Is the opposite of positive negative? Towards an understanding of student wellbeing

Abstract or Summary

Positive psychology (PP) and positive organizational behavior (POB) are dominating research with regards to the importance of enhancing human wellbeing. A current trend in PP and POB is greater debate over how researchers conceptualise ‘wellbeing’, with researchers arguing that not all forms of wellbeing are equal. Eudaimonic wellbeing is based on the rationale that wellbeing is gained via engaging in meaningful experiences (Ryan, Huta & Deci, 2008) and is determined by the type and nature of experience sought. Engagement in eudaimonic wellbeing is predicated on the pursuit of activities that develop meaning, competence and relationships, all defined by some struggle in obtainment. Alternatively, feeling happy and in a good mood are considered to be hedonic measures of wellbeing. Hedonic wellbeing is gained when a person obtains a pleasurable, yet fleeting, state (i.e. is characterised as ‘feeling’ happy and optimistic) (Lyubomirsky & Ross, 1997). However, a current criticism of hedonic wellbeing is that striving to feel ‘happy’ is unrealistic and does not adequately address the stressful and actual circumstances that we face. This presentation draws on the differing conceptualisations of wellbeing, and advances a framework from which a positive and realistic model of student wellbeing can be enacted (Huta & Ryan, 2010).