{"id":29359,"date":"2022-12-29T10:10:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T10:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=29359"},"modified":"2022-12-29T10:10:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-29T10:10:34","slug":"29359","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=29359","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"caas-header\">\n<div class=\"caas-logo\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-title-wrapper\">\n<h1 data-test-locator=\"headline\">Psychologists say a good life doesn\u2019t have to be happy, or even meaningful<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-content-byline-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr-meta\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr-item-author\"><span class=\"caas-author-byline-collapse\" data-id=\"m-0\">Sarah Todd<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-attr-time-style\"><time class=\"\" datetime=\"2021-08-20T17:05:39.000Z\">August 20, 2021<\/time><span class=\"caas-attr-meta-separator\">\u00b7<\/span><span class=\"caas-attr-mins-read\">7 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-content-contain-share\">\n<div class=\"caas-attr-separator\">\n<div class=\"separator\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator-ext\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caas-body\">\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img has-preview\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/aDbmJbpIc4ddhxXXyxPwFw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/quartz.com\/1e8e4d17015992ef80eda0fbf6e48207\" alt=\"A hiker looks at a mountain range at the Hohe Tauern National Park near the village of Virgen, Austria, July 23, 2018. Picture taken July 23, 2018.\" data-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/aDbmJbpIc4ddhxXXyxPwFw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/quartz.com\/1e8e4d17015992ef80eda0fbf6e48207\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\" data-id=\"m-0\">A hiker looks at a mountain range at the Hohe Tauern National Park near the village of Virgen, Austria, July 23, 2018. Picture taken July 23, 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What does a good life look like to you? For some, the phrase may conjure up images of a close-knit family, a steady job, and a Victorian house at the end of a street arched with oak trees. Others may focus on the goal of <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/509533\/how-to-find-your-lifes-calling-while-also-making-a-big-difference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:making a difference in the world\" data-rapid_p=\"7\" data-v9y=\"1\">making a difference in the world<\/a>, whether by working as a nurse or teacher, volunteering, or pouring their energy into environmental activism.<\/p>\n<p>According to Aristotlean theory, the first kind of life would be classified as \u201chedonic\u201d\u2014one based on pleasure, comfort, stability, and strong social relationships. The second is \u201ceudaimonic,\u201d primarily concerned with the sense of purpose and fulfillment one gets by contributing to the greater good. The ancient Greek philosopher outlined these ideas in his treatise <em>Nicomachean Ethics<\/em>, and the psychological sciences have pretty much stuck them ever since when discussing the possibilities of what people might want out of their time on Earth.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/2046081\/us-inflation-data-show-the-used-car-bubble-has-burst\/?utm_source=YPH_link_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:The US used-car bubble has burst\" data-rapid_p=\"8\" data-v9y=\"1\">The US used-car bubble has burst<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"caas-da\">\n<div id=\"sda-INARTICLE\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But a new <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2021-74886-001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:paper\" data-rapid_p=\"9\" data-v9y=\"1\">paper<\/a>, published in the American Psychological Association\u2019s Psychological Review, suggests there\u2019s a another way to live a good life. It isn\u2019t focused on happiness or purpose, but rather it\u2019s a life that\u2019s \u201cpsychologically rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>An interesting and varied life<\/h2>\n<p>What is a psychologically rich life? According to authors Shige Oishi, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, and Erin Westgate, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, it\u2019s one characterized by \u201cinteresting experiences in which novelty and\/or complexity are accompanied by profound changes in perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul class=\"caas-list caas-list-bullet\">\n<li><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/india\/2049994\/two-men-fell-from-a-flying-plane-and-on-this-mans-roof-in-kabul\/?utm_source=YPH_link_2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:\u201cLike a bomb blast\u201d: When two men fell from a flying plane and on this man\u2019s roof in Kabul\" data-rapid_p=\"10\" data-v9y=\"1\">\u201cLike a bomb blast\u201d: When two men fell from a flying plane and on this man\u2019s roof in Kabul<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1310070\/where-do-american-study-abroad-students-go-increasingly-to-asia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:Studying abroad\" data-rapid_p=\"11\" data-v9y=\"1\">Studying abroad<\/a>, for example, is one way that college students often introduce psychological richness into their lives. As they learn more about a new country\u2019s customs and history, they\u2019re often prompted to reconsider the social mores of their own cultures. Deciding to embark on a <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/work\/1859274\/steven-levitts-advice-for-making-big-life-decisions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:difficult new career path\" data-rapid_p=\"12\" data-v9y=\"1\">difficult new career path<\/a> or immersing one\u2019s self in avant-garde art (the paper gives a specific shout-out to James Joyce\u2019s <em>Ulysses<\/em>) also could make a person feel as if their life is more psychologically rich.