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Preliminary Exploration of Creative Expressions of Ikigai
Abstract
The concept of ikigai is still relatively new in the West; yet it has already succeeded in drawing attention as a unique and potentially key predictor of physical and psychological wellbeing. Given its multidimensional nature and the profound ideas it encapsulates regarding the life worth living, it may require not only a cross-disciplinary approach but also a multimethod one to fully understand. Through the theoretical perspectives of positive psychology and meaning in life, this chapter aims at complementing the emerging contribution of large-scale and longitudinal studies with a “bottom-up” qualitative understanding of how ikigai is experienced and expressed. This chapter will also point to the potential benefits of exploring individuals' experiences of ikigai, using creative methods, given that it is a personal, phenomenological pillar of human experience which is often challenging to capture verbally. Insights from this chapter may inform empirical and practical implications for further development of therapeutic, organisational, and educational interventions.
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Wellbeing literature has greatly benefited from cross-cultural and non-Western research. However, most studies have been guided by Western, English constructs such as "happiness." Thus, a large amount of non-Western, non-English words related to wellbeing remain unstudied, leaving a crucial gap in our knowledge on wellbeing. To address this gap, we conducted a mixed-methods project to develop a theory of how Japanese university students experience ikigai ('life worth living'), and particularly its interpersonal aspect. First, we deployed a qualitative approach, in which photo-elicitation interviews were conducted with 27 Japanese university students, with the data analyzed using grounded theory. Our results suggested that students' ikigai was strongly influenced by ibasho ('authentic relationship'). In such relationships, students felt that they could be true to who they were (i.e., be self-authentic), and that their close others sincerely cared about them without considering personal gains (i.e., they experienced genuine care). These perceptions were fostered and maintained by two types of interactions: experiencing together; and communicating experiences. The former involved directly engaging in personally valued experiences with close others, while the latter meant keeping close others updated about their important experiences and obtaining support from them to further pursue such experiences. These interactions were conditioned by echoed values (a state where people and close others understand and respect each other's personal values), and trust (the belief that they do not violate each other's privacy and do offer support when needed). This theory guided a second quantitative study which analyzed online survey data from 672 Japanese students by using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Our results suggested that our new measures for the constructs were valid and reliable, and that the hypothesized relationships among them are significant. Our findings are discussed in relation to both Japanese ikigai literature and Western wellbeing research.
The psychological construct of ‘ikigai’ reflects the sense of having a ‘reason for living’ and has been associated with various positive health-related outcomes. This study presents an English translation of the Ikigai-9, empirically explores the manifestation of ikigai in the UK, and outlines its associations with facets of well-being. Three hundred forty-nine participants self-reported levels of ikigai as well as state measures of mental well-being, depression, anxiety and stress. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support the original three-factor model, favouring instead a single-factor solution. Results indicated that above sex and age, ikigai predicted greater scores of mental well-being and lower scores of depression. The Ikigai-9 has high internal reliability and presents a logistically convenient measure of ikigai for English-speaking populations. However, further validation (e.g. test-retest reliability) is required to develop a better understanding of the potential protective role of ikigai in mental health.
The purpose of this preliminary qualitative research study is to explore the role and function of multiple dynamic interactive aesthetic and intersubjective phenomena in the creative arts therapies process relative to transformation in perception, behavior, relationship, and well-being. A group of doctoral students and faculty studied these phenomena in an analogous creative arts therapies laboratory context using a method called Intrinsic Arts-Based Research. Intrinsic Arts-Based Research is a systematic study of psychological, emotional, relational, and arts-based phenomena, parallel to those emergent in the creative arts therapies, using individual and collective intrinsic immersive and reflective experience in combination with qualitative and arts-based research methods. Our primary goal was to simulate the creative arts therapies experience in order to identify, document, and describe the complex transformative phenomena that occur at the nexus of arts-based expression, reflection, and relationships in the arts therapies. For the purposes of this paper transformation is defined as ".. .. a significant reconfiguration of perception and thought resulting in the lessening of psychic restraint and pain, allowing for the emergence of new psychological perspectives that contribute to living a more creative life" (Gerber et al., 2012, p. 45). Through a deductive thematic analysis of written accounts of these simulated creative arts therapies experiences by participant/researchers in the laboratory we identified three primary dynamic and interactive broad constructs that together, with more specific modifying themes, might account for and describe change within the creative arts therapies. These broad dynamic interactive themes are: ruptures, resolutions, and transformation; relationship and intersubjectivity; and, arts-based expressive processes. The more specific modifying themes include: dialectical rupture and resolution, relational attunements and ruptures, imaginational flow, transcendence and ruptures, sensory/kinesthetic/embodied ways of knowing, and intersubjective transcendence. We propose that change in the creative arts therapies is driven more by a dynamic system of interactive phenomena the varying combinations of which create conditions for relational attunement, imagination, dialectical tensions and creative resolutions, and the ultimately creative transformation.
