Different forms of well-being, such as mental, physical, economic, or emotional[7] are often closely interlinked. For example, improved physical well-being (e.g., by reducing or ceasing an addiction) is associated with improved emotional well-being.[8] As for another example, better economic well-being (e.g., possessing more wealth) tends to be associated with better emotional well-being even in adverse situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10] Well-being plays a central role in ethics since what a person ought to do depends, at least to some degree, on what would make someone's life get better or worse.[7] According to welfarism, there are no other values besides well-being.[2]
The terms well-being, pleasure, and happiness are used in overlapping ways in everyday language, but their meanings tend to come apart in technical contexts like philosophy or psychology. Pleasure refers to experience that feels good and is usually seen as one constituent of well-being. But there may be other factors, such as health, virtue, knowledge or the fulfillment of desires.[11] Happiness for example, often seen either as "the individual's balance of pleasant over unpleasant experience"[12] or as the state of being satisfied with one's life as a whole,[12] is also commonly taken to be a constituent of well-being.
Theories of well-being try to determine what is essential to all forms of well-being. Hedonistic theories equate well-being with the balance of pleasure over pain. Desire theories hold that well-being consists in desire-satisfaction: the higher the number of satisfied desires, the higher the well-being. Objective list theories state that a person's well-being depends on a list of factors that may include both subjective and objective elements.[citation needed]
Well-being is also scientifically dependent on endogenous molecules that impact feelings of happiness such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, oxytocin, cortisol and more[13][14] "Well-being related markers" or "Well-being bio markers"[15] play an important role in the regulation of an organism's metabolism, and when not working in proper order can lead to malfunction.[14]
Well-being is the central subject of positive psychology, which aims to discover the factors that contribute to human well-being.[16] Martin Seligman, for example, suggests that these factors consist in having positive emotions, being engaged in an activity, having good relationships with other people, finding meaning in one's life and a sense of accomplishment in the pursuit of one's goals.[