Can a test reveal whether individuals will succeed or struggle in their lives? This question was pursued through the use of a Behavioral Tendencies in Life Test (BTLT), which asks individuals whether they would respond to 40 life-modeling scenarios in each of 4 ways. A prototype of the successful person was created using the same materials and then applied to each person's BTLT ratings. In two studies (total N = 352), participants who received higher, relative to lower, behavioral tendencies of success (BT-S) scores used approach-related coping strategies, pursued important goals, were capable of meeting their basic psychological needs, and reported higher levels of life satisfaction and flourishing. Individuals who received lower BT-S scores were prone to internalizing and externalizing problems and were deemed to be less skilled by peers. The research integrates bottom-up and top-down perspectives in emphasizing the verb-like nature of successful (versus unsuccessful) life functioning.
We address the relation between personal nostalgia and psychological richness, and the mediating role of self-humanity, across four studies (N = 2,585). In cross-sectional Studies 1a-1b, nostalgia was positively associated with psychological richness, and self-humanity mediated this association. In experimental Study 2, nostalgia increased both self-humanity and psychological richness, with self-humanity mediating the effect of nostalgia on psychological richness. Finally, in experimental Study 3, self-humanity augmented psychological richness, thus providing support for a causal chain model. Collectively, these findings establish a novel psychological pathway whereby nostalgic experiences enhance the perceived richness of life, in part by fostering a stronger sense of one's humanity.
Gratitude interventions often neglect relational dimensions, limiting their durability. We tested whether relationally framed gratitude, enhanced by an AI chatbot, could deepen prosocial and emotional outcomes. Across three studies (N1 = 922, N2 = 880, N3 = 266), we compared an AI-guided relational gratitude journal (AIG) with static social gratitude (SG), traditional nonsocial gratitude (NSG), and a neutral control (C). In Studies 1 and 2, all gratitude conditions increased positive affect, gratitude, indebtedness, empathy, social connectedness, and activity satisfaction relative to control. Study 2 further showed AIG and SG elicited more transcendent indebtedness than NSG, and SG generated more social content. AI guidance did not consistently outperform static journaling. In Study 3, SG yielded higher empathy and positive affect than AIG within a digital community, suggesting AI may suppress empathy in some contexts. Relational gratitude shows promise, but AI integration warrants further investigation.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) relate negatively to meaning in life in adulthood yet show resilience when it comes to purpose. Hope is a positive emotion that is experienced within negative experiences. As the feeling of hope and the experience of purpose are both tied to desired future outcomes, we predicted that hope would promote a sense of purpose, especially for people who have experienced difficult childhoods. Study 1 (N = 559) used a correlational design and found that hopeful feelings more strongly predicted purpose as ACEs increased. Study 2 (N = 665) experimentally induced hope (versus hopelessness) which led to greater purpose only among those with high ACEs. Across studies, the predicted pattern was unique to purpose, and was not found with coherence or significance, two other facets of meaning. Overall, hope appears to be a mechanism by which purpose is maintained for people who have experienced childhood trauma.
We drew a large online sample of U.S. adults (N = 1,174) to investigate the relationships between general well-being, financial self-efficacy, financial skill, financial anxiety, and financial well-being in June 2024. Additionally, we employed a longitudinal experimental survey design following the initial survey from June 2024 through July 2024 to test whether framing personal financial behaviors through a positive psychological well-being lens, compared to a traditional financial planning lens, contributes to enhanced financial well-being. The wave one data yielded empirical support for the broaden-and-build theory, showing that greater general well-being is associated with improved financial well-being, with financial skill/efficacy accounting for a future, but not current, time perspective. Financial anxiety crosses time perspectives through reduced expected future financial security and increased current money management stress. Group differences from the experimental survey were not detectable due to high attrition. We discuss implications for future research and experimental survey design.
Workplace dignity is a foundational but often underexplored contributor to human flourishing. While much research emphasizes dignity violations, this constructivist grounded theory study examined the positive practices of exemplary supervisors who promote dignity across social identity differences. Specifically, the study developed a theory of dignity promotion as an iterative, relational process involving six core and primary dimensions: Being a conduit of power, navigating paradox, attending to intuition of misalignment, negotiating collective alignment, developing shared meaning, and seeking the edges of the whole person. Findings further indicate that supervisors foster workplace dignity by attuning to individual uniqueness, remaining open to influence across difference, and applying those insights to cultivate dignity-centered team cultures. The resulting theory offers new insight into how leaders can cultivate a dignified positive organizational culture and sustain flourishing employee relationships across social identity differences.
Guided by the Eudaimonic Activity Model, this study examines how basic psychological needs (BPN) mediate the relationship between two dimensions of meaning: the presence of meaning (POM) and the search for meaning (SFM), and subjective well-being (SWB). Using Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling (N = 50,552, k = 98), we tested a sequential mediation model investigating direct and indirect pathways. Findings show that SFM negatively predicted both BPN and SWB, with no statistically significant direct effect on POM. BPN positively predicted POM and SWB, and POM also positively predicted SWB, forming a serial mediation pathway from SFM to SWB via BPN and POM. Indirect effects through BPN and BPN-POM were statistically significant. Cultural moderation revealed that the negative effects of SFM on POM was significantly stronger in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. These findings highlight the importance of culturally responsive approaches to enhance well-being through meaning making and need satisfaction.
