Examining the complexity of wellbeing profiles in a large cross-national community sample

Abstract

The existence of multiple wellbeing indicators reflecting Psychological, Subjective and Social Wellbeing domains is widely reported. However, there is limited examination of the wellbeing profiles individuals report across multiple indicators. The current paper utilises a latent profile framework to examine the extent individuals report different wellbeing profiles. Participants (n = 42, 038) were from the European Social Survey (ESS), a large multi-national study who completed the ESS wellbeing module. Profiles analyses identified no complexity in the experiences of groups of individuals across different wellbeing indicators; individuals who scored high (or low) on one indicator scored high (or low) on the other indicators. Similarly, analysis of higher-order wellbeing dimensions were consistent, no complexity was reported. Different profile classes simply reflected groups of individuals who generally scored at consistent levels across multiple wellbeing indicators.