1. Subjective Wellbeing in the Workplace
Kathryn Page
Deakin University

2. What is Subjective Wellbeing?

3. Subjective Wellbeing (SWB)
…a unique blend of affect and cognition that represents the sense of wellbeing we have in relation to life overall
“How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?”
The key point here is that SWB is commonly conceptualized as containing both affective and cognitive elements.
Generally, the affective component is discussed in terms of negative and positive affect (emotions such as anger or fear and joy or gladness). The cognitive component is thought to be related to measures of life satisfaction or evaluation of the domains of life.
The question ‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole’ (SLAW) is one of the simplest and most commonly used measures of SWB. As the wording suggests, it requires an abstract and global evaluation of life as a whole and is thought to cover both affective and cognitive related judgments.
Although it was once proposed that in answering this question, people take into account all aspects of their life, it is now assumed that people respond according to either the most salient domains of their life or to how they generally feel about life.
Although the measurement uses the word ‘satisfaction’ it is not intended as a measure of life satisfaction per se. SWB is conceptually broader than the construct of life satisfaction.

4. “How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?”
Standard of living
Health
Current achievements in life
Relationships
Safety
Community connectedness
Future security
Seven
Life
Domains
As previously mentioned, one of the most common ways of measuring SWB is the classic question, ‘how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?’ (SLAW)
The primary advantage of using the ‘life as a whole’ question is that it can be broken down into constituent life domains, thus covering both affective and cognitive dimensions of the construct. One scale that utilizes this approach is the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI)
The PWI domains are not necessarily equal in terms of their importance to SWB overall - a hierarchy exists. The domains of health and relationships are generally found to be most important.
One advantage of using the PWI as well as SLAW is that it provides a measurement of domain satisfaction as well as a global measurement of SWB. This gathers more information – rather than attending to how they just generally feel or their most salient life domains (a response to the SLAW question), respondents are also required to reflect on a number of domains.
Another advantage of the PWI is that it is fairly general and thus can be used on most populations – This is not so for some domain satisfaction scales. For example, some scales include items pertaining to job satisfaction on the assertion that ones work life affects one’s life overall. However, not all people have a job and thus this question would not be relevant.
(The Personal Wellbeing Index)

5. The Personal Wellbeing Index
A new systematic measure of SWB
Able to track the wellbeing of populations over time
Alternative to objective indicators such as GDP
Australian Unity Index – longitudinal/cross-sectional design measuring responses to changes in life circumstances e.g. Did the SWB of Australians decrease after the Bali bombings?
Been running for 4 years (N=2000 – nationally representative sample)

6. The Stability of SWB SWB ‘set-points’ (70-80%SM)
Stability of SWB due to the influences of core affect and SWB homeostasis
Core Affect
Probably pre-determined (biological)
How it is we generally feel
Like background music – always there but don’t notice or reflect on it unless directed to.
SWB is stable and ‘normally’ held within the range of 70 to 80. For example, research by Cummins has shown that when people’s responses to the question, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole?, were standardized onto a scale (where 0=completely dissatisfied and 100=completely satisfied), most people answered 75, with very little deviation.
It is thought that core affect and SWB homeostasis are what provide this stability. Core affect is thought to be pre-determined, with homeostasis existing primarily to defend it from external/environmental stressors.

7. (Homeostatic challenge)
Homeostatic Theory
CORE AFFECT
OPTIMISM
CONTROL
SELF-ESTEEM
SWB
75 / 100
unconscious
conscious
Environment
(Homeostatic challenge)
output
Core affect (Russell)
Free-floating
How we generally feel
Like background music in that it is always there but we don’t notice or reflect on it unless something directs us to. It has recently been proposed that this is what we access when we answer questions pertaining to SWB, particularly the ‘life as a whole’ question.
Core affect is a new addition to the homeostatic model.
It is thought to drive all other subjective variables such as optimism and self esteem and is the main contributor of individual differences in SWB scores. For example, two individuals may differ on their absolute SWB score because one generally feels happier than the other
When homeostasis is under challenge, the buffers become an additional source of individual difference in SWB as they attempt to ward off problems before they affect (and subsequently decrease) core affect, and thus SWB levels. This may be because the strength of the buffers determines how long they will ‘buffer’ SWB levels against external stressors (i.e. someone high in self esteem will be less likely to let a bad exam mark affect their overall SWB than someone with low self-esteem. In the latter case, the buffers would ‘give in’ easily to the stressor, thus increasing the likelihood of SWB levels being altered by the life challenge/stressor. Someone with strong buffers, however, is more resilient.
Homeostasis can be defeated. In cases where the buffers cannot ward off the stressor (e.g. Long-term unemployment or death of a loved one), SWB levels may decrease dramatically below set point, possibly resulting in a bout of depression.
At this point, SWB is determined by external factors, particularly that which caused the homeostatic defeat and presumably we would start to see a correlation between objective factors and SWB.

