We know humans are social organisms. Yet, when thinking about wellbeing, we think more about our individual wellbeing, in terms of how good we feel, how content we are with our life, and how well we are operating in various areas.
We may think of good connections as an aspect of operating properly. However, there is more to social welfare than that. It is not just our social contacts, but also our connections with our communities and social institutions that comprise a fundamental and separate realm of wellbeing.
For this post, we will explore social wellness at the levels of positive connections (e.g., friends, family, romantic partner) and broader systems (e.g., school, job, culture).
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What Is Social Wellbeing In Psychology?
Social wellness has definitions coming from a number of sectors. In this essay, we shall study social wellness especially within the subject of psychology.
Social researcher Corey Keyes is one pioneer in this field, offering a theoretical model to describe and investigate social wellbeing, elaborating on Carol Ryff’s psychological wellbeing model (Ryff & Keyes, 1995). Keyes (1998) defines social welfare as “the subjective evaluation of personal life circumstances and functioning in society.”
In basic terms, social wellness may be described as creating and sustaining good connections with other individuals and with local and global communities. This is generally examined by subjective and individual measurements, where individuals judge the quality of such encounters according to their own judgments (Cicognani, Martinengo, Albanesi, Piccoli, & Rollero, 2014).
Subjective wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and social wellbeing are independent entities yet closely interrelated. Joshanloo, Sirgy, and Park (2018) found that social wellbeing can predict subjective wellbeing over time, whereas subjective wellbeing is less likely to predict social wellbeing.
These results corroborate Self-Determination Theory; indeed, fundamental psychological needs — relatedness in particular – predate individual wellbeing.
When comparing some of the most well-known wellbeing frameworks and scales used to measure flourishing, good connections and social participation appear as similar aspects (Hone, Jarden, Schofield, & Duncan, 2014). These overlaps demonstrate the relevance of social relationships to wellness.
However, there is a lack of consensus in terms of how to define and quantify social welfare. One stance is to see it as one aspect of individual welfare (e.g., as in the PERMA model), while another approach is to imagine it as a distinct construct and external factor that impacts health (Cicognani et al., 2014).
Benefits Of Good Connections
Social connections, both in terms of quality and quantity, may have a short- and long-term affect on mental wellbeing and physical health. Research reveals that romantic relationships may be a significant source of wellness for adolescents and young adults (Gómez-López, Viejo, & Ortega-Ruiz, 2019), and that support from friends is connected with better levels of resilience (Secor, Limke-McLean, & Wright, 2017).
Friendships may be considered as a valued source of instrumental, relational, and emotional assistance that can boost family support (Amati, Rivellini, & Zaccarin, 2015). Both the frequency of friendship contacts (intensity) and individual satisfaction with such connections (quality) have been positively connected with life satisfaction (Amati, Meggiolaro, Rivellini, & Zaccarin, 2018).
Furthermore, greater levels of subjective wellbeing are positively related with the number of friends a person can trust and reveal sensitive things with, but diminish as the number of acquaintances or strangers grows (Powdthavee, 2008).
Research reveals the importance of having a diversity of social relationships in addition to the depth and quality of those interactions. Moreover, the linkages between healthy relationships, health, and wellbeing may be described via three routes (Umberson & Karas Montez, 2010):
Behavioral
Social relationships such as those with partners and friends may impact our health habits and behaviors, which can effect our health and longevity.
Psychosocial
Social support may decrease stress and increase emotional and psychological wellness, favorably impacting health habits and physical health.