Experiencing both positive emotions and meaning is fundamental to human flourishing. The present study aimed to build and expand upon recent attempts to assess prioritizing positivity, which involves habitual ways of incorporating positive emotions in daily life (Catalino, Algoe and Fredrickson 2014), by assessing the prioritization of meaning in daily life and its associations with well-being. Results from two studies, employing adult community samples (N=107 and N=251) demonstrated coherent, replicable factor structure and good internal reliability for the 12-item scale of prioritizing meaning. Prioritizing meaning was positively associated with life satisfaction, happiness, positive emotions, sense of coherence, gratitude and presence of meaning, beyond the effect of prioritizing positivity, thus demonstrating the possibility that prioritizing meaning makes a distinctive contribution to well-being.
Process mediation models showed that prioritizing meaning is associated with the experience of meaning which in turn mediates the beneficial effects of prioritizing meaning on a variety of well-being indicators. Prioritizing meaning was also directly associated with well-being indicators underscoring its potential role in affecting well-being. Furthermore, prioritizing meaning was found to significantly mediate the effect of search for meaning on all indicators of well-being other than sense of coherence. The findings suggest the importance of prioritizing meaning and hold significant conceptual and practical implications for understanding processes of meaning making and their potential effects on individuals’ well-being.
Mainstream psychology can be regarded as largely Western-centric, with its concepts and priorities biased towards Western ways of thinking and understanding. Consequently, the field would benefit from greater cross-cultural awareness and engagement. To that end, this article offers one means of engagement, the study of “untranslatable” words (i.e., terms without an exact equivalent in another language, in our case English). A key function of language is that it offers a “map” that allows us to understand and navigate the world. In that respect, such words point to cultural variation in the maps we use, and even to variation in the actual territory mapped. The paper concludes with suggestions for why and how psychology could benefit from engaging with such words.
This chapter first argues the need for second wave positive psychology (PP2.0), which is informed by Frankl's logotherapy as well as existential psychology. The main thesis of PP2.0 is that in order to attain healing and authentic happiness, one needs to confront the dark side of human existence and pursue self-transcendence—going beyond oneself to serve something greater. The chapter then introduces integrative meaning therapy and its existential positive interventions, representing the applications of PP2.0. The main contributions of this chapter are that it brings out the positive aspects of existential therapy and adds a new dimension of existential concerns to positive psychology as usual.
Recent experience sampling and diary studies have shown that spending time on creative goals during a day is associated with higher activated positive affect (PA) on that day. Based on models of creativity as a tool for promoting well-being, the present study examined cross-day relationships between creative activity, affect, and flourishing. A large sample of young adults (n = 658) took part in a 13-day daily diary study. Each day, they reported how much time they spent on creative activities, daily positive and negative affect, and daily flourishing. Lagged multilevel models revealed that people felt higher activated PA and flourishing following days when they reported more creative activity than usual. The other direction – PA predicting next-day creative activity – was not supported, suggesting that the cross-day effect was specific to creative activity predicting well-being. Overall, these findings support the emerging emphasis on everyday creativity as a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning.
The use of images, particularly photography, has been steadily gaining popularity in academia, but there has not yet been a book that deals with the act and process of photo-taking in the field. Drawing upon 21 years of photographic experience and sociological research, Terence Heng’s immersive and narrative style will:
1. introduce photography as a qualitative method;
2. discuss the intricacies of, challenges in and opportunities for using a camera in the field;
3. explore common themes and topics in social science research, including photographing rituals, space, people and objects;
4. advise on navigating the always evolving technological landscapes of traditional, digital and mobile photography.
Visual Methods in the Field: Photography for the Social Sciences is a photography guide written for researchers by a researcher. Using in-depth ethnographic case studies from research done in various urban environments, this book will act as a crucial bridge for students in geography, sociology, education, media studies and other social sciences to incorporate photography into their research repertoire.
Although research relying on self-report inventories has built an increased appreciation of the importance of meaning in life, such research has strayed somewhat from the original promise of meaning in life research, which was to shed light on the individual experience of meaning. Some research has focused on understanding people's sources of meaning. However, previous methods have relied on verbal ways of assessing sources of meaning in life. In recognition of the fact that not everyone has highly developed verbal skills -and that even those who do can find it hard to articulate what life means -we offer a new method for understanding individuals' experiences with meaning in life. In this article, we describe the use of photography to elicit information about people's sources of meaning and provide inductive qualitative analysis of a pilot study using this method. Photography holds great potential as a new method for seeing meaning through another's eyes.
