Self-Actualization as a Predictor of Flourishing

DOI

10.2991/iciap-18.2019.87How to use a DOI?

Keywords

flourishing, self-actualization, well-being, PERMA

Abstract

Psychology has directed much of its attention to repairing the damage within certain disease models and has therefore neglected to consider the effects that a fulfilled individual can have on the prevention of pathologies. It has been observed that high levels of well-being, or flourishing, can act as a buffer against mental illness. Flourishing has five pillars; positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning in life, and accomplishments (PERMA). The eudaimonic approach to well-being suggests that psychological health can be achieved by fulfilling one’s potential or realizing one’s true nature, and self-actualization refers to the desire for self-fulfillment and the actualization of potential. Therefore, this study examined the degree to which self-actualization was a predictor of the PERMA flourishing dimensions. The PERMA-Profiler was used to measure flourishing and the Short Index of Self-Actualization was used to measure self-actualization in 147 undergraduate students aged from 18 to 24 years. Simple linear regression analysis was then used to analyze the data from which it was found that self-actualization significantly and negatively contributed to all flourishing dimensions; 18.3% to Positive Emotions, 15.4% to Engagement, 16.6% to Relationships, 19.7% to Meaning, and 15.4% to Accomplishment; which was speculated to be because of the tendency of highly self-actualized individuals to maintain their individuality even in interdependent, collectivist cultures, have a greater concern about the future than fully engaging in the present, and pursuing goals to gain rewards from their group rather than to realize their true nature or for self-fulfillment.

Copyright

© 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Evanytha
PY  - 2019/08
DA  - 2019/08
TI  - Self-Actualization as a Predictor of Flourishing
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2018)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1052
EP  - 1061
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/iciap-18.2019.87
DO  - 10.2991/iciap-18.2019.87
ID  - 2019/08
ER  -