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The Feeling of Excellent Functioning: Hedonic and Eudaimonic Emotions
Abstract
People often find complex things interesting and simple things pleasurable. This seemingly trivial observation reflects something fundamental about the good life. It is that humans, in order to do and be well, must balance their need for biopsychosocial stability with an equally important need for changing these structures. Two classes of positive experiences are proposed to help regulate these needs. The first is hedonic, with pleasure as the prototypic feeling state. Hedonic feelings signal what is referred to as “simple goodness” and they function to motivate the experiencer to maintain homeostatic stability. The concept of life satisfaction is also categorized as hedonic, even if it is not a pleasant feeling state. The second class of positive experiences is eudaimonic. It is experienced as a positive striving, such as interest, engagement, and sometimes as awe. The function of eudaimonic experiences is to motivate departures from the comfort zone of pleasant stability, and it operates as a feeling of being absorbed in the task of overcoming a challenge. These feelings reflect a kind of “complex goodness” and are considered eudaimonic because of their ability to facilitate personal growth (interest) and civic virtues (awe), in ways related to the Aristotelian idea of excellent functioning. The chapter ends with a discussion of the asymmetry between hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. The former is sufficiently explained with reference to pleasure and life satisfaction, whereas eudaimonic wellbeing cannot be defined with reference to eudaimonic feelings alone.
... With positive psychology and the scientific study of the stability and change of positive emotions (Vittersø 2016), hedonic (e.g. pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction) and eudaimonic (e.g. ...
... pleasure, happiness, and satisfaction) and eudaimonic (e.g. interest, engagement, enthusiasm, and inspiration) emotions are associated with different conceptualizations of wellbeing (Vittersø 2016). These different groups of positive emotions are informed by different philosophies of the good life. ...
... All positive emotions are imbued with this potential for flourishing. In psychological parlance, hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing are identified as distinct but related approaches to the good life (Ryff and Singer 2008;Steger 2016;Vittersø 2016). ...
In this paper, we explore how immersion in nature implicitly relates to consumerism and how our emotional engagement with nature is manifested as power dynamics in our drive to connect with nature. Utilizing insights from Aristotelian ethics (specifically eudaimonic wellbeing), mindfulness, and aesthetics, we propose a tripartite framework of moods associated with ‘friluftsliv’ in a Norwegian context, arguing that engagement with nature harbours a concealed ecological fallacy. Identifying the means by which we can deepen and enrich our emotional awareness of nature – especially by pinpointing emotions that spur people to act in harmony with the environment – holds immense potential for the development of sustainable lifestyles. We categorize these conceptual moods as the hedonic mood, the eudaimonic mood, and the mood of self-transcendence. Addressing the Western, individualistic perspective on the human-nature relationship, we suggest that leisure and recreational interactions with nature are conducive to a revitalization of the concept of ‘friluftsliv’.
... The research into eudaimonia and hedonia began with the question of whether they are different types of wellbeing or different pathways people use to seek wellbeing (Ryan and Deci, 2001;Kashdan et al., 2008). Recent theories and empirical findings suggest that eudaimonia and hedonia can be conceptualized as two distinct processes of positive functioning: they are both positively related to trait wellbeing indicators but are associated with different activities, motivational orientations, and emotional states (Huta, 2016;Vittersø, 2016Vittersø, , 2018. ...
... Our approach to eudaimonia and hedonia is informed by two theoretical contexts that offer symmetrical definitions of the two constructs. According to the Functional Wellbeing Approach (Vittersø, 2016(Vittersø, , 2018, hedonic wellbeing is a subjective experience of pleasure or satisfaction that reflects homeostatic stability achieved by satisfying one's needs. Eudaimonic wellbeing, in turn, comprises experiences such as interest, engagement, curiosity, and awe, and reflects change or growth process associated with overcoming challenges. ...
... Certainly, subjective wellbeing measures (Diener, 2009) have numerous advantages, one of them being content-free (Sheldon, 2018), in line with Loevinger's (1968) early idea that the definition of mental health should not be broadened. However, they tend to contain a mixture of phenomenological indicators of hedonic and eudaimonic states (Vittersø, 2016) and also fail to address complex emotions, such as awe, elevation, or fulfillment (Huta, 2013). Extending self-report measures to address the diverse facets of positive functioning may not solve the problem either: similar subjective evaluations of autonomy, competence, relationships, etc. at different ED levels may conceal the differences in the complexity of their objective manifestations and/or in the subjective criteria used to evaluate them. ...
Introduction
Eudaimonia, in contrast to hedonia, is theorized to be a more complex type of positive functioning that involves personal growth and is guided by the pursuit of meaning. However, the existing evidence linking eudaimonia to personality development is rather scarce. To fill this gap, we aimed to explore whether ego development is related to eudaimonic well-being and eudaimonic orientations, most notably, the concern for meaning: we explored both the quantitative differences in the presence of meaning and the search for it, as well as qualitative differences in lay theories of meaning.
Methods
Russian-speaking volunteers recruited online (N = 364, aged 18 to 85, 63% female) completed measures of ego development (Washington University Sentence Completion Test), meaning in life (Meaning in Life Questionnaire), lay theories of meaning (and original 20-item measure), hedonic and eudaimonic motives for activities (HEMA), and well-being (Mental Health Continuum—Short Form).
Results
Ego development emerged as a weak, but significant positive predictor of well-being and this effect was fully mediated by the presence of meaning and eudaimonic motives. Latent profile analysis of the items tapping into lay theories of meaning revealed four distinct individual approaches to meaning that mainly differed in the subjective importance and salience of meaning. Participants with stronger concern for meaning revealed higher scores on ego development, both presence and search for meaning, eudaimonic motives, and well-being.
Discussion
The results add to the evidence concerning the links between ego development and well-being and are in line with the theoretical view of eudaimonia as a process of growth guided by personal concern for meaning. The findings suggest that eudaimonia might be more easily attained by individuals at higher stages of personal development.
... However, the majority of the research on the relationship between positive emotions and work outcomes has focused on general positive emotions and thus suggested that all positive emotions are equally related to other work variables [41]. By applying the functional wellbeing approach (FWA, [42,43]), we aim to bring nuance to this topic. According to the FWA, two distinct categories of positive emotions are particularly important for well-being: hedonic feelings, such as pleasure and happiness, and eudaimonic feelings, such as interest and immersion. ...
... A short version of the scale is comprised of nine items reflecting five basic emotions (happiness, interest, fear, anger, and sadness). The two positive emotions represent hedonic (i.e., happiness) and eudaimonic emotions (i.e., interest), respectively, whereas the three negative emotions may be summarized as a single negative composite score [43]. The participants were asked to report the overall frequency of the five basic emotions in their lives overall. ...
... Our Hypoth was, however, not confirmed. This result was surprising given the large number of previous studies showing how hedonic feelings are unrelated or even negatively related to challenging tasks, whereas eudaimonic feelings are positively associated with such tasks (see Vittersø, 2016, for an overview). Again, a possible reason might be that our data derives from participants imagining how other people might be feeling in challenging situations and not from real feelings in such situations. ...
The job characteristics literature has revealed that job demands can be differentiated into hindrance and challenge demands. However, there has been little consensus on this categorization. Additionally, studies have revealed that job demands can be perceived as hindering and challenging at the same time. The present study aims to bring nuance to this topic by investigating two job demands (i.e., time pressure and emotionally demanding situations) and to what degree they are appraised as challenging and hindering for two occupational groups (i.e., nurses and real estate agents). This study also investigates the impact of emotional dispositions on demand appraisals. A convenience sample (N = 851 Norwegian students) read vignettes and reported their appraisals for six different job situations. A factor analysis revealed that our measures of demand appraisals differed from those reported in previous studies. We therefore labeled the two kinds of appraisals as hindrance-like and challenge-like since they overlap without being identical to the previously reported labels of hindrance and challenge, respectively. Furthermore, we found that job demands were appraised as hindrance-like and challenge-like at the same time but to different degrees. Job demands for core tasks were typically appraised as more challenge-like than hindrance-like. Job demands for non-core tasks were typically appraised as more hindrance-like than challenge-like. Positive trait emotions predicted challenge-like appraisals. By documenting how imagined job demands appear as hindrances and challenges, our study supports previous studies showing that challenge-like demands may play a role in the motivational process in the job demands-resources model. Limitations to vignette studies are discussed.
... The research into eudaimonia and hedonia began with the question whether they are different types of well-being or different pathways to well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001;Kashdan et al., 2008). Although a consensus is yet to be reached, recent empirical and theoretical work suggests that eudaimonia and hedonia can be conceptualized as two distinct types of positive functioning (Huta, 2016;Vittersø, 2016a) associated with different activities, motivational patterns, and emotional states, despite both being positively related to trait well-being indicators. ...
... According to the functional model of well-being (Vittersø, 2016a), hedonia is a simpler type of positive functioning that involves satisfying one's needs and maintaining homeostasis, and is reflected in the feelings of pleasure and satisfaction; in turn, eudaimonia involves effortful growth, overcoming challenges, and is reflected in the experience of interest. Hedonic motives comprise striving for pleasure and comfort, avoidance of distress and negative emotions, whereas eudaimonic motives comprise the pursuit of personal growth, meaning, authenticity, and excellence (Huta, 2016). ...
