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Psychological Well-Being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions
Open accessAbstract
A paradigm shift in public health and medicine has broadened the field from a singular focus on the ill effects of negative states and psychopathology to an expanded view that examines protective psychological assets that may promote improved physical health and longevity. We summarize recent evidence of the link between psychological well-being (including positive affect, optimism, life meaning and purpose, and life satisfaction) and physical health, with particular attention to outcomes of mortality and chronic disease incidence and progression. Within this evolving discipline there remain controversies and lessons to be learned. We discuss measurement-related challenges, concerns about the quality of the evidence, and other shortcomings in the field, along with a brief discussion of hypothesized biobehavioral mechanisms involved. Finally, we suggest next steps to move the field forward.
Overview
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Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This selective review summarizes prospective evidence (2006 onward) linking psychological well-being—positive affect, optimism, life satisfaction, and purpose in life—to physical health outcomes including chronic disease incidence, disease progression, and mortality. The authors argue the field is limited by inconsistent measurement and conceptualization of well-being, and call for randomized interventions to establish causality.
Key findings
- Well-being is associated with lower chronic disease incidence: in EPIC-Germany (~28,704 women), low life satisfaction was linked to 45% increased cancer risk, 69% for stroke, and 27% for diabetes; in 1,739 Nova Scotians, each unit increase in staff-coded positive affect was associated with 22% reduced odds of a cardiac event over 10 years.
- Eudaimonic and blended constructs also show protective effects: a meta-analysis of 10 studies found life purpose associated with lower CVD risk (RR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.75–0.92); ikigai was linked to lower breast cancer odds (RR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.47–0.94) in 34,497 Japanese women; in ELSA (8,182 older adults), each SD increase in well-being was associated with reduced arthritis (HR = 0.89), diabetes (HR = 0.82), and lung disease (HR = 0.80).
- In disease progression, each 1-SD increase in well-being was associated with 11% reduced risk of rehospitalization or mortality in cardiac patients (meta-analysis of 11 studies); in 995 women with HIV, high positive affect was associated with twice the likelihood of undetectable viral load (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.34–2.74).
- For longevity, purpose in life remained significant when hedonic well-being was included in the same model (MIDUS, N = 6,163), and daily stressor-related decreases in positive affect predicted higher mortality over 10 years (181 men, VA Normative Aging Study); some effects attenuated when health behaviors and self-rated health were controlled.
Methods
- Selective review of prospective evidence published 2006 onward, restricted to studies with objective health measures and those illuminating potential differential effects across well-being subtypes.
- Well-being organized into hedonic (pleasure, happiness, positive affect, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic (life meaning, purpose, self-actualization, autonomy) domains, plus blended constructs (optimism, hope, vitality); studies summarized in Table 1 and supplementary Table 2.
- Narrative synthesis across three outcome areas: disease onset in healthy samples, disease progression in clinical samples, and mortality/longevity, with attention to covariates and hypothesized biobehavioral mechanisms.
Limitations
- Stated by the paper: lack of consistency in defining and sorting well-being domains (e.g., optimism variously cataloged as eudaimonic or blended); rare simultaneous inclusion of multiple well-being types in a single model; eudaimonic aspects greatly neglected; overreliance on secondary data with narrow, sometimes dubious well-being measures; and predominance of observational designs that cannot establish causality.
- Stated by the paper: controversy over whether statistically controlling for hypothesized mediators (e.g., health behaviors) constitutes over-adjustment, potentially obscuring real effects.
- Evident from the text: the review is explicitly selective rather than systematic, and the authors note it is premature to infer differential health effects across well-being subdomains given heterogeneity in constructs and disease states.
