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Journal of Happiness Studies (2022) 23:3889–3908
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RESEARCH PAPER
Acting onValues: ANovel Intervention Enhancing Hedonic
andEudaimonic Well‑Being
AgnieszkaBojanowska1 · ŁukaszD.Kaczmarek2 · BeataUrbanska1·
MalwinaPuchalska1
Accepted: 17 September 2022 / Published online: 4 October 2022
© The Author(s) 2022
Abstract
Individuals increase well-being by acting on their values rather than merely endorsing
them. We developed a novel intervention (“Acting on Values,” AoV), motivating individu-
als to initiate values-related behavior over four weeks. Building upon the theory of Basic
Human Values, we expected that intervention recipients would increase their hedonic and
eudaimonic well-being relative to a control group. We also expected the AoV interventions
to cause similar effects as a mindfulness group. 783 volunteers (N = 268 completers) were
assigned into three groups: AoV intervention, mindfulness, and a waiting list. Individu-
als who completed the AoV intervention achieved higher satisfaction with life, positive
affect, and eudaimonic well-being, and lower negative affect than the control group. The
well-being effects of the AoV intervention did not differ significantly from the mindful-
ness intervention effects. Our findings suggest that the AoV intervention is an efficacious
method of increasing hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. It contributes to the diversity of
well-being facilitation methods.
Keywords Well-being· Values· Satisfaction with life· Positive affect· Negative affect·
Mindfulness· Interventions
1 Introduction
Individuals tend to talk about their values more than they actually act on them (Sheldon
& Krieger, 2014). This value importance/behavior gap is problematic because individu-
als become happier once they increase acting on their values (Sheldon & Krieger, 2014;
Tessier etal., 2021). The value importance/behavior gap also suggests that individuals miss
opportunities to enhance their lives via values engagement. Thus, most people might per-
sonally benefit from psychological assistance in the active pursuit of value-related goals.
* Agnieszka Bojanowska
abojanowska@swps.edu.pl
1 Department ofPsychology, SWPS University ofSocial Sciences andHumanities, Chodakowska
19/31, 03-815Warsaw, Poland
2 Department ofPsychology andCognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University,
Szamarzewskiego 89, 60-568Poznan, Poland
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Over the last two decades, an extensive literature has accumulated data regarding inter-
ventions that increase well-being or Positive Psychological Interventions (PPIs) (Seligman
etal., 2005). However, none of these interventions has addressed the human values system
explicitly. Most intervention studies have focused on increasing the hedonic aspect of well-
being, e.g., subjective well-being (Diener, 2000). Many studies also examined eudaimonic
well-being related to self-discovery and self-expression as reflected in engagement in per-
sonally relevant pursuits (Bolier etal., 2013; Weiss etal., 2016).
Building upon the theory of Basic Human Needs (Schwartz, 2012), we aimed to
develop and examine the effects of a novel intervention that serves individuals in initiat-
ing more value-related actions in their daily life. We sought to account for a broad range of
intervention outcomes, including subjective and eudaimonic well-being. Finally, we aimed
to contribute to the literature by establishing how the novel intervention compares to a
mindfulness-based intervention. This might provide more insight into whether behavioral
engagement of values via an intervention (a more personalized approach) meets the effects
of an intervention that has established efficacy but is less values-based.
Increasing the diversity of PPIs by engaging various positive emotions and positive
behaviors is necessary for several reasons. Using diverse PPIs is likely to counter the
effects of hedonic adaptation (Bao & Lyubomirsky, 2014). More extensive diversity in
PPIs might also minimize several PPIs problems, such as differential effectiveness across
cultures (Carr etal., 2020; Ng & Ong, 2021) or across personality traits and individual dif-
ferences (Enko etal., 2021; Oltean etal., 2022; Wellenzohn etal., 2018). Finally, PPIs are
more efficacious in multicomponent programs that engage several processes (van Agteren
et al., 2021). In summary, the development and examination of this novel intervention
might contribute to PPIs’ repertoire expansion. It also helps refine and progress functional
theories of values that address the value importance/behavior gap (Schwartz & Sortheix,
2018; Sheldon & Krieger, 2014).
2 Basic Human Values
Values reflect what individuals consider important and worth pursuing in life (Schwartz
& Sortheix, 2018; Schwartz etal., 2012). They are broad personal goals such as cultivat-
ing tradition, seeking stimulation and pleasure, or contributing to the welfare of others.
There are individual differences in values, e.g., some values are essential to one person and
unimportant to someone else. Values form a circular structure that reflects how they are
related to each other: neighboring values share similar goals that can be realized through
common behaviors, e.g., seeking achievements and power (Schwartz etal., 2012). Values
on the opposite sides of the circle contradict one another, e.g., seeking stimulation vs. secu-
rity. The circle of values forms higher-order groups. The most common division lists four
higher-order constructs: openness to change (self-direction, stimulation, hedonism), self-
enhancement (power, achievement), conservation (conformity, tradition), and self-tran-
scendence (benevolence, universalism) (Schwartz etal., 2012).