... However, the correlations of ED with SWB have been modest, at best (e.g., r = .22 and r = .00 in Bauer & McAdams, 2010), and it was only at the highest ED stages that higher SWB scores were discovered more or less consistently (Bauer, 2011;Bauer, Schwab, & McAdams, 2011) Given the scarcity of existing evidence, we sought to re-examine this link in a different cultural setting using a measure of eudaimonic well-being, rather than SWB, whose common measures tend to contain a mixture of hedonic and eudaimonic indicators (Vittersø, 2016a). ...
Eudaimonia is theorized to be a more complex type of positive functioning than hedonia, associated with personality development and maturity. In this study, we aimed to find out whether ego development (ED), proposed as a measure of psychosocial maturity, is related to eudaimonic wellbeing and whether trait indicators of eudaimonic functioning can explain this association. Adult participants from a community sample (N = 357, age 18-80, 63% female) completed Russian versions of WUSCT, MLQ, HEMA-R, and MHC-SF. The results of structural equation modeling indicate that trait indicators of eudaimonic functioning can explain the association between ED and eudaimonic well-being, providing some support for the view of eudaimonia as a complex type of flourishing more easily attained by mature personalities.
... Moreover, certain activities in the natural environment feed different positive emotions: While pleasant feelings associate with life satisfaction, striving to use one's potentials or seeking meaning relates to eudaimonic well-being (Vittersø et al., 2010;Vittersø and Søholt, 2011;Vittersø, 2016). Both dimensions are important in a fully functional life. ...
... Awe, as a positive emotion taking place in aesthetic nature experience, transforms us toward a reorientation of our lives, goals, and values (Fuller, 2012;Saether, 2017). While the function of emotions to some degree is known in well-being research (Vittersø, 2016), the identification of intentionality: when and why these emotions occur in the natural environment, are less known. Both aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic interest are identified during wilderness experiences, whereas aesthetic interest most typically can be interpreted to the active approach to valuing the natural environments as sacred, construction of new meaning, and feeling a connection with the powerful unseen forces of wild nature (McDonald et al., 2009), which could correspond to understanding the sublime. ...
... On the other hand, personal growth was correlated with feeling at home in nature during both adventures. The finding supports that life satisfaction and personal growth needs to be understood separately as different facets of well-being (Vittersø, 2016). Moreover, it is informative that both expeditions related personal growth to feeling at home in nature, but life satisfaction was only related to feeling at home in nature during plateau-cold. ...
Environmental conditions affect one’s aesthetic experience in natural environments. Understanding that effect requires accounting for the conditions affecting one’s attention and experience. Rather than attempt to reduce and control environmental factors, we compare two similar groups during naturally occurring, intense and overwhelming conditions and examine the relationship between common characteristics as well as environment and group differences. Participants undertook a 5-day, winter, wilderness adventure training course designed to challenge their considerable wilderness and leadership skills under two different extreme weather conditions but within the same wilderness area (n = 47 full participation). In addition to pre- and post-adventure questionnaires, participants responded daily during the wilderness experience to briefly describe a self-selected, strong experience of nature; characterize its associated feeling states; and answer questions probing eight aesthetic aspects of the experience. Participant strong experience of nature related to hedonic and eudaimonic feelings in different ways depending upon environmental conditions. In particular, strong correlations occurred between agreement ratings with “I felt at home in nature” daily experience reports and satisfaction with life and personal growth trait measures, but primarily during sunny and cold conditions on a high plateau (PG: Pearson r = 0.51; SWL: r = 0.70) and not significantly in stormy and wet weather in a mountain forest. In addition, experience narratives that correspond to strongest agreement to feeling at home in nature were examined for shared themes and synthesized into six dimensions: focus on sensory experiences at a particular moment, self-reflection, wonder, appreciation of beauty, positive emotions, and insight of relation to nature. These findings actualize the notion of wonder, aroused by sudden feelings or by reflection, as a salient ingredient in feeling at home in wilderness. The finding of feeling at home in nature, as the most important feature relating to feelings and well-being, is discussed in relation to self-awareness, philosophical thinking, and potential ethical awareness.
... Moreover, certain activities in the natural environment feed di erent positive emotions: While pleasant feelings associate with life satisfaction, striving to use one's potentials or seeking meaning relates to eudaimonic well-being (Vittersø et al., 2010;Vittersø and Søholt, 2011;Vittersø, 2016). Both dimensions are important in a fully functional life. ...
... Awe, as a positive emotion taking place in aesthetic nature experience, transforms us toward a reorientation of our lives, goals, and values (Fuller, 2012;Saether, 2017). While the function of emotions to some degree is known in well-being research (Vittersø, 2016), the identification of intentionality: when and why these emotions occur in the natural environment, are less known. Both aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic interest are identified during wilderness experiences, whereas aesthetic interest most typically can be interpreted to the active approach to valuing the natural environments as sacred, construction of new meaning, and feeling a connection with the powerful unseen forces of wild nature (McDonald et al., 2009), which could correspond to understanding the sublime. ...
... On the other hand, personal growth was correlated with feeling at home in nature during both adventures. The finding supports that life satisfaction and personal growth needs to be understood separately as di erent facets of well-being (Vittersø, 2016). Moreover, it is informative that both expeditions related personal growth to feeling at home in nature, but life satisfaction was only related to feeling at home in nature during plateau-cold. ...
How does one experience nature? We examine arduous experiences of extreme outdoor wilderness to gain both knowledge of experience in that particular context and a relational understanding of nature. In the context studied, friluftsliv captures core Nordic values related to contemplative, aesthetic, and meaning-making dimensions of active immersion in unmanipulated nature. We examined 26 college students in small, loosely facilitated outdoor adventure leadership and skill-building courses before, during, and after a five-day, wilderness, cross-country ski trip with overnight camping in self-built snow caves. Drawing upon aesthetics within philosophical theology and eudaimonic well-being within positive psychology, we develop an empirically driven theoretical framework for examining aesthetic and spiritual experience in nature with relevance for future theological and psychological investigations. Our study included: self-report questionnaires from positive psychology and psychology of spirituality; a novel questionnaire under development for assessing aesthetic experience in nature; and qualitative and computational text analysis of brief experience reports written during the wilderness adventure. With factor analysis of the aesthetics questionnaire, we found two aesthetic factors: one apparently relating to traditional appreciation of beauty and a second factor relating to aspects of awe, immersive communion with nature, and the sublime.
... To find the kind of positive emotions that are capable of building psychological and physiological resources necessary in goal pursuit, one should probably look in the direction of high-aroused feelings such as interest, challenge and engagement (Kirby, Tugade, Morrow, Ahrens, & Smith, 2014;Shiota, Thrash, Danvers, & Dombrowski, 2014;Smith et al., 2014;Straume & Vittersø, 2012;Vittersø, 2016). Hence, in order to understand the dialectics between goal pursuits, goal attainment and wellbeing, we suggest that the positive emotions that are included as elements of wellbeing are better differentiated into those that are hedonic (or benefit-related) and those that are eudaimonic (or opportunity-related). 1 The present research aims at using this distinction in a longitudinal experimental design. ...
... Hedonic wellbeing (HWB) concerns feelings and evaluations that are recognized as pleasant or unpleasant, what Kahneman refers to as the good-bad dimension of the human mind (Kahneman, 1999). It is further becoming conventional to regard the concept of subjective wellbeing (SWB) as a kind of hedonic of wellbeing (e.g., Disabato, Goodman, Kashdan, Short, & Jarden, 2016;Vittersø, 2016), although this conceptualization is debatable (Haybron, 2016). ...
... Eudaimonic wellbeing (EWB) reflects a more complex concept than that of HWB, and no consensus about a taxonomy of EWB has yet been established (e.g., Vittersø, 2016). Historically, the term "eudaimonia" was merely the ancient Greek word for "a good life," thus both hedonic theories and different versions of Aristotelian theories of happiness were (competing) conceptualizations of eudaimonia (Keyes & Annas, 2009;Nussbaum, 2001). ...
... Flow theory (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1999) argues that these positive feelings only appear after the activity has ended (Moneta and Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). By contrast, the functional wellbeing approach (FWA; Vittersø, 2013Vittersø, , 2016Vittersø, , 2018 argues that positive feelings are actually present during flow, but that they are not experienced as pleasure or happiness but rather emotions like interest, immersion, and engagement. Following this theory, the feeling of happiness comes later, as the result of an appraisal of goal accomplishment. ...
... Several scholars therefore point out the usefulness of separating feelings of pleasure from feelings of interest (Hidi and Renninger, 2006;Vittersø et al., 2010;Renninger and Hidi, 2011;Vittersø, 2016). Pleasure, the argument goes, works as a reward when reaching small or big goals, while interest facilitates learning, growth, and the struggle toward reaching difficult goals. ...
... Pleasure, the argument goes, works as a reward when reaching small or big goals, while interest facilitates learning, growth, and the struggle toward reaching difficult goals. In the functional wellbeing approach (FWA; Vittersø, 2016), these systems are supposed to fulfill two important needs: the need for stability (pleasure) and the need for change (interest). ...
