quotable quote: happiness vs. well-being

ed diener, positive psychologist and author of books such as culture and subjective well-being, has been a thoughtful proponent of well-being-centric public policy. he spoke at the american psychological convention this year in DC on how too much happiness may actually hamper learning about our emotions, which may have a negative impact on long-term well-being:

you want a functioning gas gauge - you don't want a gas gauge stuck on full.

the terms happiness and well-being are often conflated in popular understanding of the well-being literature, and even sometimes in the academic literature. as this quote indicates, there are important differences between the two concepts, both academically and in policy implications.

Labels: well being