Clarifying the affective component of psychological well-being

Abstract

The aim of this study was to clarify the affective component of psychological well-being. From the relevant literature it is clear that an affective component of psychological well-being may be distinguished, but that it is not clear what it`s nature is, and to what extent indicators thereof overlap with indices of general psychological well-being. It emerged that there are two main models to conceptualize this affective component namely an affect balance model in which the balance of positive and negative affect is viewed as the essence of emotional well-being and secondly, the emotional intelligence model in which the effective regulation of emotion in the self and others is viewed as the essence of emotional well-being. In addition, the literature highlights the role of different gender, age and ethnic/cultural groups as influential variables in this affective component of psychological well-being. In an empirical investigation an availability sample of 382 individuals comprising four different age groups were involved (18-25, 26-40, 41-50 and 51-65 years). A survey was conducted on the affective component of psychological well-being (affect-balance and emotional intelligence) and general psychological well-being in a one shot cross-sectional design. In this study the affective component was operationalised with the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) of Bar-On (1997a) and the Affectometer 2 (AFM) of Kammann and Flett (1983). Psychological well-being was operationalised from a fortigenic perspective with the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) of Antonovsky (1989), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) of Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffen (1985) and from a pathogenic perspective with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) of Goldberg and Hillier (1979). Data was analyzed separately for the Total Group, different age groups, genders and cultural/ethnic groups. Findings indicated relatively good reliability indices for all scales and sub-scales. Means obtained on all scales and sub-scales are comparable to those reported in the literature for other similar groups. The construct validity of the EQ-i was determined by factor analyses and was found to be very much the same as in the original standardizing group The results indicated significant differences between Men and Women, the different age groups and the White and Black Groups on the affective component of psychological well-being. The Affectometer 2 of Kammann and Flett (1983) displayed significant positive correlations with the Emotional Quotient Inventory of Bar-On (1997a). Scores obtained on indices measuring the affective component also showed significant positive correlations with scores on indices measuring general psychological well-being. The affective component contributed significantly to the prediction of psychological well-being. Factor analyses further suggests that operationalizations of the intrapersonal aspects of emotional intelligence (Bar-On, 1997a) and affect balance (Kammann and Flett, 1983) overlap with, and form a strong component of general psychological well-being. Thus, the affective component is conceptualized by the balance of positive and negative affect and aspects of emotional intelligence and proves to be a strong component of general psychological well-being. The essence of this component seems to be affect balance. Accordingly, the results of this study are mainly in support of the affect balance model. Recommendations for further research and enhancement of psychological health on a practical level were made.