Abstract
The study focuses on the impact of time and motives for everyday activities on mood and daily satisfaction. One hundred twenty-one undergraduate students participated in study using experience sampling method. The short PANAS scale, one item momentary satisfaction measure and state orientation to happiness scale were used. The measures were administered five times a day for 7 days via hand-held devices. The data were modeled using a linear mixed-effects approach. The models fitted the data reasonably well, especially for satisfaction and positive affect (PA) sharing similar parameter estimates. Both showed a nonlinear increase through the week while PA showed a similarly shaped circa-diurnal rhythm too. Negative affect (NA) showed almost no rhythm at all. Both hedonic and eudaimonic motives increased satisfaction and PA. Hedonic motives had a negative impact on NA. Generally, on momentary level, hedonic motives have a greater impact while longer intervals seem to emphasize the importance of eudaimonic motives.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baayen, H. R., & Milin, P. (2010). Analyzing reaction times. International Journal of Psychological Research, 3(2), 12–28.
Barr, D. J., Levy, R., Scheepers, C., & Tily, H. J. (2013). Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language, 68(3), 255–278. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001.
Barrett, L. F., & Barrett, D. J. (2001). An introduction to computerized experience sampling in psychology. Social Science Computer Review, 19(2), 175–185. doi:10.1177/089443930101900204.
Bates, D. M., Maechler, M., & Bolker, B. (2013). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. Retrieved from http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/.
Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2002). The pursuit of meaningfulness in life. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 608–618). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003). Diary methods: capturing life as it is lived. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 579–616. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030.
Compton, W. C., Smith, M. L., Cornish, K. A., & Qualls, D. L. (1996). Factor structure of mental health measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(2), 406–413. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.2.406.
Crawley, M. J. (2007). The R book (p. 877). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1991). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (p. 336). New York: Harper Perennial.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention (p. 464). New York: Harper Perennial.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Hunter, J. (2003). Happiness in everyday life: the uses of experience sampling. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4, 185–199. doi:10.1023/A:1024409732742.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(9), 526–536. doi:10.1097/00005053-198709000-00004.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2006). Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: an introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 1–11. doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1.
Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Freire, T., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Wissing, M. P. (2010). The eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: qualitative and quantitative findings. Social Indicators Research, 100(2), 185–207. doi:10.1007/s11205-010-9632-5.
Delle Fave, A., Massimini, F., & Bassi, M. (2011). Psychological selection and optimal experience across cultures. In A. Delle Fave, F. Massimini, & M. Bassi (Eds.), Psychological selection and optimal experience across cultures: Social empowerment through personal growth (Vol. 2, pp. 3–18). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9876-4.
Diener, E. (1994). Assessing subjective well-being: progress and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31(2), 103–157. doi:10.1007/BF01207052.
Diener, E. (2009). The Science of Well-Being. (E. Diener, Ed.) (Vol. 37, pp. 11–58). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6.
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.2.276.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218.
Golder, S. A., & Macy, M. W. (2011). Diurnal and seasonal mood vary with work, sleep, and daylength across diverse cultures. Science (New York, N.Y.), 333(6051), 1878–1881. doi:10.1126/science.1202775.
Henderson, L. W., Knight, T., & Richardson, B. (2013). The hedonic and eudaimonic validity of the orientations to happiness scale. Social Indicators Research, 115(3), 1087–1099. doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0264-4.
Huta, V. (2005). Pursuing pleasure versus growth and excellence : Links with different aspects of well-being. Montreal: McGill University. Retrieved from http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=85919&silo_library=GEN01.
Huta, V. (2011). Linking peoples’ pursuit of eudaimonia and hedonia with characteristics of their parents: parenting styles, verbally endorsed values, and role modeling. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(1), 47–61. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9249-7.
Huta, V. (2013). Eudaimonia. In S. David, I. Boniwell, & A. C. Ayers (Eds.), Oxford handbook of happiness (pp. 201–213). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Huta, V., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Pursuing pleasure or virtue: the differential and overlapping well-being benefits of hedonic and eudaimonic motives. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(6), 735–762. doi:10.1007/s10902-009-9171-4.
Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Well-being: Foundations of hedonic psychology (p. 608). New York: Russell Sage Foundation Publications.
Kardum, I. (1998). Affect intensity and frequency: their relation to mean level and variability of positive and negative affect and Eysencks personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 26(1), 33–47. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00157-3.
Kashdan, T. B., Biswas-Diener, R., & King, L. A. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: the costs of distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(4), 219–233. doi:10.1080/17439760802303044.
Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: the empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 1007–1022. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.1007.
