Integrated Well-Being Scale: A New Measure of Eudaimonic Functioning

1
Integrated Well-Being Scale A New Measure of
Eudaimonic Functioning

• Evgeny Osin
• Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Ilona Boniwell University of East London, UK

• Theoretical Background

• Preliminary Results Factor Structure

Despite recent interest in eudaimonic well-being,
in Positive Psychology this construct has long
remained an umbrella term for a number of often
unrelated theories. The aim of the study was to
develop a new multi-factor model of hedonic and
eudaimonic well-being combining ideas from
different existing approaches to eudaimonia
Csikszentmihalyi (1975 1992 2000) Ryan and
Deci (2000), Ryan, Deci Huta (2008) Ryff
(1989), Ryff Keyes (1995), Ryff Singer
(2008) Seligman (2002) McGregor and Little
(1998), King Napa (1998), Compton et al.
(1996) Vitterso (2003) Waterman (1993)
Waterman, Schwartz Conti (2008). Drawing upon
philosophical approaches of Aristotle (eudaimonia
is the highest end worth pursuing by doing
virtuous actions, acting in accordance with ones
daimon) and Kant (who described virtuous action
as acting in accordance with the universal law of
respecting humanity embodied in oneself and in
any other person), eudaimonia was defined as
subjective experience of well-being arising from
a persons active efforts at living in congruence
with his/her intrinsic values. It is implied that
the values in question are universal construed by
different theorists (first of all, Fromm and
Maslow) in terms of human nature or human
needs that are appropriated (or discovered),
rather than given. Indicators of eudaimonia can
be found in different domains of personality,
e.g. emotional (eudaimonic subjective states),
cognitive (characteristics of the value/belief
structure that influences activity), and
motivational, or self-regulatory (required for
attainment of eudaimonic value-related goals). A
heuristic model summarising nine eudaimonic
factors was proposed
Exploratory factor analysis (PCA with subsequent
Varimax rotation) of the 158-item pool revealed a
12-factor structure explaining 42 of the total
variance, with a pronounced first factor
explaining 20 of the variance. Because of the
large number of items and complicated structure
of associations, it was decided to use a
parceling approach first to investigate the scale
structure. Cluster analysis (Wards method on
Pearson correlations) was performed to form
parcels of items with similar content.
Reliability analysis was performed to ensure
parcel quality. The resulting 24 parcels
(Cronbachs a ranging between .67 and .89)
including 151 items overall were factor-analyzed
in order to find out the structure of the
resulting eudaimonia construct. A 4-factor model
explaining 63 of the variance was chosen (parcel
loadings shown in parentheses, all loadings above
.40 are shown) Factor 1 Self-Actualization
(24) Personal Meaning (.85), Authenticity
(.79), Aliveness (.79), Engagement (.76),
Inauthenticity (-.76), Contribution (.74),
Meaninglessness (-.71), Purpose (.66),
Persistence (.56), Personal Autonomy
(.44). Factor 2 Self-Transcendence (19)
Reflexive Attitude (.76), Contribution to People
(.74), Meaningful World Perspective (.73), Deep
Emotional Experiences (.71), Disengagement /
Alienation (.70), Learning and Growth (.68),
Effortfulness (.60), Purpose (.48), Contribution
(.40). Factor 3 Self-Regulation (12)
Self-Sufficiency / Non-Attachment (.76), Peace of
Mind (.65), Self-Refulation (.60), Austerity
(.56), Personal Autonomy (.45), Persistence
(.45), Postponing Pleasures (.43). Factor 4
Pleasure (8) Enjoyment (.83), Pleasure
Orientation (.70), Postponing Pleasures
(-.43). Confirmatory factor analysis was
performed to investigate the emerging structure.
Preliminary findings indicate moderate
intercorrelations (.52-.69) of the three
eudaimonia factors (F1-F3), and their
non-significant correlations with the pleasure
factor, suggesting that eudamonia and hedonia can
be different mechanisms, or ways of life,
similarly leading to positive emotions. Parcels
with loadings above .5 were summed up to form
scales corresponding to the three eudaimonia
components.
Emotional Cognitive Volitional
Self-distancing (?effortful action) Non-attachment Purpose (making sense of the world, coherence) Self-regulation (capacity for making effort)
Self-development, growth Engagement (vitality, aliveness) Need for growth (openness to experience) Autonomy, self-determination
Self-transcendence (acting in congruence with values) Deep experiences of values Meaningful perspective for action Contribution to the world (acting ones values)

