WELL-BEING
OVERVIEW
WELL-BEING
DEFINED
There are many definitions for well-being. Our
Well-being is (per Seligman, 2011) the
goal in this paper is to synthesize and share
extent to which an individual experiences
the Limeade definition. Before diving deeper,
positive emotion, engagement, positive
here are our key points:
relationships, meaning and accomplishment.
• At Limeade, we define well-being as
feeling good and living with purpose
• Well-being is a comprehensive concept
Others describe it as “optimal psychological
functioning and experience” (Ryan & Deci,
2001, p.142). People with well-being are living
the good life — they’re happy, and they realize
that describes human beings as the
their potential (Waterman, 1993).
complex and interconnected systems we
The wellness industry historically defined
are, what we describe as “whole person
well-being as the absence (and prevention) of
well-being”
physical or mental illness instead of focusing
on an optimal quality of life. This limited
definition isn’t aligned with the history and
the research. To further understand wellbeing and how it contributes to individual,
organizational and societal betterment, we
must trace back to its foundational roots.
2
FOUNDATIONS
IN POSITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY
Researchers map well-being to two
philosophical approaches — hedonia and
eudaimonia. Hedonia is the “FEELING GOOD”
component of well-being, and eudaimonia can
be thought of as the “FUNCTIONING
The concept of well-being is rooted in
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, a term that
Abraham Maslow coined and psychologist
Martin E.P. Seligman adopted. It’s a movement
in psychology that focuses on what’s right
with people rather than what’s wrong with
them. It shifts focus away from dysfunction
and disorder to understanding how individuals
flourish and thrive in their lives (Lambert et al.,
2015) or reach their potential.
WELL” piece.
Hedonia (same root as “hedonistic”) is the
“pursuit of pleasure, gratification and comfort”
(Ryan & Deci, 2001). It describes the basic
pursuit of happiness (maximizing pleasure
and minimizing pain), as well as the shortterm pursuit of pleasure, with positive effects
that may extend beyond the activity itself.
Subjective well-being is a hedonic concept that
indicates one’s level of positive affect in the
moment — think of it as a fleeting gratification.
3
In contrast, eudaimonia is described as “a way
Limeade aggregated and extended this
of life, characterized by a constant STRIVING
important research to define well-being as a
TO GENERATE MEANING through personal
combination of feeling good and living with
development and growth” (Lambert et al.,
purpose. Feeling good refers to feeling healthy
2015). It involves the practice of participating
and happy. Living with purpose is about being
in challenges that lead to growth and the
intentional and actively thriving.
realization of potential. The pursuits may
feel difficult and challenging, but the longterm payoffs include feelings of competence,
autonomy, relatedness and meaning, which
lead to lasting gratification. Eudaimonia is
associated with the concept of psychological
well-being, which is “the good state of
psychological functions and the fulfillment of
personal potential” (Ryff, 1989).
WELL-BEING IS PRIMARILY A
SUBJECTIVE CONCEPT. That is, only the
person can indicate the extent to which he/
she has well-being. Things like optimism,
resilience, mindfulness and self-efficacy
often mediate the extent to which difficult
life circumstances impact perceptions of life
quality—so our perceptions of someone else’s
life circumstances can be very different from
how they feel about their well-being.
4
WHOLE PERSON
WELL-BEING
Recent well-being research expands the
stress has shown it’s a driver of most illness
topic from narrow measures of satisfaction
and disease (JAMA, 2013). Even more research
and subjective well-being to a broader,
demonstrates that physical and emotional
comprehensive concept that captures people
health share much of the same biochemistry.
as the complex and interconnected systems
we are. And evidence supports the idea that
what happens in one part of your life impacts
all others.
Limeade developed a hierarchical way for
organizing the complexity of this “system” —
well-being has physical, emotional, financial
and work components. It’s made up of a rich
In one study, 47 percent of employees said
set of “well-being dimensions” as well — all
problems in their personal lives affected
taken directly from primary and secondary
their performance at work (Bensinger et
research. These include exercise, nutrition,
al., 2013). In another study, 37 percent of
stress, making & keeping commitments,
HR professionals agreed that employees in
mindfulness, resilience work meaning and
their organizations have missed work due to
dozens more we’re testing all the time. (See
financial emergencies (SHRM, 2014). Relatedly,
the Limeade Well-Being Assessment Overview
for more details.)
