Measuring eudaimonic and non-eudaimonic goods in the pursuit of the good life

The Riverside Eudaimonia Scale and the Rich & Sexy Well-Being Scale

Abstract

Well-being science has largely focused on subjective well-being, defined in terms of life satisfaction and positive and negative emotions. However, some philosophical accounts of well-being, like “eudaimonia” accounts, emphasize the attainment of goods, such as having deep social relationships and achieving one’s creative potential. We supplement psychological measures of eudaimonia by developing two self-report measures of well-being informed by the philosophical literature. The Riverside Eudaimonia Scale (RES) was designed to measure people’s perceptions of their eudaimonic well-being along several dimensions emphasized in the philosophical literature on eudaimonia. The Rich & Sexy Well-Being Scale (RSWBS) was designed to measure people’s perceptions of their attainment of other commonly valued goods that have received less attention in the literature on eudaimonic well-being: sex life, wealth, personal physical beauty, and social status. In three studies, we develop and validate these scales.