Does Happiness Lie Within? [1]

By Steve Taylor [2] Ph.D

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

I’m a great admirer of positive psychology [3], which has been a fantastic corrective to the traditional ‘disease model’ of psychology and has provided an extremely helpful examination of the different factors that constitute human well-being. However, I think there is one important aspect of human well-being which positive psychology has largely ignored.

Spiritual Well-Being

Positive psychologists have suggested that there are two main types of well-being: hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic well-being means feeling good in the present moment, and includes physical pleasure, peak experiences and a sense of gratitude or appreciation. Eudaimonic well-being is more long term – it includes a sense of meaning and purpose, of being connected to something larger, and of flourishing through creativity or self-development.