<\/p>\n<p>Crucially, an experience doesn\u2019t have to be fun in order to qualify as psychologically enriching. It might even be a hardship. Living through war or a natural disaster might make it hard to feel as though you\u2019re living a particularly happy or purposeful life, but you can still come out of the experience with psychological richness. Or you might encounter less dramatic but nonetheless painful events: infertility, chronic illness, unemployment. Regardless of the specifics, you may experience suffering but still find value in how your experience shapes your understanding of yourself and the world around you.<\/p>\n<p>Adding psychological richness to our conceptions of what a good life can look like, Westgate says, is important because it \u201cmakes room for challenge and difficulty. It\u2019s not just about \u2018everything going well and smoothly.\u2019 Stretching and going through uncomfortable experiences, there is value in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, she says, if we allow ourselves only narrow models of what a good life can be, we may wind up assuming that someone whose life is neither hedonic nor eudaimonic must therefore have a bad life, which is \u201cincredibly presumptive and dismissive of people\u2019s experiences and values.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Who wants psychological richness?<\/h2>\n<p>Hedonic, eudaimonic, and psychologically rich lives are not mutually exclusive, nor is one better than another. \u201cSomeone whose life is good, it tends to be good in many ways, not just in one way,\u201d Westgate notes. So you might have a life that\u2019s <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1503207\/a-nobel-prize-winning-psychologist-defines-happiness-versus-satisfaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:happy\" data-rapid_p=\"14\" data-v9y=\"1\">happy<\/a>, <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1628452\/a-sense-of-purpose-could-prolong-your-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:purposeful\" data-rapid_p=\"15\" data-v9y=\"1\">purposeful<\/a>, and filled with <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/guide\/transformation-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:transformative experiences\" data-rapid_p=\"16\" data-v9y=\"1\">transformative experiences<\/a>. Lucky you!<\/p>\n<p>But people may also choose to prioritize one type of life over another. For example, the study analyzed <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/personality-quiz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:Big Five personality traits\" data-rapid_p=\"17\" data-v9y=\"1\">Big Five personality traits<\/a> among participants from a number of different nationalities. (The Big Five test, viewed as the most scientific of personality assessments, evaluates where subjects fall on the spectrum of five personality traits: conscientiousness, openness to experience, neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness.)<\/p>\n<p>According to the study, people who ranked highly on \u201copenness to experience\u201d were more likely to lead psychologically rich lives. Openness to experience, Oishi and Westgate say, is often characterized by \u201cvivid fantasy, artistic sensitivity, depth of feeling, behavioral flexibility, intellectual curiosity, and unconventional attitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And so it stands to reason that someone who is generally artistic and unconventional might be drawn to a life filled with change. As the authors note, \u201cA significant reason neither a happy life nor a meaningful life captures the full range of human motivation is that both happy and meaningful lives can be monotonous and repetitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Is psychological richness a WEIRD phenomenon?<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, the study explains that \u201ca happy life was most strongly associated with extraversion, followed by conscientiousness, and low neuroticism,\u201d while Big Five traits were pretty evenly split among people pursuing meaningful lives. Interestingly, the authors also found that people with psychologically rich lives were more likely to be politically liberal and embrace social change, while those with happy or meaningful lives were more likely to want to uphold the status quo.