When extreme sport athletes explain the engagement behind their taxing and risky endeavors, they often refer to the happiness generated by the activities. However, during the activity, these athletes seem neither pleased nor happy. This article proposes some answers from a study of facially expressed emotions measured moment by moment during downhill mountain biking. Self-reported emotions were also assessed immediately after the trip was over. The participants display less happiness during the activity than before and after the activity. No significant associations between facially expressed and self-reported emotions were observed. Findings are discussed with reference to the functional well-being approach arguing that some momentary feelings are non-evaluative in the sense of being caused by the difficulty of the ongoing activity. Within this framework, easy tasks produce happy feelings while difficult tasks produce interest—regardless of whether a goal has been reached or not. By contrast, retrospective emotions involve the evaluation of the activity in relation to its goal. When a goal is accomplished, the accompanying feeling is positive. If a goal (or value) is threatened, lost, or not achieved, negative feelings follow.
... The process of identity formation, process of self-determination includes the consideration of values, self or personality (Bauer, 2016;Schlegel et al., 2016) and life (Dahla et al., 2020) concretized as goals to be achieved, thus intrinsically motivating action. Feelings, emotions and experiences of satisfaction are indicators of success in the choice and execution of values and goals in life, but they also play an active role, aligned or not with motivation (Waterman et al., 2010;Danvers et al., 2016;Vallerand, 2016;Vittersø, 2016b;Chaves, 2021). ...
... Frontiers in Psychology 13 frontiersin.org Vittersø (2016b), in his study of the role of emotions in relation to flourishing, acknowledges Arnold's theory regarding the role of feelings and explains the importance of emotions in consolidating psychological functioning and being able to achieve the goals that individuals set in life. However, what we propose is that Arnold theorizes about emotions and the self-ideal not only to establish that emotional regulation is a means to reach the self-ideal, but also to suggest that the presence of a self-ideal serves emotional regulation, understanding by self-ideal not only a realization of one's own potentialities but also achieving a good life. ...
The convergence of researchers in the fields of flourishing, moral psychology, and social–emotional studies has reached a stage where developing a theory that connects emotional regulation and flourishing is meaningful. This theoretical investigation aims to uncover insights from the research of Magda B. Arnold, renowned for her theory of emotions, and lesser-known for her notion of the self-ideal, regarding the relationship between emotional regulation and flourishing. Our initial hypothesis posits that Arnold’s concept of self-ideal provides a framework for understanding how to foster emotional regulation in individuals by directing it toward constructive life objectives. To achieve this, we explore the current state of emotional regulation and flourishing and the relationship between these concepts; we consider the interconnectedness of emotion and self-ideal within Arnold’s theory and analyze its potential to serve as a foundation for building a theory relating flourishing and emotional regulation. We find in Arnold’s theory substantial ideas about the relationship between emotional regulation, flourishing, and self-ideal, as well as emerging empirical research relating to these themes. We conclude that Arnold’s research can serve as a catalyst for developing psychological intervention models that enhance emotional regulation and promote a flourishing life.
... The reason for this expectation is that the concept of eudaimonic well-being differs from other types of well-being essentially in that it focuses on the exploration and realization of one's potential rather than on the maintenance of psychological equilibrium. Vittersø's (2016) argues that while the function of subjective/hedonic well-being is to maintain homeostatic stability, eudaimonic well-being has a non-homeostatic function that focuses on developing one's ability to cope with an ever-changing environment, planning, and potentially altering the environment. Elements of eudaimonic well-being (e.g., environmental mastery, continuous personal growth, and creating meaning in life) are skills that need to be continually practiced and refined in the face of new information and challenges, and across context and time. ...
... Moreover, these results collectively imply that affective traits (neuroticism and extraversion) are of great importance for the development of subjective well-being, maybe because subjective wellbeing is essentially affective. Psychological well-being, on the other hand, is essentially functional (Vittersø, 2016), and this may explain why affective personality traits are less consequential for the development of psychological well-being. The fact that extraversion is a significant prospective predictor of psychological well-being appears to be primarily because it promotes more activity and engagement with the environment, rather than its association with more frequent positive affect. ...
This study used an American sample collected over a period of approximately 2 decades (at 3 time points) to examine the temporal relationships between psychological well-being and personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience). The random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to separate between-person and within-person sources of variation. Between-person correlations were comparable to those of previous studies. New insights were gained at the within-person level. There were reciprocal relationships between psychological well-being and openness and extraversion, suggesting the joint development of plasticity-related traits and well-being over time. The relationships between psychological well-being and conscientiousness and agreeableness were unidirectional, with psychological well-being preceding these traits. Despite a strong between-person association between neuroticism and psychological well-being, the two were not related at the within-person level.
... Аффективные и когнитивные индикаторы субъективного благополучия хорошо коррелируют, но демонстрируют несколько различные закономерности: показатели аффекта в большей степени подвержены влиянию текущих жизненных событий и сильнее связаны с устойчивыми личностными диспозициями (экстраверсия и нейротизм), тогда как показатели удовлетворенности жизнью более стабильны и теснее свя заны с жизненными условиями, такими как уровень дохода или наличие работы [Tov, 2018]. Более того, даже отдельные позитивные эмоции могут отражать со держательно различные психологические процессы, связанные, соответственно, с поддержанием гомеостаза и с его преодолением и ростом [Vittersø, 2016]. Так стоит ли, с учетом перечисленных соображений, рассматривать субъективное благополучие как единый конструкт? ...
... Однако теоретические соображения и накопленные эмпирические данные свидетельствуют о непродук тивности такого отождествления. На уровне конкретной ситуации (или в условиях текущей оценки) как гедонистические и эвдемонические мотивы [Huta, 2016], так и соответствующие им процессы сохранения и преодоления гомеостаза [Vittersø, 2016] демонстрируют достаточно слабые связи и выглядят скорее взаимоисклю чающими. Однако при измерении в условиях ретроспективной оценки и на уровне личностных диспозиций гедония и эвдемония показывают достаточно тесные связи [Huta, 2016]: в жизни большинства людей стремление к смыслу, выводя Е. Н. Осин, Д. А. Леонтьев МЕТОДЫ И МЕТОДОЛОГИЯ щему за пределы «зоны комфорта», и стремление к удовольствию не исключают друг друга, даже если реализуются в разных ситуациях. ...
В статье дан краткий обзор основных возможностей и ограничений модели субъективного благополучия Э. Динера, а также существующих русскоязычных методик для измерения различных характеристик благополучия. Представлены два исследования, посвященных русскоязычной валидизации популярных инструментов для измерения благополучия. В первом исследовании изучаются психометрические характеристики Шкалы субъективного счастья С. Любомирски и Шкалы удовлетворенности жизнью Э. Динера на большой выборке взрослых, представителей различных социальных групп (N=7091). Оба русскоязычных инструмента демонстрируют теоретически ожидаемую структуру, высокую надежность и предсказуемые связи с другими индикаторами субъективного благополучия, конструктивного мышления и позитивного функционирования. Во втором исследовании на выборке онлайн-панели (N=1021), стратифицированной по федеральным округам России, изучена валидность опросника «Спектр психологического благополучия» К. Киза, включающего шкалы эмоционального, социального и психологического благополучия. Изучены связи его показателей с другими индикаторами субъективного благополучия и качества жизни. Результаты свидетельствуют о структурной валидности и высокой надежности показателей методики. В приложении представлен стимульный материал методик, которые могут быть использованы в рамках мониторинговых исследований благополучия на русскоязычных выборках.
Благодарность. Статья подготовлена при поддержке Российского научного фонда, проект № 18-18-00341.
... One tradition, going back to Aristotle, will have it that skill development feels good if executed according to certain principles. Different versions of this approach are found in the Eudaimonic identity theory (Waterman, 2008) and flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 2009) Self-determination theory (Deci, 1975;Deci andRyan, 1985, 2000) and the Functional wellbeing approach (Vittersø, 2013(Vittersø, , 2016(Vittersø, , 2018. The competing position argues that the development of talent requires considerable concentration and effort, and consequently, that the training of skills does not feel good. ...
... The Functional wellbeing approach (FWA; Vittersø, 2013Vittersø, , 2016Vittersø, , 2018 offers such an account, and a brief resume will be given below. The interested reader is referred to Vittersø (2018) for further details. ...
Happiness is typically reported as an important reason for participating in challenging activities like extreme sport. While in the middle of the activity, however, participants do not seem particularly happy. So where does the happiness come from? The article proposes some answers from a study of facially expressed emotions measured moment-by-moment during a backcountry skiing event. Self-reported emotions were also assessed immediately after the skiing. Participants expressed lower levels of happiness while skiing, compared to when stopping for a break. Moment-to-moment and self-reported measures of emotions were largely unrelated. These findings are explained with reference to the Functional Wellbeing Approach (Vittersø, 2013), which argues that some moment-to-moment feelings are non-evaluative in the sense of being generated directly by the difficulty of an activity. By contrast, retrospective emotional feelings are more complex as they include an evaluation of the overall goals and values associated with the activity as a whole.
... This approach can be labeled hedonic and it has laid the ground for a number of well-known time use studies relying on subjective indicators, such as the U-Index (Kahneman and Krueger, 2006;Krueger et al., 2009). However, eudaimonic well-being research shows that experiences bringing momentary pleasure may not necessarily be satisfying in the long term (Vittersø, 2013(Vittersø, , 2016Waterman, 2013). ...