Some values are considered healthy because they promote higher subjective well-
being. Others hamper well-being and are considered unhealthy (Sortheix & Schwartz,
2018). Theorists suggest that healthy values reflect growth. In contrast, unhealthy values
reflect deficiency and anxious self-protection. Openness to change and self-transcendence
have proven to be the healthiest values (Bobowik etal., 2011; Cohen & Shamai, 2010;
Sortheix & Schwartz, 2018). They motivate people to pursue new opportunities, satisfy
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their personal needs, and maintain good relationships with others. Self-enhancement and
conservation were more often related to lower hedonic and eudaimonic indices of well-
being (Bobowik etal., 2011; Bojanowska & Piotrowski, 2017 Sortheix & Schwartz, 2018).
Yet, these effects were not consistent. Less frequent endorsement of unhealthy values is
observed in numerous populations (Cieciuch, 2013). For instance, power is the least and
benevolence the most endorsed value globally (Schwartz, 2007). Therefore, in our inter-
vention, we left the participants the autonomy to act on any values they have (rather than
suppressing some). We expected that healthy values would dominate their systems.
3 Hedonic andEudaimonic Well‑Being
The possible effects of a values-based intervention cover a wide range of well-being out-
comes. Accounting for the hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives is essential to capture the
specific impacts of value-based interventions. Hedonic well-being is often represented by
the theory of subjective well-being, which includes cognitive and affective components
(Diener, 2000). The cognitive component refers to satisfaction with life, i.e., an individual’s
general belief that their life is similar to or different from their subjective ideal. The affec-
tive component emphasizes the abundance of positive emotions and the absence of nega-
tive emotions in daily life. Eudaimonic well-being represents the realization and expression
of human and individual potential toward personal excellence (Kaczmarek, 2017; Water-
man, 1990). This perspective focuses on developing a person’s most essential skills and
resources used to achieve self-concordant goals. Hedonists primarily strive toward specific
feelings, whereas eudaimonists strive toward specific self-congruent goals (Kaczmarek,
2017). These two broad aspects of well-being are necessary to encompass the potentially
unique effects of value-oriented interventions. Nonetheless, eudaimonic well-being is less
studied as the PPIs’ outcome relative to hedonic well-being (Koydemir etal., 2021). Devel-
oping new methods to increase eudaimonic well-being via interventions is particularly
important because existing methods produce much smaller effects for eudaimonic well-
being than subjective well-being (Koydemir etal., 2021).
4 Acting onValues andits Eects onWell‑Being
Theorists argue that individuals maximize the benefits of their value systems once they
start to act upon them, i.e., "walking the talk" (Sheldon & Krieger, 2014). This has practi-
cal importance because research presents that a value importance/behavior gap exists in
human values systems, such that individuals act on values ("walk") less than they explic-
itly endorse these values ("talk") (Sheldon & Krieger, 2014). A similar approach has been
highlighted in the character strengths perspective(Seligman etal., 2005). Initiating actions
that reflect personal moral traits leads to greater well-being (Schutte & Malouff, 2019).
Pursuing values is likely to increase well-being for several reasons. First, individuals are
intrinsically rewarded for thoughts and actions congruent with their values and punished
for incongruent thoughts and actions (Feather, 1996; Rohan, 2000; Schwartz & Sortheix,
2018). Thus, individuals acting on values more often in response to an intervention might
experience more positive emotions (reward for congruence) and less negative emotions
(less punishment for incongruence), making their lives more satisfying (Kim-Prieto etal.,
2005). Second, individuals who act upon their values are more likely to experience the
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satisfaction of important goal achievement (Schwartz & Sortheix, 2018). This might result
in increased eudaimonic well-being (Sheldon, 2002; Waterman et al., 2010). Moreover,
individuals who initiate values-related behaviors in response to an intervention (e.g., help-
ing others resulting from self-transcendence) are likely to generate more positive events
in their lives. Thus, the AoV intervention recipients might derive more positive emotions
(e.g., empathic joy) from the new events that would not take place otherwise.
These arguments support the development of PPIs based on individual value systems.
The Theory of Basic Human Values (Schwartz, 1992), which focuses on personal beliefs
and value-related actions, provides an excellent framework for developing tailored inter-
ventions. Such interventions would provide individuals with more opportunities to fill their
attitude/behavior gap. This involves planning to act on their personal values and keeping
to these plans (Hagger & Luszczynska, 2014). Therefore, our primary hypothesis was that
an intervention that activates values would enhance subjective and eudaimonic well-being.
