" first part
Psychological well-being
The psychological component is a "rather recent introduction in the context of well-being. Until 1993, studies and related considerations were conducted almost exclusively on population samples, with the exclusive aim of obtaining a set of variables common to all individuals.
Among the intentions of the researchers was the attempt to create a standard of variables, on which special programs aimed at improving well-being should have been devised: ideally they tried to develop a sort of wellness protocol, valid and commonly accepted, for the entire population as a whole.
From this moment on, the studies have progressively moved towards the subjective perception of the variables detected up to then. The merit of this change of front is to be attributed above all to the WHO and its definition of Quality of life like:
"subjective perception that an individual has of his own position in life, in the context of a culture, and of a set of values in which he lives, also in relation to his own goals, expectations, concerns"
This definition focuses attention on the aspects concerning the single individual, who is recognized as unique and different from the other subjects that surround him, therefore endowed with a different perception of the same experience.
It therefore becomes obligatory, at least on paper, to consider the single individual as the first factor and no longer the variables shared by a sample.
The variables that make up the psyche are innumerable and would require a whole treatise for each of them. For the sake of completeness, I therefore opted for a list of the most significant features in my opinion:
Psychological Adaptations
They are formally derived from "adaptation and from "adaptability of a given individual. By them we mean the biological, psychological or behavioral changes, in order to survive the evolution of the surrounding environment, and the personal capacity to be able to implement these changes.
Evolutionary psychology believes that there are equal mental adaptations for all individuals. It believes there are some specific function mechanisms common to all individuals and originating from environmental stimuli and recurring ways of life. Their origin would be attributable to common experiences of groups or societies; these adaptations would then be inherited by subsequent generations and thus consolidated over time.
These common traits therefore lead us to make common choices, even between different ethnic groups, but to face them in a different way. Among them we can find: the need for a partner, to feel integrated in a group, the care of children, the search for one's own status and others (Buss, 1998).
Behaviors
Still following the course of evolutionary psychology, we find a fundamental difference between adaptability and behavior. As stated earlier, adaptability implies the need for long periods to pass before being able to appreciably change the characteristics of individuals.
On the contrary, behaviors are considered as "the different ways of acting of the individual subjects in front of the same stimulus" and appear to be different because they are influenced by various factors, by the individual's knowledge of society, as well as by his experiences.
Subjectivity
Our ability to adapt, our behaviors and our experiences, form the single individual in a unique and unreproducible way. This diversity becomes the central element around which our different motivations, our different ambitions, our different interests develop.
This differentiation leads on the one hand to an "enormous difficulty in calibrating interventions aimed at improving the well-being of a group of individuals, on the other hand it allows us to make a very important evaluation, relating to what they like and what they don't. individual subjects like it.
The motivation
It comes directly from what our desires are. The stronger the will to achieve them, the greater the motivation and commitment employed to achieve this goal. The consideration of Amartya Sen and Frank Ramsey must be taken into account, they argue the intrinsic importance of desire as such: according to their point of view, desire brings well-being regardless of what it is.It is therefore not considered only the good endowed with an economically "useful" value but also a particular personal purpose.
Emotional intelligence
It results as a meeting point between classical, mathematical and verbal intelligence, and the ability to know how to live, manage and feel emotions.
According to Goleman, there are five spheres to be considered as a whole in this field: Knowing your emotions, Controlling your emotions, Motivating yourself, Recognizing others' emotions and Managing relationships.
Good emotional control allows for better emotional stability, a better psychological balance, in addition to the consequent better ability to relate to others.
The benefits will not only be psychological, but there will also be improvements in the social aspect of individuals.
Social Wellbeing
Within this area there are all those aspects that tend to be common among different individuals. These common traits tend to identify different stages of aggregation, starting from the couple and the small group, where the common traits tend to be greater, for ending in society, where similarities are minimal.
The education we receive, the religion, the cultural atmosphere where we live, our ethnicity, the political propaganda are just some of these factors.
The most important factor is certainly personal freedom, it is defined as:
the set of choices available to an individual-
It appears to be bound by many personal factors, often linked to one's social condition, to one's life experiences, to our ethical, moral, religious, affective, political values, to our courage, to our initiative, to our will and to others. .
Freedom also indicates our ability to make two different types of choices:
Binding, or rather that bind us to that particular type of choice for a variable time. We may, for example, have decided to undertake choice A and be happy with it and, consequently, derive a certain degree of well-being from it; or we may not feel comfortable with this choice and find ourselves immersed in a form of malaise since it will no longer be possible to make choice B. In any case, we will be in a position to regret the other options that we faced.
Not binding, leads us to an effective state of freedom of choice: since there is the possibility of making choices without fear of losing the other options, we will no longer be prey to the regret typical of a binding choice. In this case, if we make choice A, we will not be prevented at a later time from making choice B. It allows a real improvement in well-being as it allows us to make our choice without fear, anxiety, regrets or remorse
A particular type of freedom is that of well-being, it is placed between social well-being - from which it takes the concept of freedom - and the psychological one, since direct ambition and desire of the subject with consequent necessary will of the one who holds it in order to reach this specific end.
We can speak of freedom of well-being, only in the case that an individual is in the effective condition of being able to choose to live well and be well without any kind of obligation or imposition.
Last but not least, the importance linked to material goods must be considered. It is important not to think that they are ONLY useful for the achievement of well-being. However, we must remember that they actively participate in our daily life and that without some of them we would not be able to speak of any kind of well-being.
Each of them has its own basic utility without which a life would not be possible "normal", that is the starting point to be able to start talking about improving one's condition from a social point of view.
