Wellbeing has mostly been looked at from two perspectives: hedonic and eudaimonic philosophies. While hedonism suggests that wellbeing should be measured by the amount of pleasure one experiences, eudaimonism argues that it depends on happiness that people get from helping others, as well as fulfilling one’s true potential. Researchers have found that these two approaches intersect but also differ at essential stages (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Some hedonic psychologists believe that hedonic view includes pleasures of both the mind and the body (Ryan & Deci, 2001). They use the concept of subjective well-being (SWB) to assess happiness (Oishi, Diener, Suh, & Lucas, 1999). Eudaimonic theories, on the other hand, say that happiness occurs when people live in accordance with their deep values (Waterman, 1993). The concept of well-being was explored by Ryff and Singer (1998) in terms of the theory of human flourishing. Many researchers have presented evidence that well-being is a complex concept which is most likely to combine both hedonic and eudaimonic conceptions of happiness.
This Aristotelian distinction of two well-being concepts is shared by many contemporary psychologists. There are, however, some dangers in using this distinction as a given fact (Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, & King, 2008). Most psychologists aim for the empirical studies of these approaches, using SWB as an assessment tool. Many investigators are sceptical that this distinction can be used by contemporary psychologists, as it does not fit well into the models of modern scientific and empirical studies. Moreover, it has been discovered that there is much more overlap between some aspects of hedonism and eudaimonism than was originally believed (Kashdan et al., 2008). Further research can focus more on identifying aspects of well-being and how they interact with activities that people choose to add to their lives, as well as examining the outcomes that this interaction can lead to.
Hedonia and eudaimonia are mostly distinguished as a search for pleasure and a search for the means to develop the best in oneself. The question of which concept should be used to achieve well-being has been discussed by many psychologists (Huta & Ryan, 2009). However, there were studies that have shown that people can achieve the highest levels of personal happiness only when elements of both concepts are present in their lives. Having originally presented the hypothesis on that, Huta and Ryan (2009) conducted an experiment, in which people had to introduce hedonic and eudaimonic activities to their lives. The participants were asked to complete a web-based survey in the evening, on each day of the experiment. They described the activities and the state of well-being they experienced. The state itself was measured for all the participants before and after the experimental intervention; the results were compared and the hypothesis was confirmed. By the end of the experiment those who had added both hedonic and eudaimonic activities to their daily routines experienced higher levels of happiness than those who had only added hedonic or eudaimonic elements.
References
Huta, V., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Pursuing pleasure or virtue: The differential and overlapping well-being benefits of hedonic and Eudaimonic motives. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 735-762.
Kashdan, T. B., Biswas-Diener, R., & King, L. A. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: The costs of distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(4), 219-233.
Oishi, S., Diener, E., Suh, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 67(1), 157-184.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141-166. Web.
Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological Inquiry, 9(1), 1-28. Web.
Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (Eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678-691. Web.