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    Bientar Por Carol Ryff

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    Luis Antony Nevado Sanchez
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    Well-Being Eos Practice and Higher Education 1818 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 ‘Msteoar Fee ‘and the Realzation of Education's Greater Purposes ISBN 978-0-9853088-6-5, Edited by Donald W. Harward | Bringing Theory to Practice | ‘Washington D.C. ESSAY Eudaimonic Well-Being and Education: Probing the Connections Carol D. Ryff Isrmopucrion For the past 30 years, Ihave been studying psychological well-being and linking it roa host of other fictors, including people's socioeconomic status, their life experiences, and thee health The fis section below describes the conceptual origins of the model of swell bing I developed, including its links to Arswle’s view of eudsimonia, which he saw ‘asthe highest ofall human goods. This formulation i contrasted with the hedonic approach ‘to-well-being that aleo ha rots in writing fom the ancient Greeks. Extensive empiical findings have grown up around both conceptions in recent decades. The second section provides a brief look at what has been learned about che links between eudaimonia and. ‘educational attainment. The story therein is staigheforward in one sense—beter educated people rend to have higher eudaimonic well-being —bur complicated in another—there is considerable variability shin educational strata, and further, sues of cus directional ae not clear. Going forward, wo key questions ar critical for scientific inquiry. Fest, does the hind of education one obtains matter for eudaimonie well-being? Ths query is equiva- lent to asking whether some forms of knowledge and learning are better for nurturing selfreaizaion than others. Secondly, ad more incisive, what exactly does higher edu- cation do for us as we sek to achieve the best that is within us? The final section will argue that liberal education, rich in exposure to at, philosophy, and cultural knowledge is key for achieving life-long cudaimonic well-being, with ic accompanying vies of responsible citizenship and civic engagement. Although many have previously advocated fora liberal education, few have emphasized the importance of linking such advocacy t0 scientific (empirical) research on well-being, Fuze directions for investigating links beeen ‘elucaional experience and eudaimonia wil be noted. Dertwac Evpaiontc Welt-Brinc: Distituine Cone Divensions (Over 25 years ago, | called fora new approach co the study of psychological well-being * Although subjective wellbeing had been studied for decades a a window on the inner lives oF U.S. adults, reigning measures assessed primarily happiness and life satisfaction. Such indiators were largely without theoretical foundation, despite extensive literatures developmental clinica, existential and humanistic psychology all of which grappled th what it means to bea filly functioning, Filly indviduated, mature, selF-atualized peteon, My 1989 contribution was to integrate these perspectives by distilling promi- nent points of convergence among them. Six key components of well-being, shown in nies Wil ign Edson: Pain te Conan ” the top of Figure I, identified these recurcent themes. Below them, the figure shows the conceptual formulations from which they were derived. Definitions ofthe sx theory guided dimensions of wel-being are presened in Table L.* ‘These descriptions of high and low-scoring respondents on each dimension wer the ass for developing elf descriptive items wo operationalize each component of well-being, The intent in coeating such selPassessment sales was to render Fiowe well-being an empitially tractable subject. The sul CCORE DIMENSIONS OF SORE DIMENSIONS OF 5 ingscaleshave been translated to mote than 30 lan AND THEIR THEORETICAL guagcs and use of them in scientific studies has FOUNDATIONS proliferated over time” More than 500 publications have been generated to date: Numerous investigations ‘xamined the pechomeaic properties of the sx fctor ‘moda, mos of which, paricully when adequate depth of measurement (ie, suficient number of items) was employed, suppored the orginal factorial structure Other studies dete in the review cle examined how various aspects of well-being changed as individuals aged, or as they deale with particular life transitions (eg, parenthood, rloca- tion) and