Subjective Well-Being versus Self-Actualization: Using the Flow-Simplex to Promote a Conceptual Clarification of Subjective Quality of Life

The purpose of the presentstudy was to articulate an importantdifference between subjective well-being (SWB)and self-actualization. Although self-actualization reflects a substantial aspect ofhuman existence, the article argues that theconcept is not accounted for by ordinaryassessment of SWB. In this paper, openness toexperience (OE) is taken as an indicator ofself-actualization, and overall satisfactionwith life, frequency of positive affect andfrequency of negative affect were utilized asindicators of SWB. Two methods were offered toinvestigate the assumed independenceof SWB and OE, both of which comprisedquestionnaire data from 264 studentsattending the Norwegian folk high school system(mean age 19 years, 63% females).First, a structural equation model revealedonly a small and nonsignificant associationbetween SWB and OE. Second, by means of aflow-simplex it was shown that SWBand OE relate to different dimensions ofexperience. SWB was associated withpleasantness, while OE correlated withinterestingness and challenge. It was concludedthat traditional measurements of SWB areinsensitive to important aspects of humanlives, and that the concept misses importantaspects of psychological well-being.