engleski

Life aspirations and well-being: Is extrinsic goal pursuit detrimental to well-being in Eastern European countries?

People from Eastern European countries are less satisfied with their lives than people from Western European countries (data from World Database of Happiness). The attention to the culture-specific characteristics that optimize well-being should become a larger concern. During the past period, market-based economics has crossed the boundaries of formerly different political and social countries. Such change raises the question of how the values and goals related with market economics affected well-being of people in transitional countries. Market economies are widely recognized as encouraging 'having' versus 'being' lifestyles. However, strong investment in materialistic goals relative to more intrinsic goals is negatively related to well-being (Kasser and Ryan, 1993). Do these findings apply to cultures experiencing economic conditions quite different from those in Western countries? Research from Croatia and other, less rich countries suggest that extrinsic aspirations are not negatively related to well-being. This may partly be due to different meaning attached to financial success, which is associated with security and independence, not only achieving materialistic status. Further research into the study of Eastern European nations is needed in positive psychology.

life goals; well-being; Eastern Europe

Round table discussion - Flourishing Communities and Positive Psychology: A European Perspective. Antonella Delle Fave (chair), Joar Vitterso, Ingrid Brdar, Elaine Duncan, Carmelo Vazquez, Hans Henrik Knoop, Teresa Freire (participants)