Social Well-Being

TLDR

The study situates adult functioning research within its current state and future directions. The study examines the theoretical structure, construct validity, and social structural sources of social well‑being dimensions across two studies. The five‑dimension model of social well‑being is supported by factor analyses, shows convergent and discriminant validity with related constructs, and is positively associated with education and age.

Abstract

The proposal of five dimensions of social well-being, social integration, social contribution, social coherence, social actualization, and social acceptance, is theoretically substantiated. The theoretical structure, construct validity, and the social structural sources of the dimensions of social well-being are investigated in two studies. Item and confirmatory factor analyses in both studies corroborate the theoretical model of social well-being. The new scales correlate convergently with measures of anomie, generativity, perceived social constraints, community involvement and neighborhood quality. The new scales correlate discriminantly with measures of dysphoria, global well-being, physical health and optimism. Multivariate analyses in both studies substantiate the claim that social well-being is an achievement, facilitated by educational attainment and age. The state and direction of the study of adult functioning are discussed.