Objective and Subjective Subjective Wellbeing(<Special Articles II>Social and Economic Systems for Well-being)

Abstract

In general, wellbeing has two distinguishable aspects. There are subjective and objective wellbeing. Subjective well being is a total evaluation on one's life. Objective wellbeing can be divided into physically and socially good conditions. We, as social scientists, are interested in objective wellbeing in the latter sense. Defining health, income and education as indicators of objective wellbeing inevitably includes normative proposition that these resources can make our lives better. Subjective wellbeing and objective wellbeing are inconsistent with each other sometime. However statistical data show a fact that an improvement in objective condition increases subjective wellbeing efficiently in a society with absolute lack of resources. Therefore a society without objective wellbeing should aim to secure resources. On the other hand a society that already achieved certain revel of objective wellbeing should aim to increase subjective wellbeing and reduce discrepancy between subjective and objective wellbeing.