Subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being and

perception of self and others

Marie-Claire Ellsmore, RoseAnne Misajon & Tom Whelan

Monash University, Melbourne

Subjective well-being and eudemonic well-being:

complementary constructs

Eudemonic well-being (EWB) evolves from pursuing contexts and relationships that fulfill intrinsic human needs while continually extending the self, resulting in personal growth (e.g., Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryff, 1989; Waterman, 1993)

Both Subjective well-being (SWB) and EWB research traditions provide complementary insight into well-being phenomena (e.g., Sirgy et al., 2006)

Well-being and positively biased self-perception

Both SWB and EWB research traditions also converge at the social-cognitive level of analysis (e.g., Fujita & Diener, 2005; Reis, et al., 2000)

Positively biased self-perception Social comparison perspective: perception of

self and “average other” (Festinger, 1954)

Self-insight perspective: perception of self compared with external evaluation (Kwan et al., 2004)

Well-being and positively biased self-perception

Positively biased self-perception measured using social comparison methodologies has been found to correlate with greater SWB and EWB (e.g., Boyd-Wilson et al., 2002; Cummins & Nistico,

2002) Baumeister’s (1989) “optimal margin of illusion” to account for the paradox:SWB and positively biased self-perception = linear relationship (e.g., Taylor et al., 2003)EWB and positively biased self-perception = curvilinear relationship?

Well-being and perception of others

Greater SWB and EWB is associated with positive interpersonal relationships (e.g., Cummins, Lau & Davern, in press; Ryff, 1989)

Evidence also suggests that how positively individuals perceive others affects their interpersonal functioning (e.g., Mikuliner & Horesh, 1999; Sacco, 1999)

Therefore, how individuals perceive others is likely to be directly predictive of both SWB and EWB

Self- and other-perception

What about the interdependence of self- and other-perception? (e.g., Baumeister & Twenge, 2003; Mussweiler, 2003)

Unlikely that both positively biased self-perception and positive other-perception can both predict greater well-being

1. Clarify relationships between positively biased self-perception, SWB and EWB

1.a.Curvilinear relationship between positively biased self-perception and EWB?

Aims of research

2. Explore relationships between other-perception, SWB and EWB

3. Explore impact of other-perception on a social comparison measure of positively biased self-perception

Participants 133 ‘hardcopy’ respondents 23 e-mail respondents Aged 18 – 83 (M = 42.8 years; SD = 14.9) Female n = 99 (63.0%); Male n = 58 (37.0%) University educated n = 86 (54.8%) Married or living with partner n = 95 (60.5%) Children/ dependent relatives n = 73 (46.5%) English spoken at home n = 141 (89.9%) Non-English speakers’ average time in Australia of 26

years (range 10 – 47 years) Metropolitan residents n = 140 (89.2%)

Measures Demographic measure = age, sex,

dependent relatives or children at home, language spoken at home, number of years spent in Australia, postcode, highest level of education completed, relationship situation

SWB (Life Satisfaction) = Personal Wellbeing Index (International Wellbeing Group, 2006)

EWB (Self-actualisation) = Short Index of Self-Actualization (Jones & Crandall, 1986)

Measures Positive bias in self-perception 8 positive personality descriptors: “Friendly, Reliable, Imaginative, Interesting,

Considerate, Intelligent, Sincere, Humorous”

8 negative personality descriptors: “Unkind, Insecure, Dishonourable, Mean,

Dishonest, Phony, Deceitful, Liar” Participants asked to rate both themselves and

the “average” person of same age and sex Methodology adopted from Boyd-Wilson et al.,

2002; 2004.

Measures Bias in self-perception =

(∑Self positive - ∑Other positive) +

(∑Other negative - ∑Self negative)

Index > 0 = positively biased self-perception Index of 0 = absence of bias in self-perception Index < 0 = negatively biased self-perception

Measures

“Self-positivity” = ∑Self positive ratings - ∑Self negative ratings

“Other-positivity” = ∑Other positive ratings - ∑Other negative

ratings

Other-perception = Revised Philosophies of Human Nature Scale (Robinson, Shaver, & Wrightsman, 1992)

Procedure

Measures were collated in the following order:1. Self-ratings on the 16 personality descriptors2. Personal Wellbeing Index 3. Ratings of others on the 16 personality

descriptors4. Short Index of Self-Actualization5. Revised Philosophies of Human Nature Scale6. Demographic information 56 (35.7%) respondents returned questionnaires

with sections 1 and 3 reversed

Results

SWB underwent a square root transformation and reflection to improve normality, therefore increased SWB scores indicate lower SWB

SWB and EWB r = -.23, p < .01(i.e., greater life satisfaction scores correlated with greater self-actualisation scores)

SWB and positively biased self-perception r = .05, p = ns

EWB and positively biased self-perception r = .07, p = ns

Results Self-positivity and other-positivity

r = .50, p < .001

Positively biased self-perception and self-positivity r = .22, p < .01

Positively biased self-perception and other-positivity

r = -.73, p < .001

Self-positivity and SWB r = -.46, p <.001 (i.e., SWB scores increased with greater self-positivity)

Self-positivity and EWB r = .27, p <.001

Results Apart from respondents’ age significantly

correlating with other-positivity (r = .32, p <.0001), none of the other demographic or procedural variables (i.e., questionnaire format or rating order) significantly correlated with the variables of interest

To partition variance as a function of age, sequential multiple regression was used for all subsequent analyses with age entered as step 1 of each analysis

Results

1. A sequential polynomial regression found no evidence of the hypothesised curvilinear (quadratic) relationship between positively biased self-perception and EWB

2. The sequential regression of age, trust and cynicism onto SWB found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 21% of variance in SWB (sr² = .21, p < .001); trust positively, and cynicism negatively correlating with greater SWB

Results3. The sequential regression of age, trust and

cynicism onto EWB found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 7% of variance in EWB (sr² = .07, p < .01); trust positively, and cynicism negatively correlating with greater EWB

4. The sequential regression of age, trust and cynicism onto positively biased self-perception found trust and cynicism predicted approx. 12% of variance in positively biased self-perception (sr² = .12, p < .001); trust negatively and cynicism positively correlating with positive bias in self-perception

Conclusions SWB and EWB significantly positively correlated

Positively biased self-perception, SWB and EWB non-significantly correlated

Positive other-perception (i.e., greater trust & less cynicism) significantly positively correlated with both SWB and EWB

Negative other-perception (i.e.,greater cynicism & less trust) significantly positively correlated with positively biased self-perception

Self-positivity significantly positively correlated with other-positivity, SWB and EWB

Limitations Exclusive reliance on self-report measures

Lack of control over test-taking behaviour

Causal interpretation not possible

Relationship between other-perception and well-being may be better accounted for by personality (e.g., agreeableness) or attachment style

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