States of Awareness and their Associations with Well-being

Many different types of awareness have been discussed within the literature under various labels. Additionally, these different types of awareness have been associated with both positive and negative well-being outcomes. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the degree to which different types of awareness are associated with well-being relative to each other. Furthermore, the valences of different types of awareness were examined for insight into the awareness–well-being associations. This research first proposed a broader set of three awareness categories than previously delineated, referred to as states of awareness. Three questions then were investigated using the three state of awareness categories: (a) What are the relationships between the three states of awareness? (b) What is the prevalence of each state of awareness’ positive, neutral, and negative valence? (c) How is each state of awareness, in conjunction with its three valences, associated with well-being? This study utilized a Daily Reconstruction Methodology design (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004) and analyzed both between- and within-person differences. Overall, initial support was found for the three states of awareness as distinct categories, the negative and positive valences of inward and activity awareness had the greatest associations with well-being, and outward self-awareness, overall, had the greatest association with well-being. The results of, and implications for, the three state of awareness categories and awareness–well-being associations are discussed.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Erickson, Kelly

• Awareness

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/57147

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/57147