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Psychological, Educational, and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development pp 171–193Cite as

The Meaning and Measurement of Well-Being as an Indicator of Success

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the conceptualization and measurement of well-being and success, and the relationships between the two. Many scholars in well-being research agree that well-being consists of satisfaction, positive and negative affect. There are less well established definitions in the area of success. Frequently, success is conceptualized in terms of career success, distinguishing between objective and subjective indicators. These indicators most often include salary, status, and career satisfaction. They are sometimes criticized for being inappropriate in current labor markets and as to their individual meaning. In this chapter, we provide a widening of the understanding of career success. This by incorporating the broader concept of work success in terms of success episodes referring to task performance, pro-social success, appreciation, and feedback.

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Acknowledgments

This book chapter was partially funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 100014_144057/1 and PBBSP1_141399).

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Anita C. Keller & Norbert K. Semmer

  2. Swiss National Center for Affective Sciences, Geneva, Switzerland

    Norbert K. Semmer

  3. Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Petersgraben 11, 4051, Basel, Switzerland

    Robin Samuel & Manfred Max Bergman

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Anita C. Keller

  2. Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Robin Samuel

  3. Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Manfred Max Bergman

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Norbert K. Semmer

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Keller, A.C., Semmer, N.K., Samuel, R., Bergman, M.M. (2014). The Meaning and Measurement of Well-Being as an Indicator of Success. In: Keller, A., Samuel, R., Bergman, M., Semmer, N. (eds) Psychological, Educational, and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8911-0_9

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