Eudaimonic Well-being Research Articles

The transformative virtual experience paradigm: the case of Airbnb’s online experience

PurposeThis research paper aims to explore Airbnb’s online experience initiative, which has sparked a new wave of virtual tourism to improvise a large assortment of experiential activities through cyberspace. It works to answer questions pertinent to the type of virtual experiences tourists seek and how these experiences could fulfill tourist needs, thereby rendering favorable socio-mental outcomes through experiences encountered.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on travel experience and transformative tourism theoretical tenets, this qualitative inquiry used data collected from social media posts from virtual tourists.FindingsResults reveal four major themes of online experiences – hedonism, attention restoration, social relatedness and self-exaltation – that encompass 12 experiential categories. They further underscore four types of transformative mechanisms pinpointing hedonic well-being, environmental-mastery well-being, social well-being and eudaimonic well-being.Research limitations/implicationsResearch findings demonstrate how Airbnb exercised marketing agility during severe environmental plight; while expediting strategic initiatives that offer tourists and residents alike a means to reengage in leisure and travel activities at home. They also salvage the peer-to-peer community by turning accommodation hosts into online experience ambassadors.Originality/valueThe contribution of this inquiry lies in assessing virtual experiences and reconnecting how different cyber experiences can meet an array of tourist needs. This study further highlights the transformative virtual experience paradigm to lay the necessary theoretical foundation for future research on virtual transformative tourism. This research goes beyond the common understanding of transformative tourism that relies merely on corporeal encounters. From a practical point of view, this study brings light to a novel concept – sharing experience economy – that incorporates the nuances between sharing economy and experience economy.

Satisfaction with family socio-economic status, leisure opportunity, and well-being among adolescents in South Korea

This study aimed to investigate how satisfaction with family socio-economic status and leisure opportunity related to eudaimonic well-being among adolescents. Regression and mediation analyses were applied to the data from a representative sample comprising adolescents between 4th and 12th grades (N = 8825; 49.4% girls) in 17 cities based on a nationwide study of the Youth Happiness Community’s Index and Community Setting Project in South Korea. The results indicated that satisfaction with family socio-economic status and leisure opportunity strongly predicted eudaimonic well-being among adolescents. The mediation analyses also showed that leisure opportunity partially mediated the relationships between satisfaction with family socio-economic status and eudaimonic well-being. The findings suggest the importance of enhancing social and economic capital to participate in leisure activities and assuring leisure time for the promotion of adolescents’ well-being. Implications for practice and policy were discussed.

Seeking thrills during a crisis? A TSR and hierarchy of effects perspective of the transformative potential of travel

PurposeThis study aims to theorise and empirically test a model based on the hierarchy of effects behavioural learning approach (“do-think-feel”) to explain how travel during a crisis assists consumer well-being. The paper also examines whether the effect travel has on well-being is serially mediated by perceived risk and resilience and moderated by the personality trait of sensation-seeking.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a quasi-experimental design involving Australian consumers based on a sample of n = 307 who had travelled and n = 277 who had not during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 584). A replication study (N = 290) is also undertaken to assess the robustness of the hierarchy of effects uncovered in the main study. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) and Hayes PROCESS macro.FindingsThe results reveal travellers have significantly higher levels of both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being than non-travellers, suggesting the transformative potential of travel experiences during a crisis. The transformative potential of travel is driven by perceived risk and psychological resilience, which mediate the relationship between travel frequency and well-being. Further, spotlight moderation analysis demonstrates that the effect of travel on well-being is most profound for those with lower levels of sensation-seeking. These relationships are also confirmed in the replication study.Originality/valueThis research is among the first in transformative service research (TSR) to test the mediators of perceived risk and resilience together in a singular study, showing how experiences such as travel are potentially transformative. It also evaluates personality traits such as sensation-seeking as a moderating factor, which is uncommon in TSR. Further, this study empirically validates a do–think–feel behavioural learning approach, as opposed to other hierarchy of effects sequences that are dominant in TSR and the wider services marketing literature.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trajectories of Well-Being of Middle-Aged and older Adults: A Multidimensional and Multidirectional Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in profound changes of individuals’ everyday lives. Restrictions in social contacts and in leisure activities and the threatening situation of a spreading virus might have resulted in compromised well-being. At the same time, the pandemic could have promoted specific aspects of psychosocial well-being, e.g., due to intensified relationships with close persons during lockdown periods. We investigated this potentially multidimensional and multi-directional pattern of pandemic-specific change in well-being by analyzing changes over up to 8 years (2012-2020) in two broad well-being domains, hedonic well-being (life satisfaction) and eudaimonic well-being (one overarching eudaimonic well-being indicator as well as environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, and self-acceptance), among 423 adults who were aged 40-98 years in 2012. By modelling longitudinal multilevel regression models and allowing for a measurement-specific intra-individual deviation component from the general slope in 2020, i.e. after the pandemic outbreak, we analyzed potential normative history-graded changes due to the pandemic. All mean-level history-graded changes were nonsignificant, but most revealed substantial interindividual variability, indicating that individuals’ pandemic-related well-being changes were remarkably heterogeneous. Only for personal growth and self-acceptance, adding a pandemic-related change component (and interindividual variability thereof) did not result in a better model fit. Individuals with poorer self-rated health at baseline in 2012 revealed a pandemic-related change toward lower life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that not all well-being domains - and not all individuals - are equally prone to “COVID-19 effects”, and even pandemic-associated gains were observed for some individuals in certain well-being domains.

