Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing
Abstract Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a self-reported construct of wellbeing including components like life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. We explore the role of physical pain in the construct of SWB using data from the Global Flourishing Study (22 countries, N = 187,160) and the G...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98421-1 |
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| author | Lucía Macchia Micah Kaats Byron Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele |
| author_facet | Lucía Macchia Micah Kaats Byron Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele |
| author_sort | Lucía Macchia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a self-reported construct of wellbeing including components like life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. We explore the role of physical pain in the construct of SWB using data from the Global Flourishing Study (22 countries, N = 187,160) and the Gallup World Poll (163 countries, N = 2,048,494). Consistent with the existing understanding of physical pain, we document that people can experience negative affect-related pain in the absence of physical health problems, and with near perfect physical health. We also find that the current components of SWB are not perfect proxies for pain and that physical pain and other components of negative affect like stress, worry, anxiety, anger, and sadness load on the same factor in principal component factor analysis. Based on this empirical evidence, we suggest that physical pain can be included in the construct of SWB as a component of negative affect. This proposition has the potential to advance the field in the coming decades by providing a better understanding of people’s wellbeing, presenting alternative methods to measure SWB, and informing the design of wellbeing interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4b89641de43f4eddb9cf4f5a12dbffb8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-4b89641de43f4eddb9cf4f5a12dbffb82025-08-20T03:52:24ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-04-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-98421-1Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeingLucía Macchia0Micah Kaats1Byron Johnson2Tyler J. VanderWeele3School of Health and Medical Sciences, City St George’s, University of LondonHarvard Kennedy School, Harvard UniversityInstitute for Studies of Religion, Baylor UniversityHuman Flourishing Program, Harvard UniversityAbstract Subjective wellbeing (SWB) is a self-reported construct of wellbeing including components like life satisfaction, and positive and negative affect. We explore the role of physical pain in the construct of SWB using data from the Global Flourishing Study (22 countries, N = 187,160) and the Gallup World Poll (163 countries, N = 2,048,494). Consistent with the existing understanding of physical pain, we document that people can experience negative affect-related pain in the absence of physical health problems, and with near perfect physical health. We also find that the current components of SWB are not perfect proxies for pain and that physical pain and other components of negative affect like stress, worry, anxiety, anger, and sadness load on the same factor in principal component factor analysis. Based on this empirical evidence, we suggest that physical pain can be included in the construct of SWB as a component of negative affect. This proposition has the potential to advance the field in the coming decades by providing a better understanding of people’s wellbeing, presenting alternative methods to measure SWB, and informing the design of wellbeing interventions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98421-1Subjective wellbeing (SWB)Life satisfactionPhysical painNegative affectStressPhysical health |
| spellingShingle | Lucía Macchia Micah Kaats Byron Johnson Tyler J. VanderWeele Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing Scientific Reports Subjective wellbeing (SWB) Life satisfaction Physical pain Negative affect Stress Physical health |
| title | Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| title_full | Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| title_fullStr | Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| title_short | Physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| title_sort | physical pain as a component of subjective wellbeing |
| topic | Subjective wellbeing (SWB) Life satisfaction Physical pain Negative affect Stress Physical health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98421-1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luciamacchia physicalpainasacomponentofsubjectivewellbeing AT micahkaats physicalpainasacomponentofsubjectivewellbeing AT byronjohnson physicalpainasacomponentofsubjectivewellbeing AT tylerjvanderweele physicalpainasacomponentofsubjectivewellbeing |