8. Dominant Source of SWB Control
The Relationship Between Stressors and SWB
Dominant Source of SWB Control
Homeostasis
High
Low
Threshold
Stressor 75
SWB
Line represents SWB level.
When level of stress is low to moderate, homeostasis is primarily controlling SWB levels and thus SWB levels are stable. As stress becomes increasing severe however (e.g. Doing an Honours degree), the stressor (i.e. external factors) rather than homeostasis and core affect (i.e. internal factors) begins to control SWB levels. As a result SWB drops dramatically.
Under normal circumstances (i.e. when homeostasis is controlled/stabilizing SWB) the correlation between SWB and external events is zero. It is only when the homeostatic system is challenged or defeated that we begin to see a correlation between them (i.e. when external events rather than homeostasis is determining SWB).
No stress
High stress
Stress
Level of environmental challenge

9. Hey, wasn’t this supposed to have something to do with work?
An attempt to apply the theory of SWB homeostasis to wellbeing in the workplace
The aim of my study was to use our understanding of SWB and both its antecedents and consequences, to better understand the nature of wellbeing at work. A more thorough review of my research can be found by accessing my thesis, titled, ‘Subjective Wellbeing in the Workplace’. This thesis can be accessed online via the link

10. Pre-Prediction Thoughts
Differences in how we respond to the question ‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole’ reflect individual differences in core affect
Why?
The Abstract-Specific Hypothesis
No direction as to what aspects of our life we should think about so just answer according to how we generally feel

11. Thus, it is predicted that…
Hypothesis 1:
…the evaluations people make about their SWB in relation to work will be less influenced by core affect
Why?
Because the evaluation is targeted to a specific life domain, people’s answers will reflect what they think or feel in relation to that domain, not how they feel generally.

12. Cont’d Hypothesis 2: …the role of homeostasis will also decrease Why?
Homeostasis exists to protect core affect. Thus, if, as predicted, core affect is less influential on work evaluations, homeostasis will also be less influential.

13. How did I test this?
Formed a new construct termed Workplace Wellbeing (WWB)
Refers to SWB within the domain of work
Measured it in a way similar to the measurement of SWB
‘How satisfied are you with your job as a whole’ and,
Satisfaction with work domains
Typically job satisfaction is the commonly used measure but I wanted to use a construct that was identical in make-up to SWB – that is, something that measures job satisfaction but also includes the affective elements that separate wellbeing from satisfaction.

14. How satisfied are you with your job as a whole?
Responsibility
Meaningfulness
Independence
Use of abilities & knowledge
Sense of achievement
Sense of being valued as a person
Recognition
Pay
Job security
Work hours
Supervisors
Opportunities for promotion 13
Work
Values
Workplace Wellbeing (WWB) was measured via use of a new scale titled, The Workplace Wellbeing Index (WWBI). This scale is structured similarly to the PWI – thus aiding comparisons between SWB and WWB (allowing a better measurement of the life/job satisfaction relationship).
The work values were conceptualized to be the domains of WWB and the first level breakdown of ‘job as a whole.
Work values denote the degree of worth or importance we place on what happens to us at work.
They can be broken into those that are intrinsically satisfying (reward comes from inside) and extrinsically satisfying (reward comes from outside).
Scale anchors and stems used were identical to those used in the PWI.
(The Workplace Wellbeing Index)

