SISTEMA INTEGRADO DE GESTIÓN DE RIESGOS SIGR 1 GESTIÓN DEL SIGR

In practice, it is not easy to define the concept of wellness though the term is widely applied in daily language. According to the literature, Larson (1999) supported the holistic definition of health as firstly introduced by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is related to a central concept that embraces physical, mental and social well-being as a whole but it is not only the absence of disease and infirmity. Dunn (1977) enhanced the WHO definition by positing that wellness is a positive state that is more than non-sickness. He tried to connect the nature of wellness in mind, body and environment as a means of achieving dynamic equilibrium within oneself. Egbert (1980) believed that wellness could be obtained by combining one’s sense of identity with an understanding of reality, a purpose in life and motivational forces. In addition, the writer suggested that wellness could also be obtained by managing one’s tasks innovatively, maintaining views positively, and establishing relationships constructively. PWB is a positive result of conceptualising awareness and mastering feelings experienced in our life. It involves being realistic, positive and inspirational towards oneself in different life circumstances, especially when facing conflicts and stress, and building and maintaining relationships with people (Adams et al., 1997). Hettler (1980) suggested that PWB was an uninterrupted process which viewed self, the world and relationships in a positive manner and contained awareness and control of feelings. Renger et al. (2000) described PWB as a person’s degree of depression, anxiety, self-control and optimism. It consists of different positive feelings towards life such as satisfaction, curiosity and enjoyment; and at the same time, an optimistic regard for the future (Foster & Keller, 2008). PWB is a state of mental health in which

people can realise their own potential in order to cope with their normal stresses, to work productively and can make a contribution to their community (WHO, 2011).

Development of Constructs of PWB. According to the literature going back to more than 40 years ago, PWB was divided by two major constructs of positive functioning. The first construct started with Bradburn’s (1969) classic research, which differentiated between positive and negative affects and used the definition of ‘happiness’ to strike a balance between the two. The question of ‘who is happy’ was widely surveyed in American society by researchers at the time (for example, Campbell, 1981; Herzog et

al., 1982; Veroff et al., 1981). At the same time, social psychologists tended to be more

focused on factors that might affect the judgement of people concerning PWB, including their mood states during the time of assessment (Schwarz & Clore, 1983), or whether or not their judgements were influenced by the frequency or intensity of their states of positive feeling (Diener et al., 1985). The concepts and methods used in the later studies were mainly based on this early definition of PWB. For instance, the hypothesised independence of positive and negative affect was being questioned, and was connected with an incapacity to differentiate between the intensity and the frequency of affect (Diener et al., 1985). A negative correlation of the frequency of positive and negative affect, together with a positive correlation of the intensity were found to counteract the association between positive and negative affect. At present, however, the frequency of affect has been widely accepted as a better indicator than intensity in terms of ease of measurement and the strong linkage to long-term emotional well-being (Diener & Larsen, 1993; Diener et al., 1991).

The second construct, as widely recognised among sociologists, suggested that life satisfaction could help to indicate the degree of PWB. In earlier research, life satisfaction was mostly viewed as a factor to complement happiness and contribute to the affective dimension of positive functioning (for example, Andrews & McKennell

1980; Andrews & Withey, 1976; Bryant & Veroff, 1982; Campbell et al., 1976). Other studies tried to relate PWB to overall life satisfaction as generic questions; and work, income, social relationships and neighbourhood as domain-based questions (Andrews, 1991; Diener, 1984). At the time, all these factors were highly correlated to social change as shown in an American study, which resulted in a change of meaning of quality of life from era to era, and reported change of level of PWB including its correlates over time (Bryant & Veroff, 1982).

Though the abovementioned elements in PWB were widely assessed in previous studies (for example, Diener, 1984; Larsen et al., 1985), emphasis was mainly placed on the reliability and validity of all the existing measures and a possible measurement error that might blur the bipolarity of positive and negative affect (Green et al., 1993). In addition, when the basic construct of PWB was discussed, emphasis was mostly placed on the differentiation between positive and negative affect and the life satisfaction of a person (Andrews & Withey, 1976; Bradburn, 1969; Bryant & Veroff, 1982; Diener & Emmons, 1984; Liang, 1984, 1985; Stock et al., 1986). For instance, in Bradburn’s (1969) study, not much emphasis was placed on the fundamental meaning of well-being. At the time, life satisfaction measures were used due to the fact that practical applications were required in the studies rather than an extension of the meaning of wellness (Sauer & Warland, 1982). Later on, the research conducted on quality of life was also regarded as data driven instead of developing a well-defined conceptual framework (Headey et al., 1993).

