Sustainability Language

Social & wellbeing

Eudaimonic wellbeing

Wellbeing understood as flourishing through meaning, growth and self-realisation, contrasted with hedonic pleasure.

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Definition

Eudaimonic wellbeing is a conception of wellbeing rooted in Aristotle's eudaimonia — living well through the realisation of one's capacities, virtue and purpose — as distinct from hedonic wellbeing, which centres pleasure and positive affect. In psychology it is operationalised by Carol Ryff's six dimensions: self-acceptance, positive relations, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life and personal growth.

References

Overview

What it means

Research finds eudaimonic and hedonic wellbeing complementary: flourishing individuals score high on both. The concept matters to sustainability because wellbeing economies and beyond-GDP frameworks need defensible accounts of what development is for — long-term flourishing rather than short-term consumption.

How it is used

Used in positive psychology, wellbeing measurement (Ryff scales), wellbeing-economy policy frameworks and quality-of-life research.

Why it matters

It grounds wellbeing metrics in meaning and capability, aligning measurement with sustainable, non-material conceptions of prosperity.

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