5 Mindfulness Interventions
Mindfulness is a state of attention characterized by openness, acceptance, and an enhanced
ability to respond to the present moment. It is the quality of awareness that arises through
intentionally attending to the present moment experienced in a non-judgmental and accept-
ing way (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). Mindfulness interventions enable individuals to experience
the present moment with greater attention and awareness, fostering clear thinking, compo-
sure, compassion, and open-heartedness. Although mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist
meditation, most evidence-based mindfulness interventions are now secular and practiced
worldwide (Chen & Murphy, 2019). A standard mindfulness intervention is mindfulness-
based stress reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1982), which includes a series of practices in
increasing awareness of thoughts, breath, sounds, and other sensations. Mindfulness inter-
ventions range from 2 to 5-week brief mindfulness meditation interventions (Lim etal.,
2015; Mrazek et al., 2013; Sass et al., 2019) to extensive 8-week programs (Vonderlin
etal., 2020).
Meta-analyses have shown that mindfulness interventions increase satisfaction with
life (Klussman etal., 2020), increase positive affect and decrease negative affect (Lindsay
etal., 2018; Snippe etal., 2017), and enhance eudaimonic well-being (Bartlett etal., 2019;
Vonderlin etal., 2020). Moreover, mindfulness interventions present the greatest efficacy
in increasing well-being in clinical and non-clinical populations in comparison with dis-
tinct types of psychological interventions (van Agteren etal., 2021). Mindfulness interven-
tions are also efficacious when delivered online (Howells etal., 2016; Kappen etal., 2019).
Therefore, mindfulness interventions are a good reference point for comparing the effec-
tiveness of the value-related intervention. As stated in the literature, the effects of novel
interventions should be compared with other well-established interventions (Heintzelman
& Kushlev, 2020). Mindfulness interventions meet these criteria. They have been proven
effective over various samples and contexts. A recent meta-analysis indicated that mind-
fulness interventions are the most efficacious interventions on a par with multicomponent
PPIs delivered over an extended period (van Agteren etal., 2021). Additionally, mindful-
ness interventions are more universal than values-based interventions. Fewer individual
preferences are considered in what individuals want to pursue and what actions to perform.
Thus mindfulness interventions can be contrasted with a value-related intervention that is
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more personalized and has the potential for a better person-activity fit (Lyubomirsky &
Layous, 2013).
6 Online PPIs
There are several delivery vehicles for PPIs: face-to-face programs (e.g., Seligman etal.,
2006), automated online methods, e.g., webpages (Seligman etal., 2005), or smartphone
applications (Boucher etal., 2021; Rebedew, 2018). In online or app services, individuals
interact with reading materials, pictures, or pre-recorded videos. The online format pro-
vides more standardization, easier intervention delivery, and progress tracking at the cost
of communication quality and the absence of physical contact. PPIs with personal con-
tact have been identified as producing stronger effects (Koydemir etal., 2021; Malouff &
Schutte, 2017). However, more general work on interventions aimed at well-being (includ-
ing PPIs) indicated that face-to-face and online interventions’ formats produced similar
results (van Agteren etal., 2021). This suggests that the findings regarding the intervention
delivery methods are inconclusive. Moreover, previous research indicated that online PPIs
are more effective when efforts are taken to engage individuals and, thus, prevent attrition
(Parks, 2014).
7 The Present Study
We aimed to examine the effects of a novel six-week-long online intervention to increase
well-being via enhanced value-related actions in daily life. Building upon the Theory of
Basic Values (Schwartz, 2012; Schwartz & Sortheix, 2018), and research documenting the
benefits of acting on values (Sheldon & Krieger, 2014), we expected that stronger engage-
ment in value-expressive behavior would increase hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.
Furthermore, we aimed to test our intervention against two groups: a neutral control group
and a mindfulness intervention group (Bartlett etal., 2019; Klussman etal., 2020; Snippe
etal., 2017). This design allows examining whether the AoV intervention provides benefits
relative to neutral conditions and other interventions. We addressed hedonic and eudai-
monic well-being for outcomes, which is particularly important to capture the effects of
values.
We primarily aimed to deliver the intervention face-to-face. However, the outbreak of
the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown required that we turn to online methods. Thus,
we tailored the intervention to be administered and completed online. Consequently, we
tested this intervention using an intervention delivery vehicle that seems especially needed
if similar crises and restrictions on face-to-face contact occur in the future.
Our approach based on values and well-being during a pandemic is essential if we con-
sider an earlier observation that individuals modified their values during the lockdown and
significantly declined all aspects of well-being (Bojanowska et al., 2021; Bonetto et al.,
2021). Interventions that assist individuals in discovering new ways to act on their val-
ues despite restrictions might contribute to well-being preservation during pandemics.
These interventions might also be worthwhile when the COVID-19 pandemic is over to
strengthen individuals and further build their value-based resources (such as openness to
change) that might buffer against other forms of social turmoil (Bojanowska etal., 2021).