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Claims the paper makes
67 Not checked yet · 19 No basis given · 16 Own interpretation · 2 Own method
In the paper
“In experimental trials, more long-term and enduring improvements in mental health are documented for interventions seeking to boost eudaimonic well-being versus those emphasizing pursuit of hedonia”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Huta & Ryan, 2010
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“only vigor and well-being, but not calm, were protective against development of a cold”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Cohen et al., 2003
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“correlation coefficients (r’s) across well-being domains ranged from as low as 0.13 to moderate values of 0.62.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Keyes et al., 2002
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“self-reported positive affect (i.e., positive affect items from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)) was not predictive of incident cardiovascular disease (stoke, heart failure, CHD) over an 11.9-year follow-up period”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Freak-Poli et al., 2015
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“when compared to hedonic indices, eudaimonia is associated with more favorable psychological functioning and overall well-being”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Steger, Kashdan, & Oishi, 2008
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“In this sample of 1,739 Nova Scotians, each unit increase in staff-coded positive affect was associated with 22% reduced odds of a cardiac event within 10 years, controlling for socio-demographic factors, major cardiovascular disease risk factors (e.g., smoking status), and psychological distress”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Davidson, Mostofsky, & Whang, 2010
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“Keyes et al. (2002) identified two correlated latent factors reflecting eudaimonic and hedonic aspects.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Keyes et al., 2002
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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In the paper
“After 8 years of follow-up, life satisfaction was associated with reduced risk for chronic illness incidence in their cohort of ~28,704 women”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Feller, Teucher, Kaaks, Boeing, & Vigl, 2013
plaindirectn = 28,704- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“co-occurence of opposite-valenced emotions is not only conceivable but indeed commonplace”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Larsen et al., 2014
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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In the paper
“After controlling for sex, race, education, body mass index (BMI), month of exposure, virus type, immune factors, and negative affect (depression, anxiety and hostility), positive affect was related to lower likelihood of developing a cold up to five days after exposure.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Cohen, Doyle, Turner, Alper, & Skoner, 2003
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Probably not a substantial claim. 11
- It may state two separate claims as one. 34
- The quote only partly states this claim. 4
In the paper
“Baumeister and colleagues (2013) found that hedonic well-being is linked to acquisition of core desires (both needs and wants) and focuses largely on present moment circumstances.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Baumeister et al., 2013
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Women reporting low levels of life satisfaction had a 45% increased risk of cancer, 69% for stroke incidence, and 27% for diabetes mellitus; covariates considered included lifestyle factors, demographic characteristics, and traditional CVD risk factors.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Feller et al., 2013
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“eudaimonic well-being involves cognitive appraisals across a larger timeframe, incorporating past, present, and future experiences with emphasis on actualization of the self and exercising of generosity toward others”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Vallacher & Wegner, 1987
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“a blended construct of well-being capturing levels of happiness and optimism was associated with a 40% risk reduction for incident venous thromboembolism”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Enga, Braekkan, Hansen-Krone, & Hansen, 2012
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“After controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, BMI, and health behavior adherence, each SD increase in psychological well-being was associated with reduced incidence of arthritis (HR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.83–0.96), diabetes (HR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.71–0.95), and lung disease (HR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.66–0.97).”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Okely & Gale, 2016
plaincorrelationaln = 8,182- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The hedonic indicator of positive affect (PANAS) was not significantly associated with incidence of a CVD event. However, each SD increase in positive affect reduced risk of all-cause mortality by 16%.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hoen et al., 2013
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“women with high positive affect (when compared to those with low positive affect scores) were twice as likely to have undetectable viral load classifications (OR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.34–2.74), particularly when accompanied by low negative affect profiles”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Wilson et al., 2016
plaincorrelationaln = 995- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Researchers observed lower odds for diabetes onset among individuals with greater life satisfaction and emotional vitality, but not in those with greater levels of optimism”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Boehm, Trudel-Fitzgerald, Kivimaki, & Kubzansky, 2015
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“In a meta-analysis of 11 total studies, DuBois et al. (2015) found multiple positive psychological constructs (e.g., positive affect, optimism) to confer a protective effect on rates of rehospitalization and mortality among cardiac patients. Each 1-SD increase in psychological well-being was associated with an 11% reduced risk for either re-hospitalization or mortality.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites DuBois et al., 2015
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Wiest and colleagues (2011) demonstrated that both life satisfaction (Pavot & Diener, 1993) and positive affect (the PANAS, (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988)) independently predict lowered risk of mortality, whereas negative affect was not predictive of mortality in any of the models.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Positive Psychological Well-being and Longevity
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Wiest et al., 2011
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“the daily stressor-related decreases in positive affect were associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality over the follow up period. Negative affect reactivity was not predictive of mortality.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Positive Psychological Well-being and Longevity
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Mroczek et al., 2015
plaincorrelationaln = 181- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“there was an 11% reduction in CHD risk with each SD increase in emotional vitality and a 13% decrease in CHD associated with higher levels of baseline optimism”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Boehm, Peterson, Kivimaki, & Kubzansky, 2011
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Less work has been done examining eudaimonic components and future studies will want to consider domains such as personal growth and life purpose and meaning.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“optimism is sometimes cataloged as a eudaimonic domain and at others times identified as a blended construct encompassing both hedonic and eudaimonic elements.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“There remains controversy as to whether this constitutes over-adjustment”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“To date, optimism has received substantial focus and emerges as a salient factor for physical health.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“eudaimonic well-being was associated with decreased expression of genes involved in inflammation and increased expression in genes associated with antiviral response”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“while others create composite scores that blend multiple domains into a single well-being component.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“it is exceedingly rare for individual well-being types to be considered simultaneously within a single sample, negating the ability to determine whether differential effects are evident for individual attributes of well-being”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“survey data from large cohort studies often include a narrow collection of well-being domains and often only assesses these on one occasion and not across multiple waves.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Tested in over 4000 subjects across 51 clinical trials, positive psychology-based interventions show effectiveness in amplifying positive affect and psychological well-being and have significantly led to reduced symptoms of depression in heterogeneous samples of mostly healthy adults (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009)”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Psychological Well-Being Interventions: The Next Big Frontier