Introduction
The notion of satisfaction with the use of one’s time has not been operationalized previously. Based on qualitative interviews, we propose a concept of positive time use comprised by four components: self-congruence of daily activities, balance between activities, efficient use of time, and a sense of mastery over one’s time.
Methods
Using data from two UK adult samples (N = 173 and N = 357), we developed a new measure, Positive Time Use Inventory (PTUI), and investigated its structural and convergent validity.
Results and discussion
The associations of positive time use with balanced time perspective, affect balance, satisfaction with life, sense of coherence, and self-reported satisfaction with time use indicate convergent and discriminant validity of the new measure. Positive time use partially explained the associations of balanced time perspective with subjective well-being and fully mediated the effects of future time perspective and time management on subjective well-being. We propose positive time use as a new model of temporal well-being, which brings together the notions of work-life balance, time efficiency, and time mastery in a single comprehensive framework, helping to inform the time management coaching interventions.
... We controlled for age, gender, experience of COVID-19, and vaccination status in these relationships and entered into the regression model in Step 1. The increased number of vaccinations may give a feeling of security and reassurance (Hatmal et al., 2021), which in turn may relate to satisfaction with life (Vittersø, 2016). Given this theoretical relevance between the variables, it is plausible to control for the effect of vaccination status to examine the unique contribution of COVID-19 stressors in predicting satisfaction with life. ...
Introduction: Past research has shown that psychological and behavioral factors, including anxiety, fear, and preventive behaviors, are related to well-being outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet little is known about the simultaneous effects of those factors in predicting satisfaction with life among vaccinated people. Methods: This cross-sectional study is among the first to examine whether COVID-19 anxiety, fear of COVID-19, and preventive behaviors predicted satisfaction with life among the vaccinated general public in Turkey. Participants were 1,017 Turkish adults (69.71% female; mean age = 36.28, SD = 10.83 years) who completed online self-reported questionnaires. Results: Results showed that increased levels of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 significantly predicted reduced satisfaction with life over and above the effects of sociodemographic and clinical factors. Discussion: The findings suggest the importance of tailoring and implementing interventions focusing on the improvement of the well-being of people during the pandemic.
... The positive psychology PERMA model provides an explanatory framework for studying the mechanisms underlying tourism, active ageing, and well-being. The PERMA model, proposed by Seligman and Fowler (2011), incorporates both hedonistic and happiness perspectives, with positive emotions representing distinct hedonic elements that are dynamic and variable (Zhou et al., 2021), and engagement being the interaction through the core that affects individuals' mental or feeling states and thus their well-being (Vittersø, 2016). Relationships of various forms (romance, work, friendship) are the fuel for positive (or negative) emotions, and from a positive psychology perspective, receiving, sharing, and spreading positivity by building relationships over time contributes to an individual's well-being (Fredrickson, 2001). ...
This study explores the relationship between mind and body interactions and continuum theory perspectives on senior tourism, active aging, and well-being. Through representative picture interviews with 12 elders in Study I and in-depth interviews with 8 elders in Study II.z the positive psychology model PREMA was applied to the well-being outcomes of senior tourists in study I, the findings identifying positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievements in the presentation of senior tourists’ wellbeing. In Study II, the findings are the effects of mind–body interaction and continuity on senior tourists through narrative analysis, then the role and influence mechanism of sensory interaction, linkage, physical and mental tuning outcomes, and
tourism continuity value pursuit constitute the process path of well�being in senior tourism. It will deepen the potential significance of the positive energetic dimension of continuity theory and the dynamic dimension of physical to mental interaction, thus it highlighting the responsibility and practical revelation of society and tourism enterprises
in creating well-being outcomes in senior tourism.
... The positive psychology PERMA model provides an explanatory framework for studying the mechanisms underlying tourism, active ageing, and well-being. The PERMA model, proposed by Seligman and Fowler (2011), incorporates both hedonistic and happiness perspectives, with positive emotions representing distinct hedonic elements that are dynamic and variable (Zhou et al., 2021), and engagement being the interaction through the core that affects individuals' mental or feeling states and thus their well-being (Vittersø, 2016). Relationships of various forms (romance, work, friendship) are the fuel for positive (or negative) emotions, and from a positive psychology perspective, receiving, sharing, and spreading positivity by building relationships over time contributes to an individual's well-being (Fredrickson, 2001). ...
This study explores the relationship between mind and body interactions and continuum theory perspectives on senior tourism, active aging, and well-being. Through representative picture interviews with 12 elders in Study I and in-depth interviews with 8 elders in Study II.z the positive psychology model PREMA was applied to the well-being outcomes of senior tourists in study I, the findings identifying positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievements in the presentation of senior tourists' wellbeing. In Study II, the findings are the effects of mind-body interaction and continuity on senior tourists through narrative analysis, then the role and influence mechanism of sensory interaction, linkage, physical and mental tuning outcomes, and tourism continuity value pursuit constitute the process path of well-being in senior tourism. It will deepen the potential significance of the positive energetic dimension of continuity theory and the dynamic dimension of physical to mental interaction, thus it highlighting the responsibility and practical revelation of society and tourism enterprises in creating well-being outcomes in senior tourism. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Another dimension closely associated with the nonpecuniary motivations of user innovators' is their emotions. Vittersø [50] and Disabato et al. [51] explained that individuals seek to maintain biopsychosocial well-being through diverse emotional functions. Hedonic emotion is one such emotional function to maintain homeostatic balance. ...
User-generated innovation has contributed to the growth of the democratization of open-innovation models. One of the most common forms of user-generated innovation is evident on social media platforms. The purpose of this study is to investigate nonpecuniary motivations that drive innovation among user innovators on social media platforms. Furthermore, the study examines the underlying sociopsychological and biological dispositions that influence nonpecuniary motivation. The experimental and control group consisted of 204 user innovators on different social media platforms who filled out a self-reporting questionnaire in this exploratory research design. The study assessed endocrinal biomarkers through a proxy measure of 2D:4D ratio associated with behavioral, emotional, and social behavior. It developed a moderated-mediation model evaluating the indirect conditional relationships through a regression-based analysis with bootstrapped estimations. The findings support the moderated-mediation model, indicating that nonpecuniary motivation primarily explains user innovator behavior. Hedonic emotions, characterized by aesthetics, experiential enjoyment, and satisfaction-related feelings, mediate this relationship. A critical finding of the study is that endocrinal testosterone moderates this mediated relationship. This study is the first to apply a biopsychosocial lens to examine motivational drives influencing user-generated innovation using a moderated-mediation model. It contributes to understanding user innovators’ tricky motivational purposes, emphasizing the role of human agency in advancing the open-innovation agenda.
... Some of us believe that a eudaimonic approach to wellbeing compensates for some of the limitations of the common factor approach. Vittersø (2016) has for instance proposed that a distinction can be made between two separate kinds of positive feelings. He refers to them as hedonic and eudaimonic feeling states. ...
We assess the effects of differing welfare-capitalist ‘regimes’ on income inequality, economic (job)insecurity, gender inequality and life satisfaction. Thirty-one advanced industrial countries are classified as having a ‘regime’ that is predominantly social democratic, liberal, corporatist-conservative, Southern European ‘familial’, or East European post-communist (Esping-Andersen, The three worlds of welfare-capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999; Arts and Gelissen, The Oxford handbook of the welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). We find that income inequality and economic insecurity (fear of job loss) are lower in the Scandinavian social democratic regimes than the other regimes. Life satisfaction is both higher and more equal. It is also found that differences in life satisfaction between people of higher and lower socio-economic status, and between those with higher and lower incomes, are comparatively small in social democratic regimes. The evidence on gender equality is mixed. Women are well represented in political office in Scandinavia, but the gender pay gap is not smaller than elsewhere. Nor are Scandinavian women more satisfied with life, relative to men, than in other regimes. Satisfaction with ‘work-life balance’ is highest in Scandinavia, but it is men not women who are most satisfied. Data are drawn from the European Social Survey (2002–), the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia Survey (2001–), the Japanese Household Panel Survey (2009–), and the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics (2009–).
... Some of us believe that a eudaimonic approach to wellbeing compensates for some of the limitations of the common factor approach. Vittersø (2016) has for instance proposed that a distinction can be made between two separate kinds of positive feelings. He refers to them as hedonic and eudaimonic feeling states. ...
... Some of us believe that a eudaimonic approach to wellbeing compensates for some of the limitations of the common factor approach. Vittersø (2016) has for instance proposed that a distinction can be made between two separate kinds of positive feelings. He refers to them as hedonic and eudaimonic feeling states. ...
In this chapter, I highlight how Ruud Veenhoven influenced my work about subjective well being in Latin America. Or that purpose I propose some coincidences in the way of thinking between Ruud and the Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef. I also share some anecdotes about his memorable trip to Colombia. I start from his now classical analysis about the four types of quality of life. From then on, I elaborate on how social relationships in particular relations of good quality with family and sharing of positive emotions can be considered as an interesting variable to explain the paradox of happiness in Latin America.
