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The Theory of Positive Balance in Brief

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Positive Balance

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 80))

Abstract

The theory of positive balance can be summarized as follows. Individuals with high levels of positive mental health are characterized to experience: (1) a preponderance of neurochemicals related to rewards (dopamine, serotonin, etc.) relative to neurochemicals related to stress emotions (cortisol), at a physiological level; (2) a preponderance of positive affect (happiness, joy, etc.) relative to negative affect (anger, sadness, etc.), at an emotional level; (3) a preponderance of domain satisfaction (satisfaction in salient and multiple life domains such as family life, work life, etc.) relative to dissatisfaction in other life domains, at a cognitive level; (4) a preponderance of positive evaluations about one’s life using certain standards of comparison (satisfaction with one’s life compared to one’s past life, the life of family members, etc.) relative to negative evaluations about one’s life using similar or other standards of comparison, at a meta-cognitive level; (5) a preponderance of positive psychological traits (personal growth, environmental mastery, etc.) relative to negative psychological traits (pessimism, hopelessness, etc.), at a development level; and (6) a preponderance of perceived social resources (social acceptance, social actualization, etc.) relative to perceived social constraints (social exclusion, ostracism, etc.), at a social-ecological level. Furthermore, well-being at each hierarchical level contributes to a higher-order construct of well-being from the physiological level all the way up to the social-ecological level.

This chapter is adapted partly from Sirgy (2019).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In contrast, clinical psychology scholars have argued that the distinction between mental well-being and ill-being is counterproductive (e.g., Joseph & Wood, 2010). In essence, mental well-being should not be treated as a construct independent from mental ill-being. A continuum approach should be used in conceptualizing both mental well-being and ill-being, with positive functioning as one polar end of the continuum and negative functioning at the other end.

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    M. Joseph Sirgy

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Sirgy, M.J. (2020). The Theory of Positive Balance in Brief. In: Positive Balance. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 80. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40289-1_1

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