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8 Method
8.1 Participants
A power analysis using G*Power 3.1 (Faul etal., 2009) indicated that detecting medium
effect sizes of f = 0.25, with the power of 0.95, would require a final sample size of at
least 251 participants for an ANCOVA with three groups and one covariate. To account
for the expected dropout, we tripled the initial sample size. A total of 783 participants
signed up for the experiment. They all gave informed consent to participate in the study
and provided information regarding gender, age, education, and email address. Partici-
pants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: AoV, mindfulness, and the control
group. Participants entered the mindfulness training group only if they had not received
mindfulness training in the past. A total of 268 participants (34% of all enrolled and
55% of those who completed baseline questionnaires) completed the study (Fig.1). Of
the participants, 239 (89.2%) were female, and 29 (10.8%) were males. Their age was
between 18 and 55years (M = 34.09, SD = 9.49). The dropout size (Fig.1) was compa-
rable to other online studies (Melville etal., 2010; Morledge etal., 2013). The experi-
ment was conducted between September 2020 and February 2021. Due to COVID-19
pandemic restrictions, we conducted the intervention online. We recruited participants
among Polish psychology students and Facebook users (via Facebook ads). Psychology
students received credits for participating in the study. We report how we determined
our sample size, all data exclusions, all manipulations, and all measures in the study.
Ethical Committee approved this study (SWPS University Ethics Committee, decision
nr 38/2019).
n= 783 enrolled
Randomization
Values Intervention
n= 263
Control group
n= 226
Mindfulness intervention
n= 294
n= 34 removed
(previous mindfulness training)
n= 107 completed
the questionnaires
n= 81 completed
the training
n= 80 completed
the training
n= 165 completed
baseline questionnaires
n= 162 completed
baseline questionnaires
n= 160 completed
baseline questionnaires
Fig. 1 Flow diagram for study participants
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8.2 Procedure
8.2.1 Values Training
After completing the baseline questionnaires, respondents participating in values training
received information regarding their four most important values (based on the PVQ question-
naire) along with a characteristic of these values. We used a framework that emphasizes ten
values (Schwartz, 1992).
8.2.2 Mindfulness Training
Participants from the mindfulness training group received information about the level of their
intentional attention measured with the Polish version of the Short Form Mindful Attention
Awareness Scale (MAAS-SF-PL, Brown & Ryan, 2003; Radoń, 2014). There were four levels
of interpretation: early beginner, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The levels correspond
to the points received in a questionnaire. Each level was described with behavioral language
and indicated the pros and cons of each attention state and the advantages of participating in
mindfulness training.
8.3 Values Training Procedure
After getting feedback on their four most essential values, participants received the first read-
ing material about the role of values according to Schwartz’s theory. Their task was to plan
how to act on their most important value over the upcoming week and put this plan into prac-
tice. Participants used an online journal to report what value they would be working on and
what actions they planned to take (Supplement A). Participants received additional reading
materials each week and planned to realize the subsequent values. Using their online diaries,
they also reported how successfully they implemented their plans in the previous week and
what actions they took.
We did not suggest the frequency of acting on values because participants planned activi-
ties that followed different patterns depending on the value. For instance, some values-related
activities might be performed daily (e.g., being more helpful to others), weekly (going to the
swimming pool), or less often (e.g., going to the opera). Moreover, some participants might
perform different one-time tasks (e.g., buying geolocation trackers to increase children’s
outdoor security). Finally, some activities might be less plannable and more dependent on
increased awareness and readiness to respond to emerging opportunities (deciding to actively
participate in a social protest).
The materials that the respondents read each week addressed (1) the role of the values
(according to Schwartz’s theory); (2) the advantages of knowing one’s value hierarchy and
acting accordingly; (3) factors influencing which values are most important to people (includ-
ing cultural factors); (4) the importance of regularity in acting on values. After the training,
the participants completed post-test questionnaires. They also received feedback on how their
well-being changed after the training.
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8.4 Mindfulness Intervention Procedure
Participants took a short form of a 4-week MBSR course, adjusted from an original 8-week
program (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). After getting feedback on their mindfulness levels, partici-
pants received a 10-min guided meditation each week. They were encouraged to use daily
situations to practice mindfulness and report them in an online journal. The meditations
were: body scanning, sitting with the breath, sound, and walking meditation (Kabat-Zinn,
1990). The program started with mindfulness fundamentals (awareness of body sensa-
tion and breathing) and led towards more complex and challenging exercises (walking
meditation).
As in the value intervention, participants completed the online diary reporting their
engagement in the process (how often they planned to practice and how well they did in
this task in the previous week). With each voice meditation, participants received one read-
ing material per week (1) an introduction to mindfulness—what is mindfulness and how
it is practiced; (2) advantages of practicing mindfulness—what changes participants can
expect from regular practice; (3) mindfulness in different cultures—the Eastern and West-
ern perspective on attentive awareness; (4) importance of the regular practice of mindful-
ness—information on the negative consequences of being in an unaware state of mind and
how to enhance motivation to practice mindfulness. As in the value intervention, partici-
pants completed post-test questionnaires and received feedback.
The intervention plan is presented in Table1.
