Subjective well-being and self-esteem in a disadvantaged community

Abstract

As people meet their basic biological needs, they become increasingly concerned with higher level needs, such as personal development and positive well-being. The term "subjective well-being" (SWB) refers to people's evaluations of their lives and although relatively stable, people's levels of SWB are influenced by life events. The high position of esteem needs in Maslow's hierarchy of needs reflects the importance of self-esteem in people's judgement of their quality of life. A one group post test only, analytical research design was utilised with 570 residents of an informal settlement in Soweto. A structured questionnaire was designed to obtain information on demographic variables, levels of SWB and levels of self-esteem. The levels of SWB and self-esteem within the community were relatively high. Multiple regression analyses models confirmed that demographic factors are weakly correlated with SWB and self-esteem. Self-esteem was highly correlated with life satisfaction.