Awe is a self-transcendent emotion gaining attention in media psychology, yet most research focuses on nature-based awe; ability-based awe - elicited by witnessing extraordinary human abilities - remains understudied. Two between-subjects experiments examined how ability-awe evokes vastness and need for accommodation, and how these appraisals foster prosocial and self-improvement motivations. Study 1 (N = 110) compared a physical ability-based video (Olympic pole vault) with a nature-awe and a non-awe control. Study 2 (N = 202) used two Facebook-embedded intellectual-ability videos alongside a nature-awe and non-awe control. Evidence showed that both nature- and ability- based awe elicit stronger awe than the control video. Furthermore, perceived vastness increased, predicting greater prosocial and self-improvement motivation in awe conditions; whereas need for accommodation did not differ significantly across conditions. These findings suggest that media depictions of exceptional human abilities can evoke awe responses that promote personal growth and altruistic intentions, extending understanding of how everyday encounters with awe-related media support positive psychological outcomes.
Gratitude has been associated with better parental well-being and relationship quality, yet less is known about its implications for daily family life. This study examined whether parents' daily gratitude was associated with parents' daily family satisfaction, and whether this link was moderated by daily positive and negative affect. Using a 14-day daily diary design, Canadian parents (N = 176; M-age = 38.26 years, SD = 5.51; 83.5% mothers) provided 1,766 daily reports. Parents who had higher trait-like gratitude reported higher daily family satisfaction over time. At the daily level, same-day gratitude also showed context-dependent associations with family satisfaction: on days characterized by high negative or low positive affect, greater gratitude was linked to higher family satisfaction. Findings suggest that gratitude may operate as a context-sensitive resource in daily family life, particularly under emotionally challenging conditions, with possible implications for parenting interventions.
Meaningful connections between people of similar (i.e. intragenerational) and different generations (i.e. intergenerational) are essential to well-being. Intergenerational programs (IPs) may forge meaningful inter- and intragenerational connections, and in turn, promote social-emotional well-being - yet past work is sparse, limited, and inconclusive. We conducted a pre-registered and community-engaged multi-wave daily diary study with a representative IP called iGen, wherein sixth-grade students connect daily with long-term care residents ('Elders') over the school year. Across the start and end of the school year, iGen students, staff, and Elders completed up to 20 daily diaries (N = 622) capturing the meaning of their interactions and various social-emotional outcomes (e.g. happiness). Although meaningful connections and socio-emotional well-being did not increase over the school year, having more meaningful inter- and intra-generational connections related to greater social-emotional outcomes, especially at the end of iGen. This work offers insight to the potential of intergenerational programs like iGen.
Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, is experienced across cultures and is often linked to positive outcomes. The question of whether and how people reflect nostalgically upon positive moments within broadly negative contexts, however, remains underexplored. Accordingly, in three studies, we examined nostalgic memories and feelings for the Covid-19 lockdowns. Study 1 demonstrated that participants' positive memories from this troublesome period contained nostalgic content and induced nostalgic feelings. A qualitative analysis of nostalgic memories collected in Study 2 identified social connection with close others as a central theme. Finally, Study 3 provided some support for the role of social connection with close others in accounting for the relationship between recalling positive (vs. valence-unspecified) lockdown memories and nostalgic feelings, although evidence for this indirect effect was not consistent across all analyses. These findings highlight nostalgia's potential to foster emotional resilience and identify silver linings following challenging life events when prompted.
This research investigates the mechanisms and drivers of worldwide happiness. We present a new theory describing two pathways to societal happiness: the individualistic pathway (‘let citizens take care of their own happiness, which will build societal happiness’) and the communitarian pathway (‘society creates a context in which individuals enhance the happiness of those around them’). Using data from 97,220 citizens across sixty-six countries, this study empirically analyzes over two hundred mechanisms and identifies fifty-six that are significantly associated with happiness. These mechanisms are organized based on their alignment with the individualistic or communitarian pathways, or both. We synthesize these findings by categorizing the fifty-six mechanisms into five drivers of happiness: ‘society allowing for individual emancipation’, ‘fostering Enlightenment ideas and institutions’, ‘satisfying basic human needs’, ‘providing effective governing and security institutions’, and ‘favoring close in-group ties’. These results demonstrate that the communitarian pathway to societal happiness significantly outperforms the individualistic pathway.
Apology and forgiveness help restore relationship harmony following a transgression - a relational violation causing hurt or offense. Research shows apology facilitates forgiveness, but humility's role remains understudied. Across two studies of romantic relationships (N = 803), we tested three hypotheses: (H1) offender apology would positively correlate with forgiveness, (H2) perceived offender humility would mediate the apology-forgiveness relationship, such that apology predicts greater perceived humility, predicting greater forgiveness and (H3) apology and perceived humility would serially mediate the transgression severity-forgiveness relationship, such that greater severity predicts greater apology, which predicts greater perceived humility, which predicts greater forgiveness. Across studies, participants recalled a partner's transgression and reported on the offender's apology, humility and their forgiveness. Study 2 participants recalled high- or low-severity transgressions. H1 and H2 were supported, with humility mediating the apology-forgiveness relationship. The serial mediation model (H3) was not supported. Results suggest apology is perceived as humble and encourages forgiveness.
