Family Relationships are Primary for Well-Being. A Person-Based Relationship Approach

This paper adopts a person-based approach to family relationships, highlighting their intrinsic value in fostering people’s well-being. In contrast to perspectives that prioritize the instrumental or transactional aspects of relationships, the person-based approach emphasizes relational qualities that significantly enhance both emotional and evaluative dimensions of well-being. The paper addresses a significant gap in current social indicators frameworks, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the multidimensional poverty ones, which overlook the quality of family relationships. Person-based relationships are characterized by deep engagement and recognition of each participant’s full personhood; they usually imply close, genuine, warm, and long-lasting relationships, which are highly rewarding. Family relationships are an example par excellence of person-based relationships. The empirical study utilizes representative data from the non-Hispanic White population in the United States. The study introduces an original set of questions designed to assess family relationships from a person-based perspective. A subjective well-being approach is used, incorporating information on people’s satisfaction with life and positive and negative affect. The paper empirically shows that person-based family relationships have a large impact on well-being. While the paradigm of progress as economic growth tends to prioritize transactional and instrumental views of human relationships, the growing interest in the procurement of subjective well-being necessitates a shift toward measuring and understanding the qualities that contribute to the intrinsic value of interpersonal relationships.