Kraut, R. (1979). Two conceptions of happines. Philosophical Review, 88(2), 167–197.
Larsen, R. J. (2009). The contribution of positive and negative affect to emotional well-being. Psychological Topics, 18, 247–266.
Larson, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1983). The experience sampling method. In H. Reis (Ed.), New directions for naturalistic methods in the behavioral sciences (pp. 41–56). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: the architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111–131. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111.
McGregor, I., & Little, B. R. (1998). Personal projects, happiness, and meaning: on doing well and being yourself. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(2), 494–512. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.494.
Norton, D. L. (1976). Personal destinies: A philosophy of ethical individualism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Oishi, S., Diener, E., Suh, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Value as a moderator in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality, 67(1), 157–184. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00051.
Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: the full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6(1), 25–41. doi:10.1007/s10902-004-1278-z.
Pinheiro, J. C., & Bates, D. M. (2000). Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS (p. 528). New York: Springer.
R Core Team. (2013). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna. Retrieved from http://www.r-project.org/.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. The American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11392867.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141.
Schimmack, U. (2002). Methodological issues in the assessment of the affective component of subjective well-being. In A. Ohn & M. van Dulmen (Eds.), Handbook of methods in positive psychology (pp. 96–110). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schimmack, U., Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2002). Life-satisfaction is a momentary judgment and a stable personality characteristic: the use of chronically accessible and stable sources. Journal of Personality, 70(3), 345–384. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.05008.
Schimmack, U., & Oishi, S. (2005). The influence of chronically and temporarily accessible information on life satisfaction judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(3), 395–406. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.3.395.
Schueller, S. M., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2010). Pursuit of pleasure, engagement, and meaning: relationships to subjective and objective measures of well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(4), 253–263. doi:10.1080/17439761003794130.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. New York: The Free Press.
Seligman, M. E. P., Parks, A. C., & Steen, T. (2004). A balanced psychology and a full life. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1379–1381. doi:10.1098/rstb.2004.1513.
Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., & Oishi, S. (2008). Being good by doing good: daily eudaimonic activity and well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 42(1), 22–42. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2007.03.004.
Streiner, D. L. (2003). Starting at the beginning: an introduction to coefficient alpha and internal consistency. Journal of Personality Assessment, 80(1), 99–103. doi:10.1207/S15327752JPA8001_18.
Vittersø, J. (2003). Flow versus life satisfaction: a projective use of cartoons to illustrate the difference between the evaluation approach and the intrinsic motivation approach to subjective quality of life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4(2), 141–167. doi:10.1023/A:1024413112234.
Vittersø, J. (2004). Subjective well-being versus self-actualization: using the flow-simplex to promote a conceptual clarification of subjective quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 65(3), 299–331. doi:10.1023/B:SOCI.0000003910.26194.ef.
Vittersø, J., Oelmann, H. I., & Wang, A. L. (2009a). Life satisfaction is not a balanced estimator of the good life: evidence from reaction time measures and self-reported emotions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(1), 1–17. doi:10.1007/s10902-007-9058-1.
Vittersø, J., & Søholt, Y. (2011). Life satisfaction goes with pleasure and personal growth goes with interest: further arguments for separating hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(4), 326–335. doi:10.1080/17439760.2011.584548.
Vittersø, J., Søholt, Y., Hetland, A., Thoresen, I. A., & Røysamb, E. (2009b). Was Hercules happy? Some answers from a functional model of human well-being. Social Indicators Research, 95(1), 1–18. doi:10.1007/s11205-009-9447-4.
Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678–691. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.64.4.678.
Waterman, A. S. (2007). On the importance of distinguishing hedonia and eudaimonia when contemplating the hedonic treadmill. The American Psychologist, 62(6), 612–613. doi:10.1037/0003-066X62.6.612.
Waterman, A. S. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: a eudaimonist’s perspective. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 3(4), 234–252. doi:10.1080/17439760802303002.
Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., & Conti, R. (2008). The implications of two conceptions of happiness (Hedonic Enjoyment and Eudaimonia) for the understanding of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 41–79. doi:10.1007/s10902-006-9020-7.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063.
Zelenski, J. M., & Larsen, R. J. (2000). The distribution of basic emotions in everyday life: a state and trait perspective from experience sampling data. Journal of Research in Personality, 34(2), 178–197. doi:10.1006/jrpe.1999.2275.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports under Grant 009-0342618-2193 and by the University of Rijeka under Grant 13.04.1.3.05.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tončić, M., Anić, P. Everyday Activities: Beneficial Effects of Eudaimonic and Hedonic Motivation on Subjective Well-Being. Curr Psychol 34, 644–653 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9277-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9277-7