Index

Abstract

We are often told that ‘money can’t buy happiness’. But if money is not the answer, then what is? This book considers this question by examining empirical data stretching back almost ten years. Whereas previous concerns of individual well-being have been drawn towards the negative outcomes of life experiences, this book provides a new approach by directly addressing the circumstances under which subjective high well-being is experienced, often with surprising results. Drawing on nine years of panel data, it examines demographic, social, spatial, health, domain satisfaction and socio-economic circumstances in a rich and complex longitudinal study, providing previously unknown information on factors associated with improved and sustained high well-being. It shows that subjective assessments of our circumstances are more important to well-being than our objective conditions and suggests that high well-being may be the key to improvements in people’s subjective experience of a wide range of adverse (and other) life events. The book also highlights that high levels of well-being are more likely to be associated with our social relationships and health status than with income or personal status, and that affluence is no guarantee to high subjective well-being and indeed may have negative consequences. The 21st century is seeing the emergence of a positive science, with a new focus on subjective well-being. This research adds new knowledge to the issues and debates that supports the move towards a better understanding of the factors which promote subjective well-being. Such findings will be important to the international academic field.