The Factors Affecting Wellbeing

Analyse the relationships between the factors and explain how they can impact on wellbeing.

In Maslow’s hierarchy to reach self-actualisation, which is at the top, you must go through; the physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs to then finally reach the top and these all affect your wellbeing.
The factors affecting wellbeing are physical, emotional, economic, social, spiritual and cultural. These 6 factors contribute to the quality of people’s lives and affect a person’s overall wellbeing. Theses factors all relate to one another, as if a person was lacking in wellbeing in a certain area they would not have a good overall wellbeing.

Your physical wellbeing depends on your age, mobility, sleep, diet, exercise routine and environment. These are physical needs to keep your body healthy and happy with no limitations. These physical factors will help maintain your physical needs and your wellbeing. Without good physical health other factors affecting wellbeing may fall as well.

Having good culture and spiritual wellbeing may come from your values, society, direction, purpose, beliefs and freedom. These things will keep you feeling fulfilled and that you have a direction in life. Being aware of what your values and culture are, you able to be happy with your self physiologically and contribute to your wellbeing which without knowing where you are spiritually you are lacking a quality of being happy.

Your emotional and social wellbeing can form from your friends, family, and sense of belonging, self-image, education and childhood. These factors can shape how you feel about yourself and how your family and friends see you. Being able to feel like you fit in and that people love and support you, can give you more self-confidence and will help you become happier. If someone is lacking in these areas this will lower their wellbeing and will find it hard to have the potential to grow and have a good wellbeing.

Your economic status and wellbeing will depend on your job, income, family, material needs and wants, and what the economy is like. Those examples can define what your living environment is like. Your income and the economy can decide how much money you have left over to spend on material wants and how you spend it. Being able to be responsible for your money and your families will help you be satisfied with what you have and this will help you become aware of how much money can affect your wellbeing.

These 6 factors can are all interrelated and can influence wellbeing. As economic needs like a job not only provide you with money but you are also able to find friends, goals, purpose, being able to provide for yourself and your family, and a sense of belonging in your field of work. To have good wellbeing all these things should weigh up equal but it is very difficult for some people to reach self-actualisation, which is at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy, so these people may balance it out with the other factors. If you’re physically injured religion may be a coping method or a relationship can balance out the lack of friends you may have.

Overall all 6 factors are needed to properly reach the self-actualisation of Maslow’s hierarchy, even though people can balance the lack of one factor for another there may still be some irritation that those people aren’t able to have equally wellbeing within each factor.