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009
boosteddirectn = 4,000- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In both healthy populations and those with existing chronic illness, evidence links favorable psychological well-being with enhanced exercise regularity, smoking abstinence”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one. The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“Hedonic well-being is said to emerge from procurement of basic biologic requisites and securing of resources to ensure attainment of homeostasis, comfort, and survival”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Baumeister et al., 2013
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“positive and negative emotions are said to process from different brain regions allowing for their simultaneous activation”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hoebel, Rada, Mark, & Pothos, 1999
- Not checked yetcites Larsen et al., 2001
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The origins of eudaimonic well-being are thought to be more complex and are largely dictated by cultural context”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Baumeister et al., 2013
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“there is evidence that while hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being are correlated, they diverge and map onto empirically distinct planes, with different predictors and consequences”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Definition of Psychological Well-being
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Keyes, Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Well-being constructs that repeatedly offset disease onset were positive affect (particularly high activation subtypes), emotional vitality and life satisfaction, with less consistent results seen for optimism and constructs that blend across domains.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In studies reported thus far, a majority of available evidence points to a salubrious effect of well-being for cardiometabolic health, e.g., diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and CHD, and cancer incidence. Lung disease and arthritis have been less studied.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“optimism emerges as a consistent predictor of cardiovascular health, but displays less consistent results for other disease types, e.g., HIV and cancer.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“influences of hedonic domains of well-being are often attenuated when controlling for ill-being in patient populations with pre-existing disease, while investigation of protective effects imparted by eudaimonic subtypes are grossly understudied.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Clearly negative emotions serve important adaptive functions and at sustained or extreme levels--particularly those leading to psychopathology, they need to be addressed directly.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Conclusion
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: fails — It may be too vague to check against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: fails — The paper may give no reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may be too vague to check against evidence. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“In the United States and Europe, high-arousal positive affect is often more valued, whereas in Asia, low arousal is often more valued.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Tsai and colleagues (2006)
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality in a model that controlled for age.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Positive Psychological Well-being and Longevity
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Liu et al., 2016
plaincorrelationaln = 700,000- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
The quote only partly states this claim.
In the paper
“note, well-being indicators were not pitted against each other in regression models negating ability to infer individual effects for each attribute controlling for rival indicators”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Onset in Initially Healthy Samples
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Suls (2017)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“decreased well-being among South Koreans (Layous, Lee, Choi, & Lyubomirsky, 2013).”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Layous, Lee, Choi, & Lyubomirsky, 2013
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Observational studies do not provide definitive information regarding the direction of causality and the influence of potential unmeasured variables.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Psychological Well-Being Interventions: The Next Big Frontier
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“reduced depression in women with metastatic breast cancer (Cheung et al., 2016) and people with type 2 diabetes (Cohn, Pietrucha, Saslow, Hult, & Moskowitz, 2014).”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Psychological Well-Being Interventions: The Next Big Frontier
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Cheung et al., 2016
- Not checked yetcites Cohn, Pietrucha, Saslow, Hult, & Moskowitz, 2014
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“A recently completed study of a positive affect intervention in people newly diagnosed with HIV demonstrated improvements in psychological well-being, decreases in psychological ill being, and improvements in physical health (e.g., suppressed viral load) compared to an attention-matched control condition (Moskowitz et al., 2017).”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Psychological Well-Being Interventions: The Next Big Frontier
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Moskowitz et al., 2017
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The authors did not report whether the individual types of well-being were differentially predictive of disease progression or mortality on their own.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Psychological Well-being and Disease Progression
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Investigators are then limited to a handful of well-being measures--some with dubious psychometric properties--without the ability to examine individual effects while controlling for other important or competing well-being domains.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Need for Cogent Taxonomy of Well-being
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The findings of Nilsson et al. (2011) and Wiest et al. (2011) suggest that well-being may exert health effects through improved health behaviors and aspects of social support.”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Positive Psychological Well-being and Longevity
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Hernandez et al. (2015) recently explored the conception of well-being in US Hispanic/Latino adults and conclude that programs aimed at increasing well-being may need to be adapted before administration in Hispanics/Latinos to include a heightened”
§ Psychological Well-being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions > Discussion > Mediators, Moderators, and Confounders
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hernandez et al. (2015)
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“This is surprising given the prevalence of social media in daily lives, and the close link between psychological well-being and physical health.10”
From Social Media Use and Its Link to Physical Health Indicators (2022) · cites this paper as [10]
Citations
Cites
Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063 · Cited by 32,433
Well-being : the foundations of hedonic psychology
Kahneman, D. J., Diener, E. F., & Schwarz, N. (1999) · Cited by 7,472
Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.5.2.164 · Cited by 3,611
Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (2009) · Social indicators research series · doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2354-4_5 · Cited by 3,462 · cited 1×
“For example, in a representative sample of people living in Germany, Wiest, Schuz, Webster, and Wurm (2011) demonstrated that both life satisfaction (Pavot & Diener, 1993) and positive affect (the PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) independently predict lowered risk of mortality, whereas…”
BackgroundOptimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions.
Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007 · Cited by 3,322 · cited 3×
“As conceptualized by Keyes et al. (2002), eudaimonic indices centering on highly existential domains (e.g., purpose in life) were least correlated to hedonic measures of affect, pleasure, and happiness; correlation coefficients (rs) across well-being domains ranged from as low as .13 to moderate…”
BackgroundMethodSin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20593 · Cited by 2,955 · cited 1×
“…affect and psychological well-being and have significantly led to reduced symptoms of depression in heterogeneous samples of mostly healthy adults (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009) and reduced depression in women with metastatic breast cancer (Cheung et al., 2016) and people with Type 2 diabetes (Cohn,…”
BackgroundPositive affect and the other side of coping.
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2000) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.55.6.647 · Cited by 2,471 · cited 1×
“…persons with favorable psychological well-being are said to possess more adaptive psychological profiles characterized by healthful coping strategies (e.g., positive reappraisal), increased social connectedness, and reduced cognitive catastrophizing, among others (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000).”
BackgroundSelf-citationGratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. A. (2010) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005 · Cited by 2,411
Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well‐Being Contributes to Health and Longevity
Diener, E., & Chan, M. Y. (2011) · Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being · doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x · Cited by 2,260 · cited 1×
“…research indicating that constructs such as optimism, positive affect, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with longer life, independent of the effect of negative constructs (Chida & Steptoe, 2008; Diener & Chan, 2011; Howell, Kern, & Lyubomirsky, 2007; Pressman & Cohen, 2005).”
BackgroundHedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: an introduction
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1 · Cited by 2,187 · cited 2×
“Hedonic well-being includes such attributes as pleasure, happiness, positive affect, and life satisfaction, whereas eudaimonic well-being includes life meaning and purpose, self-actualization, and autonomy (Deci & Ryan, 2008).”
Background
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Diener E., Pressman S. D., Lyubomirsky S. (2015, December 17). Can 1 million women be wrong about happiness and health? Los Angeles Times, p. A21.
- Suls J. (2018). Toxic affect: Are anger, anxiety, and depression independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease? EMR, 10: (1), 6–17.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Positive Affect and Health: What Do We Know and Where Next Should We Go?
Pressman, S. D., Jenkins, B. N., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2019) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102955 · Cited by 452
Self-citationEmotional Well-Being: What It Is and Why It Matters
Park, C. L., Kubzansky, L. D., Chafouleas, S. M., Davidson, R. J., Keltner, D. J., Parsafar, P., Conwell, Y., Martin, M. Y., Hanmer, J., & Wang, K. H. (2022) · Affective Science · doi:10.1007/s42761-022-00163-0 · Cited by 347
“…it also generates conceptual confusion because the relevance of findings relating to one term to findings related to others is unclear, especially given that various approaches to understanding psychological aspects of well-being have different philosophical underpinnings (Hernandez et al., 2018).”
BackgroundResilience and demographic characteristics predicting distress during the COVID-19 crisis
Kimhi, S., Marciano, H., Eshel, Y., & Adini, B. B. (2020) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113389 · Cited by 196
Węziak‐Białowolska, D., McNeely, E., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01269 · Cited by 180
Positive maternal mental health, parenting, and child development
Phua, D. Y., Kee, M. Z. L., & Meaney, M. J. (2020) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.09.028 · Cited by 124
Metadata
- Authors
- Hernandez, R., Bassett, S. M., Boughton, S. W., Schuette, S. A., Shiu, E. W., & Moskowitz, J. T.
- Affiliations
- School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
- Northwestern University (US)
- Venue
- Emotion Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-10-20
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-29
- ISSN
- 1754-0739 (ISSN-L)
- 1754-0747
- PMC
- PMC9841922
- OpenAlex
- W2766119211
- Semantic Scholar
- 74b39fc60563601c8aaa44cd43f3ad01e4b954ad
- Cited by
- 259
- References
- 91
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 15.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Emotion Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1K01HL130712-01A1)
- National Institute of Mental Health (K24 MH 093225)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, psychology, and well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Keywords
- psychological well-being, physical health, positive affect, optimism, life satisfaction, mortality, chronic disease, biobehavioral mechanisms, measurement challenges
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-08, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
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