Keyes Myers Kendler 2010

Methods

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We utilized 3 measures of mental well-being, employing the terminology developed by Keyes based on his and others’ studies6–9 of the structure of well-being: emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

Translation:

Using the structure set by one of the authors, as well as others, they looked at mental health using three facets: emotional, social, and psychological health.

Introduction

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The tradition of eduaemonia is reflected in research on psychological and social well-being. Here, scholars use multidimensional scales that ask individuals to evaluate how well they see themselves functioning in life as they strive to achieve secular standards of purpose, contribution, integration, intimacy, acceptance, and mastery in life.

Translation:

The study conducted this research with historic traditions such as eudaemonia, which is about living a good/purposeful life. They want to look at how people carry themselves while also thriving in life, not just if they feel happy or not.

Results

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For psychological well-being, by contrast, more than 40% of the environmental variance resulted from the common factor rather than from trait-specific effects.

Translation:

A lot of the environment’s effect on happiness is from a single big issue that changes everything, not from the small issues in life.

Disscussion

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Our findings support the validity of the diagnostic model of positive mental health—the ‘‘mental health continuum’’—proposed by Keyes¹⁷ where mental health, like mental illness, is best indicated by a syndrome of positive feelings toward life—i.e., emotional well-being—and functioning well in life in terms of psychological and social well-being.

Translation:

Using the author’s framework as a guide was a success in finding out that simply being psychologically healthy entails feeling happy and performing great in life. Just because one deals with ‘mental health issues’ does not mean that they entail sickness/disorder.

Future Directions

Future research should aim to identify the types of environmental aspects (e.g., the Big Five personality traits) that can help people feel positive, and alternatively, use this information to guide individuals who are evidently less likely to experience more positivity in life.

Difficult Material

I struggled to understand how genes and the environment are correlated and how that ties into the three facets of mental well-being that this study focused on: emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Can only those three facets determine the development of mental health disorders/issues? How come the larger well-being facets/topics were not included (i.e., depression, anxiety, etc.)?