Despite substantial cross-sectional evidence linking gratitude to socially oriented behaviors, the longitudinal directionality of these associations remains unclear. Grounded in the Catalyst Model of Change (CMC), this study examined reciprocal longitudinal associations between gratitude and five socially oriented behaviors: social support - seeking behaviors, prosocial behaviors, relationship initiation and enhancement behaviors, participation in mastery-oriented social activities, and reductions in maladaptive interpersonal behaviors. 413 U.S. participants were assessed twice over one year. Cross-lagged panel models tested bidirectional associations while controlling for autoregressive effects and within-time correlations. Gratitude predicted subsequent engagement in certain socially oriented behaviors, whereas reverse paths were nonsignificant. Gratitude at Time 1 predicted social support seeking and relationship initiation and enhancement at Time 2 (with large effects) but not prosocial or maladaptive interpersonal behavior or mastery-oriented social activities. Consistent with the CMC, findings highlight gratitude's role in promoting engagement in social behaviors. Limitations and implications are discussed.
Prioritizing positivity is the tendency to use positive emotions as a key criterion to structure daily life. Research shows that prioritizing positivity is associated with better psychological health. However, none of this research was preregistered and prioritizing positivity's links with ill-being remain understudied. In five preregistered studies (Sample A: n = 388, Sample B: n = 214, Sample C: n = 301, Sample D: n = 290, Sample E: n = 453), we found that prioritizing positivity was associated with more well-being (positive emotions, satisfaction, meaning), less ill-being (negative emotions, depressive symptoms, anxiety), and more hypomania, a mixed construct. We also examined if socioeconomic status (SES) moderated the link between prioritizing positivity and each psychological health indicator and found no support, except for meaning. This paper provides a broader, updated understanding of the psychological health correlates of prioritizing positivity.
Research on the states of mind (SOM) model demonstrated predictable relationships between ratios of positive and negative emotions and levels of psychological functioning across individuals, couples, and small groups. The present study extends these findings to national populations using World Happiness Report (WHR) data from 136 countries (2023) and 143 countries (2024). The WHR includes measures of life evaluation and emotional experience but bases rankings solely on life evaluation. Positive and negative emotion data, though collected, are not incorporated into rankings. In this study, these data were used to compute emotional happiness ratios, defined as the balance of positive to total emotional experience. Countries were classified into five levels of life satisfaction to test alignment with the five emotional balance ratios predicted by the SOM model. Results support the model, extend its applicability to large-scale populations, and highlight the importance of formally integrating emotional balance into assessments of national well-being
Limited research has explored how to match people with Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) that will be most effective for them. We randomly assigned participants (N = 850) to engage in PPIs that targeted a self-reported character strength, a self-reported character weakness, or a self-selected character virtue, weekly for four weeks. We assessed well-being at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 3-4-week follow-up. At post-intervention, the weakness and self-selection conditions had greater increases in well-being than the strength condition, but these condition differences were not sustained at follow-up. Contrary to our predictions, we did not find evidence that the weakness (vs. strength) condition increased well-being via greater increases in targeted character virtues, nor that the strength (vs. weakness) condition increased well-being via greater self-reported person-activity fit. In sum, working on a self-selected character virtue or a character weakness boosts well-being more than working on a character strength, at least in the short-term.
Gratitude is widely recognized for its positive association with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. However, its relationship with psychological richness - the third pillar of the good life - remains underexplored. This study used a bi-factor model to distinguish the general gratitude factor from specific cognitive and affective factors in predicting psychological richness. Study 1 (N = 304) utilized a cross-sectional approach and revealed that only the general gratitude factor, but not specific factors, significantly predicted psychological richness. Study 2 (N = 237) confirmed this finding using a two-wave short-term longitudinal design, showing the effect remained robust after controlling for baseline hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. These findings provide the first empirical evidence for a specific association between general gratitude and psychological richness. By providing a more nuanced perspective, this work offers a novel direction for interventions aimed at cultivating well-being beyond traditional definitions of happiness and meaning.
Understanding what constitutes a good life is central to psychological research, yet wellbeing models remain contested with respect to their structure and borders. We employ a network approach to investigate how wellbeing dimensions interrelate and whether they form distinct or overlapping constructs. Using a large, population-based sample from the European Social Survey (N = 45,122; 29 countries), we identified strong links between a broad range of wellbeing indicators across different theoretical domains. Community detection revealed six empirical clusters that partially align with existing distinctions (e.g. hedonic versus eudaimonic wellbeing). However, we also identified 11 indicators belonging to multiple clusters, demonstrating the fuzzy boundaries between wellbeing domains. These results highlight the need for integrative frameworks that better capture the interconnected nature of wellbeing. Our findings encourage more granular analyses and underscore the need for comprehensive measurement tools to advance wellbeing research, inform policy, and guide public health efforts.
