What factors influence mental well-being?

Well-being is more than happiness

A sense of health, happiness, and success measured against one’s own values are common indicators of well-being. A person who experiences well-being feels positive emotions consistently and perceives their life experiences mainly as good. Well-being consists of physical and mental health while also including social relationships and subjective experiences such as emotions.

Well-being is often divided into two categories. When both are in balance, a person reaches the peak of well-being. Hedonic well-being is more self-centered, benefiting and satisfying oneself. Eudaimonic well-being, on the other hand, is broader and often extends to improving the well-being of others. For example, finding meaning in work may reflect eudaimonic well-being, since its significance stems from its benefit to others. The sense of well-being gained from sports or exercise is often hedonic. Both categories influence each other and are statistically strongly connected.

(Genetics of Wellbeing and Its Components Satisfaction with Life, Happiness, and Quality of Life: A Review and Meta-analysis of Heritability Studies. Behav Genet 45, 137–156 (2015))

The happiest nation’s basic needs are met

Well-being can be viewed through the lens of the hierarchy of needs. Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the first version of his hierarchy pyramid in the mid-20th century. The lower levels of the pyramid form the foundation for the fulfillment of the higher ones. Physiological needs are the primary requirement for human survival. Once those are met, security, love and emotional safety, esteem, and ultimately self-actualization provide the path to the peak of well-being.

Finland’s position as the happiest country in the world is logical when viewed through the hierarchy of needs. According to a Yle article, the three main reasons for Finnish happiness are security, trust, and relative equality. Equality safeguards physiological needs, safety, and esteem, while security provides the basis for pursuing emotional fulfillment, esteem, and self-actualization. The 2023 World Happiness Report provides a broader perspective on the foundations of Finnish happiness.

(Do you want to be happy? Experts: a large part of happiness comes from genes, but you can also influence it yourself. Yle. 28.06.2021)

Well-being is the secret to longevity and happy relationships

A high level of well-being has been shown to be positively associated with longevity as well as both physical and mental health. In healthy individuals, well-being predicts long life with an effect comparable in size to the negative impact of smoking. It has also been found that prosocial behavior, meaning selfless actions that benefit others, increases as well-being grows. A person with high well-being treats others kindly, and often without selfish motives. Reversed, the idea that school or workplace bullies suffer from poor well-being is therefore supported by scientific evidence. Speaking of workplaces, educational achievements and work productivity are also connected to well-being.

(Genetic evidence for a large overlap and potential bidirectional causal effects between resilience and well-being. Neurobiology of Stress, Volume 14, 2021, 100315)

Twin studies show that well-being is highly heritable

As is common in genetics research, studies of well-being heritability often use twins. Identical twins share the same genes and entire DNA, so without the influence of the environment and life circumstances, their lives would unfold in the same way: for example, they would react to situations similarly and changes in their health would occur simultaneously. Twin studies therefore make it possible to separate the effects of genetics and environment on the trait being studied. Well-being in twin studies is measured by assessing happiness, quality of life, and life satisfaction. Based on such studies, the heritability of well-being has been estimated at 36%, with a range between 17% and 56%. For happiness specifically, heritability has been found to be 22–41%, meaning about one third of the keys to happiness are inherited from one’s parents.

(Genetics of Wellbeing and Its Components Satisfaction with Life, Happiness, and Quality of Life: A Review and Meta-analysis of Heritability Studies. Behav Genet 45, 137–156 (2015))

Well-being genes play a larger role in women

In women, genes appear to account for a slightly larger share of well-being than in men. This is partly explained by the fact that different genes affect well-being in different sexes. For example, MAOA is a gene where low activity levels are associated with greater happiness, but only in women.

Several well-being–related genes act through psychoneuroimmunology, meaning that mental functions, the nervous system, and the immune system work closely together. TNF and CRP are inflammation-related genes. TNF is activated during a rapid stress reaction and causes a decrease in serotonin levels. It also reduces appetite, increases fatigue, and lowers motivation for social interaction, all of which are typical of sickness behavior. CRP codes for C-reactive protein, and its concentration in the blood has been linked to emotional experiences and perceived life satisfaction.

(Subjective well-being. Sex-specific effects of genetic and environmental factors. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 32, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 211-223)

(Genetics of Wellbeing and Its Components Satisfaction with Life, Happiness, and Quality of Life: A Review and Meta-analysis of Heritability Studies. Behav Genet 45, 137–156 (2015))

(Prioritization of human well-being spectrum related GWAS-SNVs using ENCODE-based web-tools predict interplay between PSMC3, ITIH4, and SERPINC1 genes in modulating well-being. Journal of Psychiatric Research, Volume 145, 2022, Pages 92-101)