Read the Article of Ilona Boniwell “What is Eudaimonia?
The Concept of Eudaimonic Well-Being and
Happiness” and answer the following:
1. What are the problems with the current approaches to happiness?
The current definition of happiness arose almost by chance. Researchers wanted to create well-
being questionnaires, and then they derived the definition of well-being from these
questionnaires, without considering whether they accurately captured the richness of human
wellness and happiness. The current well-being theories appear to provide a one-sided, rather
bare picture of well-being.
2. Differentiate eudaimonic happiness and hedonic happiness.
Hedonic happiness, is all about having fun, enjoying yourself, and having a good time in general.
More in self pleasure. On the other hand, Eudaimonic Happiness is all about an individual's
effectiveness. It's all about pushing yourself to your personal limit. As in striving for something
greater and putting forth effort for personal growth. In which case, striving for something bigger
than yourself is a different kind of happiness.
3. Explain in your own words this statement of Carl Rogers: “Maslow might be speaking of
Clients I have known when he says, “self-actualized people have a wonderful capacity to
Appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life with awe, pleasure,
Wonder, and even ecstasy, however stale these experiences may be for other people.” (4, p.
214, On Becoming a Person)
The fact that Rogers coined the phrase “man’s tendency to actualize himself, to become
potentialities” demonstrates that he shares Maslow’s viewpoint. As Maslow determined that
people who do what they are capable of provide self fulfillment to the individual's desire.
4. What are the components of PWB of Carol Ryff?
Self-acceptance (positive evaluation of oneself and one’s life),
Personal growth,
Purpose in life,
Positive relations with others,
Environmental mastery (the capacity to effectively manage one’s life and the
surrounding environment)
And autonomy.
5. What are the three psychological nutrients of SDT by Ryan and Deci?
Autonomy – the need to choose what one is doing, being an agent of one’s own life.
Competence – the need to feel confident in doing what one is doing.
Relatedness – the need to have human connections that are close and secure, whilst still
respecting autonomy and facilitating competence.
6. What is autotelic personality?
A person who generally does things for the sake of doing them, rather than to achieve some
later external goal
7. What is Well-Being according to the Authentic Happiness Model?
Martin Seligman proposed an authentic happiness model in which he distinguishes between the
pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life in order to determine what well-being truly
is.
The pleasant life is dedicated to the pursuit of positive emotions and is similar to hedonic well-
being. In the good life, one would use one's dominant personality strengths to obtain
gratifications – activities we enjoy doing, similar to flow. Lastly, meaningful life is about putting
your talents to use for something bigger than yourself.
8. According to Boniwell, Eudaimonic Well-Being can be achieved by personal
Growth/development. What are her seven indicators of development?
Complexity and differentiation (e.g. how well we can manage diversity);
Organisation and integration (e.g. ability to connect various elements);
Flexibility; sensitivity (e.g. being aware of details and nuances);
Mobility and dynamics (e.g. curiosity, interest, openness to novel situations);
Internal control (e.g. ability to delay gratification);
Broadness (e.g. open-mindedness);
And efficiency in utilising one’s potential and energy.
9. Another route to eudaimonia is transcendence according to Boniwell. What is its contextual
Definition?
It is related to dedication and commitment to something or somebody else but oneself. It is also
strongly related to finding meaning in one’s life and acting in accordance with this meaning.
10. What is meant by “Life satisfaction can be conceived as an independent, subjective Evaluation
of the current status of one’s life.”
A person who has a high level of satisfaction with their life, with more positive affect and little or
no negative affect, would be very happy.
