Well-Being

The Six Criteria of Well-Being - Prof Carol Ryff

Found this in my archives, a tested and concise model, so here's excerpts:

Carol Ryff’s model of Psychological Well-being joins philosophical questions with scientific empiricism, and is mined from a diverse selection of well-being theories and research from Aristotle to John Stuart Mill, from Abraham Maslow to Carl Jung. 

The six categories of well-being :

1) Self-Acceptance

You possess a positive attitude toward yourself; acknowledge and accept multiple aspects of yourself including both good and bad qualities; and feel positive about your past life.

2) Personal Growth

You have a feeling of continued development; see yourself as growing and expanding; are open to new experiences; interested and enthusiastic about life; willing to develop new attitudes or behaviors; have the sense of realizing your potential;  are changing in ways that reflect more self-knowledge and effectiveness.

3) Purpose in Life

You have goals in life and a sense of directedness; feel there is meaning to your present and past life; hold beliefs that give life purpose; and have aims and objectives for living.

4) Positive Relations With Others

You have warm, satisfying, trusting relationships with others; are capable of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy; are willing to make compromises to sustain important ties with others; and understand the give and take of human relationships.

5) Environmental Mastery

You have a sense of mastery and competence in managing the environment; control complex array of external activities; make effective use of surrounding opportunities; and are able to choose or create contexts suitable to your personal needs and values.

6) Autonomy

You are self-determining and independent; regulate behavior from within; and evaluate yourself by personal standards without conforming to social pressures in thinking and acting in specific ways.

While an untested model is just a daydream, Carol Ryff’s model of Psychological Well-Being has faced continued waves of testing.