... Our analyses are limited to consumers' brand-related investments through technology-facilitated platforms (i.e., CTFBE; Ramaswamy & Ozcan, 2016), as outlined. Through its core interactive nature, engagement is likely to affect consumers' mental and/or feeling states (Vittersø, 2016), thus impacting their wellbeing. ...
In recent years, growing attention has been devoted to consumer engagement with brands through emerging technological (e.g., social media/artificial intelligence-based) platforms. However, despite important advances, much remains unknown regarding the effect of consumers’ technology-facilitated brand engagement (CTFBE) on their wellbeing, thus posing an important research gap. To explore this gap, we first define CTFBE as a consumer’s boundedly volitional resource investment in technology-mediated brand interactions. We next outline two approaches to CTFBE and its effect on wellbeing. First, adopting a positivist approach, we propose a framework that incorporates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-informed CTFBE antecedents of consumer-perceived technology usefulness and -ease-of-use, in addition to goal salience and network position. In turn, we contend that CTFBE affects the PERMA-based consumer wellbeing facets of Positive Emotions, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments. Second, in adopting Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), we address CTFBE-related wellbeing from sociological, anthropological, and cultural perspectives. We outline CCT’s importance for CTFBE¹ in the following areas: (i) brand/consumption communities, (ii) consumption myths, rituals, and practices, and (iii) consumption and identity issues. Finally, we introduce the papers contained in this Section and offer an agenda for further research.
... Together with Veronika Huta, Waterman clustered eudaimonic wellbeing into four distinct clusters of research traditions noting that they share four common elements : authenticity, meaning, excellence and growth (Huta & Waterman, 2014). The four clusters are; First, experience: research on experience involves affects and cognitive-affective appraisals and generally assessed through self-reports (Ryan & Martela, 2016;Vittersø, 2016;Waterman, 1990Waterman, , 2013Waterman, , 2015. Second, Orientation: the orientation tradition seeks to address the 'whys' of behavior and often studied as predictors of behaviours (Huta, 2015(Huta, , 2016Huta & Ryan, 2010). ...
The global Halal industry is large and continues to grow as the global Muslim population increases in size and dispersion. There are 1.84 billion Muslims today spread over 200 countries and is expected to increase to 2.2 billion by 2030. The industry will be worth USD6.4 trillion by the end of 2018 with more non-traditional players and emergent markets. The stakes are high with pressures to generate novel and sustainable practices. This goes beyond systems and hard skills as it needs to cut into the self-the person of virtues in virtuous acts, not because they "have to" but because it is the purpose of humankind or his telos-to be "living well" and "acting well" or eudaimonia. This study seek to explore Halal executives' lived experience of "eudaimonia.". Using Giorgi's descriptive psychological phenomenological method for data analysis, the study elicits two distinct invariant structures-'disequilibrium in status quo' and 'divinity salience'.
... Also considering growth as distinct from, but interacting with, adjustment, Vittersø (2016) has proposed that personal growth is an independent and unique component of well-being. In contrast to mainstream theories on subjective well-being, Vittersø's functional well-being approach (FWA) proposes that subjective well-being comprises two separate kinds of goodness, one related to concepts such as simplicity, adjustment, assimilation, and biopsychosocial stabilization. ...
We defined home-related subjective well-being by constructing sets of its elements and examined its factor structure. The following findings were obtained:
1. A statistically supported three-factor model of home-related SWB, comprising home satisfaction, emotion at home and eudaimonia derived from home, was identified through factor analysis.
2. The domain of ‘eudaimonia derived from home’ can be characterized by the elements of ‘engagement and accomplishment,’ ‘aesthetic experience,’ ‘meaning,’ and ‘self-acceptance and self-esteem’.
3. ‘Attachment to home’ was found not to be associated with a specific domain of the home-related SWB.
4. Each domain of the home-related SWB has distinct determinants.
Background
Becoming a caregiver can be a transformative journey with profound, multifaceted implications for well-being. However, existing research predominantly emphasizes the negative aspects of caregiving, paying less attention to the positive sides. This study aims to explore the impact of transitioning into a caregiving role on various well-being indicators, such as negative hedonic, positive hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being.
Methods
We use Norwegian panel data (2019–2021) and employ a combination of nearest-neighbour matching and a difference-in-differences approach to analyse well-being trajectories among new caregivers (n = 304) and non-caregivers (n = 7822). We assess ten items capturing the dimensions of negative hedonic (anxiousness, sadness, and worriedness), positive hedonic (happiness and life satisfaction), eudaimonic (contributing to others’ happiness, engagement, and meaning), and social (strong social relations and loneliness) well-being.
Results
Our results show a general increase in negative hedonic well-being and a decline in positive hedonic well-being for new caregivers. These impacts are larger for caregivers providing daily care, compared to those providing weekly and monthly care, and for those providing care inside rather than outside their own household. We observe only minor differences regarding gender and age. Interestingly, we also notice neutral or beneficial changes for eudaimonic aspects of well-being; of note, caregivers generally experience an increased sense of contributing to others’ happiness.
Conclusion
Our study reveals that adopting a caregiving role often leads to significant psychosocial challenges, especially in intensive caregiving situations. However, it also uncovers potential positive influences on eudaimonic aspects of well-being. Future research should explore underlying explanatory mechanisms, to inform strategies that enhance caregivers’ well-being.
p>The article presents a description of the theoretical model of dreams and constructive dreaming, developed by a team of authors (Osin E.N., Kedrova N.B., Egorova P.A.). The dreaming is considered by the authors as a phenomenon of culture. The article provides a brief comparative analysis of the content of the concepts of “dream” and “dreaming” in English-speaking and Russian-speaking cultures, and also shows the differences in psychological approaches to understanding dreams and dreaming, depending on the cultural context. The paper provides definitions of dreams and constructive dreaming, discusses in detail the genesis of a dream, its content and types, as well as the positive functions of daydreams and constructive dreaming in the regulation of mental activity: development of intrinsic motivation, orientation in the decision-making process, development of a future time perspective, development of values-based motivation, support of psychological well-being. Based on the theoretical model we formulate the hypotheses for an empirical study of the positive functions of dreams and constructive dreaming. The results are presented in the second part of the work.</p
Human flourishing is a term that relates to the full development of people and societies, something we all long for, especially in times of crisis. It is widely accepted that education is an indispensable resource to promote human flourishing. The main aim of this article is to investigate whether human flourishing can be considered as the aim of character education in the virtues development approach. Publications on the subject of flourishing have proliferated in recent years. For this study we select ones that link flourishing and the aim of moral education from the perspective of the philosophy and theory of education, developed in the Anglo-American field. Assertions by David Carr (2021) and Kristján Kristjánsson (2020) on the subject of flourishing and character education provide a starting point and guide for the discussion that mainly revolves around the following questions. What notion of flourishing can be theoretically sustained as an educational goal? Why is character education not considered sufficient to promote flourishing? Why is it not considered necessary either? We conclude by underlining the value of educational theory based on a realistic view of flourishing as an attainable aim of character education. Some essential components of flourishing and moral education are absent from the theories reviewed.
Is it possible to be happy without virtues? At least for the kind of enduring human happiness
Aristotle bears, virtues are required (NE, I). In addition to virtues, some prosperity is necessary
for flourishing, like having friends and minimal external goods. Nowadays, we witness
different approaches to happiness – well-being – focusing on mental states – i.e., affective
– usually without reference to moral issues, concretely moral dispositions, or virtues. At the
crossroads of Philosophy and Psychology, the present article discusses the connection of
happiness – well-being – and affective states by presenting Fredrickson’s theory of positive
emotions, which has been criticised as approaching only hedonic well-being and therefore
overlooking its eudaimonic aspects. In her approach, there is no reference to the good
life connected to the human good, as in Aristotle’s ethics. However, there is instead an
understanding of becoming a benevolent, better person as a necessary human aspiration.
Keywords: happiness; flourishing; eudaimonic well-being; hedonic well-being; virtues;
(positive) emotions; Aristotle; Fredrickson
Most films are narrative stories about intentions and the vicissitudes they meet. Two themes of this chapter concern the emotions of people who read or watch these stories, and the psychological principle of projection. Empirically, it has been found that engagement with fictional stories, especially when they are artistic, enables people to increase their emotion-based empathy and their understanding of others. Two kinds of story occur frequently in films: stories of love and of angry conflict. Films have their own language, some elements of which must be learned. In plays and films one projects aspects of what one knows onto circumstances on stage or screen. One play and seven films are discussed to explore themes of emotion and projection, and how these relate to happiness and societal well-being.
Positive psychology recognizes happiness as a construct comprising hedonic and eudaimonic well-being dimensions. Integrating these components and a set of theory-led assumptions, we propose a mathematical model, given by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, to describe the dynamics of a person's happiness over time. The mathematical model offers insights into the role of emotions for happiness and why we struggle to attain sustainable happiness and tread the hedonic treadmill oscillating around a relative stable level of well-being. The model also indicates that lasting happiness may be achievable by developing constant eudaimonic emotions or human altruistic qualities that overcome the limits of the homeostatic hedonic system; in mathematical terms, this process is expressed as distinct dynamical bifurcations. This mathematical description is consistent with the idea that eudaimonic well-being is beyond the boundaries of hedonic homeostasis.