other ehllenges in work an fy life (eg, job ses, parenting a child with developmental rr Evo Cons) isabes, sing loved one). Many publications “earth aay probed inks berween well-being and health, sehacuanone ey assessed in multiple ways—how long people live {occa recesses et perzootty (mori), thee rik or developing disease o di eea eee ooney bli (motbidin) and thee biologeal ik tors “personal eveloomentcEnkson)_(¢g stress hormones inflammatory markers, car- * fly Funetioning person ose) diovascular risk factors). Finally, an important line __AittotetsEudeimonie of inquiry focused on whether these giowth-ot- ented, self realization, meaning-making aspects of vwel-being could be modified and improved. Such intervention work hasbeen conducted in clinical, educational, and community contexts” Before examining what is known about ‘empirical inks beeween eudimonia and education, che above model of well-being will be briefly contrasted with the alternative hedonic conception, RETURNING TO THE ANCIENT GutrKs: EUDAIMONIA Vs. HEDONtA Aaisctle’s writings about eudsimonia were conveyed in the Nichomachean Ethier, which ‘was not a treatise on human well-being, but rather an effort vo formulate ethical docsines ‘offering guidance for how to lve.” He opened withthe following question: What isthe highest ofall yood achievable by human action? Aristotle believe happiness was the answer but underscored notable differences among people in what i meant by happiness. In is view, happiness was noc about pleasure, or wealth, or honor, or satisfying appetites. Rather it was about “activity of che soul in accord with virtue." Tis assertion led to the next critical question: Wha isthe nature of viewe? In answering this question Aristotle ‘went tothe heart of eudaimonia, arguing that che highest virtue i life is to achieve the = Wig an Higher ction DEFINITIONS OF THEORY-GUIDED DIMENSIONS OF WELL-BEING Hi cr: Roses postive aia omd the sl chron and cpr mull spc ofl incading god and bol uals es poe sour ua ie “a se ake dict whl ici with what a occa in ps i abled abou ruin psa qa wsher obedient rhe Dose esr with there re Ha ne ing tng ip eet sen fee Bet ong cop ales diary enna peda fhe ati. “La se a ow lan rating chirp with ters ce iia mam ope. nd ‘cared aout others atl ed ted in nerpnoa nah: wig ake Sompromint sin nora er with ee Parnas Higher Ho igo tind dgmen gving ad pedi opr Eighteen an efter = oe | ‘ek bred and nina wth el wate o dep nw adr bane Di TT] ‘Bligh oro Has oan ie ae ferns el there maning wo prea ps i RE EER pms artic sg “Lew ale sane of uaning in eh ow plaice of Gon do morse | ‘upon pat i boone orb tare le meaning ‘High oe Hae see of many competence in maging the emsronmen sol comple ay eeomrdecrbn ais deci tel oroundng peace sot dnve wea ere Sec wpe eon os “we im ificaly managing ery i al nb change or improve saroundng, ‘Sct uate of ound opens es of oa ane exer we ‘tons R ‘igh os i ein winded rer ol psc kink oni cma spe opt! pro ink dct in oan wa elit behavior or whi aut {aly pono andr {Ln wore sconce ke ingore dein jc expestrons and cahaions of thers con judgments of others 0 ieicedlasecetekederbema tee bes thats within us, He invoked the dsimon, which isa kind of unique spire chat resides ‘within us all. The cental task of life is coming to know one’s unique capacities and uhen to sive co realize them. Eudaimonia is chus a kind of personal excellence. These endeavors ‘were dale by the owo great Gree imperatives, insctibed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi—namely, to “know the” and "become who you ate." Hellenic cltue included other philosophers who puzzled over fundamental questions abour what defines ultimate goals in life. Epicurus, for example, argued cha the am is tw achieve a happy and tranquil life chat is free of pain and includes pleasure. * Relate, udinorc Wt nga Eso bing se Comment » Aistippus posed ehathe goal fife was to sek pleasure by enantaining conto over adversity and prosper. Two millenia ltr, hese hedonic ideas appeared in social sient rssuch on the opie of uber well-being that is how US. al le abou ei ives" National surveys were condaced to aes the degce o which Americ fl happy and sate fe with thei ies. Such surveys were followed by Further prchologil suis of subjective wellbeing! and ukimatey by the emergence of “hedonic pychology" Reflecting onthe lag field ofezarch, Ryan and Dec” posed tha hedonia and eudsimonia