Well-Being Sciences

The emerging interdisciplinary field studying human flourishing, optimal functioning, and life satisfaction — explicitly positioned as complement to pathology-focused clinical psychology. Crystallized in 1998 when Martin Seligman, as APA president, called for a 'positive psychology' that studies what makes life worth living rather than only what goes wrong. Key frameworks: Seligman's PERMA model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement), Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, Carol Ryff's six-factor psychological well-being model, Ed Diener's subjective well-being research, Keyes' 'flourishing' continuum. Extends into well-being economics (Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission, 2009; Bhutan's Gross National Happiness; OECD Better Life Index) and workplace well-being (Gallup, Great Place to Work). The ancient eudaimonia question — 'what constitutes the good life?' — reborn as empirical science. Controversial precisely because it risks commodifying wisdom into measurable KPIs, yet genuinely shifts the frame from 'absence of disorder' to 'presence of meaning.' Intersects with Stoic philosophy, contemplative traditions, neuroscience of happiness, and behavioral economics.

· 1998– · active · influence 6/10