Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Examining Evidence of Wellbeing indicators: A Practical Method of Assessment

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Journal of Well-Being Assessment

Abstract

Despite the wide range of wellbeing frameworks utilised globally, no consensus exists regarding how a wellbeing framework might be assessed. This article aims to fill this gap by proposing a method of assessment to review potential indicators of wellbeing and then shows how this method can be used to assess evidence for a number of indicators. It answers the research question: what indicators have been successfully validated and applied in population settings? To identify the current evidence and any potential research gaps, we investigated key international and Australian frameworks on wellbeing. After identifying the wellbeing indicators used in these frameworks, we assessed the quality of evidence in the academic literature using three criteria: frequency of use, reliability and availability. We then made an overall assessment of the indicators’ practicality and usability weighing up both the quality of evidence and data availability. From the 96 indicators analysed, we identified 16 high usability indicators in the domains of economic, home, health, education and skills, and social and community. These indicators are household income, educational attainment, employment, unemployment, financial hardship, overcrowding, housing affordability, homelessness, life expectancy, self-reported health status, disability, smoking behaviour, mental health, cognitive skills, social network/support and volunteering. This practical method of assessment is not limited to wellbeing indicators and can also be applied in other settings, providing a useful tool for policymakers across the world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and material

All data used for this manuscript are available upon request to the authors.

Code availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Abello, A., Cassells, R., Daly, A., D’Souza, G., & Miranti, R. (2016). Youth Social Exclusion in Australian Communities: A New Index. Social Indicators Research, 128(2), 635–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adermann, J., & Campbell, M. (2007). Big Worry: Implications of Anxiety in Indigenous Youth. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education (Supplement), 36, 74–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahn, N. (2002). Assessing self-assessed health data. Documento de Trabajo, 24.

  • Angner, E., Ray, M., Saag, K., & Allison, J. (2009). Health and Happiness among Older Adults. Journal of Health Psychology, 14(4), 503–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Measuring Australia’s Progress, Cat. No. 1370.0. Canberra: ABS;. Available from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1370.0. Accessed 14 December 2016.

  • Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2007a). Older Australia at a Glance. Canberra, Australia: AIHW.

  • Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2007b). Young Australians: Their Health and Wellbeing, (2007). Australian Health and Welfare Cat. No. 87. Canberra, Australia: AIHW.

  • Australian Institute for Health and Welfare. (2011). National Outcome Measures for Early Childhood Development: Development of an Indicator-Based Reporting Framework. Canberra, Australia: AIHW.

  • Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The Structure of Psychological Well-Being. Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandolini, A., Magri, S., & Smeeding, T. M. (2010). Asset-based measurement of poverty. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 29(2), 267–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, B., Olson, P. D., & Bauer, J. W. (2002). Welfare to Well-Being Transition. Social Indicators Research, 60(1–3), 147–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. (2009). Good Practice Guidelines for Indicator Development and Reporting. A Contributed paper in Third World Forum on ‘Statistics, Knowledge and Policy’: Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life, 27–30 Busan, Korea.

  • Carroll, N. (2007). Unemployment and Psychological Well-being. Economic Record, 83(262), 287–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E. (2003). Unemployment as a social norm: Psychological evidence from panel data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 323–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, K., Daly, A., & Mak, A. (2009). Good for the soul: The relationship between work, wellbeing and psychological capital. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 38(3), 464–474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. A., & Nistico, H. (2002). Maintaining life satisfaction: The role of positive cognitive bias. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 37–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Lucas, R, Schimmack, U. & Helliwell, J. (2009). Well-Being for Public Policy: Oxford University Press.

  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Beyond Money toward an Economy of Well-Being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, R., Daly, A., Huyton, J., & Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v2i3.4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Durand, M. (2015). The OECD Better Life Initiative: How’s Life? And the Measurement of Well-Being. Review of Income and Wealth, 61(1), 4–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A. (2001). Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory. Economic Journal, 111(473), 465–484. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0297.00646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Interagency Forum on Aging. (2016). Older Americans: Key Indicators of Well-Being.

  • Flatau, P., Galea, J., & Petridis, R. (2000). Mental health and wellbeing and unemployment. Australian Economic Review, 33(2), 161–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2002). What can economists learn from happiness research? Journal of Economic Literature, 40(2), 402–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., & Wooden, M. (2004). The effects of wealth and income on subjective well-being and ill-being. Economic Record, 80(s1), S24–S33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., Muffels, R., & Wooden, M. (2008). Money does not buy happiness: Or does it? A reassessment based on the combined effects of wealth, income and consumption. Social Indicators Research, 87(1), 65–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, L. W., & Knight, T. (2012). Integrating the hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives to more comprehensively understand wellbeing and pathways to wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 196–221. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v2i3.3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, L. W., Knight, T., & Richardson, B. (2013). An exploration of the well-being benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic behaviour. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(4), 322–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.803596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huta, V., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Pursuing pleasure or virtue: The differential and overlapping well-being benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic motives. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 735–762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-009-9171-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), 3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, R. F. Remarks at the University of Kansas, March 18, (1968). http://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/remarks-at-the-university-of-kansas-march-18-1968. Accessed 14 December 2016.