Managing Generation Z: Eudaimonic Perspective

Psychological contracts are dynamic and manifested in the form of employer branding as an understanding of work orientation of Generation Z in the digital era. According to social exchange theory, this study aims to empirically examine the effect of psychological contracts on employee resilience, employee agility and proactive behaviour with eudaimonic workplace wellbeing as a mediating variable. The research was conducted on startup companies in Indonesia. The research model was tested using a structural equation modeling approach. This research contributes to explaining the mechanism for managing expectations of Generation Z through well-being, both intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects. The eudaimonic perspective becomes relevant to achieve alignment of Generation Z work orientation and job characteristics in the digital era.

Testing the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory in Daily Life

ObjectivesThe mindfulness-to-meaning theory (MMT) describes the processes through which mindfulness leads to enhanced eudaimonic wellbeing (indirectly via mediating processes such as increased decentering, reappraisal, positive affect, and savoring), but little is currently known about how these processes impact one another over short time periods (e.g., across several hours). The current study tested the MMT by measuring these variables repeatedly as they occur naturalistically in daily life.MethodsThree hundred and forty-five community members aged 18–65 completed surveys on smartphones six times per day over 7 days, assessing their current levels of decentering, reappraisal, positive affect, savoring, and wellbeing, as part of a larger study. Multilevel structural equation modeling in Mplus was used to analyze the nested data with mediation models.ResultsThere was a significant indirect effect through the proposed MMT pathway at the within-person level, with all variables measured concurrently. Lagged mediation examining prospective effects indicated that the full indirect MMT pathway was not significant in predicting later wellbeing, though some individual indirect pathways were significant prospectively. Follow-up analyses testing alternative temporal ordering suggested bidirectional effects of savoring and positive affect in explaining the mutual association between decentering and wellbeing.ConclusionsOverall, this study found support for hypothesized MMT processes in daily life and measured over short time periods, with evidence for bidirectional effects for some processes. However, reappraisal showed inconsistent effects, requiring further study and replication using ecological momentary assessment designs.

Leisure Activity, Leisure Satisfaction, and Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being Among Older Adults With Cancer Experience.

Older adults with cancer experience are more likely to encounter a notable reduction of participation in physical and social leisure activities, which may threaten their overall well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore how specific types of leisure activities and leisure satisfaction were linked to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being among older adults who had experienced cancer. A nationally representative sample of 2,934 older adults with lifetime cancer experience was retained from the Health and Retirement Study. The results of regression analysis revealed that walking for 20 minutes was reported as the only type of leisure activity related to hedonic well-being for the oldest-old (85+ years old). The current study also found that TV watching was significantly, but negatively associated with eudaimonic well-being for the young-old (50-74 years of age). In contrast, using a computer was positively linked to hedonic and eudaimonic well-being among the young-old and old-old (75-84 years of age). The current study made a significant contribution to build the body of knowledge that the different age groups of older adults who had experienced cancer can enhance eudaimonic and hedonic well-being by participating in different types of leisure activities. Implications for further research are discussed.