To advance meaning in life (MIL) research, it is crucial to integrate it with the broader meaning literature, which includes important additional concepts (e.g., meaning frameworks) and principles (e.g., terror management). A tripartite view, which conceptualizes MIL as consisting of 3 subconstructs—comprehension, purpose, and mattering—may facilitate such integration. Here, we outline how a tripartite view may relate to key concepts from within MIL research (e.g., MIL judgments and feelings) and within the broader meaning research (e.g., meaning frameworks, meaning making). On the basis of this framework, we review the broader meaning literature to derive a theoretical context within which to understand and conduct further research on comprehension, purpose, and mattering. We highlight how future research may examine the interrelationships among the 3 MIL subconstructs, MIL judgments and feelings, and meaning frameworks.
Discusses the social constructionist movement in modern psychology, noting that social constructionism views discourse about the world not as a reflection or map of the world but as an artifact of communal interchange. Both as an orientation to knowledge and to the character of psychological constructs, constructionism presents a significant challenge to conventional understanding. Although the roots of constructionist thought may be traced to long-standing debates between empiricist and rationalist schools of thought, constructionism moves beyond the dualism of these traditions and places knowledge within the process of social interchange. Although the role of psychological explanation is problematic, a fully developed constructionism could furnish a means for understanding the process of science and invites the development of alternative criteria for the evaluation of psychological inquiry. (100 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The relevance of the arts to wellbeing has been recognised within clinical fields, as reflected in therapeutic forms based on various art modalities, from music to drama therapy. However, there has hitherto been little appreciation in fields such as positive psychology of the broader potential of the arts as a vehicle for flourishing and fulfilment. As such, this paper proposes the creation of ‘positive art’ as a field encompassing theory and research concerning the wellbeing value of art. To show the scope and possibilities of this proposed field, the paper provides an indicative summary of literature pertaining to four major art forms: visual art, music, literature and drama. Moreover, the paper identifies five main positive outcomes that are consistently found in the literature across all these forms: sense-making, enriching experience, aesthetic appreciation, entertainment, and bonding. The paper aims to encourage a greater focus on the arts in fields like positive psychology, enabling science to more fully understand and appreciate the positive power of the arts.
The main purpose of this chapter is to introduce Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy to the twenty-first century, especially to positive psychologists interested in meaning research and applications. Frankl’s radically positive message of re-humanizing psychotherapy is much needed in the current technological culture. More specifically, I explain the basic assumptions of logotherapy and translate them into a testable meaning-seeking model to facilitate meaning research and intervention. This model consists of five hypotheses: (1) The Self-Transcendence Hypothesis: The will to meaning is a spiritual and primary motivation for self-transcendence; thus, it predicts that spiritual pathways (e.g., spiritual care, self-transcendence) will enhance meaning in life and well-being, even when other pathways to well-being are not available. (2) The Ultimate Meaning Hypothesis: It predicts that belief in the intrinsic meaning and value of life, regardless of circumstances, is more functional than alternative global beliefs. It also predicts that belief in ultimate meaning facilitates the discovery of meaning of the moment. (3) The Meaning Mindset Hypothesis: A meaning mindset, as compared to the success mindset, leads to greater meaningfulness, compassion, moral excellence, eudaemonic happiness, and resilience. (4) The Freedom of Will Hypothesis: People who believe in the inherent human capacity for freedom and responsibility, regardless of circumstances, will show higher autonomy and authenticity than those without such beliefs. (5) The Value Hypothesis of Discovering Meaning: Meaning is more likely to be discovered through creative, experiential, and attitudinal values that are motivated by self-transcendence rather than by self-interest. Together, they capture the complexity and centrality of meaning seeking in healing and well-being. In sum, Viktor Frankl emphasizes the need for a radical shift from self-focus to meaning-focus as the most promising way to lift up individuals from the dark pit of despair to a higher ground of flourishing. This chapter outlines the differences between logotherapy and positive psychology and suggests future research to bridge these two parallel fields of study for the benefit of psychology and society.