  • Khabsa, M. & Giles, C.L. (2014). The Number of Scholarly Documents on the Public Web. PloS one. 9(5):e93949.

  • Kimberley, H. & Simon, B. (2009). The Brotherhood's Social Barometer: Living the Second Fifty Years. Melbourne: Brotherhood of St. Laurence.

  • Liberati, A., Altman, D. G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, P. C., Ioannidis, J. P., Clarke, M., Devereaux, P. J., Kleijnen, J., & Moher, D. (2009). The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: Explanation and elaboration. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 62(10), e1–e34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahan, E. A., & Estes, D. (2011). Hedonic Versus Eudaimonic Conceptions of Well-Being: Evidence of Differential Associations with Self-Reported Well-Being. Social Indicators Research, 103(1), 93–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9698-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milner, A., Page, A., & LaMontagne, A. D. (2013). Long-term unemployment and suicide: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS One, 8(1), e51333.

  • Miranti, R., & Yu, P. (2015). Why Social Exclusion Persists among Older People in Australia. Social Inclusion, 3(4), 112–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miranti, R., Daly, A., & Tanton, R. (2015). An Area-Based Measure of Risk of Social Exclusion for Australian School-Age Children. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, 21(1), 26–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2011) Compendium of OECD well-being indicators. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd.org/std/47917288.pdf. Accessed 14 December 2016.

  • Okun, M. A., & George, L. K. (1984). Physician-and self-ratings of health, neuroticism and subjective well-being among men and women. Personality and Individual Differences, 5(5), 533–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roszkowski, M. J., & Grable, J. (2007). How are income and net worth related to happiness? Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 61(1), 64–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The Structure of Psychological Well-Being Revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. William Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senik, C. (2014). Wealth and happiness. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 30(1), 92–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sibthorpe, B., Anderson, I., & Cunningham, J. (2001). Self-assessed health among Indigenous Australians: How valid is a global question? American Journal of Public Health, 91(10), 1660–1663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A., & Fitoussi, J. (2010). Mismeasuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn’t Add Up. The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stutzer, A. (2004). The role of income aspirations in individual happiness. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 54(1), 89–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanton, R., Vidyattama, Y. & Miranti, R. (2016) Small Area Indicators of Wellbeing for Older Australians (IWOA). Final Report, February; 2016. Report commissioned by The Benevolent Society.

  • Tanton, R., Miranti, R., Vidyattama, Y., & Tuli, S. (2019). ‘Index of Wellbeing of Older Australians (IWOA)’, NATSEM, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis (IGPA). University of Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). (2013). Review of Available Sources and Measures for Children and Young People’s Well-being. Office for National Statistics.

  • UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). (2015). Human Capital Estimates: 2015. Estimates of National and Regional Human Capital in the UK from 2004 to 2015. https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/humancapitalestimates2015: ONS; 2015. Accessed 14 December 2016.

  • Victoria State Government: Department Education and Training - Early Childhood Indicators (2016). [Access Date. Available from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/research/Pages/ecindicators.aspx]

  • Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two Conceptions of Happiness: Contrasts of Personal Expressiveness (Eudaimonia) and Hedonic Enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2009). The Spirit Level. Bloomsbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Catherine Kellick from the Sax Institute; Mary Osborn, Vanessa Rose and Jessica Stewart from New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services for their comments and feedback.

Funding

New South Wales Department of Family and Community Services.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Riyana Miranti, Robert Tanton & Yogi Vidyattama

  2. Faculty of Health, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Jacki Schirmer

  3. 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Pia Rowe

Authors
  1. Riyana Miranti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Tanton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yogi Vidyattama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jacki Schirmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Pia Rowe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Not applicable.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riyana Miranti.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests

"The authors declare that they have no competing interests"

Conflict of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix: Relevant Indicators Across Different Domains

Appendix: Relevant Indicators Across Different Domains

Table 8 Assessments of Economic Indicators
Full size table
Table 9 Assessments of Home Indicators
Full size table
Table 10 Assessments of Health Indicators
Full size table
Table 11 Assessment of Empowerment Indicators
Full size table
Table 12 Assessments of Education Indicators
Full size table
Table 13 Assessments of Social and Community Indicators
Full size table
Table 14 Assessment of Safety Indicators
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Miranti, R., Tanton, R., Vidyattama, Y. et al. Examining Evidence of Wellbeing indicators: A Practical Method of Assessment. J well-being assess 4, 463–494 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41543-021-00044-6

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41543-021-00044-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation