Recent years have seen an increasing interest in research in positive psychology interventions. There is broad evidence for their effectiveness in increasing well-being and ameliorating depression. Intentional activities that focus on those character strengths, which are most typical for a person (i.e., signature strengths, SS) and encourage their usage in a new way have been identified as highly effective. The current study aims at comparing an intervention aimed at using SS with one on using individual low scoring (or lesser) strengths in a randomized placebo-controlled trial. A total of 375 adults were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention conditions [i.e., using five signature vs. five lesser strengths (LS) in a new way] or a placebo control condition (i.e., early memories). We measured happiness and depressive symptoms at five time points (i.e., pre- and post-test, 1-, 3-, and 6-months follow-ups) and character strengths at pre-test. The main findings are that (1) there were increases in happiness for up to 3 months and decreases in depressive symptoms in the short term in both intervention conditions; (2) participants found working with strengths equally rewarding (enjoyment and benefit) in both conditions; (3) those participants that reported generally higher levels of strengths benefitted more from working on LS rather than SS and those with comparatively lower levels of strengths tended to benefit more from working on SS; and (4) deviations from an average profile derived from a large sample of German-speakers completing the Values-in-Action Inventory of Strengths were associated with greater benefit from the interventions in the SS-condition. We conclude that working on character strengths is effective for increasing happiness and discuss how these interventions could be tailored to the individual for promoting their effectiveness.

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Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention

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?

Having a purpose in life is one of the most fundamental human needs. However, for most people finding their purpose in life is not obvious. Modern life has a way of distracting people from their true goals and many people find it hard to define their purpose in life. Especially at younger ages, people are searching for meaning in life, but this has found to be unrelated to actually finding meaning. Oftentimes, people experience pressure to have a “perfect” life and show the world how well they are doing, instead of following up on their deep-felt values and passions. Consequently, people may need a more structured way of finding meaning, e.g., via an intervention. In this paper, we discuss evidence-based ways of finding purpose, via a process that we call “life crafting”. This process fits within positive psychology and the salutogenesis framework – an approach focusing on factors that support human health and well-being, instead of factors that cause disease. This process ideally starts with an intervention that entails a combination of reflecting on one’s values, passions and goals, best possible self, goal attainment plans, and other positive psychology intervention techniques. Important elements of such an intervention are:(1) Discovering values and passion, (2) reflecting on current and desired competencies and habits, (3) reflecting on present and future social life, (4) reflecting on a possible future career, (5) writing about the ideal future, (6) writing down specific goal attainment and “if-then” plans, and (7) making public commitments to the goals set. Prior research has shown that personal goal setting and goal attainment plans help people gain a direction or a sense of purpose in life. As discussed, research from the positive psychology, such as salutogenesis, implementation intentions, value congruence, broaden-and-build, and goal-setting literature that can help in building a comprehensive evidence-based life-crafting intervention. This intervention can aid individuals to find a purpose in life, while at the same time ensuring that they make concrete plans to work towards this purpose. The idea is that life crafting enables individuals to take control of their life in order to optimize performance and happiness.

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Life Crafting as a Way to Find Purpose and Meaning in Life

Body Image Disturbance: Assessment and Treatment.

Character strengths were tested in relation to subjective (life satisfaction) and physical (self-evaluated health and physical fitness) well-being (440 adults). Health-behaviors and the mediating role of health-behaviors in explaining the relationship between character and well-being were also considered. Emotional, intellectual strengths and strengths of the heart were positively associated with life satisfaction and physical fitness. Emotional strengths correlated positively with the self-evaluation of feeling healthy. All strengths (except for modesty and religiousness) were related to health-behaviors; e.g. healthy eating and watching ones food consumption were associated with self-regulation and intellectual strengths. Health behaviors partially mediated the relation of broader strengths factors on subjective and physical well-being. The largest indirect effects were found for leading an active way of life. The study suggests that there are positive relations between character strengths and subjective but also physical well-being. Furthermore, potential mechanisms, which might account for these relations (i.e. health-behaviors) are assessed.

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What good are character strengths beyond subjective well-being? The contribution of the good character on self-reported health-oriented behavior, physical fitness, and the subjective health status

People pursue happiness through different paths: pleasure, engagement and meaning, which are differently related to well-being. The aim of this research was to compare subjective well-being, life goals and self-control of people with different profiles of orientations to happiness. Students (484 females, 278 males; mean age 20.60) rated their life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, orientations to happiness, and self-control. Based on the K-means cluster analysis participants were grouped into four groups: students who highly endorse hedonic and eudaimonic orientation (the "Full life" group), those who do not endorse either of them (the "Empty life" group), those who live eudaimonic and those who live hedonic life. People who live a full life are the happiest, they value intrinsic life goals and have good self-control. Contrary, people who live empty lives have the lowest well-being, they value extrinsic and intrinsic life goals less than other people and have low self-control.

