The Contours of Positive Human Health

Ryff, Carol D.; Singer, Burton H.

doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0901_1

Cited by 1,878 publications

(1,388 citation statements)

References 156 publications

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“…This work has already begun with the development of a psychological well-being scale across multiple dimensions of well-being (Ryff & Singer, 1998). However, additional measures taking into consideration the specific insights offered from the Buddhist perspective in terms of the four aspects of mental balance could enrich the scientific study of well-being.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Wallace

Shapiro

2006

American Psychologist

464

339

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has focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disease, and only recently has scientific attention turned to understanding and cultivating positive mental health (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, has concerned itself over the past 2,500 years with cultivating exceptional states of mental well-being as well as identifying and treating problems of the mind (Smith, 1991). Toward a DialogueAlthough the records of the Buddha's discourses and later commentarial literature within the Buddhist tradition do not elaborate on the theme of "mental health" as such, they do discuss the nature and causes of mental imbalances and techniques for achieving mental well-being. This article draws on centuries of Buddhist experiential and theoretical inquiry to show how a dialogue with Western psychology can be mutually enriching and particularly relevant to current psychological interest in exploring the nature of positive mental health.This article specifically focuses on Buddhism, because it is widely considered the most psychological of all spiritual traditions (Smith, 1991). Buddhism is fundamentally concerned with identifying the inner causes of human suffering, the possibility of freedom from suffering, and the means to realize such freedom. Unlike many religions, it does not begin with arousing faith in a supernatural being but rather with investigating the nature of human experience (Wallace, 1999(Wallace, , 2003. Buddhism presents a worldview that is thoroughly integrated with a discipline of experiential inquiry into the nature of the mind and related phenomena, and it includes empirical, analytical, and religious elements (Segall, 2003). Thus, it can be relevant to philosophical and psychological theory and practice because of its intensive exploration of the mind and its psychological methods to cultivate sustained well-being.To help open up collaborative dialogue between Buddhism and Western psychology, this article introduces a fourfold model of well-being, drawing from Buddhist teachings as well as Western psychology and research. We begin by introducing a definition of well-being, derived from core insights of the Buddha as well as current Western psychological theory and research. We then describe an innovative model of how to cultivate mental well-being, focusing on four types of mental balance: conative, attentional, cognitive, and affective. The model draws on traditional Buddhist theory as well as relevant Western psychological research to demonstrate how dialogue and empirical study can enrich both traditions. Nature and Types of BuddhismAlthough the Buddhist tradition stems from the teachings attributed to the historical Buddha, over the past 2,500 years it has become assimilated with a wide range of cultures throughout Asia, resulting in an equally wide range of sacred writings, theories, and practices. Broadly speaking, Buddhism is commonly classified in terms of Southeast Asian Theravada Buddhism, East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, and Indo-Tibetan Ma...

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Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Wallace

Shapiro

2006

American Psychologist

464

339

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…That, of course, is all that most existing antidepressants do. Now that the potential health benefits of positive emotions are being increasingly recognized [81], we can only hope that solid empirical studies will follow. In sum, it will be most interesting to establish the relationships between the tendency to laugh and mental health outcomes, especially in children.…”

Section: Laughter Joy and Depressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?

Panksepp

Burgdorf

2003

Physiology & Behavior

403

251

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“…Thus, it seems likely that self-reported effects of job on health are measuring a slightly different construct than job satisfaction. relationship between physical and mental health (Cohen & Rodriguez, 1995;Patrick & Erickson, 1993;Ryff & Singer, 1998;Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, & Steward, 2000), with longitudinal studies finding that mental health predicts subsequent physical health outcomes (Fiscella & Franks, 1997;Levanthal, Hansell, Diefenbach, Leventhal, & Glass, 1996;Penninx et al, 1998) and physical illness predicts psychological well-being (Berkman et al, 1986;Wickrama, Lorenz, Conger, Matthews, & Elder, 1997). Thus, the effects of work on mental and physical health are also likely to be inextricably linked.…”

Section: Dependent Variablementioning

confidence: 99%

Workers' perceptions of how jobs affect health: A social ecological perspective.

Ettner¹,

Grzywacz²

2001

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

162

126

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A national sample of 2,048 workers was asked to rate the impact of their job on their physical and mental health. Ordered logistic regression analyses based on social ecology theory showed that the workers' responses were significantly correlated with objective and subjective features of their jobs, in addition to personality characteristics. Workers who had higher levels of perceived constraints and neuroticism, worked nights or overtime, or reported serious ongoing stress at work or higher job pressure reported more negative effects. Respondents who had a higher level of extraversion, were self-employed, or worked part time or reported greater decision latitude or use of skills on the job reported more positive effects. These findings suggest that malleable features of the work environment are associated with perceived effects of work on health, even after controlling for personality traits and other sources of reporting bias.

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The Contours of Positive Human Health

Cited by 1,878 publications

References 156 publications

Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

“Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?

Workers' perceptions of how jobs affect health: A social ecological perspective.

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