Conceptualizing a Community Well-Being and Theory Construct

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a comprehensive understanding of the concept of community well-being and develops a construct based on several common characteristics. Building on theoretical approaches, this construct helps explain aspects of community well-being. The basic premise of this paper is that community well-being is a comprehensive concept covering other related life and community aspects. The term community well-being encompasses comprehensive and integrated concepts developed by synthesizing research constructs related to residents' perceptions of the community, residents' needs fulfillment, observable community conditions, and the social and cultural context of the community. Related terms such as well-being, happiness, and quality of life take on crucial roles in constructing community well-being. The construct presented is inspired by well-established theoretical analysis such as systems theory, bottom-up spillover theory, social capital and needs theory. Community well-being is a relatively new idea in social science, in this modern rendition of its applications. It still lacks the theoretical structure to explain or predict, and the exploration of related theoretical basis is important for fostering understanding of its application and structure. This chapter strives to help develop a construct for promoting further understanding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)