The construct of wellbeing has been criticised as a neoliberal construction of western individualism that ignores wider systemic issues such as inequality and anthropogenic climate change. Accordingly, there have been increasing calls for a broader conceptualisation of wellbeing. Here we impose an interpretative framework on previously published literature and theory, and present a theoretical framework that brings into focus the multifaceted determinants of wellbeing and their interactions across multiple domains and levels of scale. We define wellbeing as positive psychological experience, promoted by connections to self, community and environment, supported by healthy vagal function, all of which are impacted by socio-contextual factors that lie beyond the control of the individual. By emphasising the factors within and beyond the control of the individual and highlighting how vagal function both affects and are impacted by key domains, the biopsychosocial underpinnings of wellbeing are explicitly linked to a broader context that is consistent with, yet complementary to, multi-levelled ecological systems theory. Reflecting on the reciprocal relationships between multiple domains, levels of scale and related social contextual factors known to impact on wellbeing, our GENIAL framework may provide a foundation for a transdisciplinary science of wellbeing that has the potential to promote the wellbeing of individuals while also playing a key role in tackling major societal challenges.

The construct of wellbeing has been criticised as a neoliberal construction of western individualism that ignores wider systemic issues including increasing burden of chronic disease, widening inequality, concerns over environmental degradation and anthropogenic climate change. While these criticisms overlook recent developments, there remains a need for biopsychosocial models that extend theoretical grounding beyond individual wellbeing, incorporating overlapping contextual issues relating to community and environment. Our first GENIAL model (Kemp, Arias, & Fisher, 2017) provided a more expansive view of pathways to longevity in the context of individual health and wellbeing, emphasising bidirectional links to positive social ties and the impact of sociocultural factors. In this paper, we build on these ideas and propose GENIAL 2.0, focusing on intersecting individual-communityenvironmental contributions to health and wellbeing, and laying an evidence-based, theoretical framework on which future research and innovative therapeutic innovations could be based. We suggest that our transdisciplinary model of wellbeing-focusing on individual, community and environmental contributions to personal wellbeing-will help to move the research field forward. In reconceptualising wellbeing, GENIAL 2.0 bridges the gap between psychological science and population health health systems, and presents opportunities for enhancing the health and wellbeing of people living with chronic conditions. Implications for future generations including the very survival of our species are discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a global threat to physical and mental health worldwide. Research has highlighted adverse impacts of COVID-19 on wellbeing but has yet to offer insights as to how wellbeing may be protected. Inspired by developments in wellbeing science and guided by our own theoretical framework (the GENIAL model), we examined the role of various potentially protective factors in a sample of 138 participants from the United Kingdom. Protective factors included physical activity (i.e., a health behaviour that helps to build psychological wellbeing), tragic optimism (optimism in the face of tragedy), gratitude (a prosocial emotion), social support (the perception or experience of being loved, cared for, and valued by others), and nature connectedness (physical and psychological connection to nature). Initial analysis involved the application of one-sample t-tests, which confirmed that wellbeing (measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale) in the current sample (N = 138; M = 46.08, SD = 9.22) was significantly lower compared to previous samples (d = −0.36 and d = −0.41). Protective factors were observed to account for up to 50% of variance in wellbeing in a hierarchical linear regression that controlled for a range of sociostructural factors including age, gender, and subjective social status, which impact on wellbeing but lie beyond individual control. Gratitude and tragic optimism emerged as significant contributors to the model. Our results identify key psychological attributes that may be harnessed through various positive psychology strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of hardship and suffering, consistent with an existential positive psychology of suffering.

Here we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on wellbeing among UK-based respondents (N = 133). We explore the extent to which variables across wellbeing domains (physical activity, gratitude, tragic optimism, social support, and nature connection) contribute to wellbeing according to our previously proposed GENIAL model. Wellbeing was significantly reduced compared to both retrospective pre-lockdown measures (d=0.55) and a Scottish sample from 2018 (d=0.39). The regression model, containing wellbeing-related variables along with age, sex, and subjective socioeconomic status, accounted for up to 50% of the variance in wellbeing. While all predictor variables were significantly associated with wellbeing in zero-order correlations, only gratitude and tragic optimism contributed significantly to the regression model. These findings provide the first evidence for the contribution of these positive psychological factors to wellbeing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Implications for wellbeing at a time of great suffering and existential positive psychology (PP2.0) are discussed.

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Background The wellbeing of university students is deteriorating, highlighting a critical role for institutions to better support student wellbeing. Objective The goal of this work is to determine whether a final-year undergraduate wellbeing science module, inspired by recent theoretical developments, improved wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method Participants ( N = 128) completed a brief online questionnaire including the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale across baseline and follow-up assessments. Analysis involved 2 group (intervention, control) × 2 time (baseline T1, follow-up T2) mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) and one-sample t-tests to compare the intervention group with population-based norms for adults aged 16–75+. Results A significant interaction effect was observed , reflecting an increase in wellbeing in the intervention group in T2 relative to T1. Comparisons with published norms, further highlighted the beneficial impact of the module. Conclusion Encouraging connection to self, others and nature has beneficial impacts on wellbeing, consistent with a modern science of wellbeing. Teaching Implications Students learn the latest wellbeing theory, spanning the individual to the planet, and engage with opportunities to improve wellbeing, broadly defined. Teaching materials are made freely available for instructors wishing to develop a similar module or adapt materials for other purposes.

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