Despite growing interest in meaning in life, many have voiced their concern over the conceptual refinement of the construct itself. Researchers seem to have two main ways to understand what meaning in life means: coherence and purpose, with a third way, significance, gaining increasing attention. Coherence means a sense of comprehensibility and one’s life making sense. Purpose means a sense of core goals, aims, and direction in life. Significance is about a sense of life’s inherent value and having a life worth living. Although some researchers have already noted this trichotomy, the present article provides the first comprehensible theoretical overview that aims to define and pinpoint the differences and connections between these three facets of meaning. By arguing that the time is ripe to move from indiscriminate understanding of meaning into looking at these three facets separately, the article points toward a new future for research on meaning in life.
This chapter summarizes the work of Veronika Huta and researchers who have used her measure of eudaimonic and hedonic orientations. Huta collaborated with Waterman to classify definitions of eudaimonia and hedonia into four categories – orientations/motives/values, behaviors, experiences/feelings, and functioning/habits/abilities. In an ongoing study of various measures, Huta performed preliminary analyses showing that hedonic experiences (e.g., positive affect, carefreeness) formed a separate factor from eudaimonic experiences (e.g., feelings of meaning/value, accomplishment, interest); eudaimonic and hedonic orientations also formed distinct factors. Recently, Huta developed an expanded characterization of eudaimonia and hedonia in all four definition categories, including the cell that has heretofore been neglected – healthy hedonic functioning – to complement Ryff’s theory of eudaimonic functioning. In the HEMA scale developed by Huta (Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives for Activities), eudaimonia is defined as an orientation toward authenticity, meaning/broad concerns, excellence/morality, and growth/maturity; hedonia is defined as an orientation toward pleasure/satisfaction and comfort/ease. HEMA eudaimonic and hedonic orientations have correlated with somewhat different niches of personal well-being experience, need satisfaction, health behavior, and functioning; the combination of eudaimonic and hedonic orientations related to higher scores on well-being than either pursuit alone. Eudaimonic pursuits were linked with more positive contributions to others, society, and the environment. Only a eudaimonic orientation related to abstract thinking and future time perspective. Finally, only eudaimonia related to having parents who were responsive and demanding. The chapter concludes with philosophical thoughts on why eudaimonia and hedonia are both good, and how one pursuit is higher while the other is more fundamental.
In this study, we investigated how Finnish children used photographs and drawings to discuss their preschool day experiences in focus groups. Building on sociocultural perspectives on mediated action (Vygotsky, 1978) we specifically focused on how these visual tools were used as mediational means in sharing experiences. The results of our embodied interaction analysis highlight the relevance of visual tools for the participants and the task at hand in the moment-to-moment, micro-level flow of interaction and its material environment. More specifically, our analysis illuminates different ways in which the visual tools were relevant for participating children and adults when sharing and talking about their experiences. In all, our study advances present day understanding regarding how sociocultural and embodied interaction frameworks can guide visual research with children.
This article seeks to contribute empirically, theoretically, and methodologically to the literature on aging bodies and identity construction by analyzing auto-photographic data from a project that explores the embodied identities of mature bodybuilders. The analysis identified three salient identities that the participants constructed via the auto-photography task. These identities were; a healthy body-self a performing body-self, and a relational body-self In combination, these three identities offer insight into what mature bodybuilders themselves regard as important in their lives and social worlds. The ways in which the respondent driven photographs might allow additional insight into the meaning of aging, and also act as counter-narratives to dominant narratives of decline in older age is reflected upon.
An art-based pedagogical research approach was used by a group of students and faculty who embarked upon a twelve-month process of artistic enquiry to explore the phenomenon of intersubjectivity as it emerged within a simulated creative arts therapies (CATs) context. The challenges
we identified and faced soon became opportunities and phenomena central to representing our experience, as well as representing an emergent model for art-based research and CATs. Transition, transference, transcendence, transformation and translation are the phenomena we identified that described
the dynamic and dialectic experiences of intersubjective artistic enquiry. We conclude that this emerging art-based pedagogical research model is essential not only to systematic enquiry in the CATs, but also in all forms of human self-/other exploration and meaning-making.
A pilot study is presented using a photographic method for participants to explore where meaning in their lives comes from. Eighty-six university students were instructed to take 9-12 photographs of "things that make your life feel meaningful." One week later, participants returned, viewed, and described their photographs. Significant within-person improvements in levels of meaning in life, life satisfaction, and positive affect were observed following the intervention. •Meaning in life is important to clinical populations and therapeutic practices.•Participants took photographs of "things that make your life feel meaningful."•Meaning, life satisfaction, and positive affect increased following intervention.
