How the Wellness Trap Widens the Fairness Gap
I have dedicated decades of work to the promotion of wellness in individuals, organizations, and communities. Well-being is a noble aspiration. This is why I have been teaching, writing, and doing research on the topic for many years. And yet, whereas the pursuit of happiness and well-being is morally justified on many counts, the single pursuit of wellness is risky. One such risk is what I call the wellness trap. The wellness trap runs the risk of widening the fairness gap. Let me explain.
Many wellness experts decry the mind-body dualism but are oblivious to the inner-outer split. They persuasively argue that body and mind are one, while ignoring the impact of lack of fairness on wellness. They delimit the wellness world to what happens within your skin and your head. Mattering does not just happen in our minds. It happens in interactions at work and in the community. There is plenty of evidence that unfair treatment leads to stress, disease, aggression, and disaffection. Fair regard, on the other hand, leads to well-being, happiness and health.
The main mechanism through which fairness results in wellness is that fair processes protect one’s standing in a group. People’s dignity is upheld, and threats of shame and humiliation dissipate. The route to mattering must involve internal and external work; psychological and structural changes in organizations and societies. We must engage in both wellness and fairness.
If you look at your own life, you can easily discern the role of fairness in wellness. Look no further than your own job. Are all your problems at work related to inner conflicts that you might have, or are some of them associated with abuses of power and lack of fairness? Doesn’t fairness make a difference in how you feel at work? Of course it does. So much so that people who report higher levels of respect and fairness at work are physically healthier than those who suffer from unfair treatment.
When women are made to feel inferior by abusive partners, is it their fault? Of course not. They don’t suffer from ineptitude, they suffer from injustice. The focus on self, rights, and personal wellness has the paradoxical effect of widening the fairness gap because no one is looking into injustice. Instead, we all look at how to improve our wellness, habits, grit, resilience, and motivation. This is how the wellness trap widens the fairness gap. Remember, there cannot be wellness without fairness.
Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky is an award-winning academic and author. He is also a coach, consultant and a researcher. His latest book, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Ora Prilleltensky, is How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Press here to pre-order.