What is the good life? This is what science says

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The Greeks said that the good life, in reality, is a process and not a state. It is a daily search to achieve well-being, a task that never ends.

What is the good life? Is it being happy? Does it involve achieving a good part of our goals and purposes or Perhaps it requires taking a more humble approach and simply appreciating the mere fact of being alive? Philosophy has searched for centuries for a universal answer to this question. For Aristotle, for example, it is contemplation, wisdom, living according to reason.

Socrates, for his part, emphasized something much simpler: the good life is being a good person.. Epicurus highlighted the need to have pleasurable experiences – the more, the better. The truth is that we have multiple perspectives from the field of philosophy, however… What does psychology tell us? What do the studies carried out in this regard tell us, for example?

We live in a world inhabited by more than 7 billion people. The most common thing is that each of us has an opinion about what it means to live well.. However, it is always interesting to know what scientific and psychological sources do not indicate. We analyze it.

Sometimes, the more we focus on achieving what we “want and dream” the further we move away from what we really “need.”

What is the good life according to psychology

Positive psychology has been trying to clarify what the good life is for decades.. Figures such as Martin Seligman, Barbara Fredrickson, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and Sonja Lyubomirsky have contributed numerous theories, research and works on this topic throughout their careers.

Thus, something that studies, such as those carried out at the University of Illinois, reveal to us is that many times our concept of well-being is closely linked to our culture. Having a full existence is often related to what we see around us and what we long for ourselves.: a house, a good job, a comfortable economy…

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However, something that Martin Seligman points out is that we often assume a type of values that do not harmonize very well with authentic well-being. It’s more, Sometimes we want things that are not in tune with what we really need.. For example, someone may long to have more money to do what they want, but nevertheless, they lack vital purposes, enriching relationships, a good self-concept or self-esteem…

Knowing what the good life is can be more complex than we think. However, it is interesting to know what psychology tells us about this.

The PERMA model: happiness and well-being within your reach

The PERMA model was described by Martin Seligman to delve into those aspects that could give us an authentic quality of life.. Thus, something that the famous professor at the University of Pennsylvania had seen throughout his career is that psychology was especially effective in offering resources and strategies to solve problems and treat mental disorders.

However, there were no keys to teach people “to be well”, to work on their own balance, well-being and happiness. It was then that Seligman designed the PERMA model based on 5 factors. They are the following:

P-Positive Emotions (Positive emotions)

Positively valenced emotions are the channel to connect with life in an intense, positive and enriching way.. Does this mean having to repress or put aside negative emotions? Not at all, it means that we must give space to all emotions and feelings. However, those most adverse processes must be transformed into more functional states.

“Not only do happy people endure pain better and make better health and safety decisions when threatened, positive emotions can undo negative emotions.”

-Martin Seligman-

AND- Engagement (Commitment)

The good life is not a state, it is a process

Psychotherapist Carl Rogers explained in his book On how to become a person, of 1961, that the good life is not a result, it is not a goal that one must achieve and then preserve as if it were a magical entity, like a Holy Grail. Actually, We must conceive it rather as a process in which we commit ourselves every day.

Happiness sometimes comes and sometimes it goes. However, “being well” is a job in which we must invest multiple efforts and psychological processes to achieve it.

Wellbeing is having psychological health

The Association for Psychological Science conducted a study in 2009 from which to reflect on what we call the good life. In reality, from a psychological point of view it is quite difficult to define what that dimension really is. Because Such aspiration is made up of multiple states and all of them require mental health..

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Psychologists Nansook Park and Christopher Peterson (University of Michigan) pointed out that the good life requires experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones. It involves knowing how to use our talents and strengths in the face of every adversity. It is also being able to have good relationships, feel good in our work and feel hope for the future.

All of these dimensions paint a very complete canvas of what it means to feel good. Something that sometimes, as we well know, is very difficult to achieve…