COVID-19 caused a global change in the lifestyles of people around the world. It provided a unique opportunity to examine how external circumstances impact two crucial aspects of functioning relating to "who I am" (values) and "how I feel" (well-being). Participants (N = 215) reported their values and subjective and eudaimonic well-being, nine months before the first lockdown in Poland and two weeks and four weeks into the first lockdown. We observed increased valuing of self-direction, security, conformity, humility, caring, and universalism and a decrease in valuing hedonism. Individuals experienced decreased subjective and eudaimonic well-being, with women responding with stronger negative affect intensity relative to men. Finally, we identified that individuals who were more open to change before the COVID-19 pandemic responded with higher eudaimonic well-being two weeks into lockdown relative to their less open to change peers. This study is unique in that it shows that well-being and individually held values are flexible and adaptive systems that react to external circumstances such as global critical events.

COVID-19 caused a global change in the circumstances and lifestyles of most people. We examined whether COVID-19 pandemic influenced what people consider important in life (values), as well as several aspects of their well-being. This extraordinary event has provided an unprecedented opportunity to observe the extent to which values and well-being are influenced by adverse external factors. Participants (N = 150) reported their values and subjective and eduaimonic well-being nine months before lockdown in Poland, two weeks and four weeks into lockdown. We observed a significant decrease in well-being and significant changes in values: there was an increase in the importance of self-direction, achievement, security and conformity, humility, benevolence and universalism, and a decrease in hedonism. These data are consistent with reports on well-being decrease during the COVID-19 coming from around the world and with data on the changes in values reported during earlier national and global crises.

This study examined the role of values, traits and their interactions for the experience of eudaimonic and hedonic well‐being. First wave studies on value and well‐being relationships yielded inconsistent results suggesting that these relationships are moderated by other factors, possibly by personality traits. We asked a representative sample of adult Poles (N = 1161) to report on their personality traits (according to five‐factor theory), values (conceptualised by Schwartz) and well‐being (hedonic and eudaimonic). Results showed, that higher Extraversion, Emotional stability, Intellect, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were related to higher well‐being, confirming and expanding claims from personality theory of subjective well‐being: stable predispositions are related not only to subjective, but also to eudaimonic well‐being. Values expressing Openness to change, Self‐transcendence and Conservation were also positively correlated with well‐being, while the role of Self‐enhancement was unclear. This confirmed that growth needs expressed in Openness to change and Self‐transcendence values promote well‐being, but also that values expressing deficiency needs can be positively related to well‐being, possibly in specific circumstances. Finally, the two levels of personality (traits and values) proved to have a joint relationship to well‐being: higher Conscientiousness and Agreeableness enhanced positive relationships of Openness to change and Self‐transcendence with some aspects of well‐being.

Individuals increase well-being by acting on their values rather than merely endorsing them. We developed a novel intervention (“Acting on Values,” AoV), motivating individuals to initiate values-related behavior over four weeks. Building upon the theory of Basic Human Values, we expected that intervention recipients would increase their hedonic and eudaimonic well-being relative to a control group. We also expected the AoV interventions to cause similar effects as a mindfulness group. 783 volunteers (N = 268 completers) were assigned into three groups: AoV intervention, mindfulness, and a waiting list. Individuals who completed the AoV intervention achieved higher satisfaction with life, positive affect, and eudaimonic well-being, and lower negative affect than the control group. The well-being effects of the AoV intervention did not differ significantly from the mindfulness intervention effects. Our findings suggest that the AoV intervention is an efficacious method of increasing hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. It contributes to the diversity of well-being facilitation methods.