Conditions of living well : three models.

The important role that political and economic supports play in individuals' lives is often acknowledged, but less often directly studied. The pervasive effects that these conditions have on psychological processes related to individuals' well-being is not fully understood. The present work reviews the literature surrounding political and economic supports and social contexts broadly defined, including the present understanding of human wellness within these systems. The Primary Goods approach of John Rawls and the Capabilities Approach of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum are considered as alternative conceptions of the precursors of well-being most significant for comparative assessments of justice. A wealth of evidence from the Self-Determination Theory tradition provides a framework for understanding such dynamics. Two studies provide a first test of the capability approach, supporting the role of basic psychological needs in mediating the relation between capabilities and well-being. A third study measured both the capability approach and primary goods models, their relation to broadened measures of well-being, and the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction, across a set of varied samples.