Quality of life and well-being:  objective, subjective and agentic aspects

Occupation: Head of the International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation.
Affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics
Address: Moscow, Myasnitskaya str. 20

Journal name

Psikhologicheskii zhurnal

Edition

Volume 41 Issue 6

Pages

86-95

Abstract

The article is devoted to methodological and theoretical aspects of quality of life as an interdisciplinary category in relation to the concepts of well-being and subjective well-being from the perspective of distinction between objective, subjective and agentic factors in evaluating one's own life. The quality of life is defined by an objective and relatively invariant (for large social groups) way of living, setting objective conditions for meeting the basic needs of individuals within the framework of this way of living. Subjective well-being is defined by self-evaluation of individual’s life, determined, beyond and above the conditions of meeting the basic needs, also by the satisfaction of individually-specific needs within the framework of a chosen or constructed lifestyle, as well as by the perception of the field of possibilities and subjective criteria of life evaluation. The concept of well-being covers both the quality of life and subjective well-being. Finally, the concept of happiness partially intersects with the concept of subjective well-being, partly goes beyond it, in particular when it comes to self-determined happiness created by the subject himself and least dependent on external conditions (eudaimonia, meaning, flow experience, etc.). The proposed conceptual framework can be helpful for structuring research problems and hypotheses in this interdisciplinary field.

Keywords

quality of life, well-being, subjective well-being, way of life, lifestyle, agency, happiness

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project 18-18-00480 “Subjective indicators and psychological predictors of the quality of life”.

Received

16.11.2020

Publication date

27.11.2020

Number of characters

30544

Cite

GOST	Leontiev D. Quality of life and well-being: objective, subjective and agentic aspects // Psikhologicheskii zhurnal – 2020. – V. 41. – Issue 6 C. 86-95 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://psy.jes.su/S020595920012592-7-1 (circulation date: 15.03.2025). DOI: 10.31857/S020595920012592-7
MLA	Leontiev, D. "Quality of life and well-being: objective, subjective and agentic aspects." Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 41.6 (2020):86-95. DOI: 10.31857/S020595920012592-7
APA	Leontiev D. (2020). Quality of life and well-being: objective, subjective and agentic aspects. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal 41(6), pp.86-95 DOI: 10.31857/S020595920012592-7

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