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Synonyms
Definition
Eudaimonic well-being refers to the subjective experiences associated with eudaimonia or living a life of virtue in pursuit of human excellence. The phenomenological experiences derived from such living include self-actualization, personal expressiveness, and vitality.
Description
Well-being is a complex, multifaceted construct that can be defined as optimal human experience and psychological functioning (cf. Ryan & Deci, 2001) and involves subjective experiences and objective conditions indicative of physical, psychological, and social wellness. From the dawn of intellectual history, philosophers have debated what constitutes “the good life” and how such a life may be achieved, and this debate has recently permeated psychological theory and research (Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008; Ryan & Huta, 2009; Ryff & Singer, 2008; Waterman, 2008).
One philosophical approach to “the good life” is eudaimonism. Often placed in juxtaposition to hedonism, the eudaimonic approach to living well is rooted in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (fourth century BCE/2002) and underscores the importance of living a life of contemplation and virtue in pursuit of human excellence and actualization of potentials. As an ethical philosophy, eudaimonism stresses the importance of meaning in life, self-realization, and personal growth. Indeed, in emphasizing the importance of excellence and virtue, the eudaimonic perspective posits that not all actions will confer well-being benefits even when successfully accomplished but rather that true happiness is derived from living in accord with one’s daimon (or true self) and in doing what is inherently worthwhile.
Eudaimonic well-being refers to the subjective experiences associated with eudaimonia (Waterman, 2008), in which actions are fully engaged, reflectively endorsed, and aligned with deeply held values and beliefs. Such an approach to living may be described as fully functioning, in that the person is non-defensive, lives each moment fully, and experiences a sense of choice (Rogers, 1961). Psychologists use a broad range of constructs to assess eudaimonic well-being (cf. Kashdan et al., 2008), including self-actualization (Maslow, 1968), personal expressiveness (Waterman, 1993), vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997), psychological well-being (Ryff & Keyes, 1995), and others. It is interesting to note that because wellness is defined as full functioning, both emotional awareness (versus compartmentalization) and healthy emotion regulation (versus suppression and dysregulation) are more indicative of eudaimonic well-being than is emotional positivity per se, the latter being part of the definition of hedonic well-being.
Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) is an approach to human motivation that acknowledges the importance of eudaimonic well-being in the conceptualization of wellness and takes interest in what factors are conducive to its experience (Ryan, Huta, & Deci, 2008). SDT posits that only those actions that facilitate satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness will contribute to full functioning. More specifically, research in SDT has shown that wellness is associated with (1) behavior that is regulated with an experience of volition, including intrinsic motivation and well-internalized extrinsic motivation; (2) pursuit and attainment of aspirations that are of inherent worth (intrinsic versus extrinsic life goals); and (3) mindfulness, or a relaxed and nonjudgmental awareness of present experience.
References
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Niemiec, C.P. (2014). Eudaimonic Well-Being. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_929
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