Interest in eudaimonia (e.g., growth, meaning, authenticity, excellence) and its distinction from hedonia (e.g., pleasure, enjoyment, comfort, absence of distress) is growing rapidly, as researchers recognize that both concepts are central to the study of well-being. Yet research on these concepts faces challenges as well: findings based on different operationalizations can be quite discrepant; definitions of eudaimonia and hedonia sometimes fall into different categories of analysis (e.g. when eudaimonia is described as a way of functioning, hedonia as an experience); and the terms eudaimonia and hedonia are sometimes defined vaguely or applied to concepts that may be mere correlates. To aid in addressing these challenges, we propose the following terminology and classification for discussing conceptual and operational definitions: (1) degree of centrality – differentiating concepts that are core (i.e., definitional), close-to-core (i.e., given some attention but not central), and major correlates; (2) category of analysis– identifying which of the following categories a definition represents: (a) orientations (orientations, values, motives, and goals), (b) behaviors (behavioral content, activity characteristics), (c) experiences (subjective experiences, emotions, cognitive appraisals), (d) functioning (indices of positive psychological functioning, mental health, flourishing); and (3) level of measurement – identifying whether a definition is used for trait and/or state comparisons. The work of scholars with a program of research on eudaimonia or the distinction between eudaimonia and hedonia is reviewed and discussed within the framework of the proposed classification; several points of convergence and divergence across definitions are highlighted; and important questions and directions for future research are identified.
Shortfalls of widely used measures of meaning in life are described. Their use results in biased correlations and restriction of the complexity inherent in experiences of meaning. To qualify results, the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe) is employed. It offers separate scales to measure a positive and a negative dimension of meaning: meaningfulness–a fundamental sense of meaning and belonging, and crisis of meaning–the evaluation of life as frustratingly empty and lacking meaning. Both intercorrelate moderately (−.38/−.35). Additionally, the SoMe assesses 26 sources of meaning. Based on a representative sample, relationships between meaningfulness, crisis of meaning, and sources of meaning with demographics are reported (Study 1). In Study 2, SoMe scales are correlated with positive (mood, satisfaction with life) and negative (neuroticism, anxiety, depression) indicators of well-being. SEM reveals that meaningfulness predicts positive well-being, but is not predictive of negative well-being. Crisis of meaning is a strong predictor for both positive and negative well-being.
Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia and hedonic enjoyment constitute 2 philosophical conceptions of happiness. Two studies involving combined samples of undergraduate and graduate students (Study 1,
n = 209; Study 2,
n = 249) were undertaken to identify the convergent and divergent aspects of these constructs. As expected, there was a strong positive correlation between personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Analyses revealed significant differences between the 2 conceptions of happiness experienced in conjunction with activities for the variables of (1) opportunities for satisfaction, (2) strength of cognitive-affective components, (3) level of challenges, (4) level of skills, and (5) importance. It thus appears that the 2 conceptions of happiness are related but distinguishable and that personal expressiveness, but not hedonic enjoyment, is a signifier of success in the process of self-realization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Results from two studies revealed that the relation between meaning in life and life satisfaction was moderated by the extent to which the rater was searching for meaning in his or her life. In Studies la and 1b, the presence of meaning was more strongly related to life satisfaction for those who were actively searching for meaning in life than for those who were not. Study 2 extended the finding to judgments concerning a fictitious target's life satisfaction based on experimentally manipulated information regarding meaning in life. Thus, the role of meaning in life satisfaction judgments varies across individuals, depending on the level of search for meaning in life. These results suggest that search for meaning behaves like a schema increasing the salience of meaning-relevant information, and provides new ways of understanding people's efforts to establish meaningful lives.
Visual research is still a rather dispersed and ill-defined domain within the social sciences. Despite a heightened interest in using visuals in research, efforts toward a more unified conceptual and methodological framework for dealing vigilantly with the specifics of this (relatively) new way of scholarly thinking and doing remain sparse and limited in scope. In this article, the author proposes a more encompassing and refined analytical framework for visual methods of research. The "Integrated Framework" tries to account for the great variety within each of the currently discerned types or methods. It does so by moving beyond the more or less arbitrary and often very hybridly defined modes and techniques, with a clear focus on what connects or transcends them. The second part of the article discusses a number of critical issues that have been raised while unfolding the framework. These issues continue to posea challenge to a more visual social science, but can be turned into opportunities for advancement when dealt with appropriately.
