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Evidence of Associations Between Lay Conceptions of Well-Being, Conception-Congruent Behavior, and Experienced Well-Being

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Abstract

Individuals’ lay conceptions of well-being have been found to be associated with several indexes of positive psychological functioning, yet little is known about the mechanisms underlying these associations. In two studies, the current research examined whether conception-congruent behavior mediates associations between conceptions of well-being and two indexes of experienced well-being (subjective well-being and meaning in life). Study 1 addressed the above question using a prospective approach, whereby associations between conceptions of well-being, predicted engagement in hedonic and eudaimonic behavior, and predicted well-being were examined. Study 2 more directly addressed the above question using a daily diary approach, whereby conceptions of well-being, actual engagement in hedonic and eudaimonic behavior, and experienced well-being were assessed over a period of 1 week. In both studies, results indicated that associations between eudaimonic conception dimensions and experienced well-being were partially mediated by engagement in eudaimonic behavior. Hedonic conception dimensions were largely unrelated to hedonic behavior and well-being. The current findings thus suggest that eudaimonic behavior is one potential route through which eudaimonic conception dimensions exert their salubrious effects on well-being.

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Notes

  1. A criticism of the eudaimonic approach is that it attempts to specify “objectively good behaviors” and is therefore value-laden. The authors of the current work make no value judgments concerning the inherent goodness versus badness of the behaviors measured in this investigation.

  2. Samples from both Study 1 and Study 2 included a large majority of females, thus threatening the generalizability of the results. To address this issue, a series of t tests were conducted assessing potential gender differences in each variable measured in the current research. Although numerous t tests were conducted, the Bonferroni correction method was not used in order to provide a more conservative test of potential gender differences. No gender differences were found, thus suggesting that females and males in both studies did not differ on any of the current variables of interest.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part by a 2011 Research Grant from the Center for Happiness Studies at Seoul National University.

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Correspondence to Ethan A. McMahan.

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McMahan, E.A., Dixon, K.J. & King, L.M. Evidence of Associations Between Lay Conceptions of Well-Being, Conception-Congruent Behavior, and Experienced Well-Being. J Happiness Stud 14, 655–671 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9347-1

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