Prep. for Thursday, January 24th

Develop your own model of “well-being” based on some online research, and your own intuition; where a model is simply a set of dimensions or “constituent components”. For example, W&M proposes an 8 dimensional model of “wellness”: W&M 8 dimensions of wellness. For research, visit our Blackboard folder on “The Goal” to see some suggested articles (you don’t need to use all of these, and you are free to do your own research as well). Your research must include watching at least one TED video on happiness; you choose which one (again, see the BB folder). In the form of a blog entry, write 1) a one sentence definition of well-being (you may research this, too, or develop your own) and 2) a description of your model of well-being, naming and describing each dimension.
Next, visit the website for the OECD Better Life Index. Based on what you know about well-being and its determinants, and reflecting on what you think is most important to you personally, what country do you think does the best job of promoting well-being (i.e., would be optimal for you based on these criteria)? To determine this, rate the importance of each ‘topic’ and see what country emerges as the “best” (remember which country so we can discuss in class).