8.5 Intervention Engagement
Participants rated their intervention engagement on a scale from 1 ("very poor") to 10
("very intense") after the study. We also monitored how many diaries the participants
completed. The mean engagement was relatively high (M = 7.03, SD = 1.95), and 85% of
the participants completed each assignment. We included all participants in the analysis
regardless of their compliance. This is in line with the intention-to-treat rule ("once ran-
domized, always analyzed"), providing an unbiased estimate of treatment effects (Gupta,
2011).
8.6 Control Group Procedure
Participants assigned to the control group completed baseline questionnaires. After four
weeks, they completed post-test questionnaires and received materials from the interven-
tion they chose as a benefit.
8.7 Measures
8.7.1 Eudaimonic Well‑Being
We used the Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-being (Waterman etal., 2010; adapted into
Polish by Kłym-Guba & Karaś (2018). It consists of 21 items (e.g., ’I believe I know what
my strongest skills are and I try to develop them whenever possible’), with answers ranging
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Table 1 Intervention design
Week Intervention
Acting on values Mindfulness
Baseline measurement Baseline measurement
1 Feedback on personal values Feedback on mindfulness levels
Text material: The role of values Text material: Introduction to mindfulness
Applying the most important value in life “Awareness of body sensation” meditation to practice during the next week
Online diary Online diary
2 Text material: Advantages of knowing the hierarchy of values Text material: Advantages of practicing mindfulness
Applying the second most important value in life "Sitting with the breath" meditation to practice during the week
Online diary Online diary
3 Text material: Factors shaping the values (including culture) Text material: Mindfulness in different cultures
Applying the third most important value in life Sound meditation to practice during the week
Online diary Online diary
4Text material: The importance of the regular practice of acting upon values Text material: Importance of regular practice of mindfulness
Applying the fourth most important value in life Walking meditation to practice during the week
Online diary Online diary
Final measurement & feedback Final measurement & feedback
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from 1 (’strongly agree’) to 7 (’strongly disagree’). Higher scores indicated higher eudaimonic
well-being. This scale had satisfactory reliability with Cronbach’s α = 0.84 and McDonald’s
ω = 0.84.
8.7.2 Positive andNegative Affect
Positive affect and negative affect were measured using the Positive and Negative Affect
Schedule (Watson etal., 1988; Bojanowska & Zalewska, 2015). This measure comprises a list
of ten adjectives referring to positive (e.g., interested, excited) and ten adjectives referring to
negative (e.g., guilty, ashamed) affective states experienced over the previous two weeks. Par-
ticipants responded on a scale from 1 (’slightly or not at all’) to 5 (’extremely’). Higher scores
represented higher intensity of affect. The scales had satisfactory reliability with Cronbach’s
α = 0.70 and McDonald’s ω = 0.77 for positive affect and Cronbach’s α = 0.89 and McDon-
ald’s ω = 0.89 for negative affect.
Satisfaction with Life. We used the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener et al.,
1985; Bojanowska & Piotrowski, 2017) to assess participants’ global evaluation of their life
(’In most ways, my life is close to my ideal’) on a scale from 1 (’I definitely disagree’) to 7 (’I
definitely agree’). Higher scores represent higher satisfaction with life. This scale had satisfac-
tory reliability with Cronbach’s α = 0.83 and McDonald’s ω = 0.84.
8.8 Analytical strategy
We used a 3 (group: the AoV intervention, the mindfulness intervention, and control) × 2 (gen-
der) ANCOVA with post-test values as the outcome while controlling for baseline values as
a covariate. Such models assess the difference in post-test means while accounting for pre-
test values, which provides more statistical power (Clifton & Clifton, 2019; Van Breukelen,
2006). We present partial eta-squared (η2) with η2 > 0.14 for large, η2 > 0.07 for medium, and
η2 > 0.02 for small effect sizes. We included in the supplementary materials a repeated-meas-
ures ANOVA, which does not adjust the outcomes for pre-test values (Supplement B). We
performed these analyses with SPSS 26.0 (IBM, USA).
Furthermore, we tested the intervention’s effects equivalence (Lakens, 2017). Accounting
for equivalence allows testing if the effects are robust enough to differ from 0 to a meaningful
extent, i.e., beyond a predefined range of equivalence. Thus, the equivalence test goes beyond
the traditional testing if the difference is at least higher than 0. This procedure is identical to
testing if the effect’s 90% two-sided confidence interval falls entirely within the set equiva-
lence range. The equivalence lower and upper bounds represent effects considered too small to
be meaningful. We set the Cohen’s d equivalence bounds of ΔL = − 0.23 and ΔU = 0.23. Such
positive interventions’ overall effect size was identified in a meta-analysis that accounted for
mindfulness interventions (Koydemir etal., 2020). Consequently, we tested if each increase in
outcomes from the baseline to the post-test was meaningful relative to the effects observed in
other studies. We tested equivalence using jamovi software (The jamovi project, 2021) and the
TOSTER module (Lakens, 2017).
