FAQ > About Subjective Well-Being (Happiness and Life Satisfaction), by Dr. Diener > Q: Isn't health a key to happiness?
A: If people are satisfied with their health, it predicts their life satisfaction moderately well. However, objective measures of health (e.g., a physician's objective rating, not the person's own satisfaction), are correlated only at very low levels with SWB. This makes sense if one thinks about it. There are plenty of healthy people around who take their health for granted, but for a variety of reasons are unhappy. And there are many individuals with bad health who are able to cope and adapt to their condition, and to be reasonably satisfied and happy. Thus, health may be an important component of quality of life, in and of itself, but it is only modestly related to SWB. There is some evidence, however, that multiple and severe health problems that interfere with daily functioning can lower one's SWB.
Last updated on September 14, 2007 by Dr. Walt