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The most basic property of SWB is that it is normally positive. On a rating scale from ‘feeling very bad’ to ‘feeling very good’, only a few people lie below the scale mid-point. General population data from over 60,000 people gathered over 13 years by the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index surveys (Cummins, 2013) found that only 4% of scores lie below 50 percentage points. Feeling good about yourself is the norm.

While it has been generally agreed that SWB consists of both affect and cognition, it is thought that SWB mainly comprises mood (Cummins, 2016). Russell (2003) coined the term ‘Core Affect’ to describe a neurophysiological state experienced as a feeling, a deep form of affect or mood. Russell considered it analogous to felt body temperature in that it is always present, can be accessed when attended to, existing without words to describe it.

Robert A. Cummins introduced the idea that homeostasis is operating on SWB, as it does in biological systems of the body: ‘It is proposed that life satisfaction is a variable under homeostatic control and with a homeostatic set-point ensuring that populations have, on average, a positive view of their lives’ (Cummins, 1998: 330). Cummins suggested the concept of ‘Homeostatically Protected Mood’ (HPMood) as the most basic feeling state of SWB (Cummins, 2010). The concept of ‘HPMood’ places the regulation of mood in the same framework as physiological homoeostasis, which controls body temperature, blood pressure, and a thousand and one other bodily systems (Cannon, 1932). Cummins’ describes HPMood as follows:

1 It is neurophysiologically generated consisting of the simplest, constant, non-reflective feeling, the tonic state of affect that provides the underlying activation energy, or motivation, for routine behavior.

2 It is not modifiable by conscious experience, yet it is a ubiquitous, background component of conscious experience. It is experienced as a general feeling of contentment, but also comprises aspects of related affects, including happy and alert.

3 When SWB is measured using either the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985) or the Personal Wellbeing Index (International Wellbeing Group, 2013), HPMood accounts for over 60% of the variance.

4 Under normal conditions of rest, the average level of HPMood for each person represents their ‘set-point’, a genetically determined, individual value. Within the general population, these set-points are normally distributed between 70% and 90% along the 0–100-point scale.

5 For each person’s set-point there is a ‘set-point-range’, the limits within which homeostatic processes normally maintain HPMood for each individual.

6 HPMood ‘perfuses all cognitive processes to some degree, but most strongly the rather abstract notions of self (e.g., I am a lucky person). Because of this, these self-referent perceptions are normally held at a level that approximates each set-point range’ (Cummins, 2016: 63).

7 Under resting conditions, SWB is a proxy for HPMood. However, SWB can vary outside the set-point-range for HPMood when a strong emotion is generated by momentary experience. ‘When this occurs, homeostatic forces are activated, which attempt to return experienced affect to set-point-range. Thus, daily affective experience normally oscillates around its set-point’ (Cummins, 2016: 64).

One of the principal goals of health psychology is to understand the links between subjective well-being and health. The application of the concept of homeostasis from Physiology in the discipline of Psychology holds significant potential. A general homeostasis theory of well-being, physical health and life satisfaction is summarized in Box 1.2.

BOX 1.2 Homeostasis Theory of Well-Being

The Homeostasis Theory of Well-Being (HTWB) shows causal links between some significant determinants of physical and mental well-being (see Figure 1.2). In addition to emotion, and the role of income, restraint and consumption, the HTWB places emphasis on the developmentally important construct of attachment (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1980). The manner in which a baby attaches to its mother, father and/or other caregiver is assumed to create a template for life based on the infant’s need to maintain proximity to an anchor person who provides a ‘secure base’ for exploring the environment. The availability and responsivity of the anchor person to attachment are internalized as mental models that are generalized to relationships throughout life until the individual’s death (Ainsworth et al., 1978). The different ways of attaching to anchor figures is termed ‘attachment style’.

Of relevance to the GTWB is the basic construct SWB. The hedonic conception of SWB of Diener and Chan (2011) can be contrasted with the eudaimonic approach, which focuses on meaning and self-realization and defines well-being in terms of the degree to which a person is fully functioning (Ryan and Deci, 2001). Waterman (1993) has argued that eudaimonic well-being occurs when people are living in accordance with their ‘daimon’, or authentic self. Eudaimonia is thought to occur when people’s life activities mesh with deeply held values and are fully engaged in authentic personal expression.

An important aspect of life satisfaction is the search for eudaimonic meaning. Empirical studies suggest that there exists a strong and stable relationship between meaning in life and subjective well-being (Zika and Chamberlain, 1992). People who believe that they have meaningful lives tend to be more optimistic and self-actualized (Compton et al., 1996), and experience more self-esteem (Steger et al., 2006) and positive affect (e.g., King et al., 2006), as well as less depression and anxiety (Steger et al., 2006) and less suicidal ideation (Harlow, 1986). The ‘Salutogenic Theory’ of Antonovsky (1979) also emphasized the relationship between meaning and purpose in life, assessed by the Sense of Coherence scale, and positive health outcomes (Eriksson and Lindström, 2006).