The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity

Waterman, Alan S.; Schwartz, Seth J.; Zamboanga, Byron L.; Ravert, Russell D.; Williams, Michelle; Agocha, V. Bede; Kim, Su Yeong; Donnellan, M. Brent

doi:10.1080/17439760903435208

Cited by 528 publications

(582 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

492

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Next, participants completed a brief version of the questionnaire for eudaimonic well-being (Waterman et al, 2010). This scale evaluates level of eudaimonic well-being using 21 statements concerning perceptions and personal beliefs about current life, and has been validated in a previous study (Waterman et al, 2010) These items were answered using a Likert-format scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree)…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

When Feeling Mixed Can Be Meaningful: The Relation Between Mixed Emotions and Eudaimonic Well-Being

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Whilst positive emotions benefit well-being, the role of other more complex emotional experiences for well-being is less well understood. This research therefore investigated the relationship between mixed emotions and eudaimonic well-being. A cross-sectional study (Study 1; N = 429) first demonstrated (using structural equation modelling) that mixed emotions are related to the presence of goal conflict. Importantly, it was also found that mixed emotions are positively related to eudaimonic well-being, and that one potential mechanism linking mixed emotions and eudaimonic well-being is via the search for meaning in life. Study 2 (N = 52) implemented a quasi-experiment regarding a naturally occurring meaningful life event (i.e., graduation day) and again demonstrated that mixed emotions are associated with a greater level of eudaimonic well-being. Implications of these findings include the importance of mixed emotions in the search for meaning in life, and the role of mixed emotions in goal conflict resolution.Keywords: mixed emotions, eudaimonic well-being, meaning in life, well-being, emotional complexity. THE EFFECTS OF MIXED EMOTIONS ON EUDAIMONIC WELL-BEING 3When feeling mixed can be meaningful:The relation between mixed emotions and eudaimonic well-being Eudaimonic well-being refers to a person's sense that his or her life has purpose or meaning. Unlike hedonic well-being, which refers to a person's sense of pleasure in life, eudaimonic well-being is not defined by the presence of positive emotion and absence of negative emotion. Indeed, experiencing a functional balance of positive and negative emotions may be a hallmark of eudaimonic well-being (Fredrickson, 2013). In this investigation, we examine whether subjective experiences that involve feeling both positive and negative emotion at the same time, known as mixed emotions, contribute to people's eudaimonic well-being.There are currently two distinctive approaches to the study of well-being: the eudaimonic approach and the hedonic approach. The eudaimonic approach focuses on the integration of multiple human potentials that permit people to live congruently with their values, ideals, and actions (Ryan & Deci, 2001;Ryff & Singer, 1998 and usually emphasises the importance of achieving goals that foster a meaningful life in spite of momentary restraint (Ryan et al., 2008). Eudaimonic well-being has also been linked to meaning in life, in terms of the sense of meaning and fulfilment (Ryan & Deci, 2008), although some authors have suggested that meaning in life and eudaimonic well-being may not necessarily be synonyms because people may be searching for meaning without having a sense of fulfilment (e.g., Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006).In contrast, the hedonic approach to well-being emphasises positive emotions and satisfaction with life as the hallmarks of a good life (Deiner, Suh, Lucas, & Smith 1999; Kahneman, Diener, & Schwarz 1999). Hedonic accounts assume that people are driven by THE EFFECTS OF MIXED EMOTIONS ON EUDAIMONIC WELL-BEING...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…items of the questionnaire for eudaimonic well-being (Waterman et al, 2010). These versions of the corresponding scales need to be further validated to guarantee convergent validity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

When Feeling Mixed Can Be Meaningful: The Relation Between Mixed Emotions and Eudaimonic Well-Being

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the case of personal development, 'eudaimonic' measures have been developed which gather data on the extent to which people are, for example, developing their potential and experiencing a sense of purpose and meaning in life (Waterman et al, 2010). Educational attainment may also be relevant to certain aspects of this marker.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The markers of wellbeing: A basis for a theory-neutral approach