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Orientations to happiness, subjective well-being and life goals

This study investigated possible gender differences in the relationship between character strengths and life satisfaction. Two questionnaires were administered to 818 students (488 females and 330 males), Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) (Peterson & Seligman, Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification, 2004) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, Journal of Personality Assessment 49 (1):71–75, 1985). Zest, hope, and gratitude had the strongest link to life satisfaction. Women and men differed significantly in ten character strengths, but they did not differ in their life satisfaction. Five highest-weighted strengths for women were integrity, kindness, love, gratitude, and fairness, while men weighed highest the strengths of integrity, hope, humor, gratitude, and curiosity. Significant predictors of life satisfaction are also different. For women, life satisfaction was predicted by zest, gratitude, hope, appreciation of beauty, and love, whereas men’s life satisfaction was predicted by creativity, perspective, fairness, and humor. These findings seem to be partly congruent with gender stereotypes. Life satisfaction entails living in accordance with the strengths especially valued in the culture.

Character Strengths and Well-Being: Are There Gender Differences?

IntroductionTourism occurring in a natural setting has been labelled variously, such as "nature tourism", "nature-based tourism" or "natural areas tourism". Regardless of the label employed, nature-based tourism is commonly perceived as an umbrella term that encompasses different tourism subsets (i.e., ecotourism, nature tourism, and adventure tourism) for which the natural outdoor environment, in its wild and undeveloped form, stands as a key setting for tourists' recreational activities (Buckley, 2008; Fennell, 2007; Hall and Boyd, 2005; Newsome, Moore and Dowling, 2002). Because this paper is not aimed at re-opening further definitional debates, the present authors will use the term nature-based tourism and provide a sample of basic characteristics of mentioned subsets to set up the theoretical grounds for the current study.Ecotourism has often been interpreted interchangeably with nature-based tourism; however, recent reports clearly acknowledge ecotourism as a specific component (Fennell 2007; Newsome, Moore and Dowling, 2002; Weaver 2001a). Nonetheless, the scope and meaning of ecotourism continue to be debated. The majority of provided definitions agree that ecotourism refers to an environmentally responsible type of travel to relatively undisturbed natural and cultural areas that (i) fosters environmental education, learning and appreciation, (ii) contributes to the conservation of the natural environment and its optimal use and (iii) encourages the socio-economic prosperity of the host community (Diamantis, 1999; Fennell, 2007; Weaver, Lawton and Faulkner, 1999; Weaver, 2001b; Wight, 1993). Thus, although ecotourism is in essence nature based, it advocates a more responsible means of travel, emphasising environmental education and socio-ecologically sustainable use of the natural and cultural environment upon which it inherently depends (Orams, 1995; Weaver, 2001a).Nature tourism refers to the observation or contemplation of flora, fauna or landscape scenery. In other words, it primarily focuses on nature itself, i.e., its attractiveness and individual experiences, without considering socio-cultural aspects or management issues. It is used more by analysts than practitioners (Buckley, 2008). Adventure tourism is perceived as a type of travel to remote or exotic places to receive active exposure to unknown experiences that often involve a certain level of risk and personal challenge. Reassembling Walle (1997), Weber (2001) noted that the definition of adventure tourism need not be viewed entirely through the conceptual prism of "risk theory" because the meaning of adventure itself is more a question of the subjective perception of an individual. Adventure tourism is considered a part of nature-based tourism only when the natural environment is used as a setting for participation in outdoor recreational activities (Swarbrook, Beard, Leckie and Pomfret, 2003). Although the key motive of adventure travel is, at its core, the activity (Sung, Morrison and O'Leary, 1997), if managed in a socio-ecological sustainable fashion, such travel might overlap with the ecotourism that frequently occurs in mountain and alpine regions (W illiams, Singh and Schluter, 2001).The significance of nature-based tourism is widely supported in the tourism literature; is often considered the fastest growing segment within the tourism industry, with an increase of between 10% and 30% per year (Balmford, et al., 2009; Marques, Reis and Menezes, 2010; Mehmetoglu 2007; Newsome, Moore and Dowling, 2002; Nyaupane, Morais and Graefe, 2004; Pickering and Weaver, 2003). According to the Centre for Responsible Travel (2015), 10-20% of all global international travels are, directly or indirectly, associated to enjoyment and interaction with nature. On an European level, when considering a return to the same place for a holiday, slightly less than half (46%) of European citizens named nature attractiveness (e.g., landscape) as the key consideration (Eurobarometer, 2014). …

Segmenting protected area visitors by activities: A case study in Paklenica National Park, Croatia