Hedonia (seeking pleasure and comfort) and eudaimonia (seeking to use and develop the best in oneself) are often seen as opposing
pursuits, yet each may contribute to well-being in different ways. We conducted four studies (two correlational, one experience-sampling,
and one intervention study) to determine outcomes associated with activities motivated by hedonic and eudaimonic aims. Overall,
results indicated that: between persons (at the trait level) and within persons (at the momentary state level), hedonic pursuits
related more to positive affect and carefreeness, while eudaimonic pursuits related more to meaning; between persons, eudaimonia
related more to elevating experience (awe, inspiration, and sense of connection with a greater whole); within persons, hedonia
related more negatively to negative affect; between and within persons, both pursuits related equally to vitality; and both
pursuits showed some links with life satisfaction, though hedonia’s links were more frequent. People whose lives were high
in both eudaimonia and hedonia had: higher degrees of most well-being variables than people whose lives were low in both pursuits
(but did not differ in negative affect or carefreeness); higher positive affect and carefreeness than predominantly eudaimonic
individuals; and higher meaning, elevating experience, and vitality than predominantly hedonic individuals. In the intervention
study, hedonia produced more well-being benefits at short-term follow-up, while eudaimonia produced more at 3-month follow-up.
The findings show that hedonia and eudaimonia occupy both overlapping and distinct niches within a complete picture of well-being,
and their combination may be associated with the greatest well-being.
KeywordsPleasure-Hedonism-Eudaimonia-Virtue-Well-being-Elevation
This paper illustrates a new project developed by a cross-country team of researchers, with the aim of studying the hedonic
and eudaimonic components of happiness through a mixed method approach combining both qualitative and quantitative analyses.
Data were collected from 666 participants in Australia, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and South Africa. A major
aim of the study was to examine definitions and experiences of happiness using open-ended questions. Among the components
of well-being traditionally associated with the eudaimonic approach, meaning in particular was explored in terms of constituents,
relevance, and subjective experience. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was also administered to quantitatively assess
the hedonic dimension of happiness. Results showed that happiness was primarily defined as a condition of psychological balance
and harmony. Among the different life domains, family and social relations were prominently associated with happiness and
meaningfulness. The quantitative analyses highlighted the relationship between happiness, meaningfulness, and satisfaction
with life, as well as the different and complementary contributions of each component to well-being. At the theoretical and
methodological levels, findings suggest the importance of jointly investigating happiness and its relationship with other
dimensions of well-being, in order to detect differences and synergies among them.
KeywordsHappiness-Meaning-Satisfaction with life-Life domains-Mixed-method approach
The affordance of participant voice is a widely acclaimed feature of photo-eliciting techniques. Yet, how this voice is afforded to participants is not always elaborated. This article reflects on the use of a photo-eliciting technique in an ethnically diverse context. Using a study with a group of Filipino youth in Hong Kong, the article draws attention to methodological considerations that led to the design of a photo-eliciting technique in interviews that elicited deeper thinking from participants. The analysis constructs the technique as a meaning-making practice to illustrate the interconnections between epistemological stance, methodological decisions and interpretive exercises in the study, which altogether constitute the practice of voice-giving to participants. The attention to voice-giving indicates the need for researchers to pay more regard to the reflexivity and the intricate ordering of epistemethodological aspects of photo-eliciting techniques that underpin the ‘who’ and ‘how’ of making participants’ voice heard.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with mental health challenges related to the morbidity and mortality caused by the disease and to mitigation activities, including the impact of physical distancing and stay-at-home orders.* Symptoms of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder increased considerably in the United States during April-June of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019 (1,2). To assess mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the pandemic, representative panel surveys were conducted among adults aged ≥18 years across the United States during June 24-30, 2020. Overall, 40.9% of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, including symptoms of anxiety disorder or depressive disorder (30.9%), symptoms of a trauma- and stressor-related disorder (TSRD) related to the pandemic† (26.3%), and having started or increased substance use to cope with stress or emotions related to COVID-19 (13.3%). The percentage of respondents who reported having seriously considered suicide in the 30 days before completing the survey (10.7%) was significantly higher among respondents aged 18-24 years (25.5%), minority racial/ethnic groups (Hispanic respondents [18.6%], non-Hispanic black [black] respondents [15.1%]), self-reported unpaid caregivers for adults§ (30.7%), and essential workers¶ (21.7%). Community-level intervention and prevention efforts, including health communication strategies, designed to reach these groups could help address various mental health conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
This essay examines core contributions of a model of psychological well-being that has had widespread scientific impact. It drew on distant formulations to identify new dimensions and measures for assessing what it means to be well. Key themes among the more than 750 studies using the model are sketched, followed by reflections about why there has been so much interest in this eudaimonic approach to well-being. A final section looks to the future, proposing new directions to illuminate the forces that work against the realization of human potential as well as those that nurture human flourishing and self-realization.
