Positive Interventions That Erode the Hedonic and Eudaimonic Divide to Promote Lasting Happiness
The aim in this chapter is to outline the broad characteristics of a good life and to underscore the importance of a multi-faceted well-being framework which accurately represents how the good life is typically played out in the real world. An overview of
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Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick
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Introduction
The desire to live the ‘good life’ of health and happiness is strong for countless individuals. However, happiness can be an elusive and unsustainable goal. It is for this reason that interest in the field of positive psychology – which focuses on promoting optimal states of functioning and flourishing – continues to burgeon across the globe. There is considerable hope that this scientific discipline will provide direction to the average and not so average person on how to attain the good life. In fact, such is the anticipation and enthusiasm, that the application of positive psychology can at times precede the scientific verification. While there is some merit to proactively pursuing well-being, adopting an ad hoc and intuitive approach can hamper progress and undermine the scientific basis underpinning positive psychology. This is especially true in light of findings indicating that subjective accounts do not always align with scientific findings and can be laden with biases (Wilson & Gilbert, 2003, 2005). For example, it has been found that individuals are generally unreliable forecasters of what will make them happy, particularly in rela-
D.A. Vella-Brodrick (*) Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Centre for Positive Psychology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
tion to long term happiness. This occurs because there are biases associated with recall, salience and current mood that influence decision-making (Wilson & Gilbert, 2003, 2005). Hence, there is a pronounced level of responsibility felt by those working in the area of positive psychology to contribute scientific knowledge on factors for promoting the ‘good’ life, and to translate these findings into reliable and practical well-being interventions. The aim in this chapter is to briefly discuss the broad characteristics of a good life, and to underscore the importance of a multi-faceted wellbeing framework that accurately represents the good life as it plays out in the real world, in its many and varied forms. I will then provide an overview of some core interventions designed to achieve these positive qualities and in so doing, I will critique what I see as the often arbitrary and simplified divisions between eudaimonia and hedonia. The focus will then shift to a discussion about the relevance of intervention content, delivery processes and individual and environmental factors for intervention success. Here I will refer to some of the research I have conducted with colleagues and students and the insights gained along the way. It will be argued that the characteristics of the intervention alone, are not sufficient to predict whether or not it will be effective – the system within which the positive intervention is embedded is equally as important.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 J. Vittersø (ed.), Handbook of Eudaimonic Well-Being, International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42445-3_26
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