The impact of eudaimonic well-being on experience and loyalty: a tourism context

PurposeThe effects of travel motivation and emotional experience on both tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty are recognized and have been extensively researched as key factors in tourism success. However, the structural relationships between these factors, considering the mediating effects of eudaimonic well-being (optimal psychological functioning), have been scarcely investigated in the consumer tourist behaviors literature. This study aims to develop an integrated model explaining the impact of travel motivation and emotional experience on tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty, mediated by eudaimonic well-being in the realm of domestic tourism.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey was conducted with 321 domestic tourists visiting Aqaba in Jordan; structural equation modeling was used to analyze the empirical data.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that both travel motivation and emotional experience have a direct effect on eudaimonic well-being and that eudaimonic well-being has a direct effect on both tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty. Additionally, travel motivation and emotional experience have significant indirect impacts on post-consumption behaviors mediated by eudaimonic well-being.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on consumer behavior in a tourism context by developing a fresh model that improves theoretical knowledge of the relationships between travel motivation, emotional experience and eudaimonic well-being, which underlie tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty formation. This study also advances theoretical understanding of the key roles of eudaimonic well-being in the tourist experience. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

Beyond local food consumption: the impact of local food consumption experience on cultural competence, eudaimonia and behavioral intention

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationships among local food consumption experience, cultural competence, eudaimonia, and behavioral intention. Building upon acculturation theory, need hierarchy theory and self-determination theory, the current study develops a conceptual model of local food consumption as international tourists’ acculturation process.Design/methodology/approachThis study collects data from 305 Chinese outbound tourists and uses partial least squares-structural equation modeling to examine the developed model.FindingsThe findings reveal a significant effect of the local food consumption experience, consisting of novel, authentic, sensory and social dimensions, on cultural competence, which subsequently evokes eudaimonia and behavioral response toward local food. The mediating effect of cultural competence is also confirmed.Practical implicationsDestination marketers and restaurant managers should recognize local food consumption as a meaningful tool that contributes to tourists’ cultural competence and eudaimonic well-being during travel. They should strive to craft an indigenous consumption setting and provide employee training on the history and culture of local food, helping tourists understand local food customs and embrace different food cultures.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, very few studies have attempted to examine the meaningful consequences of local food consumption through the theoretical lens of acculturation. This study dives into international tourists’ local food consumption and pioneers a conceptual model to capture how local food consumption experience provokes their eudaimonia and behavioral desires through the mechanism of cultural competence.

Linking Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Well-Being—A Eudaimonia Perspective

In recent decades, there has been a shift at the organizational and individual level from merely pursuing financial goals to bearing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and towards finding meaning in one’s work. In light of this, there is a need for a comprehensive understanding of the influence of CSR on employees’ eudaimonic well-being. Firstly, a conceptualization of job-related eudaimonic well-being was proposed. The data provided evidence that job-related eudaimonic well-being comprises aspects such as job self-efficacy, meaningful work, job autonomy, job-related aspiration, job involvement, and positive relationships with others. Second, based on the literature and qualitative data, this study examined and shed light on the relationship between employee perceptions of CSR and eudaimonic well-being in the work context. A theoretical framework was established to illustrate this relationship. I find that companies’ CSR commitment to stakeholders as perceived by employees positively affects employees’ eudaimonic well-being at work. Specifically, employees perceive internal CSR practices to positively influence work meaningfulness, job autonomy, job involvement, and job aspiration. Additionally, the results show that employees seem to experience closer job involvement when they perceive their business as engaging in CSR for customers, community stakeholders, and the environment. The influence of perceived CSR on the eudaimonic well-being of employees can be affected by boundary conditions, namely leadership’s role and companies’ motives for engaging in CSR. I propose avenues for future research and offer practical guidelines for managers.

Correlates between temporomandibular disorder severity, emotional distress, and eudaimonic well-being among young adults.

This study examined the correlates between severity of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), emotional distress, and eudaimonic well-being. TMD severity, negative emotions, and eudaimonia were assessed with the Fonseca Anamnestic Index (FAI), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), and Psychological Well-being Scale-18 (PWBS-18) in a cohort of community young adults. Statistical evaluations were done with non-parametric tests/correlation and multivariate regression analyses (α=0.05). Amongst the 873 participants (mean age 19.8 ± 1.66 years), 40.7%, 49.0%, and 10.3% had no (NT), mild (MT), and moderate-to-severe (ST) TMD, respectively. Significant differences in total-DASS, depression, anxiety, and stress were ST ≥ MT > NT. Significant variances in total-PWSB and self-acceptance were NT > MT > ST while that for environmental mastery, positive relations, and purpose in life were NT > MT, ST. An inverse relationship was discerned between total-DASS and total-PWBS (correlation coefficient=-0.54). The prospect of ST was increased by anxiety but reduced by positive relations and self-acceptance. Young adults with mild and moderate-to-severe TMD experienced substantially higher emotional distress and lower eudaimonia than those with no TMD. As emotional distress and eudaimonic well-being are interrelated, positive psychological interventions may be beneficial for managing TMD-related psychosocial disabilities.

