Why seek Well-Being?

April 17, 2024

By Michimasa Haga, Shizuoka University of Welfare

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What is Well-Being?

Sometimes at the end of the day we pick up our favorite drink and mutter, "Ah, I'm happy." Sometimes I wonder where these words and thoughts come from. Or, even if you don't realize it, other people may say things like, "I've been feeling good lately, what happened?" The Well-Being we're talking about here is just that.

In the 2020s, Well-Being will become a common goal in many areas. Why do we seek Well-Being in different fields? In what follows, we focus on the fields of health, psychology, and social work, which approach people's physical, mental, and social Well-Being through interpersonal helping work. By reviewing the relationship between these fields and Well-Being, we will consider the nature of Well-Being.

The purpose is to aim for "all-sufficiency" Well-Being

First, the relationship between the field of health and Well-Being stems from the World Health Organization's 1948 definition of health: "Health is not the absence of disease or infirmity. It is a state of complete physical, mental, and social Well-Being (World Health Organization, 1948). The original word translated here as "all-sufficiency"*1 is Well-Being. One of the features of the Declaration is that it focuses on the spiritual recovery of the individual and the prevention of disease in society, rather than the physical approach that had been the focus of medicine up to that time. In order to approach the health of individuals and society from the field of medicine and health care, it is necessary to establish a relationship of trust with each individual and society. In building such a relationship of trust, the goal of Well-Being is still valid after three quarters of a century.

What is the definition of subjective Well-Being?

On the other hand, in exploring the relationship between psychology and Well-Being, the contribution of psychology, especially positive psychology, which takes a scientific approach to the subjective happiness of individuals, is significant. In this trend, the definition of subjective Well-Being has been clarified and shown to be psychological fulfillment consisting of pleasant/unpleasant feelings and satisfaction with lifeNote 2 (Diener, 1984; Haga et al., 2016). Subjective Well-Being can be explained in detail as follows. First, every person has emotions and a sense of pleasure/displeasure at its base. These sensations amplify the stimuli we feel in life and facilitate our adaptation to the environment (Johnston, 2001). It is well known that the basis of an individual's subjective Well-Being lies in his or her pleasant/unpleasant sensations. Thus, the reason we think, "Oh, I am so happy," while holding our favorite beverage in our hands, or mutter, "I am tired after another day," at the end of the day, may be to better experience these pleasant/unpleasant sensations, or Well-Being, along with words. Furthermore, when we live our ideal life and look back on it, we might think, "I have no regrets in my life," to better experience Well-Being with words.

On the relationship between the welfare and well-being

The next relationship between the field of welfare and Well-Being is said to be closely related to the meaning of the word welfare. The global definition of the social work profession by the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Federation of Schools of Social Work Education, which is often cited as a way of doing welfare work, states: "Based on social work theory, the social sciences, the humanities, and local and ethnic knowledge, social work is about living people and diverse structures to address challenges and improve Well-Being. In other words, it is believed that the basic policy shared by the field of social work is to conduct professional activities aimed at contributing to the improvement of people's Well-Being as a fundamental principle of its activities.

Conclusion

As described above, each of the fields and cultures has a different historical history of valuing Well-Being. Therefore, the possibility that the content of our understanding of Well-Being may differ from each other will always be with us. But this may be a side effect of our pursuit of well-being. The author believes that as Well-Being research and theory deepen, the side effects may diminish as more collaboration occurs across disciplines with Well-Being as a common goal.

One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 is to achieve Well-Being. With the development of statistics and measurement techniques, we have made progress in quantifying and visualizing our Well-Being as individuals and as a society. The fact that we are now able to visualize Well-Being, which was previously difficult to visualize, should also encourage all sectors to make Well-Being a shared goal. In order for individuals to lead fulfilling lives and for all sectors and cultures to develop more sustainably, it is hoped that different sectors and cultures will come into contact with Well-Being as a common goal.

References

Note 1 Maeno (2022) states that the literal translation is "good state" or "good way of being".

Note 2 Each is based on the philosophical theories of hedonism (hedonia) and eudemonia (eudemonia), Aristotle et al.

World Health Organization (1948). World Health Organization HP Constitution Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution#:~:text=Health%20is%2020a%20state%20of,absence%20of%20disease%20or%20infirmity

Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542-575.

Haga, M., Takano, K., Hanyu, K., Nishikawa, M., & Sakamoto, M. (2016). The relationship between social capital and subjective well-being in university life. Psychological Research, 87, 273-283. https://doi.org/10.4992/jjpsy.87.15010

Johnston, V. S. (2000). Why we feel: The science of human emotion. basic books, New York.

Japan Federation of Social Workers (2020). Japan Federation of Social Workers (JFSW) Official WEB Site Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://jfsw.org/code-of-ethics/

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