In this chapter, I describe the concept of happiness based on popular philosophical writings such as Bentham and Aristotle. In this vein, I make the case that happiness is a strong and universal motive. A distinction is made among three philosophical views of happiness namely, psychological, prudential, and perfectionist. Psychological happiness, philosophically-speaking, is translated into a wellbeing concept coined as “hedonic wellbeing.” Psychological happiness or hedonic wellbeing is defined in terms of positive and negative affect, hedonic sensations of monetary pleasures, neuronal chemical release of dopamine in the brain, psychological utility, and emotional wellbeing. In contrast, prudential happiness is translated psychologically into the popular concept of life satisfaction. In that vein, prudential happiness is further translated in research related to life satisfaction, domain satisfaction, flow and engagement, desire satisfaction, and attitudinal pleasure. The third major philosophical concept of happiness is perfectionist happiness, which is translated in the psychology literature as eudaimonic or psychological wellbeing. The wellbeing research that comes under this umbrella concept include eudaimonia, purpose and meaning in life, positive mental health or flourishing, satisfaction of the full spectrum of human needs (basic and growth needs), wisdom, resilience, and functional wellbeing.
This paper explores the relationship between a single-item scale on satisfaction with meaning in life (SML) and other well-being metrics, both eudaimonic and hedonic. A sample of N = 923 Spanish adolescents in secondary education was used for this purpose. Although we have theorized and explored this metric as a component of eudaimonic well-being, our results show that it is also very closely related to the cognitive and the affective components of hedonic well-being. Standardized regression weights using structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to show the strong correlation between the SML and all of the well-being instruments used in this study. This relationship was more pronounced with cognitive domain-based and positive affect latent variables than the eudaimonic well-being latent variable. Multi-group SEM analysis by gender and academic year reveals a definitive variation in the relationships between these variables for gender, whereas the variation by academic year remains unclear. The correlation between the SML and every other well-being instruments is stronger for girls in all cases. Although values decrease with age for all instruments, the relationships fluctuate and display no clear trend. This study contributes new evidence to discussions on the relationship between eudemonic and hedonic well-being.
Everything alive searches for goodness. And Ruut Veenhoven is no exception. During a long and truly amazing career, Ruut has added more to the study of happiness than most of us can hope for. One of the lasting contributions come from his insistence that in order to understand happiness, our thinking must be grounded in a broad conceptualization of goodness, one that also includes moral reasoning (e.g., Kainulainen et al. 2018; Veenhoven 2009, 2020). According to this framework, goodness can be arranged within a two (outer vs inner) by two (life-chances vs life-results) scheme in which only the inner life-result quadrant counts as happiness (Table 27.1). Hence, what Veenhoven refers to as overall happiness can be defined as “the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his or her life-as-a-whole favorably. In other words: how much he likes the life he leads.” (Veenhoven 1984, p. 22). In this vocabulary, terms like wellbeing, quality of life and happiness in the broadest sense of the word are used interchangeable, whereas the term overall happiness is used as a synonym for satisfaction and subjective wellbeing.
Current treatments for chronic pain have limited benefit. We describe a resilience intervention for individuals with chronic pain which is based on a model of viewing chronic pain as dysregulated homeostasis and which seeks to restore homeostatic self-regulation using strategies exemplified by survivors of extreme environments. The intervention is expected to have broad effects on well-being and positive emotional health, to improve cognitive functions, and to reduce pain symptoms thus helping to transform the suffering of pain into self-growth. A total of 88 Veterans completed the pre-assessment and were randomly assigned to either the treatment intervention (n = 38) or control (n = 37). Fifty-eight Veterans completed pre- and post-testing (intervention n = 31, control = 27). The intervention covered resilience strengths organized into four modules: (1) engagement, (2) social relatedness, (3) transformation of pain and (4) building a good life. A broad set of standardized, well validated measures were used to assess three domains of functioning: health and well-being, symptoms, and cognitive functions. Two-way Analysis of Variance was used to detect group and time differences. Broadly, results indicated significant intervention and time effects across multiple domains: (1) Pain decreased in present severity [F(1, 56) = 5.02, p < 0.05, η²p = 0.08], total pain over six domains [F(1, 56) = 14.52, p < 0.01, η²p = 0.21], and pain interference [F(1, 56) = 6.82, p < 0.05, η²p = 0.11]; (2) Affect improved in pain-related negative affect [F(1, 56) = 7.44, p < 0.01, η²p = 0.12], fear [F(1, 56) = 7.70, p < 0.01, η²p = 0.12], and distress [F(1, 56) = 10.87, p < 0.01, η²p = 0.16]; (3) Well-being increased in pain mobility [F(1, 56) = 5.45, p < 0.05, η²p = 0.09], vitality [F(1, 56) = 4.54, p < 0.05, η²p = 0.07], and emotional well-being [F(1, 56) = 5.53, p < 0.05, η²p = 0.09] Mental health symptoms and the cognitive functioning domain did not reveal significant effects. This resilience intervention based on homeostatic self-regulation and survival strategies of survivors of extreme external environments may provide additional sociopsychobiological tools for treating individuals with chronic pain that may extend beyond treating pain symptoms to improving emotional well-being and self-growth.
Clinical Trial Registration: Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04693728).
RESUMO: Este artigo científico sistematizou a concepção do psicólogo sino-canadense Paul T. P. Wong sobre as felicidades prudencial, eudaimonística e cairônica, no âmbito da sua proposta de Psicologia Positiva 2.0. A fim de contextualizar a sua visão da PP 2.0, teceram-se considerações propedêuticas sobre as facetas existencialista e indigenista da PP 2.0. Após, capítulos específicos se dedicaram a aprofundar a concepção de Wong acerca das felicidades autêntica, eudaimonística e cairônica, articulando esses constructos com a literatura contemporânea de PP 2.0, sejam as pesquisas científicas qualitativas, sejam as problematizações teoréticas, em diálogo com aportes do movimento transpessoal e do movimento existencial e humanista em Psicologia. ABSTRACT: This scientific article systematized the conception Sino-Canadian psychologist Paul T. P. Wong has of prudential, eudaimonic and chaironic happiness, within the scope of his proposal for Positive Psychology 2.0. In order to contextualize his vision of PP 2.0, propaedeutic considerations were made about the existentialist and indigenous facets of PP 2.0. Afterward, specific chapters were dedicated to deepening Wong's conception of authentic, eudaimonic, and chaironic happiness, articulating these constructs with contemporary PP 2.0 literature, be it qualitative scientific research or theoretical problems, in a dialogue with contributions from the transpersonal movement and the existential and humanist movement in Psychology.
Purpose: The aim of the study is to examine how pilgrimage can affect the participants' subjective wellbeing, and what possible factors that might be identified as psychologically supportive of the participants' subjective wellbeing.
Design: In the project "The art of walking", eleven volunteer participants (age 38-70) from an organized support group were followed before and after their 6-16-day pilgrimage in Spain, offered as a health-promoting initiative. Pre and post measures of wellbeing (SWLS; satisfaction with life, WEMWBS; mental wellbeing, PG; personal growth), all with three repeated measures (before, after and after 14 days) were followed up by individual interviews.
Findings: The pilgrimage had a great impact on the participants' wellbeing, measured on different dimensions. Effect sizes demonstrated change with medium and small effects. Eight different themes related to experiences from the completion of the pilgrimage were identified as psychologically supportive: Life skills, community, self-acceptance , physical challenges, sensory experiences, experiences of meaning, joy and laughter, and playfulness.
Data from an intensive longitudinal goal intervention study in Norway (N = 138) were used to test the assumption that hedonic (HWB) and eudaimonic (EWB) wellbeing reflect two distinct dimensions of wellbeing. Based on multilevel factor analyses, a path model and hierarchical regression analyses the paper aimed to demonstrate that a basic duality between the two kinds of wellbeing exists. Compared with one-factor models, factor models that separated between HWB and EWB were better able to explain the correlation between the variables. The two factors correlated in the area of .50 to .70. A multitrait-multimethod test revealed acceptable convergent and discriminant validity for HWB and EWB. Furthermore, an experimental manipulation of a daily exercise partly supported discriminant validity. Aside from illuminating the debate with new data, the paper offers a new theoretical perspective. Yet, several essential issues remain to be settled in order to better understand the concept of wellbeing.
A person-centered exploration of positive emotions in relation to self-determination theory might shed light on the hidden dynamics in the motivational processes in physical education (PE). In the present longitudinal study, PE students were followed during three years at secondary school (N = 1681). Latent class growth analysis revealed a three-class solution: The largest class (n = 1121) reported high levels of positive emotions over the three years. The second largest class (n = 275) reported low levels of positive emotions over the three years, and the smallest class (n = 112) reported a decrease in positive emotions over the three years. Further, the results revealed an association between the intensity of positive emotions, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and quality of motivation. This person-centered study contributes to the identification of students’ emotional engagement in PE as an indicator for understanding their processes of learning, development, and well-being.
