SOCIO-AFFECTIVE WELL-BEING: CHARACTERISTICS, ADOLESCENTS AND RESOURCES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The social and emotional well - being is a set of elements that determine the quality of emotional life and relationships of a person. It is one of the most important aspects of an individual's existence, and includes components such as self-esteem, feelings, and the fulfillment of emotional needs.

Socio-affective well-being is important in all periods of life; But there are some moments when the risk of this element decreasing is greater. For example, children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to having a low level of social and emotional well-being. Something similar happens with the elderly.

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There are many factors that influence the establishment of an adequate level of socio-affective well-being. Some of them are totally external, such as the teaching style of a child's parents or the fact that their social environment is healthy or not.

Other factors, on the contrary, have more to do with factors intrinsic to the person. These include your level of cognitive flexibility, your emotional management skills, your beliefs, your personality, or your habitual coping styles.

characteristics

Achieving an adequate level of socio-affective well-being implies developing a positive relationship both with oneself and with the people around us. This helps us to ensure that our basic psychological needs are covered, since self-esteem and the creation of good relationships are necessary to lead a satisfying life.

Next we will briefly see what are the most important characteristics of social-emotional well-being.

It has an internal and an external component

One of the most important aspects when it comes to understanding socio-affective well-being and the ways in which it can be modified is to understand that it has both a part that depends entirely on oneself, and another that varies depending on the environment. Both are essential to achieve the highest possible levels of this trait.

Thus, on the one hand, people have great control over our own emotions, actions and thoughts, so we can vary greatly some of the components of socio-affective well-being. However, others depend almost entirely on the way of acting of the rest and the environment in which we live.

Has a subjective component

One of the most common problems when it comes to improving a person's socio-emotional well-being is discovering exactly how each aspect of their life influences it. This occurs because the way in which the elements that compose it affect each individual differently.

For example, a person may feel very lonely if they have not spoken to anyone for several days. This would affect your self-esteem and make your emotions worse. However, for another individual this could be a great opportunity to get to know themselves and rest, so their emotional well-being would increase in the same situation.

Changes throughout life

Research related to socio-affective well-being has shown that people's needs change throughout the life stages they go through. Although the principles of it are always the same, what makes us feel good at the level of relationships with others and with ourselves depends largely on age.

For example, during the first years of childhood one of the most important aspects of this phenomenon is the need for unconditional affection. This loses its strength over the years, and in adulthood it is replaced almost entirely by the need for respect and admiration from others.

Another example is the one that occurs with the need to fit in and be similar to other people. Adolescents feel this desire especially strongly, while most adults replace it with the need to be independent and create themselves.

Adolescents and their socio-emotional well-being

Adolescence is one of the most emotionally complicated stages in most people's lives. At this point, childhood routines, beliefs, and ways of acting no longer serve, and needs suddenly change dramatically. For this reason, it is especially necessary to work with adolescents in this area of ​​their lives.

What socio-affective needs do adolescents have?

You can name many different needs related to social and emotional well-being in adolescence. However, the most important are the following:

- Understanding. During these years, people begin to discover who they really are and what traits set them apart from the rest. For the transition to happen as smoothly as possible, they need to feel like others understand them.

- Belonging to a group. One of the most important needs of adolescents is to find a group of people with whom they feel identified and who accept them as they are. Sharing your personal experiences with other similar individuals is critical to your well-being.

- Acceptance. One of the most common fears during adolescence is that of being rejected for being yourself. Acceptance is extremely important to achieve a good emotional state during this stage.

- Sexual expression. During adolescence, sexual desire for other people is awakened for the first time. This change is often difficult to understand for most people, since the feelings it causes are very intense and different and often lead to guilt in many young people.

Resources for the construction of socio-affective well-being

Internal resources

Internally, there are many factors that influence the construction of an adequate level of socio-affective well-being. Some of the most effective ways to do this are to change your beliefs about what is right and what is not, lead a healthy lifestyle, and take care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally.

On the other hand, one of the most useful changes that we can make to have a good level of socio-affective well-being is to abandon our own expectations about the way we should feel and behave.

These expectations often serve only to cause us to suffer when we cannot meet the standards that we have set for ourselves.

External resources

Of course, our socio-emotional well-being also depends to some extent on our environment and our relationship with it. Factors such as the groups of people with whom we live, the state of the society in which we find ourselves or our financial resources will have a very important impact on the way we feel.

References

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2. "Socio-affective well-being: Relating to others and feeling good" in: Cognifit. Retrieved on: October 18, 2019 from Cognifit: blog.cognifit.com.
3. "Meaning of socio-affective well-being" in: Meanings. Retrieved on: October 18, 2019 from Meanings: significados.com.
4. "Socio-affective well-being: what it is and how it affects us" in: Psychology and Mind. Retrieved on: October 18, 2019 from Psychology and Mind: psicologiaymente.com.
5. "Socio-affective well-being" in: Wattpad. Retrieved on: October 18, 2019 from Wattpad: wattpad.com.