<\/p>\n<p>One of the authors\u2019 big concerns was whether pursuit of a psychologically rich life is a phenomenon particular to WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) societies, or something only a privileged person who had their other needs satisfied would desire. But the study found that the idea of a psychologically rich life wasn\u2019t more popular in Western or wealthier countries than other places. And while people with happy lives tended to have higher socioeconomic status, the authors didn\u2019t find significant associations between income and people with psychologically rich and meaningful lives.<\/p>\n<p>They did, however, find that the idea of a psychologically rich life was more appealing to people in certain countries. When study participants in nine countries were asked what kind of life they would pick if they could choose only one, a happy life was the winner across the board. A psychologically rich life was most popular in Japan (16%), Korea (16%), India (16%), and Germany (17%), and least appealing in Singapore (7%).<\/p>\n<p>Westgate says she doesn\u2019t know why people in certain countries were more or less into the idea of pursuing psychological richness. But she does suspect that people may put more weight on certain versions of the good life depending on their age.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are times of our life when we accept discomfort and prioritize exploration,\u201d she says, recalling her own travels in hostels when she was a young adult. And research shows that <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/five-reasons-why-we-eventually-become-happier-as-we-get-older-68618\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:people tend to get happier as they age\" data-rapid_p=\"18\" data-v9y=\"1\">people tend to get happier as they age<\/a>, which is tied to the fact that \u201cinstead of prioritizing challenging experiences, they prioritize familiar things that will make them happy; instead of meeting new people, they prioritize family and close friends. Those things do increase happiness, but may decrease psychological richness.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What makes life worth living<\/h2>\n<p>Considering what it means to live a good life is complicated by the realities of the Covid era, which has imposed extra limitations on many people\u2019s ability to create the kind of lives they want. Someone who places a lot of value on spending time with friends has probably had fewer opportunities to be social in light of lockdowns; a person who loves to travel has <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/external\/pubs\/ft\/fandd\/2020\/12\/impact-of-the-pandemic-on-tourism-behsudi.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:likely taken far fewer trips\" data-rapid_p=\"19\" data-v9y=\"1\">likely taken far fewer trips<\/a> than in previous years. What kind of orientation\u2014toward happiness, meaning, or psychological richness\u2014might be most advantageous in our current state?<\/p>\n<p>Westgate says the answer will naturally depend on the person, but for essential workers and healthcare workers who have been at the forefront of <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/re\/pandemic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-ylk=\"slk:the pandemic\" data-rapid_p=\"20\" data-v9y=\"1\">the pandemic<\/a>, \u201cfocusing on meaning and psychological richness might be more salient. They\u2019re living through challenging, dramatic times, which is associated with psychological richness, and what they\u2019re doing is truly meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For those of us who feel we\u2019re not living a particularly good life right now, thinking through the different dimensions of what a happy, meaningful, psychologically rich life <em>can<\/em> look like may help us figure out the changes we want to make.<\/p>\n<p>And if you feel that your life is currently good in a way that doesn\u2019t fall into any of the three categories described by the paper, its authors note that there may well be even more dimensions they haven\u2019t accounted for\u2014an intellectual life, a creative life, or a loving, caring life, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Aristotle was onto something nearly two and a half millennia ago. But Westgate says it\u2019s important for psychological science to keep pushing beyond the philosopher&#8217;s foundation, expanding our views of what makes life worth living.<\/p>\n<p>SOURCE:https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/psychologists-good-life-doesn-t-170539369.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC9U9AUmxg5fNSEq991c1TUhSsG02dbcFnLCVdTgJZb2PgW1cjmv5bQ_3U9iSO2mt0JI6hecSVTxBLoymylJG8p6LV0CmnrCOTjEVfGgRGh05sD285RfrZtjVlwzAtqLLbsb4GyBGlHertdAh6zRvdxQlod3jjaSaM3g9lDPkzYa<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Psychologists say a good life doesn\u2019t have to be happy, or even meaningful Sarah Todd August 20, 2021\u00b77 min read A hiker looks at a mountain range at the Hohe Tauern National Park near the village of Virgen, Austria, July 23, 2018. Picture taken July 23, 2018. What does a good life look like to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/?p=29359\">\u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[203,40,234,300],"class_list":["post-29359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-203","tag-40","tag-234","tag-300","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29359"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29361,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29359\/revisions\/29361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evaggelatos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}