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.
Despite the documented positive outcomes of adventure experiences, subjective well-being (SWB) frameworks have been largely absent from discourse and analyses in adventure studies. This conceptual ...paper proposes a framework for understanding how adventure recreation experiences promote eudaemonic SWB. In our framework, we propose that adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic aspects of SWB by supporting the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness and beneficence. The framework also integrates 'contact with nature' as an important mechanism through which adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic SWB. Analysis of research and practice across diverse aspects of adventure recreation (leisure, tourism, and education contexts) is used to support the proposed framework and to critically evaluate how psychological models, such as self-determination theory (SDT) and SWB, can advance theory and practice in adventure recreation. We conclude by offering a number of suggestions for future research directions and practical implications.
Interest in the topic of human flourishing has burgeoned. This article discusses what is required for a general account of flourishing. It builds on three previous critiques of flourishing ...conceptualization that clarified the lack of systematic theorizing, the overemphasis on psychometric investigations, and the acultural manner of conceptualization. Addressing these difficulties is necessary to move toward a more cohesive, cumulative science of flourishing. The first theme of the article is a vital first step toward providing a systematic theory of flourishing. The article appropriates Aristotle’s conception of eudaimonia (flourishing or good living) to contemporary concerns. The proposed Eudaimonic Theory defines flourishing, specifies its content in terms of human goods, discusses flourishing as a way of life (i.e., not a one-time achievement or subjective experience), and discusses virtue traits in a flourishing life. A second theme reaffirms the Aristotelian commitment to empirical (broadly conceived) verification. Psychometric evaluations of flourishing measures are useful, but insufficient evidence for a flourishing science. Therefore, hypotheses are provided for heuristic research guidance. The third theme is that flourishing must be made sufficiently capacious to accommodate the substantial cultural variation in flourishing conceptions. The article concludes with a promising proposal for formulating a general account of flourishing.
Happiness is one of the main topics that dominates the discourse of ethical philosophy. The concept of happiness began to be discussed from the emergence of philosophy in classical Greece to the ...present day in both Western and Islamic perspectives. This study aims to analyze the views of scholars in debating the topic of happiness. This study is a descriptive study using a qualitative systematic literature review method. The main source of data collection for this study is by highlighting previous works obtained from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) online databases and it is also supported by data obtained from Google Scholar. The analysis was done based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA). The results of the SLR analysis identified fifteen (15) articles featuring discussions on the topic of happiness among scholars, among them Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Maimonides, and Jeremy Bentham representing the West and Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, al-Farabi, Ibn Miskawayh, HAMKA, al-Attas, and Said Nursi representing Islamic scholars. The findings also highlighted three main elements discussing the topic of happiness, namely the spiritual, intellectual, and material elements. These three elements are not discussed in a balanced way in Western civilization causing confusion in uniting various views, but in Islam, although scholars’ opinions differ, they are however united in the principle of revelation that balances the three elements to explain the topic of true happiness. This study is important from the point of view of understanding the topic of happiness traced from the history of thought of scholars.
Em sua ética, Aristóteles considera alguns pontos os quais nos possibilita dizer que há uma perspectiva trágica. Sob esta premissa, conduziremos nosso trabalho: o principal foco será destacar os ...aspectos relativos à fortuna, ou seja, aqueles os quais os homens não podem controlar e sem os quais sequer poderiam viver contingência. Ser bem-nascido, ter boa família e amigos; viver num ambiente onde poucas batalhas sejam travadas e onde os desastres naturais raramente aconteçam. Todo o contexto externo ao indivíduo pode vir-a-ser uma tragédia para com sua aptidão natural que busca um bem comum - chamado por Aristóteles de eudaimonia. A consideração destes aspectos nas relações humanas constitui um aspecto trágico dentro da ética.
In his ethics, Aristotle considers some points which enable us to say that there is a tragic perspective. Under this premise, we will conduct our work: the main focus will be the aspects related to fortune, in other words, those that men cannot control and without which they could not even live with - contingency. Be well-born, have good family and friends; live in an environment where few battles are fought and where natural disasters rarely happen. The entire context external to the individual can become a tragedy for his natural aptitude that seeks a common good - called by Aristotle eudaimonia. The consideration of these aspects in human relations is a tragic aspect within ethics.