Alternative Perspectives. From the literature, I have noted that alternative perspectives on defining the contours of well-being have developed. Previous studies were very often targetted at defining positive psychological functioning, including Maslow’s (1968) conception of self-actualisation, Rogers’s (1961) viewpoint of a fully functioning person, Jung (1933) and Von Franz’s (1964) formulation of individuation,

and Allport’s (1961) formulation of maturity. Hence, a more extensive definition of PWB could be sought following the studies of life span developmental perspectives, which describe different challenges laid upon various stages of life. Such work could be found in for example, Erikson’s (1959) psychosocial stage, Buhler (1935) and Buhler and Massarik’s (1968) basic life tendencies which are related to the fulfilment of life, and Neugarten’s (1968, 1973) view which is related to personality change in adulthood and old age. Jahoda’s (1958) work on positive criteria of mental health successfully redefines PWB as the absence of illness and gives a comprehensive description of the meaning of good psychological health in general. At the time, Ryff (1989) disagreed with the perspectives of various researchers as mentioned above. Despite loose conceptualisations, he opined that many of the points made by other researchers could be summarised concisely and precisely. In this connection, Ryff (1989) argued that all the characteristics of PWB viewed by various researchers are similar in terms of PP functioning.

Multidimensional Structure of PWB. According to Ryff (1989), the characteristics of PP functioning could be categorised as six scales. They are ‘Self-acceptance’ (positive evaluations of oneself and one’s past life), ‘Positive Relations with Others’ (the possession of quality relations with others), ‘Autonomy’ (a sense of self-determination), ‘Environmental Mastery’ (the capacity to manage effectively one’s life and surrounding world), ‘Purpose in Life’ (the belief that one’s life is purposeful and meaningful) and ‘Personal Growth’ (a sense of continued growth and development as a person).

To further define the nature of wellness, research studies have attempted to group people based on age group and gender. In Ryff’s (1989) study, the participants were divided into groups of young adults (18-29 years old), midlife adults (30-64 years old) and old-aged adults (65 years old or more). The writer found an increase in ‘Environmental Mastery’ and ‘Autonomy’ with an increase of age, especially from

young adulthood to midlife; an increase in ‘Purpose in Life’ and ‘Personal Growth’ with a decrease of age, especially from midlife to old age; and no age differences in ‘Self-Acceptance’ and ‘Positive Relations with Others’. In another study, Ryff (1991) used the three age groups categorised above and obtained similar results. In both studies, females obtained much higher scores than males on ‘Positive Relations with Others’ and ‘Personal Growth’, which was verified by some other studies (Ryff et al., 1993, 1994). This multidimensional structure of PWB underwent analytical studies, in which the fitting of a theoretical model with empirical data was tested with a national representative sample. Additionally, a test on the generalisability of various age and sex differences was performed after collecting data from representative participants (Ryff, 1995). In summary, PWB consists of the integration of mental health and clinical and life span development theories as the foundation of PP functioning.

Needs Satisfaction and PWB. As pointed out in Section 1.1.1, people’s basic needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness should be satisfied so that their sense of integrity or PWB can be attained (Ryan & Frederick, 1997; Waterman, 1993). Some studies show that PWB has a direct linkage with the satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness needs. PWB concerns the experience of psychological health and life satisfaction in that a person perceives vitality, psychological flexibility and a deep inner sense of wellness (Ryan et al., 1995; Ryan & Frederick, 1997). Ryan and Deci (2000a) suggested that it was the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goals pursuit that affected PWB as it had a strong relationship with needs satisfaction. Sheldon et al.’s study (1996) suggested that at the individual-difference level, daily fluctuations in the needs satisfaction for ‘autonomy and competence’ had a predictive relationship with fluctuations in daily PWB. This was confirmed by Reis et al.’s (2000) study. It further indicated that between-person predictions might be confirmed by observation that could involve aggregates of the daily measures of trait measures of autonomy,

