Day 3: Eudaimonic Well-Being

Day 3 of Positive Psychology: Eudaimonic Well-Being:   


 

 
















What is the concept of Eudaimonic Well-Being?

     Within the field of positive psychology, there are usually two camps of thought about what makes people happy and/or experience wellbeing. One approach is referred to as the subjective well-being or hedonic happiness, where a person's happiness is based on their satisfaction of life and the experience of high positive affect and low negative affect.  For the questions about meaning/purpose of life and other philosophical concepts of happiness & personal growth that the subjective well-being approach does not answer, the eudaimonic well-being argument can be applied. In this approach, well-being lies heavily in the actualization of human potential. True happiness is found in the expression of virtue and doing what is worth doing. In fulfilling or realizing one's true nature, an individual should participate in life activities most congruent with their deep values (ie. developing one's true self), engaging in life for their own interest/sake, and serving & belonging to institutions larger than themselves.
     Falling under the eudaimonic well-being umbrella, the concept of psychological well-being consists of six elements: self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations, environmental mastery, and autonomy. Another theory within the eudaimonic reasoning, was suggested by Seligman and was called authentic happiness. Seligman argued that there are three routes to happiness: (1) the pleasant life (hedonic- positive emotions and gratification), (2) the good life (constant absorption, engagement, and flow), and (3) the meaningful life (one uses their strengths for service of the greater good). Flow is defined as the intense experiential involvement in moment-to-moment activity, where attention is fully invested and person functions at the fullest capacity. The Self-determination theory is also discussed while studying Eudaimonic well-being. One component is autonomy, which is the tendency to self-regulate one's behavior in accordance with personal volition. It is the tendency to resist coercion, pressure, and control and freely act/choose what to do. The second component, competence, is the tendency to be interested and open, to seek leaning/ mastering opportunities. It is often described as the tendency to experience satisfaction from learning for its own sake and to explore/seek challenges. The final element, relatedness, is the tendency to feel connection and caring with group members. 





 
What are the differences between eudaimonic and hedonic approaches? 

 
     In the Hedonic Approach, hedonistic happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) is defined as the satisfaction with life + high positive affect + low negative affect. Satisfaction with life involves an individual being content/fulfilled with ideal life and reality. In addition, life satisfaction entails the cognitive component of happiness when individuals rate their life turned out to be. In general, affect refers to the emotional side of well-being, including moods and emotions associated with experiencing momentary events. High positive affect refers to a high volume of feeling positive emotions (accomplishment, joy, glee) when experiencing life while low negative affect refers to a low quantity of negative emotions (sadness, anger, stressed). In general, the hedonic argument includes the presence of positive mood, absence of negative mood, satisfaction with various domains of life, and global life satisfaction.
     In the Eudaimonic approach, eudaimonic/authentic/psychological well-being lies heavily in the actualization of human potential. True happiness is found in the expression of virtue and doing what is worth doing. In fulfilling or realizing one's true nature, an individual should participate in life activities most congruent with their deep values (ie. developing one's true self), engaging in life for their own interest/sake, and serving & belonging to institutions larger than themselves. In general, the eudaimonic argument includes sense of control or autonomy, feeling of meaning and purpose, personal expressiveness, feelings of belonging, social contribution, competence, personal growth, and self-acceptance.