15. Workplace Wellbeing defined:
…the measurement of SWB in relation to the workplace, or
…a sense of wellbeing that results from the satisfaction of intrinsic and/or extrinsic work values through ones experiences at work.
Includes both affective and cognitive elements
Like the conceptualisation of SWB, WWB includes both affective and cognitive elements. The affective dimension (“a sense of wellbeing”) is thought to be represented by core affect, whilst the cognitive dimension (“satisfaction of intrinsic and/or extrinsic work values”) is represented via a measurement of domain satisfaction

16. The Workplace Wellbeing Index (WWBI)
A systematic measure of WWB
Able to track wellbeing of employees over time (e.g. Before and after an intervention or change in management)
Modelled on the PWI, thus having the same advantages

17. Who did I test? 150 employees of Australian Unity
Ages ranging from yrs (average 39 yrs)
60% female, 40% male

18. What did I do to them? Had them fill out an 84-item survey PWI WWBI
Core Affect
Optimism
Control
Self-Esteem etc.

19. Analyses
1. Preliminary tests – accuracy of my conceptualisation of (a) SWB and (b) WWB
2. Test of hypothesis 1 (The influence of core affect)
3. Test of hypothesis 2 (The role of SWB homeostasis)
4. Test of hypothesis 3 (The relationship between SWB and WWB)

20. 1 (a) Model of SWB
Core affect + satisfaction with life domains (PWI) explained 77% of the variance in responses to the question ‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?’
‘How satisfied are you with your life as a whole’ used as DV in hierarchical regression as it is thought to be the most common and most global measure of SWB
SWB model included both affective and cognitive elements, as literature and commonly used definitions suggest
Core affect (entered at step 1) was conceptualised to represent the affective dimension of SWB, whilst the PWI/ domain satisfaction (entered at step 2) was conceptualised as representing the cognitive dimension. Core affect was seen as the more important IV, and was used rather than the commonly used PANAS, based on research by Davern (2004). See dissertation titled ‘Subjective wellbeing as an affective construct’ via the link

21. 1 (b) Model of WWB
Core affect plus satisfaction with intrinsic and extrinsic work values (WWBI) explained 77% of the variance in responses to the question ‘How satisfied are you with your job as a whole?’
Based on model of SWB (step 1 = core affect, step 2 = WWBI/ domain satisfaction)
Incudes affective and cognitive dimensions, as conceptualised
Note. This research also measured the relationship between these two models (i.e. correlation between WWB and SWB), with it hypothesised that these models would give a more accurate reflection of the relationship between work and life. The latter was argued on the basis of the perceived similarities between the two models used on this research.

22. 2, 3 & 4: Hypothesis testing
Core affect explained 59% of the variance in SWB but only 28% of the variance in WWB.
Self-esteem, optimism and control (homeostatic buffers) explained significant variance in the SWB of the employees under homeostatic challenge but did not explain variance in WWB.
There was no relationship between WWB and SWB after core affect was controlled for
Core affect more predictive/influential of/to SWB than WWB. This was expected due to the abstract-specific hypothesis
Homeostasis operated in relation to SWB but not in relation to WWB. This was expected as homeostasis is theorised only to exist wherever core affect is strongest (i.e. in SWB measurements more than WWB)
Core Affect explained the relationship between WWB and SWB. May thus be no relationship between two (or perhaps only in subpopulations such as those who value work highly).

23. What does all this have to do with anything?
When our life is relatively stress or problem free, our SWB levels reflect how it is we generally feel (core affect).
When life is challenging, our SWB levels reflect our levels of self-esteem, optimism and control as well as how we generally feel

24. But what does this have to do with work?
How it is we generally feel about work also reflects how we generally feel in life but to a lesser extent
The Abstract-Specific Hypothesis
WWB depends more on whether work satisfies our work values, particularly our intrinsic work values
WWB derived more from satisfaction with internal factors such as achievement and recognition than external factors such as work conditions or pay

25. Would WWB ever affect SWB?
Perhaps only in sub-populations
Those whose work problems are severe enough to have caused homeostatic defeat.
Those who highly value work i.e. see work as important to their identity, life purpose etc.
Could represent interesting follow-up studies

26. e: kathryn.page@buseco.monash.edu.au
Contact me
Kathryn Page
Dept. of Management
Monash University
p: (03) m: e: