Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being

“Our conceptual framework is more in keeping with the approaches of Keyes (2002), Seligman (2002, 2011), Tennant et al. (2007), and the recent work of Diener et al. (2010a, b), all of which incorporate both hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of wellbeing.”

“These positive subjective feelings and personality factors, including but not limited to empathy, enjoyment, happiness, contentment, optimism, tolerance, flow, love, and mindfulness, can result in a person’s satisfaction, self-efficacy, and success (Seligman, 2011; Fathi et al., 2021).”

“In consequence, the last decade has witnessed an outpouring of positive psychology research focused specifically on the investigation of optimal human functioning (Linley, Joseph, Harrington, & Wood, 2006; Lopez & Snyder, 2011; Seligman, 2011; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).”

“Certainly compared to say, the happy life, the meaningful life has been characterized as relatively scarce (Seligman, 2002, 2011).”

“In addition, the research of Scheier and colleagues (Rasmussen, Scheier, & Greenhouse, 2009; Scheier & Carver, 1985, 1987, 1992) demonstrated that optimism is a key predictor for physical health and an important aspect of positive functioning.”

“For example, Seligman (2011) introduced the PERMA model, in which flourishing is defined in terms of five pillars: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.”

“The results at post-test (1 week after the mindfulness curriculum was completed) showed that, relative to control students, the intervention students reported increased feelings of calmness, relaxation, and self-acceptance as well as decreased negative affect. Emotion regulation improved and somatic complaints decreas…”

“For example, Positive Psychology (Seligman, 2012) supports the concept of human flourishing, intended as “positive” mental health (Keyes, 2002).”

“Consequently, it can be stated that positive psychology has brought about a major shift in the focus of psychology, from the obsession with only negative and undesirable events and behaviors in life toward more positive qualities (Seligman, 2011).”

“Sample activities, summarized in Table 2, may include optimism-focused or health-related activities linked to better well-being (133).”

“Herein lies the incongruence between experimental research and real world practice; where the happiness seeking experience could be greatly enriched and sustained whilst fulfilling a fundamental mission of positive psychology—to help individuals to flourish (Seligman 2011).”

“, 2010) Self-acceptance Purpose and meaning Positive relations Supportive relationships Autonomy Engagement Environmental mastery Contribution to others Purpose in life Competence Personal growth Optimism Being respected Basic needs from Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) Being a good person Autonomy Compet…”

“Amidst the current rise of interest in human flourishing, major theorists (Huppert & So, 2013;Keyes, 2002; Seligman, 2011) agree that the construct includes both feeling good (i.e., hedonia) and functioning effectively (i.e., eudaimonia) and in this way is the mirror opposite of common mental…”

“(2011a), as conceptualisations of wellbeing often emphasise the importance of social connectedness (e.g. Keyes, 2007; Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Seligman, 2011).”

“PPT is primarily based on Seligman’s conceptualization of happiness and well-being (Seligman, 2002, 2011).”

“Positive psychology is the study of positive experiences, positive character traits, and the institutions that help cultivate them (Seligman, 2011).”

“Following Seligman (2011) and Sen (1999), we define well-being outcomes in terms of what people, when free from coercion, would choose to do for their own sake.”

“Mindfulness has been proposed as a missing link between cognitive therapy and positive psychology (Hamilton, Kitzman, & Guyotte, 2006; Seligman, 2011); largely because:”

“…side of human nature, and the Dark Triad literature has contributed important information to our understanding of this aspect of humanity, research has also clearly articulated a positive, growth-oriented side of human beings – a beneficent side (Maslow, 1962; Rogers, 1961; Seligman, 2012).”

“…emphasise the importance of social relatedness as key drivers of human behaviour and optimal psychological functioning, such as the self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000), Seligman’s PERMA model (Seligman, 2011), and Dieners tripartite model of subjective well-being (Diener et al., 1999).”

“Using Seligman’s PERMA positive psychology model we have reviewed research linking videogames and flourishing mental well-being.”

“Table 2 shows that lexicon categories most predictive of positive LS are " money " , " work " and words tied to " achievement " , which supports the psychological theory that the experience of " accomplishment " is one of the pillars of subjective well-being (Seligman 2011).”

“Unfortunately, however, a large percentage of people report happiness levels below the point of flourishing (Seligman 2011).”

“Previous literature on subjective well-being proposed that well-being should be considered a broader phenomenon that involves affective, cognitive and behavioural aspects (Ryff 1989; Ryff and Keyes 1995; Seligman 2011).”

“Some are written by psychology researchers and built on empirical research (e.g., Emmons, 2007, 2013; Lyubomirsky, 2007; Seligman, 2011); others are less research based.”

“One example of a eudemonic approach is the PERMA model of flourishing proposed by Seligman (2011), which has been employed in a number of studies in respect to teachers (e.g. Goodman et al., 2018; Kern et al. 2015; MacIntyre et al., 2019).”

“Just as not being poor is not tantamount to being rich, not experiencing any psychological problems is not equivalent to being psychologically flourishing (Huppert 2009; Seligman 2011).”

“Without minimizing painful emotions, positive psychology emphasizes engagement, meaning, and accomplishment.(46,47) Engagement, “characterized by energy, involvement, and efficacy—the direct opposites of the three burnout dimensions,”(4) is particularly important.”

“Flourishing has been described as encompassing factors that include positive emotion, engagement with what one is doing, a sense of accomplishment, and good relationships (Seligman, 2012).”

“[13]”

“Other broad conceptualizations of psychological aspects of well-being have introduced additional terms such as flour-ishing (Seligman, 2012) and thriving (e.g., Su et al., 2014).”

“This classification allows describing and studying the ‘‘good character,’’ which enables pleasure, engagement, and more generally speaking positive experiences (Peterson et al. 2007; Seligman 2011).”