• Preliminary Results Associations

Satisfaction with Life Scale and PANAS were
administered to a part of the Internet sample
(N190). Results (see correlations on the right)
suggest that Self-Actualization component of
eudaimonia might be the most essential to
subjective well-being. Asymmetric associations
with PANAS suggest that Self-Transcendence is
reflected in positive affect, whereas negative
affect may result from lack of Self-Regulation.
p lt .001 SWLS PA NA
F1 SA .71 .72 -.32
F2 ST .46 .55 -.08
F3 SR .41 .42 -.46

• Methods and Sample

Item generation. Descriptions of 9 tentative
constructs 1 hedonic well-being construct were
created, and approx. 330 items were generated in
the course of group discussions, aiming to
produce a balanced set of items for each
construct, without similar formulations to avoid
semantic artifact scales. An expert-rating
procedure was applied to evaluate item quality
(2o experts were positive psychologists and MAPP
students). Based on their ratings, 158 items were
chosen for the pilot study. 1 Internet sample.
To investigate its structure, the 158-item
questionnaire was placed on a research website
addressed to wide audience interested in positive
psychology. To minimise sequence effects, the
items were presented in random order to each
respondent. The resulting sample (N700) included
78 females, aged 17 to 87 (median age 36).
Instant feedback was provided. 2. Paper-based
sample. To investigate convergent validity of the
scales, a convenience sample (N251) mainly
comprised by students was used. The respondents
were 72 female aged between 18 and 85 (median
age 27). Measures. A number of existing measures
were used, including Satisfaction With Life
Scale (Diener et al., 1985), Subjective Happiness
Scale (Lyubomirsky Lepper, 1999), Positive and
Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark,
Tellegen, 1988), Scales of Psychological
Well-Being (Ryff Keyes, 1995), Orientations to
Happiness Questionnaire (Seligman, Park,
Peterson, 2005), Balanced Inventory of Desirable
Responding (Paulhus, 1998), Short Index of
Self-Actualization (Jones Crandall, 1986).
Convergent validity data from the paper-based
sample (not presented for the sake of brevity)
indicates the same pattern of associations with
subjective well-being. All the three eudaimonia
factors show significant associations with all
the 6 scales of psychological well-being by Carol
Ryff F1 most strongly associated with Purpose
and Self-Acceptance, F2 with Personal Growth, and
F3 with Environmental Competence. All three
factors show moderate to strong (.74, .69, and
.50 for F1, F2, F3) associations with the Meaning
Subscale of Orientations to Happiness, F1 and F2
show positive associations with engagement (.33
and .30, respectively), and F3 is negatively
associated with Pleasure (-.24). Like other
well-being scales, the factors show only
predictable weak to moderate associations with
Impression Management subscale of the BIDR (.38
for F1, and .25 for F3). Scores on all three
components of eudaimonia show pronounced positive
associations with age and education. F1 and F2
are marginally positively associated with
volunteer work engagement, and only F3 is linked
to gender (higher in males).

• Conclusions and Future Perspectives

The data suggest that eudaimonia is a specific
type of living well, which may be a parallel,
rather than an alternative option, to the hedonic
approach to well-being. In order to understand
eudaimonia, it seems important not to limit the
research to experiential variables, but, rather,
study the specific ways eudaimonic individuals
engage with the world, and values as the
principles guiding their meaningful activity.
The data are currently in the final stage of the
analysis. Once the item pool is reduced, the
Integrated Well-Being Scale might be a useful
instrument to measure eudaimonia. To use it for
research purposes, please contact EO
eosin_at_hse.ru.

• Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by Leverhulme
Visiting Research Fellowship to EO. The authors
would like to thank Nash Popovic and Mark
McDermott who participated in the discussions,
and the UEL MAPP students for their help.