Previous research has looked at how two dominant approaches to pursuing the good life – eudaimonia (pursuit of growth, excellence, authenticity) and hedonia (pursuit of pleasure, comfort) relate to benefits for the self. This thesis looked beyond personal well-being and investigated how eudaimonic and hedonic orientations relate to benefits beyond the self and broader scope of concern. Manuscript 1 assessed the link between eudaimonic and hedonic orientations and self-reported and observational prosocial behaviour, self-focused and other focused values, as well as time perspectives and abstract thinking. Manuscript 2 explored the association between eudaimonic and hedonic orientations and hindering social behaviours, and
helping under various circumstances. Next, Manuscript 3 examined reasons for engaging in prosocial behaviours, including self-focused and other-focused motives. Lastly, Manuscript 4 went beyond self-report measures by studying the distinction between eudaimonic and hedonic orientations on reactions to pictures depicting human/animal/nature happiness/health and suffering/degradation based on self-report affect and empathy, facial expressions, and psychophysiological measures (skin conductance and heart rate). Manuscript 1 showed that eudaimonic orientation related to a broader focus, including scope of concern (i.e., a wider variety of prosocial behaviours, prosocial values), a balanced time perspective (present and future focus) and abstract mindset (i.e., high-level construal), while hedonic orientation tended to be more narrowly focused on the self and present moment. Manuscript 2 revealed that eudaimonic orientation related positively to helping under abstract and costly situations, and negatively with hindering social behaviours; hedonic orientation was related to negative impacts beyond the self. Manuscript 3 showed that eudaimonic orientation was a balance of helping to benefit both the self and others, while hedonic orientation was primarily related to helping for personal benefits. Manuscript 4 showed that eudaimonic orientation related to greater self-report joy and suffering beyond the self (relative to hedonia), while findings for facial expressions and psychophysiological responses were inconclusive. This research provides a unique contribution to the well-being literature by investigating the impacts that eudaimonic and hedonic orientations have on society using a comprehensive array of self-report questionnaires and a novel picture paradigm. Limitations of the present research include that most studies were based on self-report which can produce social desirability bias, and that the studies were correlational which limits casual inferences about the findings. Future research would benefit from experimental studies assessing the link between eudaimonia and hedonia and broad scope of concern.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/36828 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Pearce, Keith |
| Contributors | Huta, Veronika |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds