The Quiet Ego and Human Flourishing

The quiet ego interprets the self and others by balancing concerns for their welfare and cultivating their growth (Bauer and Wayment, in: Wayment, Bauer (eds) Transcending self-interest: psychological explorations of the quiet ego, American Psychological Association Books, Washington, DC, 2008). A growing body of research shows that the Quiet Ego Scale (QES; Wayment et al. in J Happiness Stud 16:999–1033, 2015a, Front Psychol 6:1–11, 2015b) relates to numerous measures of human flourishing. The present three studies of college students and adults situate the quiet ego within a framework of value orientation and actualization that organizes constructs of human flourishing in terms of motives (including moral motives), well-being (as hedonic satisfaction and eudaimonic meaningfulness, including moral fulfillment), and wisdom (Bauer in The transformative self: personal growth, narrative identity, and the good life, Oxford University Press, New York, 2021). Results from samples of college students and adults suggest that the QES corresponds to: (1) mainly humanistic and eudaimonic (including moral) motives; (2) hedonic and especially eudaimonic well-being (including moral fulfillment); and (3) motives, well-being, and wisdom independently. The discussion considers the quiet ego in terms of Epicurean ataraxia and Buddhist upekkha , a model of a good life that, like the quiet ego, emphasizes equanimity.