Place, geographical context and subjective well-being: State of art and future directions

Abstract

Well-being has recently been a focus for both social policies and academic studies. Along different dimensions (e.g., objective vs. subjective; hedonic vs. eudaimonic) of well-being, the hedonic view of well-being has drawn much scholarly attention, especially in economics and psychology. While well-being studies in the area of geography are still in their infancy, many scholars have noticed the spatial differences in subjective well-being (SWB) and the importance of the place-based context on well-being. To promote studies on the multifarious links between the geographical context and SWB, this chapter systematically introduces the concepts, measures, and theories of SWB and then provides an overview of the studies concerning geographical context and well-being. We conclude the chapter with a description of the issues related to the linkages between SWB and geographies that need future research.