A PERMA-NENT SOLUTION TO UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING? - EXPLORING THE UTILITY OF A WELLBEING MODEL IN A MULTI-ETHNIC WORKPLACE

Abstract

The relationships between psychological health conditions (PHC), wellbeing, and subjective quality of life (sQoL) were investigated. The main goal of the study was to inform on which aspects of wellbeing are particularly important in a multicultural environment so that future workplace wellbeing interventions can be initiated within a diverse university workplace. A secondary goal was to determine if there exist areas of wellbeing important to a multicultural population above and beyond the key components of wellbeing as defined by Martin Seligman’s Wellbeing Theory (consisting of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement). Specific to PHCs, the study investigated suspected presence of PHCs in addition to diagnosed PHCs. Results: Firstly, individuals who suspected that they had PHCs reported significantly lower wellbeing and sQoL as opposed to individuals who did not suspect they had a PHC. Secondly, workplace wellbeing was found to mediate the relationship between levels of distress and sQoL. Third, Positive Emotions and Meaning contributed to 39% of the variance in sQoL. Finally, qualitative analysis uncovered five additional lay conceptualisations of wellbeing in addition to the five facets identified in Wellbeing Theory. Implications are discussed.