Misunderstood Stoicism: The negative Association Between Stoic Ideology and well-Being

Ancient philosophy proposed a wide range of possible approaches to life which may enhance well-being. Stoic philosophy has influenced various therapeutic traditions. Individuals today may adopt an approach to life representing a naive Stoic Ideology, which nevertheless reflects a misinterpretation of stoic philosophy. How do these interpretations affect well-being and meaning in life? We examine the differential effects of Stoic Ideology on eudaimonic versus hedonic well-being across three cultural contexts. In this pre-registered study, across samples in New Zealand (N = 636), Norway (N = 290), and the US (N = 381) we found that a) Stoic Ideology can be measured across all three contexts and b) Converging evidence that Stoic Ideology was negatively related to both hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being. Focusing on specific relationships, we found especially pronounced effects for Taciturnity (the desire to not express emotions) and Serenity (the desire to feel less emotions). Despite being a misinterpretation of stoic philosophy, these findings highlight the important role of individuals’ orientations to emotional processing for well-being.

Being Virtuous Together: A One-Year Prospective Study on Organizational Virtuousness, Well-Being, and Organizational Commitment.

Organizational virtuousness is defined as collective positive attributes and behaviors supported by and characteristic of an organization that promote hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and optimal performance. The underlying mechanisms through which organizational virtuousness operate remain largely unknown. Drawing from the broaden-and-build theory, organizational virtuousness is proposed to broaden employees’ attention and cognition toward positive stimuli and events, and over time, build psychological resources for managing future endeavors. Building resources in turn promotes well-being and organizational commitment. A 3-wave prospective study (baseline, T1; 3 months, T2; and 1 year, T3) was conducted with a sample of 444 primary and secondary schoolteachers in Hong Kong. Organizational virtuousness, cognitive reappraisal, psychological capital (PsyCap), life satisfaction, flourishing, affective commitment, and contextual performance were assessed. The results showed that cognitive reappraisal and PsyCap served as sequential mediators of the relationships between three components of organizational virtuousness and all four indicators of well-being and organizational commitment. Collective gratitude, kindness, and forgiveness at T1 had significant indirect effects through cognitive reappraisal at T2 and then PsyCap at T3 on satisfaction with life, state of flourishing, emotional attachment to the organization, and engagement in extra-role activities that contribute to the organization’s efficacy. This study is among the first to provide prospective data on the effects of organizational virtuousness. The results lead to a discussion of how organizations might shape a grateful, kind, and forgiving work culture using virtue-based management to achieve optimal individual and organizational functioning.

Understanding How Sports Relate to Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being Among Japanese University Students

Understanding How Sports Relate to Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being Among Japanese University Students

Aesthetic experiences and flourishing in science: A four-country study.

In response to the mental health crisis in science, and amid concerns about the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists, this study seeks to identify the role of a heretofore under-researched factor for flourishing and eudaimonia: aesthetic experiences in scientific work. The main research question that this study addresses is: To what extent is the frequency of encountering aesthetics in terms of beauty, awe, and wonder in scientific work associated with greater well-being among scientists? Based on a large-scale (N = 3,061) and representative international survey of scientists (biologists and physicists) in four countries (India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States), this study employs sets of nested regressions to model the associations of aesthetic experiences with flourishing while controlling for demographic factors and negative workplace and life circumstances such as burnout, job/publication pressure, mistreatment, COVID-19 impacts, other stressful life events, serious psychological distress, and chronic health conditions. The results show that the frequency of aesthetic experiences in scientific work in the disciplines of biology and physics has a very large and statistically significant association with flourishing and eudaimonia that remains robust even when controlling for demographic factors and negative workplace and life circumstances, including COVID-19 impacts. Aesthetic experiences in scientific work are even as strongly associated with flourishing as the presence of serious psychological distress and are most strongly associated with the flourishing domain of meaning in life, thus pointing to a link with eudaimonic well-being. In line with neurophysiological evidence and positive psychological models of flow, self-transcendence, and intrinsic motivation, aesthetics are a key source of flourishing for scientists in the disciplines of biology and physics. While future research needs to test the causal mechanism, the strength of the findings could encourage leaders of scientific labs and research organizations generally to remove obstacles to experiencing the aesthetic dimensions of science. Fostering cultures in which the aesthetic experiences that are intrinsic to scientific practice are fully appreciated might potentially protect or boost flourishing by reducing the impacts of burnout, job/publication pressure, and mistreatment-related experiences in science.

