Abstract Book of the 8th World Conference on Social Sciences
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Developing an Integral Well-Being model – Bridging Multidimensional Perspectives on Human Functioning
Subhashini Ramasubramanian, Anuradha Choudry, Michael Zirkler
ABSTRACT:
Well-being has been examined through various theories and models, often overlapping with the concepts of health, quality of life, life satisfaction, and happiness. Disciplines ranging from philosophy to psychology have contributed to its study – from Greek philosophers’ distinctions between Hedonia and Eudaimonia to Maslow’s theory on self-actualization, positive psychology’s focus on flourishing, and the WHO’s definition of health. Literature suggests that these diverse worldviews shape the varying descriptions, definitions, and measurements of well-being. This has resulted in the inconsistent definition of well-being encompassing its multiple dimensions. The gap is particularly evident in well-being measurement and demands a model that represents its holistic and interconnected nature. To address this gap, the current study implements a theoretical approach by systematically reviewing, critically analyzing and integrating well-being literature across Indian and Western contexts. A list of common and unique factors were extracted that were descriptive of well-being. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the factors were categorized into well-being dimensions that were identified from the theories. The data generated were revised iteratively based on relevance and expert reviews to arrive at the final Integral Well- Being (InWeB) Model. InWeB offers a comprehensive framework that recognizes the multidimensional and interdimensional characteristics of well-being – physical, psychological, social, financial, digital, spiritual and environmental. It is an attempt to provide an in-depth understanding of human functioning while retaining well-being’s complexity. This integrative approach holds the potential to advance both theoretical and practical applications in the study of human well-being.
Keywords: holistic well-being; InWeB; well-being model; well-being framework