Hedonic vs Eudaimonic Well-being

In positive psychology, the shift from a hedonic view of well-being to a eudaimonic perspective is clearly a shift in a more humanistic direction and is explicitly inspired by the humanistic philosophy of Aristotle. Whereas hedonic well-being is defined in terms of the ratio of pleasure to pain in one’s life, eudaimonic well-being is understood to be a reflection of a person who is flourishing in terms of his or her character strengths and virtues, including, among other things: autonomy, mastery of the environment, personal growth, positive interpersonal relationships, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The concept of eudaimonic well-being derives from Aristotelian virtue theory. Aristotle and his followers conceptualized well-being as composed of an individual’s virtuous traits, and only a happiness that flows from legitimate harmony of the virtues was thought to be a genuine happiness. All other forms of happiness were understood to be superficial and fleeting.

Stephen Joseph (ed.), “Positive Psychology in Practice: promoting human flourishing in work, health, education, and everyday life”, (New Jersey: Wiley, 2015)