19 Apr Wellbeing and social connection can generate “an upward spiral” by reinforcing one another
I’m often asked … what’s the secret to happiness and wellbeing?
There isn’t one.
I’m often asked … what’s the most important contributor to happiness and wellbeing?
There isn’t just one thing.
But that being said, if I had to list the most consistent finding from the research, research into happiness and wellbeing, health and longevity, life success and pretty much everything I’d say … social connection and positive relationships!
And, not surprisingly, this new research supports this and adds even more to our understanding …
via PsyPost by Emily Manis
Social connection and agency are known to be positively correlated with emotional well-being, but does one lead to another or are they independent but related? A study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology explores these three variables over a 13-year time period to better explore their relationship.
Well-being has become a popular topic for research as psychology has begun to focus on how to live a good and happy life. Well-being has been linked to other positive life variables, but relationships are not well understood.
Social connection, especially having meaningful and supportive relationships, has been linked to positive mental health outcomes in previous research, including higher levels of well-being. Agency, or taking control of one’s own life and experiences, is another factor that has been linked to well-being.
Despite this, there is a lack of understanding about if these relationships are unidirectional or bidirectional. This study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between these three variables by utilizing longitudinal data.
“Several well-known theoretical perspectives offer valuable guidance about the essential components of the good life and two that are central to the field are social connection (perceived level of social interaction and support from others) and agency (perceived capacity to influence one’s life circumstances),” explained Dianne Vella-Brodrick and her colleagues in their study…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE