 < RMSEA < .05; 0,023 < SRMR < 0,042). All items presented substantive loadings on their respective factors, and structures consistently replicated across all tested countries. Largest variations were found when assessing the residual items’ correlations (e.g., for emotional stability and vitality correlation, values ranged from 0,076 to .394). However, for most cases, residuals correlations were of similar size and direction (for both cases, the standard deviation of estimated correlations was close of .10). Thus, strong evidence supporting our final model was systematically found across all analyzed countries. Full results are provided in the supplement (Tables S 2-S 3). Model invariance The hedonic concept of happiness does not consider that cognitive appraisal plays the important role in emotional functioning ( Frijda, 1998, 2007). According to the dual route model of emotional processing proposed by LeDoux (2000), triggering information is simultaneously sent to the amygdala, resulting in immediate physiological responses like “fight or flight” ( Cannon, 1929), and to prefrontal cortex for further cognitive appraisal. Evidence shows that activation of the amygdala could be inhibited by prefrontal brain structures involved in conscious cognition ( Thayer et al., 2009; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Also, the impact of cognition on emotional states is well supported by evidence-based cognitive therapy ( Butler et al., 2006; Ellis, 2002). Therefore, the definition of happiness as merely emotional well-being is limited, because it does not account for the cognitive component of happiness supported by both theories and empirical evidence ( Diener et al., 1999; Eid & Larsen, 2008; Frijda, 2007). Chen C, Goldman DP, Zissimopoulos J, Rowe JW. Multidimensional comparison of countries’ adaptation to societal aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2018;115(37):9169–74. To produce a cohesive, multidimensional measure of well-being useful for providing meaningful insights for policy, we use data from 2006 and 2012 from the European Social Survey (ESS) to analyze well-being for 21 countries, involving approximately 40,000 individuals for each year. We refer collectively to the items used in the survey as multidimensional psychological well-being (MPWB). Results In the specific instance of MPWB in relation to existing measures of well-being, there are several critical reasons to ensure a robust approach to measurement through systematic validation of psychometric properties. The first is that these measures are already part of the ESS, meaning they are being used to study a very large sample across a number of social challenges and not specifically a new measure for well-being. The ESS has a significant influence on policy discussions, which means the best approaches to utilizing the data are critical to present systematically, as we have attempted to do here. This approach goes beyond existing measures such as Gallup or the World Happiness Index to broadly cover psychological well-being, not individual features such as happiness or life satisfaction (though we reiterate: as we demonstrate in Fig. 7a and b, these individual measures can and should still covary broadly with any multidimensional measure of well-being, even if not useful for predicting all dimensions). While often referred to as ‘comprehensive’ measurement, this merely describes a broad range of dimensions, though more items for each dimension – and potentially more dimensions – would certainly be preferable in an ideal scenario.

Well-Being - Jerome M. Adams, 2019 The Value of Worker Well-Being - Jerome M. Adams, 2019

Arechavala NS, Espina PZ, Trapero BP. The economic crisis and its effects on the quality of life in the European Union. Soc Indic Res. 2015;120(2):323–43.

Creative Play

The journal provides a forum for three main areas in happiness research: 1) theoretical conceptualizations of well-being, happiness and the good life; 2) empirical investigation of well-being and happiness in different populations, contexts and cultures; 3) methodological advancements and development of new assessment instruments. The Wellbeing Journal has been thoughtfully crafted and designed to improve your mental wellbeing by providing a space for you to mentally unwind and reflect. The Journal enables you to be creative and reflect on your life which can be both powerful and positive. Journaling has been known to improve mental health and we want to aid you in doing this. Diener E, Pressman S, Hunter J, Chase D. If, why, and when subjective well-being influences health, and future needed research. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2017;9(2):133–67. Ruggeri, K., Garcia-Garzon, E., Maguire, Á. et al. Well-being is more than happiness and life satisfaction: a multidimensional analysis of 21 countries.