Overview

The study of 'subjective wellbeing' has seen explosive growth in recent decades, opening important new discourses in personality and social psychology, happiness economics, and moral philosophy. Now it is moving into the policy domain. In this it has arguably overstepped its limits. The shallow theoretical base of subjective wellbeing research, the limitations of its measurement instruments, and its ethical naivety makes policymaking on the basis of its findings a risky venture. The present volume is an attempt to shore up these weaknesses and set subjective wellbeing scholarship on a course for several more decades of growth and maturity. It presents a theory of subjective wellbeing in two parts. The first is the subjective wellbeing production function-a model of wellbeing as outcome. The second is the coalescence of being: a model of the self-actualisation process by which wellbeing is achieved. This two-part model integrates not only ideas in SWB studies and analytical philosophy, but also ideas from clinical, moral, and developmental psychology, continental philosophy, and welfare economics. Importantly, this theory is ethically sensitive, bridging the gap between psychological and philosophical perspectives on wellbeing that illuminates the complexities facing the application of subjective wellbeing in public policy. The book also provides a thorough review of various ways complex theories of subjective wellbeing can be studied empirically, and the hard trade offs between long surveys that capture the richness of the concept and the short surveys that are feasible in the context of social surveys and policy analysis.

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9780197635261

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Reviews

Fabian (Bennett Institute for Pubic Policy, Univ. of Cambridge) offers an exquisitely rich text involving novel approaches to the concept of subjective well-being (SWB)...For students and researchers in psychology, philosophy, public policy, and economics, this will be an important read. * M. Uebel, CHOICE * It is indeed a worthwhile endeavour, and one that I believe Fabian is probably one of the few people with a sufficient breadth of knowledge to embark on. * Gil Hersch, Economics & Philosophy * A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing is an excellent step in the right direction. * Willem van der Deijl, Eramus Journal for Philosophy and Economics * I would wholeheartedly recommend Fabian's book to anyone working within the subjective well-being space, especially those interested in pragmatic approaches to subjective wellbeing theory. Fabian succeeds in his endeavor to create a comprehensive account of subjective wellbeing, a demonstrates just why government policy should focus on promoting welfare and therefore improve their citizens circumstances, not just how they feel about those circumstances. * Jessica Sutherland, Philosophical Psychology *

Fabian (Bennett Institute for Pubic Policy, Univ. of Cambridge) offers an exquisitely rich text involving novel approaches to the concept of subjective well-being (SWB)...For students and researchers in psychology, philosophy, public policy, and economics, this will be an important read. * M. Uebel, CHOICE *

Author Information

Mark Fabian completed undergraduate studies in philosophy and political science and a PhD in economics at the Australian National University. He was then a Fulbright postdoctoral scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC before joining the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on wellbeing from an interdisciplinary point of view, with a particular emphasis on the ethical and epistemological issues involved in applying wellbeing science in public policy.

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