constituted the ‘tw mos prominen approaches othe study of pycheogia well-being A rated empiric studyemployed a national sample of US. adults to document that these evo formulations constituted related, bt empirically distinct, approaches to the asssrnent of well-being. Tris worth nosing that usltarian philosophy implied inte concep hoy of contemporary recach on wel-being. Ulitarians sought co promote the “greatest amount cof happines fo the greatest number of people." Tae sid, John Seat Mil (1893/1989), leading uiarian, observed that happines would not be achieve if made an end a ine Instead, e sew happnes isa byproduct of other more noble ded, sucha ang about the improvement of mankind.” Berrand Rusell (1930/1958) further empl cha happiness {snot something that happens without effort ater it isan experince fc which we must stv.” Hence, he saw it as “conquest” that demands ze, active incest an engagement ‘These choughul poins from wo famous scholars are interesting that thy sem co blend hedonic happines with stiving lad a worthwhile life (cudaimoni). “The above summary dare that welling is mulieted—i, there isn singe ight way of coneepuaizing it or studying it empirically. Idee in recent decades a great deal of scholarly scar has grown up around both hedonic and eudimonic wellbeing Ene cien- tfc joumas reno devoced 10 such nguig wile mainzear jjoumnasin other disiplines (economics, epidemiology soi Wha edn ae" nel) ony bh tog at ofthe relationship beawwen _el-being, Educational status is regulaly par ofthe reported education and well-being? fxdngs: sometimes aan independent vasbe eg, does educational aainmenc predic diferen levels of well-being), cor mote equeny 3 a ovate (do che reported ndings linking wel-being o health for example, holdup when difrences in edcstonal sx are taken into account). Deeper questions involving inks berween education and the pursuit ofndividal excellence the define adsimonia ae considered below EUDAIMONIA AND EDUCATION Findings from a national sample of U.S, adults, known as MIDUS (Midlife in the US. ‘wirwamidus.wiscedu) are examined to offer an empiical look at how educational attainment and eudaimonic well-being ae connected." The results offer useful information, but also underscore what isnot known: chus sugeeting possible directions fr fucure inquiry What Do We Kia? ‘Scientists across diverse disciplines rousinely collet information on the educational levels ‘of those included in their esearch samples, Educational stacusis thus par of standard demographic information in behavioral and biomedical scence, along, with gene, age, racial/ethnic, marital status, and so on. Using daa from the MIDUS study, nied in © al ig ge action 1995 with over 7,000 US. adults aged 25 t0 74, we examined how sespondents reports of eudsimonie well-being, across the sx dimensions described above, varied depending ‘on their educational atainment”? Figute 2 displays what we found—ic shows average levels foreach dimension of well-being, arrayed sepazaely for men and women, a a function cof four levels of educational atainment.'The overall story is eat those with higher levels ‘of education report higher levels of well-being across all sc dimensions. The postive _ssodatons between education and well-being are somewhat stronger for women than men, 1 reflected by steeper increments in levels of well-being among the better educated. ‘These pater may reflect changing educational opportunities among younger compared to alder cohorts of women. Such descriptive findings do noc adjst for other Fcrors known to account for variation in well-being, such 28 respondents age. Before consider- ing that se, however, itis usefil to reflec onthe question of causality in these data— thas, whats the dtetional nature ofthe relationship berseen ection and well-being? “The positive aseiation between education and well-being may mean that in becoming ‘educated, people experience gains and enhancements in their well-being. Alternatively, it ray be the case tha those with higher levels of purposeal engagement, personal growth, salFacceprance, and so on, are more likey to persist in geting higher education. Both scenarios are plausible—thus suggesting thax educational standing and well-being may be reciprocally related. Nonetheless, there are good reasons ro expec that the preponderant direction of influence is the former namely chat becoming educated contributes in muiple important ways to