THE QUESTION TO BE ASKED in this paper is the following: is there an objective element of well-being, completely independent of anyone’s desires, interests and preferences? Some authors claim that belief in the existence of such an element figures prominently in our moral practices. For instance, Scanlon (1975, p. 658) writes the following: “it seems clear that the criteria of well-being that w...

Happiness research has dealt with a great number of determinants of well-being but has neglected the effect of war. Wars drastically reduce people’s happiness. The large psychic costs of soldiers, the suffering of civilians, and the material destruction are well documented. An important issue for happiness research is how to calculate the forgone well-being of the people killed in war. Wars may...

Abundant evidence highlights the important role of personality traits, age, and social relationships in the experience of subjective well-being. Experiential factors influence well-being, and evidence shows that specific forms of training, such as physical exercise and mindfulness meditation, can produce strong and enduring beneficial effects on well-being. These factors also shape the structur...

This paper is mainly methodological. It is concerned with the different ways me may analyse personal life course data. Personal life courses are defined by a succession of events regarding living arrangement, familial life, education, professional career, health, etc. We may focus on one of these events — leaving home, marriage, first job, divorce, becoming disabled — and examine how the hazard...

Most Americans have occasional problems with insomnia. The relationship of insomnia to illness is well known. However, insomnia may also relate to lower levels of well-being. Although there are various definitions of well-being, one of the most clearly articulated and comprehensive models identifies 2 overarching constructs, psychological well-being and subjective well-being. The purpose in the...

Our bodies are homes to millions of bacteria – some of which are particularly nasty, and others which can play an important role in our overall health and wellbeing. Scientific research over the past 50 years has uncovered the benefits that good bacteria can provide, particularly in relation to intestinal health. It was discovered that regular doses of the ‘good’ bacteria that live in the intes...

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that improving people's ability to deal with their finances, their financial capability, will directly improve their wellbeing and indirectly their health. To this end, financial capability initiatives have been funded by statutory and charitable health bodies, sometimes as part of a practice termed 'social prescribing'. DISCUSSION This paper examines financia...