This article presents the development and validation of two new measures of psychological well-being: the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) and the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT). These measures were developed to measure a broad range of psychological well-being constructs and represent a holistic view of positive functioning, as well as to predict important health outcomes.
Researcher reviews important questions for future research in on subjective well-being (SWB) based on recent findings of the worldwide predictors of SWB and differences in SWB between societies. He outlines how proposed national accounts of SWB not being considered by nations around the world, and outlines the advances needed in the SWB measurement methodology.
Positive psychological well-being, especially optimism, protects against the incidence, and somewhat against the progression, of cardiovascular disease through a broad array of mechanisms, according to this extensive literature review.
In this study, researchers review seven types of evidence that shows high subjective well-being (SWB)--including life satisfaction, absence of negative emotions, optimism, and positive emotions--cause better health and longevity. Examples of each type of evidence are described, and issues such as causality, effect size, methodological rigor, whether too much happiness can be detrimental to health, and whether there is a threshold effect for SWB are discussed.
