Spirituality and subjective well-being: Evidences for a new domain in the personal well-being index

Abstract

Subjective well-being explores the evaluations, both positive and negative, of how people experience their lives. Research in the field inquires how people perceive their well-being in different settings, including different cultures, regions and cities. A large number of different measures have been designed to capture subjective well-being. One of the most used SWB measure is the Personal Well-being Index (PWI), an evaluation of life developed by Cummins et al [(2003). Social Indicators Research, 64, 159-190] which proposes that satisfaction with life consists of seven different life-domains. Theoretical considerations of the contribution of spirituality and religiosity to life satisfaction, from a eudaimonic (from the Greek, it consists of the word "eu" (good or well-being) and the word "daemon" (spirit)) point of view, led to test the contribution of this new domain in the prediction of the Personal Well-being Index (PWI) in Bogotá, Colombia. Empirical results confirm the construct validity and reliability of the scale. The contribution of the new domain-satisfaction with spirituality and religiosity-to PWI was found significant. Based on these results the paper explores conceptually the role of spirituality contributing to satisfaction with life. The finding stresses the importance of interpreting satisfaction with life as a whole from the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia. New questions for research in this important area are proposed © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.