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9 Results
Preliminary analyses. Groups did not differ in baseline satisfaction with life, F (2,
265) = 1.92, p = 0.15, η2 = 0.01, eudaimonic well-being, F (2, 265) = 0.16, p = 0.85,
η2 < 0.01, and negative affect, F (2, 265) = 0.80, p = 0.45, η2 = 0.01. There were small base-
line differences in positive affect, F (2, 265) = 3.58, p = 0.03, η2 = 0.03. Thus, we accounted
for baseline in determining intervention outcomes.
The frequency of values endorsement is presented in Table2. We present raw and ipsa-
tive scores of values. Ipsatization is a correction of variables by their common component,
which involves within-individual centering. As recommended (Schwartz, 1992), we calcu-
lated the ipsative scores by subtracting an overall individual mean of all value items from
every specific value index based on subsets of these items. We present raw and ipsative
scores because simulation studies indicate that raw and ipsatized scores have their advan-
tages and limitations; thus, both are best presented (Rudnev, 2021). Participants tended to
endorse openness to change and oelf-transcendence values more often (higher raw score
means and ipsative scores are above 0). They endorsed self-enhancement and conservation
less often (lower raw score means and ipsative scores below 0).
Intervention effects. We found that individuals involved in the AoV intervention and
those involved in the mindfulness intervention achieved higher levels of satisfaction
with life, F (2, 264) = 12.27; p < 0.001; η2. = 0.09), positive emotions, F (2, 264) = 13.26,
p < 0.001, η2. = 0.09), and eudaimonic well-being, F (2, 264) = 10.66, p < 0.001, η2. = 0.08,
and lower levels of negative emotions, F (2, 264) = 19.39, p < 0.001; η2. = 0.13, than t he
control group (Fig.2). These effects were moderate in size. There were no significant dif-
ferences between the effects of the AoV and the mindfulness intervention.
The equivalence analysis indicated similar results (Table 3). There were significant
differences in pre- vs. post-test outcomes. As expected, the levels from pre-test to post-
test were generally significantly different and non-equivalent in the interventions groups.
Repeated-measures ANOVA that did not adjust for the baseline produced similar results
(Supplement B).
10 Discussion
We developed and examined a novel values-based intervention aimed at increasing well-
being. As expected, individuals who completed the AoV intervention achieved higher
subjective and eudaimonic well-being than a neutral control group. Namely, the AoV
intervention recipients were more satisfied with their life, enjoyed more self-expression
(eudaimonic well-being), and felt more positive and less negative affect than individuals
who did not initiate any intervention. Moreover, the results of the AoV intervention were
comparable to the effects of well-established mindfulness intervention. Our findings also
Table 2 Values endorsement. Mean and standard deviations (in brackets) for each higher-order value
Higher scores reflect stronger values endorsement
Openness to change Self-enhancement Conservation Self-transcendence
Raw scores 4.43(.71) 3.45(.85) 3.79(.72) 4.93(.62)
Ipsative scores .27(.61) − .70(.67) − .38(.47) .77(.42)
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indicated the feasibility of the novel AoV intervention relative to the mindfulness interven-
tion, as their dropout rates were similar. We tested this intervention under restrictions on
daily activities during the COVID-19 lockdown.
We provided systematic and well-controlled evidence that individuals who intensify act-
ing on their values are more likely to increase their well-being. This finding contributes to
the Basic Human Values framework discussion regarding the relationship between values
and well-being (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000). Our results support the existence of the value
importance/behavior gap (Sheldon & Kireger, 2014) because participants realized their
well-being potential after receiving more motivation and assistance in acting upon their
values, i.e., walking the talk. This change indicates the significance of the gap as well as
the feasibility and relative ease of reducing it by interventions. Finally, our findings also
addressed classical philosophical (Kaczmarek, 2017) and psychological (e.g., Waterman
et al., 2010) accounts of eudaimonia that emphasize that individuals pursue happiness
effectively when they pursue what they consider essential in life.