Recent theories on emotion suggest that a limited set of core feelings are the cornerstone of subjective experiences. The article proposes to bring this perspective more deeply into the study of tourist experiences and behavioral intentions. It argues that two distinct categories of positive feelings are of particular importance when analyzing the experiences of travelers. The first category reflects feelings such as happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction. The second category reflects feelings such as engagement, interest, and absorption. With questionnaire data from 505 visitors to two popular sites in Northern Norway, the current study investigated the degree to which visitors' on-site feelings of happiness and engagement predict intentions to revisit to, or recommend to others, the destination. Results showed that engagement, but not happiness, predicted the visitors' intention to revisit. Engagement further predicted intentions to recommend the site to others. Feelings of on-site happiness also predicted recommendation intentions. The implications of the theoretical perspective and empirical results presented in the article are discussed. © Copyright 2017 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
Four experiments tested the hypothesis that objects toward which individuals hold attitudes that are highly accessible from memory (i.e., attitude-evoking objects) are more likely to attract attention when presented in a visual display than objects involving less accessible attitudes. In Experiments 1 and 2, Ss were more likely to notice and report such attitude-evoking objects. Experiment 3 yielded evidence of incidental attention; Ss noticed attitude-evoking objects even when the task made it beneficial to ignore the objects. Experiment 4 demonstrated that inclusion of attitude-evoking objects as distractor items interfered with Ss' performance of a visual search task. Apparently, attitude-evoking stimuli attract attention automatically. Thus, accessible attitudes provide the functional benefit of orienting an individual's visual attention toward objects with potential hedonic consequences.
This review organizes a variety of phenomena related to emotional self-report. In doing so, the authors offer an accessibility model that specifies the types of factors that contribute to emotional self-reports under different reporting conditions. One important distinction is between emotion, which is episodic, experiential, and contextual, and beliefs about emotion, which are semantic, conceptual, and decontextualized. This distinction is important in understanding the discrepancies that often occur when people are asked to report on feelings they are currently experiencing versus those that they are not currently experiencing. The accessibility model provides an organizing framework for understanding self-reports of emotion and suggests some new directions for research.
We collected and Facial Action Coding System (FACS) coded over 2,600 free-response facial and body displays of 22 emotions in China, India, Japan, Korea, and the United States to test 5 hypotheses concerning universals and cultural variants in emotional expression. New techniques enabled us to identify cross-cultural core patterns of expressive behaviors for each of the 22 emotions. We also documented systematic cultural variations of expressive behaviors within each culture that were shaped by the cultural resemblance in values, and identified a gradient of universality for the 22 emotions. Our discussion focused on the science of new expressions and how the evidence from this investigation identifies the extent to which emotional displays vary across cultures.
Presents a "theoretical model of the person who emerges from therapy––a person functioning freely in all the fullness of his organismic potentialities; a person who is dependable in being realistic, self-enhancing, socialized and appropriate in his behavior; a creative person, whose specific formings of behavior are not easily predictable; a person who is ever-changing, ever developing, always discovering himself and the newness in himself in each succeeding moment of time. This is the person who in an imperfect way actually emerges from the experience of safety and freedom in a therapeutic experience."
Despite the best efforts of many people to maximize well-being, the human condition is still marred by great levels of unhappiness. Here we discuss how recent advances in the understanding of the human brain may offer some insights. In particular, progress has been made in understanding pleasure or positive affect (hedonia) and the underlying processes of wanting, liking and learning. Yet, we are still far from understanding its sister element, eudaimonia, the sense of meaningfulness or engagement in life. We survey the key findings showing that hedonic brain mechanisms are shared between humans and other mammals, which have been useful in facilitating the understanding of hedonia. Evidence has also grown to indicate that for humans, brain networks of higher pleasures strongly overlap with more basic sensory pleasures. This overlap may provide a window into underlying brain circuitry that generates all pleasures, perhaps including even the hedonic quality of pervasive well-being. Pleasure plays a crucial role in guiding the survival-related decision-making involved in optimizing resource allocation of brain processes. This systems perspective on positive well-being calls for careful balancing rather than maximization of one process at the expense of others. In turn, successfully balancing wanting and liking processes could be key to linking hedonia states to eudaimonia assessments to create balanced states of positive well-being that approach happiness.
Pleasure is fundamental to well-being and the quality of life, but until recently, was barely explored by science. Current research on pleasure has brought about ground-breaking developments on several fronts, and new data on pleasure and the brain have begun to converge from many disparate fields. The time is ripe to present these important findings in a single volume, and so Morten Kringelbach and Kent Berridge have brought together the leading researchers to provides a comprehensive review of our current scientific understanding of pleasure. The authors present their latest neuroscientific research into pleasure, describing studies on the brain’s role in pleasure and reward in animals and humans, including brain mechanisms, neuroimaging data, and psychological analyses, as well as how their findings have been applied to clinical problems, such as depression and other disorders of hedonic well-being. To clarify the differences between their views, the researchers also provide short answers to a set of fundamental questions about pleasure and its relation to the brain. This book is intended to serve as both a starting point for readers new to the field, and as a reference for more experienced graduate students and scientists from fields such as neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, neurology, and neurosurgery.
Review of research into the consequences of easy vs difficult processing; traces fluency effects to the hedonic quality of the processing experience.
A large international sample was used to test whether hedonia (the experience of positive emotional states and satisfaction of desires) and eudaimonia (the presence of meaning and development of one's potentials) represent 1 overarching well-being construct or 2 related dimensions. A latent correlation of .96 presents negligible evidence for the discriminant validity between Diener's (1984) subjective well-being model of hedonia and Ryff's (1989) psychological well-being model of eudaimonia. When compared with known correlates of well-being (e.g., curiosity, gratitude), eudaimonia and hedonia showed very similar relationships, save goal-directed will and ways (i.e., hope), a meaning orientation to happiness, and grit. Identical analyses in subsamples of 7 geographical world regions revealed similar results around the globe. A single overarching construct more accurately reflects hedonia and eudaimonia when measured as self-reported subjective and psychological well-being. Nevertheless, measures of eudaimonia may contain aspects of meaningful goal-directedness unique from hedonia. (PsycINFO Database Record
Research in human social genomics has identified a conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA) characterized by up-regulated expression of pro-inflammatory genes and down-regulated expression of Type I interferon- and antibody-related genes. This report seeks to identify the specific aspects of positive psychological well-being that oppose such effects and predict reduced CTRA gene expression. In a new confirmation study of 122 healthy adults that replicated the approach of a previously reported discovery study, mixed effect linear model analyses identified a significant inverse association between expression of CTRA indicator genes and a summary measure of eudaimonic well-being from the Mental Health Continuum - Short Form. Analyses of a 2- representation of eudaimonia converged in finding correlated psychological and social subdomains of eudaimonic well-being to be the primary carriers of CTRA associations. Hedonic well-being showed no consistent CTRA association independent of eudaimonic well-being, and summary measures integrating hedonic and eudaimonic well-being showed less stable CTRA associations than did focal measures of eudaimonia (psychological and social well-being). Similar results emerged from analyses of pooled discovery and confirmation samples (n = 198). Similar results also emerged from analyses of a second new generalization study of 107 healthy adults that included the more detailed Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-being and found this more robust measure of eudaimonic well-being to also associate with reduced CTRA gene expression. Five of the 6 major sub-domains of psychological well-being predicted reduced CTRA gene expression when analyzed separately, and 3 remained distinctively prognostic in mutually adjusted analyses. All associations were independent of demographic characteristics, health-related confounders, and RNA indicators of leukocyte subset distribution. These results identify specific sub-dimensions of eudaimonic well-being as promising targets for future interventions to mitigate CTRA gene expression, and provide no support for any independent favorable contribution from hedonic well-being.
Many people believe that pleasure and desire are obstacles to reasonable and intelligent behavior. In The Pleasure Center, Morten Kringelbach reveals that what we desire, what pleases us--in fact, our most base, animalistic tendencies—are actually very important sources of information. They motivate us for a good reason. And understanding that reason, taking that reason into account, and harnessing and directing that reason, can make us much more rational and effective people. In exploring the many facets of pleasure, desire and emotion, Kringelbach takes us through the whole spectrum of human experience, such as how emotion fuels our interest in things, allowing us to pay attention and learn. He investigates the reward systems of the brain and sheds light on some of the most interesting new discoveries about pleasure and desire. Kringelbach concludes that if we understand and accept how pleasure and desire arise in the complex interaction between the brain’s activity and our own experiences, we can discover what helps us enjoy life, enabling us to make better decisions and, ultimately, lead happier lives.
In Natural Ethical Facts William Casebeer argues that we can articulate a fully naturalized ethical theory using concepts from evolutionary biology and cognitive science, and that we can study moral cognition just as we study other forms of cognition. His goal is to show that we have "softly fixed" human natures, that these natures are evolved, and that our lives go well or badly depending on how we satisfy the functional demands of these natures. Natural Ethical Facts is a comprehensive examination of what a plausible moral science would look like. Casebeer begins by discussing the nature of ethics and the possible relationship between science and ethics. He then addresses David Hume's naturalistic fallacy and G. E. Moore's open-question argument, drawing on the work of John Dewey and W. V. O. Quine. He then proposes a functional account of ethics, offering corresponding biological and moral descriptions. Discussing in detail the neural correlates of moral cognition, he argues that neural networks can be used to model ethical function. He then discusses the impact his views of moral epistemology and ontology will have on traditional ethical theory and moral education, concluding that there is room for other moral theories as long as they take into consideration the functional aspect of ethics; the pragmatic neo-Aristotelian virtue theory he proposes thus serves as a moral "big tent." Finally, he addresses objections to ethical naturalism that may arise, and calls for a reconciliation of the sciences and the humanities. "Living well," Casebeer writes, "depends upon reweaving our ethical theories into the warp and woof of our scientific heritage, attending to the myriad consequences such a project will have for the way we live our lives and the manner in which we structure our collective moral institutions."
