What is a good life?
Do you ever wonder what makes a good life or how to make the most of your remaining days?
Research shows that a good life is often linked to happiness or a sense of meaning. A happy life is connected to things like contentment, joy, security, and stability, often including financial security, close relationships, and an optimistic mindset. Personal satisfaction plays a central role. A meaningful life, on the other hand, is linked to a greater purpose, coherence, and principles - life seems to have a more purpose than just the pursuit of personal happiness. Meaningful life aims to make a (societal) impact.
A recently published review article highlights a third dimension of a good life - a psychologically rich life - which moves beyond the dichotomy of hedonic (personal happiness) versus eudaimonic (meaningfulness) well-being. People living psychologically rich lives tend to be curious, think holistically and spontaneously, and are skilled at shifting perspectives. Also, a sense of novelty, complexity, openness to experience, unconventional attitudes, and creativity are important factors in psychologically rich life.
According to research, however, a psychologically rich life does not necessarily boost happiness, and health, or create societal impact. Moreover, when asked, people across countries and cultures tend to prioritize happiness or meaning over psychological richness. So, why pursue it?
It is suggested that a psychologically rich life cultivates wisdom. Wisdom can be understood as deep and broad knowledge combined with intellectual humility, perspective-taking, relativist mindsets, and attributional complexity. This means a wise person seeks to understand the causes of others' behavior and considers various possible explanations.
Personally, I believe the pursuit of happiness and meaning can be challenging when considering the entire human population. It’s interesting to explore other concepts, and a psychologically rich life seems to add an additional dimension to human well-being.
References and further reading:
Oishi, S., & Westgate, E. C. (2022). A psychologically rich life: Beyond happiness and meaning. Psychological Review, 129(4), 790.
Oishi, S., Choi, H., Cha, Y., Heintzelman, S., Buttrick, N. R., & Westgate, E. C. (2024). Differing worldviews: The politics of happiness, meaning, and psychological richness. Journal of Personality.
Oishi, S., Westgate, E., & Cha, Y. (2024). The cognitive complexity of a happy life, a meaningful life, and a psychologically rich life. Journal of Research in Personality, 110, 104475.