competence and relatedness; and that their individual trait components might correlate with aggregate indices of well-being. The study also confirmed that independent predication in daily fluctuations of PWB could be made possible by studying fluctuations in the three needs satisfaction. A linkage between the three needs satisfaction and PWB was therefore demonstrated in both studies at the levels of within-person and between-persons. The two studies also showed independent contributions of each need satisfaction for PWB on each day. As mentioned above, I noted the linkage that exists between the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goals pursuit via motivational forces in the attainment of needs satisfaction and, subsequently, the achievement of PWB in various degrees.

Cross-cultural Autonomy. It is one of the central notions of SDT that for people of all cultures, satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy is universal and important. In contrast, many cross-cultural psychologists (for example, Markus et al., 1996) hold the cultural-relativist view that such needs are developed within cultures. Particularly, in cultural relativists’ arguments, autonomy is a principle that is practised in Western culture. It focuses on individualism. But in Eastern culture, individualism is not as explicit, so autonomy may play little role in Eastern culture, and may not greatly affect the daily lives of Eastern peoples or of other traditionalist cultures. Rather, in cultural relativists’ arguments, relatedness is the essential psychological need in Eastern culture, focusing on collectivism and interdependence. Going back to the SDT’s view, however, it is suggested that cultures profoundly influence people’s PWB. Hence, the way in which people are inclined to attain satisfaction concerning their psychological needs may differ from culture to culture (Markus et al., 1996).

In fact, people’s need to satisfy their basic psychological needs so as to acquire optimal PWB may be independent of cultures. Some studies on Western and Eastern

cultures have pointed out that it is equally important to let people in those cultures know that satisfaction of the autonomy need requires the promotion of PWB. For instance, in Chirkov et al.’s (2003) study, the findings showed that in South Korea, Turkey, Russia and the US where cultural values are more fully internalised and enacted, autonomy-related behaviour was associated with better PWB. It is interesting to note that regardless of whether cultures are based on collectivism or individualism, the ability of a culture to enact autonomy-related behaviour is important for the attainment of PWB. Hence, satisfaction of the need for autonomy is important in any culture. In addition, Ryan et al.’s (2005) study showed that reliance on others across different cultures could be made easy by autonomy support. Hence, despite superficial differences in cultural values, the need to fully satisfy optimal motivation and PWB holds true in all cultures, which have basic and common psychological needs as evidenced by a large body of research.

Autonomy support in schools: various factors may affect the interpersonal climate of a classroom that is inclined to operate in a more autonomy supportive or a more controlling way. Some teachers may take the role of ensuring that students are performing tasks correctly as instructed. Other teachers are more likely to initiate students to learn through positive and negative experiences in problem solving (Deci & Ryan, 2008). In Deci et al.’s (1981) study, teachers who were teaching fourth to six grades were assessed at the beginning of a school year. Some of them were found practised controlling students whilst all the others practised providing students with autonomy support. It was discovered two months later that students in classrooms in which teachers were autonomy supportive were more intrinsically motivated. They showed curiosity, preferred challenges and made an independent effort at mastery. They gained a sense of competence at schoolwork and higher self-esteem. In Chirkov and Ryan’s (2001) study, teachers who provided autonomy support for high school students in both Russia and the US helped them internalise motivation for doing schoolwork,

become well-adjusted and feel good about themselves. In Vansteenkiste, Simon and others’ (2004) study, the results indicate that the autonomy-supportive style achieves greater learning and performance outcomes when compared to the controlling style. Notably, the findings of Sheldon and Krieger’s (2007) study are worth noting in that over three years of law education, students who experienced less autonomy support exhibited obvious decreases in needs satisfaction and PWB. At the same time, students who experienced more autonomy support from their faculty personnel exhibited fewer decreases in needs satisfaction and PWB. Similarly for medical students, results indicate that autonomy support was affirmed to be essential in needs satisfaction and PWB (Williams & Deci, 1998; Williams et al., 1997). Indeed, practice and policies in school management are multifaceted. If they rely on motivators such as sanctions, rewards, evaluation or other external agents, students may be weak in their study engagement. However, if they rely on motivators that enhance interests, values and volition, students may show greater persistence in learning tasks and better quality in learning outcomes (Ryan & Brown, 2005).

