The Scottish Government

"The individual's experience, or perception, of how well he or she lives is taken as the criterion of quality of life".

Naess (1999), p. 115

"Subjective well-being research is concerned with individuals' subjective experience of their own lives".

Diener and Suh (1997), p. 191

"Subjective well-being consists of three interrelated components: life satisfaction, pleasant affect, and unpleasant affect. Affect refers to pleasant and unpleasant moods and emotions, whereas life satisfaction refers to a cognitive sense of satisfaction with life."
Distinguishes this from the "traditional clinical models of mental health, subjective well-being does not simply refer to an absence of negative experiences."

Diener and Suh (1997), p. 200

"We find that surveys of well-being utilise one or more of three definitions: (1) satisfaction with life, (2) health and ability/disability, and (3) composite indexes of positive functioning."

Kahn and Juster (2002), p. 630

"Well-being has been defined by individual characteristics of an inherently positive state (happiness). It has also been defined on a continuum from positive to negative, such as how one might measure self-esteem. Well-being can also be defined in terms of one's context (standard of living), absence of well-being (depression), or in a collective manner (shared understanding)."

Pollard and Lee (2003), p. 60

"Well-being stems from the degree of fit between individuals' perceptions of their objective situations and their needs, aspirations or values".

Andrews and Withey (1976); Campbell et al (1976) cited in Felce and Perry (1996), p. 67