The Pursuit of Subjective Well-Being Through Financial Well-Being, Relationship Quality, and Spiritual Well-Being : A Configuration Approach with Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)

• Individuals’ subjective well-being is influenced by their financial well-being, family relationship quality, spiritual well-being, gender, and age. However, our knowledge of potential associations between these factors is limited, especially in non-western developing countries. Further, human thinking’s complexity, interconnectedness, and asymmetry fit nicely with subjective well-being conceptualizations. Therefore, this research is one of the very first studies from a typical Asian country that conceptualizes subjective well-being asymmetrically. The primary objective of this study was to determine which combinations of these factors resulted in higher or lower subjective well-being. We used a self-administered questionnaire to survey 250 married working people in Bangladesh’s capital city. The factor combinations are identified with a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Despite not finding any necessary condition for high or low subjective well-being, the analysis identifies two equifinal combinations of high subjective well-being and four combinations of low subjective well-being. In Asian cultures, where family bonds and spiritual well-being are feared to be declining, the combination of identified configurations re-emphasizes the importance of family relationship quality and spiritual well-being. Using a configurational approach, the findings contribute to the literature on subjective well-being and family relationships by explaining how different combinations of factors determine an individual's well-being. Additionally, this has important implications for policymakers and society as a whole.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Happiness

Asymmetric analysis

Non-western countries

Family

fsQCA

Knowledge and Innovation Management (KIM)

Knowledge and Innovation Management (KIM)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)