Autonomy support in homes: some SDT studies have explored parents’ autonomy support in relation to children’s motivation, learning, school performance and psychological well-being in the US and other countries. These studies collectively suggest that parents play a critical role in supporting children’s basic psychological needs for enhancing growth and adjustment (Grolnick & Ryan, 1989). In their study, mothers and fathers were separately interviewed as to how they linked the schoolwork and domestic chores of their children. Each parent was rated on target dimensions including autonomy support. At the same time, the children of these parents completed questionnaires and their teachers rated the children’s motivation, performance, and adjustment. The results showed that for parents that could provide more autonomy support, their children became more autonomously motivated to complete schoolwork and domestic chores and they perceived themselves to be more competent. Williams et

al.’s (2000) study indicated that those adolescents who felt their parents to have

provided them with autonomy support were more likely to develop stronger aspirations for personal growth, meaningful relationships and community contributions rather than going for the extrinsic aspirations for wealth, fame and image.

Autonomy support in workplace: in Deci et al.’s (1989) field study, the role of autonomy support in workplace was explored. The results suggest that managers who had provided employees with autonomy support were more satisfied with their employment, including various aspects of the workplace. They tended to perceive less pressure and control from top management. Baard et al.’s (2004) study showed that with managers’ autonomy support, employees tended to experience greater satisfaction regarding the three basic psychological needs, and were more engaged in their work, exhibited greater PWB, and achieved higher performance ratings than those employees whose managers had adopted a more controlling approach. Lynch et al.’s (2005) study showed that at a psychiatric hospital, the employees who experienced more autonomy support from their managers reported greater PWB at work and more intrinsic job satisfaction. More importantly, they were more likely to be less controlling towards their patients. In a cross-cultural study conducted in Bulgaria and the US (Deci et al., 2001), the findings indicate that the employees who were given autonomy support experienced satisfaction in the three basic psychological needs which led to better engagement in their work and better PWB.

Goals Pursuit and PWB. Whether for autonomous or controlled reasons, some studies on goals, aspirations or outcomes that people pursue have also been conducted within the SDT framework. Kasser and Ryan (1996) suggested that people’s goals such as making wealth, becoming famous and so on could be regarded as extrinsic goals because they are external indicators of worth. But on the other hand, goals such as developing personal growth, building relationships, being productive for the

community and so on are labelled as intrinsic goals. It is because such goals are more directly connected to satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Kasser and Ryan’s (1996) study also showed that people who strongly focused on extrinsic aspirations tended to exhibit low levels of PWB, whereas people who strongly focused on intrinsic aspirations tended to exhibit high levels of PWB. The study also showed that people who focused on extrinsic aspirations were likely to be more controlled in their goals pursuit, whereas people who focused on intrinsic aspirations were likely to be more autonomous. Nonetheless, Sheldon, Ryan and other writers (2004) showed that it should be the contents of the people’s goals that predict their mental health even after having controlled the reasons or motives for the pursued goals. In Vansteenkiste et al.’s (2004) study, some participants in performing a learning task were advised that the task would help them to make money (an extrinsic aspiration) whilst others were advised that the task would help their personal growth (an intrinsic aspiration). Consequently, the former group of participants learned the material less well; and subsequently, they performed more poorly than the latter group of participants.

Motivational forces could be called upon in the course of goals pursuit. As pointed out in Section 1.1.1, motivation is a distinct construct in that people are driven to act by various types of ‘force’ resulting in highly diverse experiences and outcomes. It relates to all kinds of activation and intention (Dörnyei, 2001). Hence, human motivation could be described as a function of social or environmental conditions such as rewards, incentives and relationships in which people are playing their respective roles (Deci & Ryan, 2008). Referring back to SDT, people are assumed to be self- motivated, curious and interested; and they are eager to succeed because success could make them feel personally satisfied and rewarded. However, in SDT, it is recognised that people may also feel alienated and mechanised, or submissive and dissatisfied. Hence, the social environmental conditions for the attainment of needs satisfaction and

PWB could either support or hinder human nature (Deci & Ryan, 2000). As well as this,