Bradford Books imprint
Prefaces - Introduction - PART I RELATIVISM AND THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN NEED - Who Needs Human Needs? - The Inevitability of Human Needs - The Grammar of Human Needs - PART 2 A THEORY OF HUMAN NEED - The Basic Needs of Persons - Societal Preconditions for Need Satisfaction - Human Liberation and the Right to Optimal Need Satisfaction - Optimising Need Satisfaction in Theory - PART 3 HUMAN NEEDS IN PRACTICE - Measuring Need Satisfaction - Health and Autonomy - Intermediate Needs - Societal Preconditions for Optimising Need Satisfaction - Charting Human Welfare - PART 4 THE POLITICS OF HUMAN NEED - Towards a Political Economy of Need Satisfaction - The Dual Strategy
Emotional processes influence a wide range of mental and physical systems, which makes them difficult to understand from a single perspective. In this special issue of the Review of General Psychology, contributing authors present 4 articles that draw from several areas within psychology in the service of understanding a topic relevant to emotion. In this overview, the authors argue that the long neglect of the scientific study of complex processes such as emotion might be linked, in part, to the fractionation of the field into specialized subdisciplines. Just as emotions were of central concern in the early years of psychology (which was a generalist's era), as psychology moves toward more integration in the late 20th century broad phenomena such as emotions are once again central interests. The 4 articles of this special issue are briefly reviewed as exemplars of an integrated approach to understanding emotional phenomena.
Being happy and finding life meaningful overlap, but there are important differences. A large survey revealed multiple differing predictors of happiness (controlling for meaning) and meaningfulness (controlling for happiness). Satisfying one's needs and wants increased happiness but was largely irrelevant to meaningfulness. Happiness was largely present oriented, whereas meaningfulness involves integrating past, present, and future. For example, thinking about future and past was associated with high meaningfulness but low happiness. Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker. Higher levels of worry, stress, and anxiety were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness. Concerns with personal identity and expressing the self contributed to meaning but not happiness. We offer brief composite sketches of the unhappy but meaningful life and of the happy but meaningless life.
The author describes emotions as phenomena which are lawful. Emotional phenomena can be viewed within the frame of a small set of laws of emotion, which are only limitly accessible by voluntary influence. The following laws of emotion will be brought out and described: The law of the subjectively perceived meaning, the law of concern, the law of apparent reality, the laws of change and habituation and comparative feeling, the law of hedonic asymmetry. These laws all deal with the conditions of arousing emotions. The others deal with their duration, modularity and regulation. They are discussed under the terms of the law of conservation of emotional momentum, law of dominance, the law of core for consequences, and the laws of lightest load and greatest gain.
The Power of Interest for Motivation and Engagement describes the benefits of interest for people of all ages. Using case material as illustrations, the volume explains that interest can be supported to develop, and that the development of a person’s interest is always motivating and results in meaningful engagement. This volume is written for people who would like to know more about the power of their interests and how they could develop them: students who want to be engaged, educators and parents wondering about how to facilitate motivation, business people focusing on ways in which they could engage their employees and associates, policy-makers whose recognition of the power of interest may lead to changes resulting in a new focus supporting interest development for schools, out of school activity, industry, and business, and researchers studying learning and motivation. It draws on research in cognitive, developmental, educational, and social psychology, as well as in the learning sciences, and neuroscience to demonstrate that there is power for everyone in leveraging interest for motivation and engagement.
This book is a collection of ten papers on practical reason and moral psychology. Part 1 defends the view that the principles of practical reason are constitutive principles of action. By governing our actions in accordance with Kant's categorical imperative and the principle of instrumental reason we take control of our own movements and so render ourselves active, self-determining beings. Part II takes up the question of the role of our passive or receptive faculties - our emotions and responses - in constituting our agency. It offers a reading of the Nicomachean Ethics based on the idea that our emotions are perceptions of good and evil, and argues that Aristotle and Kant share a distinctive view about the locus of moral value and the nature of human choice. Part III takes up the question how we come to view one another as moral agents in Hume's philosophy, and examines the possible clash between the agency of the state and that of the individual that led to Kant's paradoxical views about revolution. And finally, the book discusses methodology in an account of what it means to be a constructivist moral philosopher.
"In private life, we try to induce or suppress love, envy, and anger through deep acting or "emotion work," just as we manage our outer expressions of feeling through surface acting. In trying to bridge a gap between what we feel and what we "ought" to feel, we take guidance from "feeling rules" about what is owing to others in a given situation. Based on our private mutual understandings of feeling rules, we make a "gift exchange" of acts of emotion management. We bow to each other not simply from the waist, but from the heart. But what occurs when emotion work, feeling rules, and the gift of exchange are introduced into the public world of work? In search of the answer, Arlie Russell Hochschild closely examines two groups of public-contact workers: flight attendants and bill collectors. The flight attendant's job is to deliver a service and create further demand for it, to enhance the status of the customer and be "nicer than natural." The bill collector's job is to collect on the service, and if necessary, to deflate the status of the customer by being "nastier than natural." Between these extremes, roughly one-third of American men and one-half of American women hold jobs that call for substantial emotional labor. In many of these jobs, they are trained to accept feeling rules and techniques of emotion management that serve the company's commercial purpose. Just as we have seldom recognized or understood emotional labor, we have not appreciated its cost to those who do it for a living. Like a physical laborer who becomes estranged from what he or she makes, an emotional laborer, such as a flight attendant, can become estranged not only from her own expressions of feeling (her smile is not "her" smile), but also from what she actually feels (her managed friendliness). This estrangement, though a valuable defense against stress, is also an important occupational hazard, because it is through our feelings that we are connected with those around us. On the basis of this book, Hochschild was featured in Key Sociological Thinkers, edited by Rob Stones. This book was also the winner of the Charles Cooley Award in 1983, awarded by the American Sociological Association and received an honorable mention for the C. Wright Mills Award. © 1983, 2003, 2012 by The Regents of the University of California.
To understand what is happening in the brain in the moment you decide, at will, to summon to consciousness a passage of Mozart's music, or decide to take a deep breath, is like trying to 'catch a phantom by the tail'. Consciousness remains that most elusive of all human phenomena - one so mysterious that even our highly developed knowledge of brain function can only partly explain it. This book traces the origins of consciousness. It takes the investigation back many years in an attempt to uncover just how consciousness might have first emerged. Consciousness did not develop suddenly in humans - it evolved gradually. The book investigates the evolution of consciousness. Central to the book is the idea that the primal emotions - elements of instinctive behaviour - were the first dawning of consciousness. Throughout the book examines instinctive behaviours, such as hunger for air, hunger for minerals, thirst, and pain, arguing that the emotions elicited from these behaviours and desire for gratification culminated in the first conscious states. To develop the theory the book looks at behaviour at different levels of the evolutionary tree, for example of octopuses, fish, snakes, birds, and elephants. Coupled with findings from neuroimaging studies, and the viewpoints on consciousness from figures in philosophy and neuroscience, the book presents a new look at the problem of consciousness.
Some investigators have argued that emotions, especially animal emotions, are illusory concepts outside the realm of scientific inquiry. With advances in neurobiology and neuroscience, however, researchers are proving this position wrong while moving closer to understanding the biology and psychology of emotion. In Affective Neuroscience, Jaak Panksepp argues that emotional systems in humans, as well as other animals, are necessarily combinations of innate and learned tendencies; there are no routine and credible ways to really separate the influences of nature and nurture in the control of behavior. The book shows how to move toward a new understanding by taking a psychobiological approach to the subject, examining how the neurobiology and neurochemistry of the mammalian brain shape the psychological experience of emotion. It includes chapters on sleep and arousal, pleasure and pain systems, the sources of rage and anger, and the neural control of sexuality. The book will appeal to researchers and professors in the field of emotion.
Many commentators have noted how the conflict in Aristotle’s account of human nature in the Nicomachean Ethics is passed on, via the function argument of I 7, to his view(s) of happiness (eudaimonia). But the general consensus has been that Aristotle must have a single, unified view of eudaimonia, which in turn presupposes a single, unified account of human nature. Accordingly a great deal of exegetical energy has been spent resolving the apparent conflict in the Nicomachean Ethics. Although others have maintained that there is a real and irresolvable conflict here, I believe a stronger case can be made. In addition to making this case, I argue that given Aristotle’s view of rationality, he was right to be so conflicted: our capacity for theoretical reasoning is not easily accommodated in a life governed by practical reasoning and vice-versa. What’s more, it may in fact be the case that we are driven by our nature to incompatible ends. If so, there will be no single best life for us to live. With this possibility in mind, we can see that saddling Aristotle with a fundamental inconsistency in his ethics is not necessarily disappointing or uncharitable. For if we are such complex creatures, the inconsistency is in us; and Aristotle should be commended for saving the phenomena.