Ed Diener

Culture and Subjective well-being

The book Culture and Subjective Well-Being, edited by Ed Diener, is a collection of essays that explore the relationship between culture and subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is a term that refers to people’s own evaluations of their lives, including their level of satisfaction, happiness, and quality of life.

The book covers a wide range of topics, including the following:

How different cultures define and measure well-being
The relationship between culture and different components of well-being, such as positive and negative emotions, satisfaction with life, and social relationships
The impact of cultural change on well-being
The role of culture in promoting well-being

The book features contributions from leading researchers in the field of well-being, including Ed Diener, Ronald Inglehart, and Richard E. Nisbett. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the relationship between culture and well-being, including researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

Here are some of the key findings from the book:

Culture plays a significant role in shaping how people define and experience well-being.
Different cultures value different aspects of well-being. For example, some cultures place a greater emphasis on individual happiness, while others place a greater emphasis on collective well-being.
Cultural change can have a significant impact on well-being. For example, economic development and urbanization can lead to both positive and negative changes in well-being.
Culture can be used to promote well-being. For example, interventions that promote cultural values such as gratitude and social connectedness can have a positive impact on well-being.

measuring subjective well-being to compare the quality of life of cultures

In his book Culture and Subjective Well-Being, Ed Diener argues that subjective well-being (SWB) can be measured and compared across cultures. He proposes a number of methods for measuring SWB, including:

Self-report measures: These measures ask people to rate their own happiness, satisfaction with life, and other aspects of well-being.
Behavioral measures: These measures observe people’s behavior, such as their social interactions, leisure activities, and coping mechanisms, to infer their well-being.
Physiological measures: These measures assess physiological markers of well-being, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and hormone levels.

Diener argues that it is important to use multiple methods of measurement to get a complete picture of SWB. He also argues that it is important to take into account cultural differences when interpreting SWB measures. For example, some cultures may place a greater emphasis on certain aspects of well-being, such as social relationships or spiritual fulfillment.

Diener provides a number of examples of how SWB measures have been used to compare the quality of life of different cultures. For example, he cites a study that found that people in Western cultures tend to report higher levels of happiness than people in Eastern cultures. However, he also notes that this finding may be due to the fact that Western cultures place a greater emphasis on individual happiness, while Eastern cultures place a greater emphasis on collective harmony.

Diener concludes by arguing that SWB is a valuable measure for comparing the quality of life of different cultures. He writes that “SWB can be used to assess the quality of life of both individuals and societies.” He also writes that “SWB can be used to identify factors that promote well-being in different cultures.”

Here are some of the key benefits of measuring SWB to compare the quality of life of cultures:

It can help us to understand how different cultures define and experience well-being.
It can help us to identify factors that promote well-being in different cultures.
It can help us to develop policies and programs that promote well-being in all cultures.

Here are some of the challenges of measuring SWB to compare the quality of life of cultures:

Different cultures have different definitions and concepts of well-being.
It is difficult to translate SWB measures into different languages in a way that preserves their meaning.
Some SWB measures are more culturally sensitive than others.

Despite these challenges, Diener argues that the benefits of measuring SWB to compare the quality of life of cultures outweigh the costs. He writes that “SWB is a powerful tool for understanding and improving the quality of life of all people.“

Diener, E. (Ed.). (2009). Culture and well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (Vol. 38). New York: Springer.

Subjective Well-Being

The Science of Happiness and a Proposal for a National Index

One area of positive psychology analyzes subjective well-being (SWB), people’s cognitive and affective evaluations of their lives. Progress has been made in understanding the components of SWB, the importance of adaptation and goals to feelings of well-being, the temperament underpinnings of SWB, and the cultural influences on well-being.Representative selection of respondents, naturalistic experience sampling measures, and other methodological re-finements are now used to study SWB and could be used to produce national indicators of happiness.

SWB researchers formerly focused on who is happy (see Diener et al., 1999)–whether it be the married, the wealthy, spiritual individuals, or other demographic groups. The recent focus, however, has been on when and why people are happy and on what the processes are that influence SWB. Temperament and personality appear to be powerful factors influencing people’s SWB, in part because individuals usually adapt to some degree to good and bad conditions. People do not seem to completely adapt to all conditions, but as of yet researchers have only a rudimentary understanding of when and why adaptation is more or less complete. People’s values and goals seem intimately tied to what events are perceived as good and bad, and therefore a plausible hypothesis is that goal change is an inherent component of adaptation.

Full Text

Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55(1), 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.34

Very Happy People

Ed Diener and Martin E.P. Selligman

A sample of 222 undergraduates was screened for high happiness using multiple confirming assessment filters. We compared the upper 10% of consistently very happy people with average and very unhappy people. The very happy people were highly social, and had stronger romantic and other social relationships than less happy groups. They were more extroverted, more agreeable, and less neurotic, and scored lower on several psychopathology scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Compared with the less happy groups, the happiest respondents did not exercise significantly more, participate in religious activities significantly more, or experience more objectively defined good events. No variable was sufficient for happiness, but good social relations were necessary. Members of the happiest group experienced positive, but not ecstatic, feelings most of the time, and they reported occasional negative moods. This suggests that very happy people do have a functioning emotion system that can react appropriately to life events.