Subjective Well Being

Subjective well-being shares a common core of meaning with the more everyday term happiness.  It refers to a person's own assessment of his or her life, rather than an observer or evaluator.  The final judge of happiness is whoever lives inside the person's skin.  Subjective well being is the evaluation of people's own lives - both affective and cognitive.  People experience an abundance of Subjective Well Being when they feel many pleasant and few unpleasant emotions, when they are engaged in interesting activities, when they experience many pleasures and few pains, when they are satisfied with their lives.  A person with high subjective well being has a pervasive sense that life is good.