A cross‐contextual model of student well‐being (
S‐WELL‐B
): Having, loving, doing, and being
Frances Hoferichter Abstract
Background
Student well‐being has become an important focus in educational research, yet the field remains conceptually and methodologically heterogeneous. Existing approaches also differ in contextual scope: school well‐being models focus primarily on educational settings, whereas broader models of human well‐being address functioning and experience across life contexts.
Aims
This article proposes the Cross‐Contextual Model of Student Well‐Being (S‐WELL‐B), a multidimensional and cross‐contextual framework for conceptualizing student well‐being across school and non‐school life contexts.
Theoretical Framework
S‐WELL‐B is primarily informed by Martela's theory of human well‐being and Konu and Rimpelä's school well‐being model, while drawing on welfare, belongingness, social support, social cognitive, self‐determination and eudaimonic well‐being traditions. It comprises four interrelated domains: Having (access to sufficient resources), Loving (connectedness and relational support), Doing (competence and agency) and Being (psychological balance, self‐worth and meaning). Hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives are treated as complementary, with eudaimonic aspects strengthened particularly within Being and Doing.
Key Propositions
S‐WELL‐B conceptualizes student well‐being as comprising four interrelated and constitutive domains: Having, Loving, Doing and Being. These domains extend across school and non‐school life contexts, providing a common framework for conceptualizing student well‐being across different areas of students' lives. The four domains are complementary and interrelated, without a predetermined causal hierarchy among them.
Conclusion
S‐WELL‐B provides a theoretically grounded and empirically testable framework for clarifying the structure of student well‐being and for guiding future operationalization, validation and developmental research.