Objective and subjective well-being: two approaches to the problem

The paper is an analytical review of the problem of objective and subjective well-being, describing principal approaches to understanding of subjective well-being and explaining the notions of social, demographic, economic etc. well-being. Having analyzed national and international empirical studies, the authors suggest several interpretations of connection between subjective and objective well-being. This connection is discussed on the example of common contemporary social problems (poverty, migration, political and economic disturbancies, crime, suicide, etc). For instance, the authors look at the index of well-being, common for interdisciplinary sociological, economic and social psychological studies, reflecting on the role of social problems in contemporary society and validity of a certain methodological approach to its investigation. The connection between subjective and objective wellbeing is treated as non-linear; culture and social context are viewed as principal mediating factors determining modification of subjective well-being in the context of the objective.