Basic Psychological Needs and Agency and Communion During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. Despite the conceptual proximity between the basic needs and agency and communion and their similar function for psychological functioning, studies investigating their interplay are scarce. This study aims to investigate their joint role in hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reports were collected from 13,313 adolescents (Sample 1) and 1,707 young adults (Sample 2) from Austria. The results show the importance of both agency and communion for the fulfillment of different basic needs and their role in well-being, with a universal interaction effect between communion and perceived competence on intrinsic motivation (eudaimonic aspect) in both gender groups in adolescence, as well as on positive emotions (hedonic aspect) among young women. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Entrepreneurs’ Eudaimonic Well-being: Multiple Roads Lead to Rome

Entrepreneurs’ Eudaimonic Well-being: Multiple Roads Lead to Rome

Self-, other-, and meta-perceptions of personality: Relations with burnout symptoms and eudaimonic workplace well-being.

The present study examined whether disagreement between self-, other-, and meta-perceptions of personality was related to burnout symptoms and eudaimonic workplace well-being. We expected disagreement in personality perceptions to explain incremental variance in burnout symptoms and eudaimonic workplace well-being beyond the main effects of the different personality ratings. Participants were 459 Dutch employees and their 906 colleagues (who provided other ratings of personality). The results, based on polynomial regression with response surface analyses, highlighted strong main effects of self-rated personality traits in relation to burnout symptoms and eudaimonic workplace well-being. This study provides, as far as we know, the first empirical evidence that self-rated Honesty-Humility negatively predicts burnout symptoms. Results showed little evidence on incremental effects of disagreement between personality perceptions, with one clear exception: when respondents misjudged how their colleagues would rate them on Honesty-Humility (i.e., discrepancy between meta- and other-perceptions), respondents experienced more feelings of burnout and less eudaimonic workplace well-being. Our study contributes to the literature by providing evidence that discrepancies between meta- and other-perceptions of Honesty-Humility affect employee well-being (i.e., burnout symptoms and eudaimonic workplace well-being).

Panggilan (Calling) dan Kesejahteraan di Tempat Kerja pada Karyawan Kehutanan

Working conditions with a high risk of safety and health can reduce employees’ well- being in the workplace. Well-being in the workplace is essential in supporting employee performance that prevents employees from error and negligent behavior. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between calling and well-being for forestry employees. Our hypothesis is search for calling dimension has a negative correlation with employees’ well-being at work, and the presence of calling has a positive correlation with employees’ well-being at work. Through the purposive sampling technique, 130 employees are willing to participate in this study. Data collection uses the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ) and the Eudaimonic Well-being at Work Scale (EWWS), with high-reliability scores. The results of data analysis showed that both the dimensions of calling–search and the presence–had a significant positive relationship with well-being at work. Employees who seek a calling, and those who perceive a calling, feel a sense of well-being at work.

Why Don’t You Answer Me?! Exploring the Effects of (Repeated Exposure to) Ostracism via Messengers on Users’ Fundamental Needs, Well-Being, and Coping Motivation

ABSTRACT This preregistered diary study shed light on the effects of computer-mediated communication on users’ fundamental needs and well-being. As a specific demanding situation, it focused on the experience of cyber-ostracism, defined as not receiving replies from others on a sent message. Hypotheses were derived from the temporal need-threat model. To test these hypotheses, 214 participants answered 1,378 questionnaires over the course of one week. The results have shown that being cyber-ostracized via messengers (e.g., WhatsApp) was negatively associated with the satisfaction of users’ needs for belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, and control. Moreover, mediated via these needs, there was a negative indirect association between cyber-ostracism and well-being. Messenger users’ trait mindfulness served as a buffering mechanism: For mindful users, low satisfaction of the need for meaningful existence was not associated with decreased eudaimonic well-being. Moreover, although messengers were perceived as a source of exclusion, cyber-ostracized users reported an increased desire to use these services on the respective following day, representing an approach coping tendency. All additional files referred to in this paper can be found at https://osf.io/fqbya/.