https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_10E28A70EAE7.P001/REF.pdf

Validation of the German version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and its relation to orientations to happiness and work stress

This paper addresses the question as to whether previously reported findings on a positive relation between character strengths, satisfaction with life, and orientations to happiness (OTH) can be replicated for peer ratings of character strengths. A sample of 334 Swiss adults completed questionnaires and collected informant ratings by 634 peers. Self- and peer ratings converged well and suggest that, primarily: the strengths of hope, zest, and curiosity – but also gratitude and love – play key roles in the interplay of strengths and satisfaction with life. Peer ratings of strengths also related positively with the endorsement of a pleasurable, engaged, and meaningful life. Further analyses show that the OTH predict satisfaction with life beyond self- and peer-rated character strengths. There, the engaged life (i.e. endorsement of flow) was most relevant. This study supports earlier findings that argue for an important role of character strengths when describing the well-being of a person.

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/72958/1/185_m_2013_BuschorProyerRuch.pdf

Self- and peer-rated character strengths: How do they relate to satisfaction with life and orientations to happiness?

Character strengths are positively valued traits that are expected to contribute to the good life (Peterson and Seligman 2004). Numerous studies have confirmed their robust relationships with subjective or hedonic well-being. Seligman (2011) provided a new framework of well-being suggesting five dimensions that encompass both hedonic and eudemonic aspects of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment (forming the acronym PERMA). However, the role of character strengths has not been studied so far in this framework. Also, most studies on the relationships between character strengths and well-being only have only relied on self-reports. This set of two studies examines the relationships of character strengths and the orientations to well-being in two cross-sectional studies (Study 1: N = 5521), while also taking informant-reports into account and utilizing different questionnaires to control for a possible method bias (Study 2: N = 172). Participants completed validated assessments of character strengths and the PERMA dimensions (self-reports in Study 1, self- and informant-reports in Study 2). Results showed that in self-reports, all strengths were positively related to all PERMA dimensions, but there were differences in the size of the relationships. Accomplishment, for example, showed the strongest associations with strengths such as perspective, persistence, and zest, whereas for positive relationships, strengths such as teamwork, love, and kindness were the best predictors. These findings were largely confirmed by informant-reports in Study 2. The findings provide further support for the notion that character contributes to well-being and they could guide the development of strengths-based interventions tailored to individual needs.

/pdf/character-strengths-and-perma-investigating-the-37kcwner0k.pdf

Character Strengths and PERMA: Investigating the Relationships of Character Strengths with a Multidimensional Framework of Well-Being

The prime aim of this set of studies was to test the disposition to play (playfulness) in adults in its relation with various measures of personality but also ability (self-estimated but also psychometrically measured ingenuity). Study 1 (n = 180) shows that adults playfulness relates primarily to extraversion, lower conscientiousness, and higher endorsements of culture; joy of being laughed at (gelotophilia) and agreeableness were also predictive in a regression analysis; Study 2 (n = 264) shows that playfulness relates primarily to a high expectation of intrinsic and a low expectation of extrinsic goals as well as greater intrinsic and lower extrinsic importance of goals (for expressive and fun-variants of playfulness); Study 3 (n = 212) shows that playfulness relates to greater selfperception of one’s degree of ingenuity and psychometric ingenuity correlated primarily with greater spontaneous and creative variants of playfulness (in about the same range for origence and fluidity of the productions). Overall, the findings were in line with the expectations and could stimulate further studies of playfulness in adults.

/pdf/examining-playfulness-in-adults-testing-its-correlates-with-203yr8utwd.pdf

Examining playfulness in adults: Testing its correlates with personality, positive psychological functioning, goal aspirations, and multi-methodically assessed ingenuity

ANY OF US HAVEasked ourselves: What is a good life? What makes a life worth living? This is one of the great existential questions. The answers we develop shape our priorities, choices, and goals, and the very way we decide what is desirable. In conceptions of a good life, the two perspectives that have figured most prominently are the hedonic view and the eudaimonic view (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Briefly, a hedonic orientation involves seeking happiness, positive affect, life satisfaction, and reduced negative affect; a eudaimonic orientation includes seeking authenticity, meaning, excellence, and personal growth (Huta & Waterman, 2013). These two perspectives have been discussed for over 2,000 years by philosophers, including Aristotle and Aristippus in ancient Greece, and more recently by early psychologists and psychiatrists, such as Maslow, Jung, and Freud. Much of the current psychology research on well-being similarly addresses hedonia and/or eudaimonia, making the hedonic–eudaimonic distinction a central concept in positive psychology, as evidenced by its frequent appearance in the first edition of this volume. It is time for us to consider more systematically how these concepts might be applied in practice. First, I discuss existing definitions and research. I then venture into more uncharted territory. I pull together a characterization of the complementary natures of hedonia and eudaimonia, to clarify why the two concepts are so central to discussions of well-being, and then propose specific strategies for pursuing hedonia and eudaimonia in practice.

The Complementary Roles of Eudaimonia and Hedonia and How They Can Be Pursued in Practice

The study examines work- and life satisfaction along with orientation to happiness, and their relation to subjective but also objective career success, among Swiss military professional officers. They frequently report worsening of their working conditions due to two reforms that have recently been conducted. A total of N = 221 Swiss career officers (mainly Land Forces; from Colonel to First Lieutenant) completed several questionnaires in an online survey. As expected, pleasure, engagement and meaning were positively related to satisfaction with life and the meaningful life also correlated with the (overall) work satisfaction. Higher subjective career success was related to higher satisfaction with life, content-related aspects of work satisfaction, and higher endorsements to the engaged and the meaningful life. Belonging to the general staff was considered as an objective criterion of career success and those who were in the general staff, were higher in their overall work satisfaction, content-related aspects of their work and, again, higher inclination to the life of engagement and the life of meaning. The study suggests that variables of positive psychological functioning are useful additions in the field of military psychology and that they might hold a key for the development of strategies for improving both, work- and life satisfaction among military personnel.

https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/47461/1/ZORA_NL_47461.pdf

Assessing the “good life” in a military context: how does life and work-satisfaction relate to orientations to happiness and career-success among swiss professional officers?

Andrea Schneider

Papers

Assessing the “good life” in a military context: how does life and work-satisfaction relate to orientations to happiness and career-success among swiss professional officers?