Abstract
Well-being is a complex and multi-faceted concept, which covers several dimensions ranging from the physical to the psychological. It also includes the environment in which an individual lives and operates, playing a role in defining the concept of well-being.
The influence of these possible well-being determinants – physical, psychological and environmental – may vary in relation to gender, providing in this way different possible outcomes and evidences in relation to health and social policies.
This article focuses on the impact of possible well-being determinants on the female and male genders in an attempt to illustrate the effective dimension of individual characteristics regarding employment, socio-economic status, civil status, overall health and education. In addition, the manuscript analyzes the influence of participation in social-related activities, given the pro-active role these play in the promotion of health and psychological condition.
The study is based on a 2018 survey of a statistically representative sample of the Italian population, which gathered information concerning the influence of several elements on individual subjective well-being. The analysis reveals a general agreement on how health status is one of the major detrimental risk factors for decreased psychological well-being in both genders. It also shows that cultural experiences act toward preventing well-being distress, particularly in females, leading to significant consequences in terms of promotion of individual subjective well-being.