Mnoge teorije i modeli pokusavaju da objasne zasto se ljudi ukljucuju u razlicite aktivnosti u slobodno vreme. Prema nekim poznatim teorijama motivacije, oni to rade jer im je to prijatno, zanimljivo, ispunjava ih (npr. Apter, 1982, 1989; Csikszentmihalyi, 1997), jer im omogucava samorealizaciju, rast i razvoj (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000), kao i zato sto je to nacin da se ostvare neki od licnih ciljeva (Apter, 1982, 1989). Sve pomenuto može da se stavi pod okrilje hedonickih i eudemonickih motiva, kao sto je definisano u radu Veronike Huta (Huta, 2007; Huta & Ryan, 2010; Huta, 2013). Kod hedonicki motivisanih aktivnosti bitni su zadovoljstvo i ugoda, dok je kod eudemonicki motivisanih aktivnosti bitno da pokusamo ostvariti svoj maksimalni potencijal (Huta, 2007; Huta & Ryan, 2010). Iako su razlicita, hedonicka i eudemonicka iskustva mogu da se poklapaju. Cilj ove studije je bio da istraži razlike u hedonickim i eudemonickim motivima za omiljene slobodne aktivnosti. Ucestvovala su 422 studenta (26.12% muskih), prosecne starosti 20.55 godina. Oni su naveli svoju omiljenu aktivnost i ispunili The Self-reported Hedonic and Eudaimonic Activities Scale (SHEA: Huta, 2007; HEMA: Huta & Ryan, 2010), koja meri eudemonicke i hedonicke motive. Na osnovu njihove prirode, aktivnosti su grupisane u sedam kategorija: citanje, umetnicke aktivnosti, sport, mediji i muzika, druženje, ples i aktivnosti na otvorenom. Za potrebe narednih analiza, aktivnosti su takođe grupisane u dve opstenitije kategorije: aktivne (umetnicke, sportske i ples) i zabavne (citanje, muzika i mediji, druženje i aktivnosti na otvorenom). Testirane su razlike u eudemonickim i hedonickim motivima za razlicite aktivnosti, kao i interakcije između motiva i aktivnosti. Prosecne procene za hedonicke motive su koherentnije od prosecnih procena eudemonickih motiva za razlicite omiljene aktivnosti. Postoje znacajni glavni efekti motiva za aktivnosti, vrste aktivnosti i znacajne interakcije. Velicina efekta motiva za omiljene aktivnosti je najveca, dok su efekti drugog faktora i interakcije bili manji. Bonferroni post-hoc testovi otkrili su da su citanje, umetnicke aktivnosti, sport i ples vise motivisani eudemonicki od medija i muzike, druženja i aktivnosti na otvorenom. Sto se tice hedonickih motiva, sve aktivnosti su podjednako hedonicki motivisane. Razlike između hedonickih i eudemonickih motiva znacajne su za citanje, medije i muziku, druženje, aktivnosti na otvorenom i ples. Sve ove aktivnosti su vise hedonicki nego eudemonicki motivisane. Moderatorska uloga vrste aktivnosti na odnos hedonickih i eudemonickih motiva je testirana samo za dve opstije grupe aktivnosti. Vrsta aktivnosti (zabavna ili aktivna) moderira odnos između hedonickih i eudemonickih motiva. Nagib i odsecak eudemonickih motiva su veci za aktivne nego za zabavne aktivnosti. Postoji znacajna razlika među efektima eudemonickih motiva na hedonicke za razlicite aktivnosti. Dobijeni rezultati potvrdili su tvrdnje da eudemonija bez hedonije ne može da postoji: kada se pojedinac angažuje u nekoj aktivnosti, koju bi se moglo smatrati kao cisto eudemonicku, on ce svejedno uživati. Tesko je zamisliti da osoba ima omiljenu aktivnost, koju je slobodno izabrala i u kojoj se cesto angažuje, a da pri tome ne doživljava zadovoljstvo. Pored toga, aktivnosti koje su manje aktivne i zahtevne, dobar su izvor zadovoljstva, radosti i srece, ali ako želimo da doživimo smisao i svrhu u isto vreme, moramo da biramo aktivnosti koje su izazovnije i energicnije, imaju jasne ciljeve te koje ce doprineti licnom razvoju ili su od koristi za drustvo u kome živimo.

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Hedonic and eudaimonic motives for favourite leisure activities

As visitors to national parks diff er in terms of their profi les and needs, an empirical evaluation of the quality of their experiences, if based on a homogeneous sample, may lead to false conclusions and, hence, inappropriate management decisions. Using Paklenica National Park as a case study, this paper aims to provide a more heterogeneous perspective on the defi nition of the quality of visitor experiences with park facilities and services. Data were randomly collected from visitors by means of a self-administered questionnaire with a face-to-face approach (n=342). First, visitors were segmented according to the benefi ts sought. Second, the diff erences between the obtained segments were examined in terms of the importa nce of and satisfaction with the facilities and services provided by the park agency. Hierarchical and K-mean cluster analyses resulted in the identifi cation of three distinct segments: Naturalists, Escapists and Ecotourists. In terms of the importance given to and satisfaction with the park facilities and services, the results indicated that the segments signifi cantly diff ered in four out of six underlying factors. Th e results of the gap analysis showed that the quality of the experience diff ered across the segments. Th e fi ndings of this study revealed that visitor market segmentation can serve as a powerful technique in evaluating the quality of visitors ́ experiences.

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Petra Anić

Papers

Orientations to happiness, subjective well-being and life goals

Character Strengths and Well-Being: Are There Gender Differences?

Segmenting protected area visitors by activities: A case study in Paklenica National Park, Croatia

Hedonic and eudaimonic motives for favourite leisure activities

Combining benefit-sought segmentation and service quality gap analysis: Case study of Paklenica National Park, Croatia