We found that the novel AoV intervention produced similar outcomes as a well-estab-
lished mindfulness intervention. Both interventions had comparable moderate effects
on each well-being facet. It indicates that the AoV intervention meets the domain stand-
ards. This finding also corroborates previous meta-analyses indicating that mindfulness
Fig. 2 The effects of the interventions on well-being. Note Covariate-adjusted means. Post hoc comparison
with Bonferroni correction. Error bars represent 95% CIs. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
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Table 3 Descriptive statistics and equivalence tests
dfAoV = 79, dfmindfulness = 80, dfcont = 106
a p < .07, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001
Group Variable M (SD) Paired t-test Equivalence t-test (TOST) Statistical interpretation
Pretest Posttest Lower bound Upper bound Difference Equivalence
Acting on values Life satisfaction 4.15(1.06) 4.63(1.22) 5.33*** 7.39** 3.28 Yes No
Eudaimonic WB 4.86(0.74) 5.06(0.80) 3.10*** 5.16*** 1.04 Yes No
Positive emotions 3.34(0.71) 3.49(0.66) 1.81a3.87*** − .24 Marginally No
Negative emotions 2.67(0.91) 2.21(0.86) − 4.66*** − 2.60 − 6.71*** Yes No
Mindfulness Life satisfaction 4.00(1.21) 4.72(1.21) 6.22*** 8.29*** 4.15 Yes No
Eudaimonic WB 4.91(0.76) 5.2(0.76) 5.96*** 8.03*** 3.89 yes No
Positive emotions 3.10 (0.75) 3.53(0.73) 6.22*** 8.29*** 4.15 Yes No
Negative emotions 2.63(0.81) 2.12(0.90) − 6.84*** − 4.77 − 8.91*** Yes No
Control Life satisfaction 3.82(1.21) 4.02(1.18) 2.27*4.65*** − 0.11 Yes No
Eudaimonic WB 4.85(0.79) 4.84(0.80) − 0.23 2.14*− 2.61** No Yes
Positive emotions 3.07(0.73) 3.05(0.78) − 0.18 2.19*− 2.56** No Yes
Negative emotions 2.79(0.95) 2.82(0.98) .39 − 1.99*2.76** No Yes
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interventions produce results comparable to PPIs delivered over an extended period (van
Agteren etal., 2021). Having intervention alternatives is essential as the hedonic adapta-
tion theories emphasize the need for different activities and experiences in building endur-
ing well-being (Bao & Lyubomirsky, 2014; Wilson & Gilbert, 2008). Our effort also fol-
lows recommendations to increase new PPI development’s scientific quality (Heintzelman
& Kushlev, 2020). We present that further work on the effects of PPIs might benefit from
comparing interventions against each other.
We covered a broad range of well-being facets from affect to cognition and from the
hedonic to eudaimonic perspective. However, we observed similar effects of the inter-
ventions for each well-being measure. This reveals the strength of the AoV intervention
because the effects of PPIs are usually less pronounced for eudaimonic well-being than for
subjective well-being (Koydemir etal., 2021). Moreover, these uniform outcomes across
each well-being facet address whether distinguishing between different aspects of well-
being makes practical sense (e.g., Disabato etal., 2016). We found that interventions oper-
ated in the same direction and had similar strength in their effects on each well-being facet.
This supports the notion that they might operate together in daily life. Of note, we observed
the strongest effect of the intervention (on the verge of moderate and strong effects) for
negative affect. It might suggest that the AoV intervention might be the most effective in
reducing distress. This finding might address new questions regarding the primary role of
emotions in the PPI’ working mechanisms (Moskowitz etal., 2021).
We focused on the general positive effect of walking the talk identified in previous stud-
ies (Sheldon & Krieger, 2014; Tessier etal., 2021). Thus, participants were free to act upon
any of their dominant values. Most of our participants more frequently endorsed openness
to change and self-transcendence. These two groups of values are considered healthier
because they reflect a growth orientation, whereas self-enhancement and conservation (less
frequently endorsed in our sample) might be driven more by managing anxiety and self-
protection (Sortheix & Schwartz, 2018). Such a structure of value endorsement, especially
the less frequent endorsement of self-enhancement, is observed in numerous populations
(Cieciuch, 2013) and can be deemed representative of the broader population.
Our study also provides a new replication of the benefits of mindfulness interventions
(Bartlett et al., 2019; Klussman et al., 2020; Lindsay et al., 2019; Snippe et al., 2017;
Vonderlin etal., 2020). We used this intervention primarily as a benchmark for our novel
intervention. However, the results contribute to mindfulness research. First, we replicated
previous findings that practicing mindfulness provides benefits for well-being. Notably,
whereas most previous studies used more extended mindfulness programs, we present
moderate benefits reached in a four-week mindfulness training. Moreover, we report evi-
dence that mindfulness interventions increase eudaimonic well-being, a facet of well-being
studied as the outcome of mindfulness interventions less often. Finally, few studies com-
pared mindfulness training with other interventions. Thus, we present that the mindfulness
intervention does not offer superior effects when used to increase well-being. The effects
were moderate and comparable to another intervention that did not focus on mindfulness.
10.1 Practical Implications
This study has some practical implications. First, we offer a novel intervention that prac-
titioners of psychology might use with clients to improve their well-being. As diversity is
essential for PPIs to work effectively (Bao & Lyubomirksy, 2014), the AoV intervention
might be a worthwhile addition to the PPIs repertoire. Second, despite the AoV intervention
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devised as a life-enhancing method with a positive focus, we observed its particular effi-
cacy in reducing negative feelings. This might indicate that the AoV intervention might
be used to counter negative feelings in non-clinical samples. Third, we present evidence
that motivating individuals toward a life more infused with values does not provide costs
to their well-being. In contrast, individuals activating their values enjoyed these activities
and were more satisfied with life. Practitioners can use this finding to build positive atti-
tudes and expectations towards values and value-related actions among their clients. This
might be considered from the sociotherapeutic perspective that often emphasizes the devel-
opment of values systems. Fourth, our findings regarding values and mindfulness might be
relevant to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy because value-expressive behaviors and
mindfulness training constitute this approach’s base (Hayes etal., 2006). Finally, our work
provides some of the earliest interventions whose effectiveness was tested in the context
of the COVID-19 pandemic (Dennis etal., 2021; Grasedieck, 2021; Xiaomei etal., 2020).
