What Constitutes Well-being? Five Views Among Adult People from the Netherlands on what is Important for a Good Life

Abstract

AbstractWell-being has gained interest as object of study in the social sciences and as an outcome measure for policy evaluation. However, little agreement exists with respect to the substantive meaning of well-being, the dimensions of well-being that should be considered in a multi-dimensional approach, and the variety of well-being conceptions people have for their own lives. This study explored conceptions of “a good life for you” among 1,477 adult people from the Netherlands by means of Q-methodology, based on a theoretical framework synthesizing the main theories of well-being. We find five distinct views on what people consider to be a good life for themselves: “Health and feeling well”, “Hearth and home”, “Freedom and autonomy”, “Social relations and purpose” and “Individualism and independence”. While there is strong agreement with respect to the importance of feeling both physically and mentally well, the views diverge considerably regarding aspects such as social relations, autonomy, spirituality, and material welfare. Associations between viewpoints and respondent characteristics had face validity. The findings of this study have significant implications for the development of measures of well-being and policies aimed to improve population well-being. Further research is required into the prevalence of these views on well-being in the population, their relation to respondent characteristics and into differences in views over time and between countries with different socio-economic, political and cultural environments.