the pursuit of individual excllence. The knowledge acquired on one’s Fowe2 [EDUCATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING. TIRES) AHS) BSC) ENE) —ATAHS)_“UHS) BSC) TEM) Edueation Education et-acceotonce most Reasons ‘SPurporein le ersoal Growth imo Wl ign cin: Pin te Comes 0 ‘educational journey not only provides access to resources (income) and opporcunites (careee postions) ic alo likly culeivates the sil, strategies, and insights needed co negotiate life challenges and deal with adversity. These questions could be investigated empirically although they rately ate Recurnng tothe issu of age influences on exdaimonic well-being, a key points that ‘the educational gradients in well-being depicted in Figure 2 are not confounded with age. ‘Thacis even when age variation is ken ino acount (older adults tend to sore lower ‘on purpose inland personal growth chan younger adult) he eicational differences are still evident wizhin age groups. Thus, among older adults, who, on average, score lower on purposeful engagement than younger als, there i sill an educational gradient, wherein bester educated older adults score higher on purpose in life than les educated older adults Similar educational gradients are evident among younger age groups as well The upshot is thac education has a pervasive influence on well-being, even though other ctr, such as age (which in part reflects cohort differences in opportunites fo higher education as ‘wel as life course changes in work, mil, ad eal), ate known to matter aswell ‘A farther point wordh emphasizing is that averages can be misleading. Considerable »aiabilty surrounds the mean scores in all these analyses. Thus, educational stats isnot, in and of lf definitive for predicting reported levels of cudaimonia, Among those nly high school education or les, dere clealy ae individuals with high levels of pur- ose, mastery, growth, and so on In fic, empitclserutiny ofthe distribution of scores Within educational groups shows thatthe variably spreads out as one moves down the ‘educational hierarchy. This varibilry mates for health, where a large body of research on ‘the topic “socal inequalites" has documented that those who are soio-ecanomicilly di advantaged —ypically measured in tems of low levels of education, income, or occupa ‘ional satus—tend to have poorer health. Our research adds an important new angle that literature. Consistent wich prior findings, we document that there isan educational «gradient in a biological isk factor known as iterleukin-6 (IL-6), which is implicated in the pathogenesis of divers outcomes (cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alaheimer). Thus, ‘those with a high schoo! education or less have higher levels of IL-6, on average, compared to those with some college ora college degre. More importantly, we show that among, ‘educationally disadvantaged aduls, those who report higher level of wel-being have sig- nificandly reduced biological risk relative compared to their same education counterparts who reported lover levels of well-being” These ndings underscore the potential of well-being to afford protection (a buffer) agains biologically based health risks ‘These results offer a glimpse into scientific inquiries that have linked educational standing to well-being and health. Such research isnot, however the focus of this essay. Rather, building on such evidence, the aim is to probe more deeply the question— “How and why docs education mate for eudaimonic well-being?” Such issues ate central 10 the theme of Well-Being and Higher uation —"Hlow might education’ grester purposes, including well-being, be realized?” What Do We Need to Kian? Edlcational status is routinely par of ongoing research on human health and welLbing, ‘whieh males ic puzling how ltde is known about what lies behind his omnipresent ‘arable, Put another way, almost never does sientific interest go beyond assessing levels a el nga Higher cation of educational atainment co consideration ofthe more penetrating question: what the acu of pron’ education and how des that matter for theinlividval az well as for saciesy? Relate, among those who have been fortunate to complete a eollege of universcy degree, how does the knowledge and taining obtained relate ro experienced well-being? Some scuens focus on scence technology, engineering, and mathematics others pursue

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