Thus, we recommend the AoV intervention (as the mindfulness intervention) to practition-
ers who need evidence for an intervention to work in this particular social context, e.g.,
using a format that respects social distancing or an intervention that individuals perform
despite pandemic restrictions on daily behavior.
10.2 Limitations andFuture Directions
This study has several limitations. First, we conducted this study in Poland. Due to national
differences in dominating values and their link with well-being, the outcomes might differ
in other countries (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000). Second, we delivered interventions online.
Further studies might test how the technology moderates the outcomes of this interven-
tion. It is not unlikely that the effects might be more pronounced using face-to-face ses-
sions because previous analyses indicated that personal contact increases the influence of
PPIs (Koydemir etal., 2021; Malouff & Schutte, 2017). Third, most of the volunteers who
responded to our invitation were female. With few men in our sample, we could not reli-
ably test whether gender moderated the effects of the intervention. Further studies might
examine whether these findings generalize to men. Fourth, we provided the interven-
tion during the COVID-19 lockdown. This pandemic had substantial adverse effects on
well-being and transformed some personal values, e.g., by reducing hedonistic pursuits
(Bojanowska etal., 2021). We know little whether the effects of the AoV intervention
would be the same if individuals had higher baseline levels of well-being and if extraordi-
nary circumstances did not influence participants’ values. Fifth, despite the random assign-
ment to groups, we observed a minor baseline difference in positive affect. Our analytic
approach aimed to minimize these effects by adjusting the outcomes for what might be
expected if both groups had equal starting levels of positive affect (Clifton & Clifton, 2019;
Van Breukelen, 2006). Nevertheless, this analytical method does not rule out the possibil-
ity that it might have been more difficult for individuals in the AoV group to improve on
positive affect if the participants in the other groups had more room to improve (Pearl,
2016). Sixth, we experienced a considerable dropout from the intervention. Although the
dropout rate was comparable to other intervention studies, some methods to reduce dropout
might be employed. For instance, our intervention might be more tailored to smartphone
use as smartphones become increasingly popular in delivering PPIs (e.g., Howells etal.,
2016). Seventh, we tested this intervention in a non-clinical sample. Thus, this efficacy test
does not generalize to clinical samples, e.g., depressed or anxious individuals. Mindful-
ness interventions and many PPIs have been efficacious in clinical settings (Geerling etal.,
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2020; Lai etal., 2019). Thus, further studies might seek ways to adjust this intervention
to facilitate well-being among individuals representing clinical groups. Eight, the control
group did not perform any activity. They may have experienced lower well-being, espe-
cially due to the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions. Further testing of the AoV inter-
vention might benefit from a comparison with a group performing a neutral or a placebo
activity. Ninth, mindfulness was a fixed schedule intervention, whereas the AoV interven-
tion allowed for a broader range of behavioral patterns. Further studies might dissect and
optimize this behavioral aspect by manipulating the frequency of AoV and mindfulness
interventions. Tenth, we used a mindfulness intervention as a reference point. However,
it would also be worth comparing the AoV intervention’s effects with other interventions,
including those that provide less pronounced effects. This would allow observing more
relative benefits of the AoV intervention and presenting our intervention within a broader
context of existing research and practice. Finally, further studies might use designs pow-
ered enough to address the engagement of risky values. Acting upon some values might
be less or inversely related to well-being, e.g., power-seeking (Sarkova etal., 2013). Such
studies might identify if the AoV intervention is likely to backfire for individuals endors-
ing specific values despite its general positive effect on a group level. This might add to the
literature regarding individual differences in predicting PPIs outcomes (e.g., Enko etal.,
2021; Oltean etal., 2022; Wellenzohn etal., 2018).
11 Conclusions
We presented a successful development of a new method to increase well-being, i.e., the
AoV intervention. This method increases the diversity of PPIs and aims to engage indi-
viduals in personally valued activities. Such methods are crucial in everyday life for indi-
viduals who cultivate their well-being, including those under the burden of a pandemic
lockdown. Our work contributes to the development of the PPIs as a validated instrument
of personal change.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https:// doi.
org/ 10. 1007/ s10902- 022- 00585-4.
Funding The study was supported by the Polish National Science Center Grant (number 2017/26/D/
HS6/00439) awarded to AB.
Data Availability Study’s data available at: https:// osf. io/ e9xr7/
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Com-
mons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly
from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/.
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