Since ancient times, the arts have been used by humans across the globe as healing methods and vehicles for communication. The arts are increasingly becoming clinical tools to promote health and psychological well-being in individuals. This clinical paper features positive arts interventions which positive arts therapists, positive psychologists and positive psychotherapists can administer in their clinical practice for individuals of all ages to creatively tap into their imagination, reflect upon life goals, gain insight into their character strengths, activate their positive emotions, determine their sources of life meaning and explore spiritual avenues. The following positive arts interventions will be described in great detail: Scribble Drawing, My Strengths Collage, Bridge Drawing with Path (BDP), A Favourite Kind of Day (AFKD), Tree of Life, My Sources of Meaning and Spiritual Pathway. To illustrate these positive arts-based activities, the authors share clinical case examples from Australia, Canada and Ukraine.
This study clarified characteristics of well-being in Japan, specifically differences between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai, to elucidate how they relate to eudaimonic well-being and hedonic well-being. Participants were 846 Japanese in their 30s (418 men, 428 women), who responded to a web-based survey. Questionnaire items comprised level of shiawase/ikigai, the presence of a difference between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai, and, in an open-ended question, the difference between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai. Results revealed that feeling shiawase is primarily characterized by such feelings as delight and peace; it is oriented toward the present. Feeling ikigai entails actions of devoting oneself to pursuits one enjoys and is associated with feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment. Furthermore, it includes awareness of values such as the purpose of life and the meaning of existence; it is future oriented, as in goal seeking. This study verifies that for Japanese, feeling shiawase is close to hedonic well-being and feeling ikigai is close to eudaimonic well-being. This suggests that it is important to approach Japanese well-being not in technical terms such as eudaimonic well-being; rather, Japanese well-being should be comprehended in terms of ikigai which is an aspect of daily conversation in Japan.
Objective:
To test the hypothesis that elderly persons who feel ikigai (a sense of life worth living) have a lower risk of incident functional disability than those who do not. Recent studies have suggested that ikigai impacts on mortality. However, its impact upon disability is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between ikigai and incident functional disability among elderly persons.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective cohort study of 830 Japanese elderly persons aged ≥70years as a comprehensive geriatric assessment in 2003. Information on ikigai was collected by self-reported questionnaire. Data on functional disability were retrieved from the public Long-term Care Insurance database in which participants were followed up for 12years. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incidence of functional disability were calculated for three groups delineated according to the presence of ikigai ("no", "uncertain" or "yes") using the Cox proportional hazards regression model.
Results:
The 12-year incidence of functional disability was 53.3% (442 cases). As compared with the "no" group, the multiple-adjusted HR (95% CI) of incident functional disability was 0.61 (0.36-1.02) for the "uncertain" group and 0.50 (0.30-0.84) for the "yes" group.
Conclusion:
A stronger degree of ikigai is significantly associated with a lower risk of incident functional disability.
There is a clear opportunity for the emergent field of health humanities to move to a whole new level of impact, with contributions from anthropology, narrative and literature to linguistics, music and visual art, as well as the very many arts and humanities-based knowledges and practices that it was not possible to include in this slim manifesto volume. As we have indicated, creative practice is a major activity in societies worldwide, and arts and expressive therapies are well established in physical and mental health services. In terms of the latter, for example, research has already demonstrated the importance of arts for ‘recovery orientated mental health services’ (Spandler et al., 2007), how they provide ways of breaking down social barriers, of expressing and understanding experiences and emotions, and of helping to rebuild identities and communities (Brown and Kandirikirira, 2007; Devlin, 2009; Secker et al., 2007).
Creativity, which is generally defined as the generation of novel and useful ideas or products, is essential to human progress and flourishing. As such, many intervention approaches have been designed to promote creativity and its associated benefits. The goal of this chapter is to provide a review of existing research examining the conceptual basis and effectiveness of creativity interventions. In doing so, this chapter focuses on two main kinds of interventions. First, we discuss interventions that aim to increase creativity for its own sake and highlight one method that has been investigated in business and educational settings, the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) approach. Second, we discuss interventions that aim to increase creativity in order to increase psychological well-being, and provide an overview of scholarship describing the practice and effectiveness of art therapy. This chapter ends by describing future directions for building and testing brief creativity-based positive interventions.
We present four needs for meaning that humans seek to fulfill in order to view their lives as meaningful - purpose, value justification, self-efficacy, and self-worth. We discuss the shift in sources of meaning, arguing that the erosion of the societal influence of religion - traditionally the central source for meaning in people's lives - has led to a value gap which modern society has attempted to fill. The successes and failures society has encountered in this attempt are discussed. Lastly, we discuss the consequences this value gap may have for society moving forward. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. All rights reserved.