5
Research studies are beginning to examine
The impact of well-being on multiple domains
the connection between well-being and
of life is driving this change from simple
important workplace or organizational
satisfaction to a more holistic understanding
results, such as employee turnover (r = -.39),
of the concept (Botha & Brand, 2009; Els &
performance (r = .36) (Wright & Cropanzano,
De La Rey, 2006; Hattie et al., 2007). Various
2000), affective organizational commitment (r
research highlights this shift, including career
= .32), and job satisfaction (r = .43) (Grawitch
development literature, counseling research,
et al., 2006; Harter et al., 2003). Initial
organizational behavior studies, healthcare
findings suggest that employee well-being
analysis and educational research. Few of
plays an important role in employee and
the many proposed well-being models have
organization success. Scientists have also
completed rigorous validation work across
demonstrated strong links between well-being
a variety of settings. While some models
and employee engagement (Gallup, 2013;
have started this process, they tend to be
Limeade & Quantum Workplace, 2015 &
developed for specific contexts (such as
2016). This highlights the relative importance
schools, Chinese organizations and counseling
of understanding and measuring well-being
interventions), which make them difficult to
in the workplace context, for the sake of both
generalize to greater populations.
employees and organizations.
6
OUR
APPROACH
might disagree with her manager about work,
leaving her frustrated. It’s gotten bad enough
that she wants to look for another job, but
because of financial pressures, she is worried
about the instability a career change would
At Limeade, we believe that the best
create for her family. Over time, she starts
companies invest authentically in the well-
dreading going to work. She gets intense
being of their people. This leads to well-
headaches and stops sleeping well. Her
being improvement and perceptions of
immune system is stressed, leaving her more
organizational support for well-being — which
vulnerable to ulcerative colitis.
in turn leads to great business results.
This story demonstrates the many factors
That means a broad view of whole person
at play with well-being. She could treat her
well-being is critical. We believe, as described
headaches, but she’ll likely only find temporary
above, that people are complex systems —
relief until she addresses some of the
what happens in one area of someone’s life
root causes.
impacts other areas. For example, a person
7
What makes Limeade different is that we
Our mission at Limeade is to measurably
don’t look at well-being in silos. If you want to
improve well-being in the world. The challenge
improve your well-being, you must understand
is huge — but the evidence continues to
all the underlying well-being factors to learn
demonstrate the importance of whole
how they connect and truly improve. This can
person well-being.
be quite personal — and varies widely from
person to person.
Fundamentally, Limeade helps our customers
and their employees do four things: build
awareness; take actions to improve their
health, well-being and performance; earn
social, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; and
create insights that help drive even
more improvement.
8
REFERENCES
Bensinger, DuPont and Associates. (2013). Stressed at work: What
Limeade & Quantum Workplace (2015). Workplace Well-Being:
we can learn from EAP utilization. http://www.bensingerdupont.com/
Provide Meaningful Benefits to Energize Employee Health,
filebin/pdfpublic/BDA_White_Paper.pdf
Engagement, and Performance. http://sip.limeade.com/workplacewell-being-research
Botha, P. A., & Brand, H. (2009). Development of a holistic wellness
model for managers in tertiary institutions. South African Journal of
Limeade & Quantum Workplace (2016). 2016 Well-Being &
Human Resource Management, 7(1), 166-175. doi:10.4102/sajhrm.
Engagement Report http://www.limeade.com/engagementreport
v7i1.208
Ryan, R. & Deci, E. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues
review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual
in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, Vol 7(3),
Review of Psychology, 52, 141-166.
309-319.
Ryff, C. D. (2014). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on
Els, D. A., & De la Rey, R. P. (2006). Developing a holistic wellness
the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and
model. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(2), p-46.
Social Psychology, 57, 1069-1081.
Grawitch, M. J., Gottschalk, M., & Munz, D. C. (2006). The path to a
Seligman, M. E., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive
healthy workplace: a critical review linking healthy workplace practices,
psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American
employee well-being, and organizational improvements. Consulting
Psychologist,
Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 58(3), 129.
60(5), 410.
Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L., & Keyes, C. L. (2003). Well-being in the
SHRM. (2014). Employee financial stress. http://www.shrm.org/
workplace and its relationship to business outcomes: A review of the
Research/Documents/Employee-Financial-Stress-Flyer.pdf
Gallup studies. Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived,
2, 205-224.
Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts
of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment.
Hattie, J. A., Myers, J. E., & Sweeney, T. J. (2004). A Factor Structure
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678.
of Wellness: Theory, Assessment, Analysis, and Practice. Journal of
Counseling & Development, 82(3), 354-364.
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2000). Psychological well-being
and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance. Journal of
JAMA Intern Med. (2013); 173(1): 76-77.
Lambert, L., Passmore, H., & Holder, M. D. (2015). Foundational
frameworks of positive psychology: Mapping well-being orientations.
Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 56(3), 311-321.
doi:10.1037/cap0000033
9
Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 84.
ABOUT LIMEADE
Limeade is a corporate wellness technology company
that drives real employee engagement. The Limeade
Institute, led by managing director Laura Hamill, Ph.D.,
conducts evidence-based research to help employers
create a better employee experience and improve
well-being in the world.
Learn more at limeade.com.