Taylor

2015

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Programmes for measuring national wellbeing are challenged by the fact that there are a number of competing theories of what wellbeing consists in, and there is no prospect that the debate between them will be resolved.Although different theories disagree about what constitutes wellbeing, I argue that there is substantial common ground on what I call the 'markers' of wellbeing: things that are either constitutive, productive or indicative of wellbeing. Whatever stands in one of these relations to wellbeing is potentially relevant to its measurement. Something that is constitutive of wellbeing according to one theory will often be productive or indicative of wellbeing according to another and thus, despite their differences, both theories may acknowledge it as a marker of wellbeing.This paper considers which markers of wellbeing are sufficiently widely shared between different mainstream theories that they could form the basis of a theory-neutral approach to the measurement of wellbeing for the purposes of public policy. The paper defines what would count as a marker of wellbeing in this context; sets out criteria that candidate markers would need to meet; and proposes a list of nine markers that I argue are consistent with a wide range of mainstream theories and with widely-held folk assumptions about wellbeing.

show abstract

“…It might reasonably be inferred from this that scholars who take a 'hedonistic' approach to the good life (happiness as pleasure) are more likely to be counters, whereas those who insist on 'eudaimonic' approaches (the good life as the achievement of meaningful self-actualization) are more likely to be narrators. Still, many scholars espousing eudaimonic perspectives have shown themselves more than willing to subject eudaimonia to numerical reduction, developing scales to measure ‚Psychological WellBeing‛ (Ryff & Singer, 2008), ‚Self-Determination‛ (Deci & Ryan, 2008), ‚Eudaimonic Growth‛ (Bauer & McAdams, 2010), ‚Personal Expressiveness‛ (Waterman 2011: 371), ‚Eudaimonic Wellbeing‛ (Waterman et al, 2010), and ‚Meaning-In-Life‛ (Steger et al, 2006). This multiplication of measures shows the diversity of this unmanageably residual category of 'eudaimonic' wellbeing.…”

Section: You and Your Life: Eudaimonism And The Mistrust Of 'Hokey Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Counting and recounting happiness and culture: On happiness surveys and prudential ethnobiography

Thin¹

2012

Intnl. J. Wellbeing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The analysis of numerical data from happiness surveys has caught the attention of governments, corporations, and public media. It is questionable, however, whether the humanistic and empathetic aspirations of happiness scholarship can be well served by numerical reductionism unless this is more effectively complemented by ethnobiographical approaches which explore how self-ratings emerge from cultural contexts and self-narratives. Happiness is imagined, generated, and expressed both through quantification and through stories. In scholarship, as in everyday life, we count and recount our blessings. This somewhat neglected distinction between numerical and narrative representations of happiness applies to conceptual, experiential, and methodological issues. It may help us to understand the social construction of happiness in cultural contexts, in conjunction with other distinctions such as those between affective and cognitive appraisals, and between hedonic and eudaimonic versions of the good life. There are potential synergies between psychometric and ethnobiographical approaches which could help us to recover some of the core humanistic values of the 'happiness lens', namely: empathy (respect for subjectivity); positivity (attention to goodness); holism; a lifespan perspective; and consequentialist transparency (making progressive intentions and causal theories explicit). Anthropology has good potential to help strengthen these values, particularly by using ethnobiography to help us understand what numerical representations of happiness mean.

show abstract

The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity

Cited by 528 publications

References 58 publications

When Feeling Mixed Can Be Meaningful: The Relation Between Mixed Emotions and Eudaimonic Well-Being

When Feeling Mixed Can Be Meaningful: The Relation Between Mixed Emotions and Eudaimonic Well-Being

The markers of wellbeing: A basis for a theory-neutral approach

Counting and recounting happiness and culture: On happiness surveys and prudential ethnobiography

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About