Cultures shape the types of goals that students pursue in the classroom. However, research in achievement goal theory seems to have neglected this cultural aspect with its exclusive focus on individualistically-based goals such as mastery and performance goals. This emphasis on mastery and performance goals may reflect Western individualist psychological thinking. Thus, social goals, which may be more salient in collectivist cultures, are relatively neglected. There is a dearth of studies investigating the role of social goals in academic motivation, and the few studies that did explore them are somewhat problematic. This paper reviews research done within the achievement goal theory, considers the need for more studies on social goals, and concludes with the argument that social goals are important in understanding student motivation especially in collectivist cultures.
Many studies have found benefits of positive psychological interventions, such as gratitude promotion or thinking about best possible selves, for adolescents and adults. Almost no research, however, has been conducted on the efficacy of such interventions for children. The authors' primary goal was to compare the outcomes of gratitude promotion and best possible selves interventions to a control condition, using a sample of elementary school-aged children (N = 62, ages 5-11 years). Children participated in once-weekly intervention sessions in which they were asked to draw a picture of something for which they were grateful that day (gratitude condition), a future version of themselves as happy and engaged (best possible selves condition), or something they had done that day (control condition). Analyses of the content of children's drawings indicated that children of this age were capable of articulating things for which they were grateful and positive future selves. Outcomes for the gratitude condition did not differ from the control condition; however, participants in the best possible selves condition showed greater gains in self-esteem than those in the gratitude or control conditions.
This study investigates, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, the sources of meaning in life of young adult patients and nonpatients. In addition to the exploratory concerns, the current investigation tested the following three predictions: (a) Relationships are the most frequent sources of meaning in life; (b) patients are less committed to their personal meanings than nonpatients; and (c) participants’ degrees of meaning in life, as operationalized with their scores on the Life Regard Index (LRI), are related to the degree of their commitment to their personal meanings. Findings from both the phenomenal and statistical analyses strongly support the predictions and generally confirm the clinical relevance of the meaning in life construct. Notably, the interpersonal dimension appears a critically relevant domain in the established differential effects in both nonpatients-patients and females-males comparisons. Implications for clinical practice and suggestions for future research are offered.
People attending various spirituality and self-development conferences outside the framework of organised religious groups (N = 204) were compared to norms from the general population and to members of New Religious Movements (NRMs) on the following measures: attachment to parents in childhood, adult attachment, need for closure, need for cognition, openness to experience, and quest religious orientation. Results indicated that these people, in comparison to the general population, share with NRM members similar cognitive (need for closure) and affective (insecure attachment in childhood) needs that seem to be addressed by spirituality. However, in comparison to NRM members, participants scored higher on measures reflecting self-growth, that is openness to experience and quest religious orientation, and lower on need for closure. These findings may be interpreted as indicating a desire to seek spirituality but to preserve autonomy. These people were called free-lance spiritual seekers.
This paper is a definition of photo elicitation and a history of its development in anthropology and sociology. The view of photo elicitation in these disciplines, where the greatest number of photo elicitation studies have taken place, organizes photo elicitation studies by topic and by form. The paper also presents practical considerations from a frequent photo elicitation researcher and concludes that photo elicitation enlarges the possibilities of conventional empirical research. In addition, the paper argues that photo elicitation also produces a different kind of information. Photo elicitation evokes information, feelings, and memories that are due to the photograph's particular form of representation.
How can researchers avoid the inherent problem of influencing subjects while observing them? In this pioneering work, Robert Ziller examines the uses of photography and video-communication as observation techniques in the social sciences. These techniques take several forms: showing subjects a series of photographs in order to elicit attitudinal responses and asking subjects themselves to compose photographs that represent their attitudes and behaviors. Ziller thoroughly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches and outlines various research possibilities when using photo communication. In addition, practical examples are drawn from clinical psychology, intercultural communication, family studies, and criminal justice to demonstrate the overall effectiveness of this approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Despite its growing popularity as a method across the social sciences, the methodological literature on auto-photography is remarkably sparse. In an effort to begin redressing this gap, this paper provides an account of the ways in which auto-photography was used to complement other research methods in a (re)examination of the geographies of homelessness. It describes how auto-photography illuminated ‘hidden’ spaces that do not typically feature in public (or academic) imaginations of homelessness, and provided more nuanced understandings of the use, meanings and dynamics associated with other, apparently already ‘known’ spaces. It concludes that whilst auto-photography presents a number of logistical and ethical challenges – particularly when used with such a vulnerable group – it is nevertheless a powerful heuristic tool.