“Job related well-being is conceptualised by applying the PERMA model (Seligman 2011), which distinguishes five dimensions: positive emotions (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M) and achievement (A).”

“…correlates associated with positive emotions in cultivating wellbeing outcomes, which is consistent with the perspective that wellbeing should likely be prioritized over happiness as a transcendent human life goal (Jaya-wickreme et al., 2012a; Jongbloed and Andres, 2015; Seligman, 2011).”

“Seligman (2002, 2011) highlighted that the application of signature strengths leads to pleasure, engagement, and meaning.”

“For example, Seligman (2011) proposed five pathways toward well-being: positive emotions, engagement, meaning, relationships, and accomplishments.”

“A useful model, which has also been used in research within ELT (e.g. MacIntyre et al. 2019) and which embraces elements of both perspectives, is the PERMA (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment) model of flourishing proposed by Seligman (2011).”

“This inventory was created based on a prior survey of other multi-dimensional approaches to and measures of psychological well-being (e.g., Diener et al., 1985, 2009; Ryff, 1989; Scheier et al., 1994; Seligman, 2011), and includes multiple items per dimension.”

“…positive emotion In “Flourish,” Seligman (2010) maintained that the elements of well-being consist of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (p. 236; see also Seligman, 2011, p. 24) and so the first element of well-being to be considered here is positive emotions.”

“are manifestations of individuals’ potential (Peterson and Seligman 2004; Seligman 2012).”

“From ecology, the notion of resilience then travelled to psychology (Seligman 2011), political economy (Cooper and Walker 2011) disaster and crisis response (Boin et al. 2010), development and humanitarian aid (Duffield 2012) and peace-building (Chandler 2012, 2013).”

“Individuals can enhance their well-being and longevity by building up positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.(19) Similarly, the salutogenesis concept of Antonovsky proposes that individuals who understand their situation, can manage it, and find sense in it, can enhance their health.”

“It builds on three pillars of positive emotions, positive character traits, and positive institutions (Seligman, 2011).”

“…et al. 2011), multicomponent positive psychology interventions are based on a variety of individual exercises targeting two or more theoretically relevant well-being components that resemble the key elements of positive education and are conducted within an integral program (Seligman 2011, 2018).”

“Taken together, bonding and bridging ties, as well as civic involvement are critical to the social aspect of psychological functioning (Keyes, 1998; Ryff & Singer, 1998; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Seligman, 2012).”

“Subsequently, various multi-component models such as those proposed by Ryff (1989), Warr (1999), Keyes (2002), and Seligman (2011) have emerged.”

“PERMA model (Seligman, 2012) or the distinction in hedonic (subjective) and eudaimonic (psychological)”

“In response to these claims, Seligman (2011) confirmed that studying human strengths and virtues was not new and acknowledged the historical origins of the discipline.”

“Seligman (2011) now thinks this may have been a mistake, because the word happiness carries connotations of a mere subjective theory of well-being (see later).”

“In an effort to further specify how design can contribute to well-being, Pohlmeyer [21] constructed a design well-being matrix that specifies how design can have an impact on the different elements in Seligman’s [6] well-being theory.”

“…positive emotions and variables like joy, happiness, love, human flourishing, creativity, resilience, grit, engagement, and well-being (Budzińska & Majchrzak, 2021; Derakhshan, 2022a; Dewaele, 2015; MacIntyre et al., 2016, 2019; Wang, Derakhshan, & Pan, 2022; Wang et al., 2021; Seligman, 2011).”

“A substantial amount of work in this field has focused on the role of happiness and subjective well-being (Seligman, 2011).”

“Engagement is related to a person’s level of involvement and absorption into an activity [61] and it represents a fundamental component of the person’s experience with that activity [46].”

“Notably, we employed the PERMA model of well-being, proposed by Seligman (2011), which consisted of five dimensions: positive emotions, meaning, achievement, relationship, and engagement, to explain the relationship between well-being and work engagement.”

“As others have noted, this model neither fits with ordinary intuitions about benefit and harm nor vindicates well-being’s normative important (Tiberius and Hall 2010; Seligman 2011).”

“Flow occurs when we are fully present, engaged in what we enjoy, and fully engaged in the present moment (Seligman, 2011).”

“Positive emotions signal that time and space are available for creating, thinking, and learning (Seligman, 2011).”

“Table 1 proposes a framework for building Positive Universities based on the PERMA model (Seligman, 2011).”

“…de fi ned as ‘ a positive, ful fi lling and work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication and absorption dimensions ’ (Schaufeli et al. 2002, 74), is associated with factors such as teachers ’ job satisfaction (Topchyan and Woehler 2021) and well-being (Seligman 2011).”

“Understandably, numerous well-being classifications have thus emerged 1,2,5,14,19 .”

“In the context of language learning, Oxford (2016a,b) thus modified Seligman (2011) PERMA model of the well-being theory, with an exclusive concentration on positive emotions, to a new theoretical model named EMPATHICS (E: emotional intelligence and emotion; M: meaning and motivation; P:…”

“For example, Seligman (2011) recently articulated a goal for the field of psychology to be achieved by the year 2051.”

“• PERMA: The PERMA lexicon [29] contains 10 categories and 1,522 words.”

“Other non-psychedelic studies using measures of personal connectedness, social connectedness or nature connectedness have found them to be associated with wellbeing and flourishing in healthy populations, and different types of connectedness have been identified as key predictors and mediators of psychological wellbei…”

“He argues that the concept of happiness cannot adequately convey the meaningful and engaging holiday experiences that people have, and that “authentic happiness” (Seligman, 2011) offers far greater possibilities for understanding them.”

“Seligman (2011) posits that a state of flourishment can be attained by working for something that transcends oneself.”