Well-being

Well-being is what is ultimately good for a person. Also called welfare and quality of life, it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors.

Subjective well-being refers to how a person feels about and evaluates their life. Objective well-being encompasses factors that can be assessed from an external perspective, such as health, income, and security. Individual well-being concerns the quality of life of a particular person, whereas community well-being measures how well a group of people functions and thrives. Various types of well-being are categorized based on the domain of life to which they belong, such as physical, psychological, emotional, social, and economic well-being.

Theories of well-being aim to identify the essential features of well-being. Hedonism argues that the balance of pleasure over pain is the only factor. Desire theories assert that the satisfaction of desires is the sole source of well-being. According to objective list theories, a combination of diverse elements is responsible. Often-discussed contributing factors include feelings, emotions, life satisfaction, achievement, finding meaning, interpersonal relationships, and health.

Well-being is relevant to many fields of inquiry. Positive psychology studies the factors and conditions of optimal human functioning. Philosophy examines the nature and theoretical foundations of well-being and its role as a goal of human conduct. Other related disciplines include economics, sociology, anthropology, medicine, education, politics, and religion. Even though the philosophical study of well-being dates back millennia, research in the empirical sciences has only intensified since the second half of the 20th century.