Flourish: a visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being

“This article was submitted to Positive Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology RECEIVED 22 September 2022 ACCEPTED 26 October 2022 PUBLISHED 14 November 2022”

“Seligman (2011) argued that even in difficult situations, human beings are motivated to thrive and not just survive.”

“…positive education (including e.g. Boniwell &Ryan, 2012; Dweck, 2006; Fox Eades, 2008; Fredrickson, 1998, 2001, 2013a, b; Lopez, 2014; Niemiec, 2014; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Raknes, 2009; Rath & Clifton, 2009; Reivich & Shatté, 2002; Seligman et al., 2005; Seligman, 2011; Stallard, 2002, 2005).”

“Other similar concepts that match this differentiation are a pleasant life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life correspondingly (Seligman, 2011).”

“Driven by the belief that life satisfaction should be influenced by various internal factors, Seligman (2011) proposed five domains of life satisfaction as a proxy to measure well-being—positive emotions (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M), and achievement (A)—called the PERMA…”

“Having a profound understanding of specific strengths and how to harness them to one’s benefit seems to be a longer lasting endeavor (e.g., Seligman 2012).”

“…compare the HF- or WB-character of a design by, but do provide a holistic view for comparison. eudaimonic perspective requires a larger time frame, reflecting on what makes up a good and meaningful life, and what makes a person strive for excellence and higher goals (Keyes, 2002; Seligman, 2011).”

“…such as life satisfaction, happiness, and positive emotions such as joy and pride or negative emotions such as fear and pain suffer from related assessment design challenges, but they are usually acquired by asking people to assess their own lives in surveys (Kahneman et al. 1999; Seligman 2011).”

“Eudaimonia has traditionally been translated as ‘happiness’, but is better captured by the notion of flourishing, which elicits a longer term and more complex vision (Hursthouse 1999; A. C. MacIntyre 2007; Seligman 2012).”

“We agree with Seligman (2011), the father of positive psychology, who suggests that ‘flourishing’ is an essential ingredient of resilience.”

“Seligman (2011: 13) underscores the importance of studying TMT flourishing by noting that “the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing.””

“The programme was rigorously developed, having as its theoretical framing the theory of the malleability of altruistic behaviours (Böckler et al., 2018), the PERMA model described by Seligman (2012), and the psychological well-being model introduced by Ryff (1989) in positive psychology.”

“It goes beyond experiencing pleasure and positive emotions to having a sense of meaning, purpose, engagement, interest, ‘‘self-esteem, optimism, resilience, vitality, self-determination, and positive relationships (p.27)’’ (Desmet & Pohlmeyer, 2013; M. Seligman, 2011).”