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Pursuing the good life: A short-term follow-up study of the role of positive/negative emotions and ego-resilience in personal goal striving and eudaimonic well-being

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Abstract

Using the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson in Rev Gen Psychol 2:300–319, 1998) as a foundation, this research examined the role of positive emotion and ego-resilience in personal goal striving and eudaimonic well-being. Undergraduate students (N = 129; 71 % women) completed measures of ego-resilience and positive emotions, viewed either a positive emotion inducing video (amusement or awe) or a neutral (control) video, and then listed their personal goals for the upcoming 4 weeks. Four weeks later, participants completed measures of goal progress, eudaimonic well-being, positive emotions, and ego-resilience. The results of the emotion manipulation revealed that individuals in the awe condition reported significantly more personal growth goals. Self-reported positive emotions predicted increased ego-resilience supporting Fredrickson’s (Rev Gen Psychol 2:300–319, 1998) hypothesis that positive emotions ‘build’ resources. Ego-resilience partially mediated the relationship between positive emotions and eudaimonic well-being. These results suggest that positive emotions and ego-resilience jointly support well-being.

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Notes

  1. Based on criteria developed by Beaumont (2012), personal growth strivings were defined as those which involved learning, personal growth, development or self-improvement, as well as those involving self-acceptance, self-compassion and enhancing self-esteem, or avoiding ego inflation. The coding category for self-transcendent strivings was elaborated to include strivings involving divine awareness (e.g., connection to a higher power), spiritual living, universal or transcendent awareness (e.g., non-judgment and a respect for equity) or expressions of feelings of oneness or unity of the self within a larger context (e.g., humanity). Finally, strivings were categorized as well-being oriented if they involved emotional or mental well-being, enhancing happiness or positivity, or avoiding unhappiness and negativity.

  2. It should be noted that an alternate model in which positive emotion mediated the relationship between ego-resilience and eudaimonic well-being was statistically an equally plausible fit for the data. Because the results are correlational, we cannot determine with certainty the order in which variables are related to one another, and we opted to report the arrangement of variables that made the most theoretical sense. Details regarding alternate mediational models are available from the authors by request.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to the first author.

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  1. Cherisse L. Seaton

    Present address: Department of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

    Cherisse L. Seaton & Sherry L. Beaumont

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Correspondence to Cherisse L. Seaton.

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Seaton, C.L., Beaumont, S.L. Pursuing the good life: A short-term follow-up study of the role of positive/negative emotions and ego-resilience in personal goal striving and eudaimonic well-being. Motiv Emot 39, 813–826 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9493-y

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