The hallmark of a good life: Introducing fulfillment in life

IF 2.9 3区心理学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, EXPERIMENTAL

New Ideas in Psychology Pub Date : 2025-07-24 DOI:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2025.101185

Doris Baumann, Willibald Ruch

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Abstract

Fulfillment as the cornerstone of a good life has frequently been mentioned in the context of well-being, happiness, and positive psychology. It acts as a key indicator of what it means to lead a meaningful, well-lived existence. However, despite recognition of the importance of fulfillment, systematic research on its definition and measurement has only recently emerged. This article introduces a new research direction, proposing a comprehensive conceptual framework to understand fulfillment in life. The article defines fulfillment as a cognitive-affective experience that is characterized by a sense of wholeness, congruence, and value towards one’s self, life, and impact. This 3 × 3 arrangement forms the structural model of fulfillment, which also serves as the basis for its assessment. Drawing upon qualitative research, we examine how laypersons perceive and experience fulfillment. Additionally, we investigate how a measured fulfilled life differs from related concepts and highlight its strong connection to successful personality development. Our objective is to establish robust conceptual and methodological foundations alongside initial empirical findings, to pave the way for future research on fulfillment.

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美好生活的标志：在生活中引入满足感

在幸福、快乐和积极心理学的背景下，满足作为美好生活的基石经常被提到。它是一个重要的指标，表明过着有意义的、美好的生活意味着什么。然而，尽管认识到实现的重要性，但对其定义和测量的系统研究直到最近才出现。本文引入了一个新的研究方向，提出了一个全面的概念框架来理解生活中的成就感。这篇文章将满足感定义为一种认知情感体验，其特征是对自我、生活和影响的整体性、一致性和价值感。这种3 × 3的排列方式形成了成就感的结构模型，也是成就感评价的依据。在定性研究的基础上，我们研究了外行人如何感知和体验成就感。此外，我们调查了衡量的充实生活与相关概念的不同之处，并强调了它与成功人格发展的密切联系。我们的目标是建立坚实的概念和方法基础，以及初步的实证研究结果，为未来的研究铺平道路。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

New Ideas in Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

3.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： New Ideas in Psychology is a journal for theoretical psychology in its broadest sense. We are looking for new and seminal ideas, from within Psychology and from other fields that have something to bring to Psychology. We welcome presentations and criticisms of theory, of background metaphysics, and of fundamental issues of method, both empirical and conceptual. We put special emphasis on the need for informed discussion of psychological theories to be interdisciplinary. Empirical papers are accepted at New Ideas in Psychology, but only as long as they focus on conceptual issues and are theoretically creative. We are also open to comments or debate, interviews, and book reviews.