This article reviews research and interventions that have grown up around a model of psychological well-being generated more than two decades ago to address neglected aspects of positive functioning ...such as purposeful engagement in life, realization of personal talents and capacities, and enlightened self-knowledge. The conceptual origins of this formulation are revisited and scientific products emerging from 6 thematic areas are examined: (1) how well-being changes across adult development and later life; (2) what are the personality correlates of well-being; (3) how well-being is linked with experiences in family life; (4) how well-being relates to work and other community activities; (5) what are the connections between well-being and health, including biological risk factors, and (6) via clinical and intervention studies, how psychological well-being can be promoted for ever-greater segments of society. Together, these topics illustrate flourishing interest across diverse scientific disciplines in understanding adults as striving, meaning-making, proactive organisms who are actively negotiating the challenges of life. A take-home message is that increasing evidence supports the health protective features of psychological well-being in reducing risk for disease and promoting length of life. A recurrent and increasingly important theme is resilience – the capacity to maintain or regain well-being in the face of adversity. Implications for future research and practice are considered.
The brain is the central organ for adaptation to experiences, including stressors, which are capable of changing brain architecture as well as altering systemic function through neuroendocrine, ...autonomic, immune, and metabolic systems. Because the brain is the master regulator of these systems, as well as of behavior, alterations in brain function by chronic stress can have direct and indirect effects on cumulative allostatic overload, which refers to the cost of adaptation. There is much new knowledge on the neural control of systemic physiology and the feedback actions of physiologic mediators on brain regions regulating higher cognitive function, emotional regulation, and self‐regulation. The healthy brain has a considerable capacity for resilience, based upon its ability to respond to interventions designed to open “windows of plasticity” and redirect its function toward better health. As a result, plasticity‐facilitating treatments should be given within the framework of a positive behavioral intervention; negative experiences during this window may even make matters worse. Indeed, there are no magic bullets and drugs cannot substitute for targeted interventions that help an individual become resilient, of which mindfulness‐based stress reduction and meditation are emerging as useful tools.
Recent work on eudaimonic media entertainment has demonstrated that not only movies carry meaningful or inspiring topics but also content that is usually uploaded online, such as YouTube videos or ...memes in social media. Although past research found beneficial effects of eudaimonic movies for psychosocial well-being and motivational intentions, the daily audience of eudaimonic online fare has not been investigated yet. This article reports first findings from a survey (N = 2777), representative of German Internet users. Specifically, it addresses the question of (daily) encounters with eudaimonic memes, remembered topics, emotional and motivational effects with a focus on gender differences. The results reveal that many social media users consume “small doses” of eudaimonic content on a regular basis and experience similar, yet weaker, emotional consequences of such exposure. These findings are discussed in light of eudaimonic entertainment and positive media psychology.
Arguably, emotion is always valenced—either pleasant or unpleasant—and dependent on the pleasure system. This system serves adaptive evolutionary functions; relying on separable wanting, liking, and ...learning neural mechanisms mediated by mesocorticolimbic networks driving pleasure cycles with appetitive, consummatory, and satiation phases. Liking is generated in a small set of discrete hedonic hotspots and coldspots, while wanting is linked to dopamine and to larger distributed brain networks. Breakdown of the pleasure system can lead to anhedonia and other features of affective disorders. Eudaimonia and well-being are difficult to study empirically, yet whole-brain computational models could offer novel insights (e.g., routes to eudaimonia such as caregiving of infants or music) potentially linking eudaimonia to optimal metastability in the pleasure system.
The COVID-19 outbreak could be considered as an uncontrollable stressful life event. Lockdown measures have provoked a disruption of daily life with a great impact over older adults’ health and ...well-being. Nevertheless, eudaimonic well‐being plays a protective role in confronting adverse circumstances, such as the COVID-19 situation. This study aims to assess the association between age and psychological well-being (personal growth and purpose in life). Young–old (60–70 years) and old–old (71–80 years) community-dwelling Spaniards (N = 878) completed a survey and reported on their sociodemographic characteristics and their levels of health, COVID-19 stress-related, appraisal, and personal resources. Old–old did not evidence poorer psychological well-being than young–old. Age has only a negative impact on personal growth. The results also suggest that the nature of the COVID-19 impact (except for the loss of a loved one) may not be as relevant for the older adults’ well-being as their appraisals and personal resources for managing COVID-related problems. In addition, these results suggest that some sociodemographic and health-related variables have an impact on older adults’ well-being. Thus, perceived-health, family functioning, resilience, gratitude, and acceptance had significant associations with both personal growth and purpose in life. Efforts to address older adults’ psychological well-being focusing on older adults’ personal resources should be considered.
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