Jens Asendorpf (2004) suggests the following nomenclature: At a first level well-being has a cognitive component called life-satisfaction and an affective component called happiness.

 

 

 

A person may think he is well but not feel well.

 

 

 

The affective component unfolds, in turn, into a tendency of the person to experience positive feelings (positive affectivity) and a tendency to experience negative feelings (negative affectivity). These two dispositions are independent, so that there are people with both a low general affectivity (i.e. they rarely experience both positive and negative sensations) and a high general affectivity (and thus frequently experience both positive and negative sensations).

 

 

 

Negative and positive affectivity refer, however, not only to the frequency of such experiences, but also to their intensity - each is thus composed of two distinct dispositions, which nevertheless have a high correlation with each other.

 

A high positive affectivity is in correlation with a high level of extroversion while a high level of negative affectivity, is correlated with a high level of neuroticism (emotional instability).

 

 

 

It is important to note that the two dispositions just described do not refer to the experience of positive or negative feelings in a given situation, but to a stable tendency characteristic of the person that shows itself in different situations.

 

 

 

 

 

Ryff and Keyes (1995), on the other hand, proposed another hierarchy of dispositions linked to well-being. According to them, six distinct factors of well-being can be differentiated:

 

> Self-acceptance

> The feeling of having control over one's environment

> The sense of living a meaningful life

> The pursuit of personal growth

> Positive social relationships

> Autonomy