Flourishing: The Gold Standard for Measuring Well-being

When Martin Seligman introduced positive psychology, he shared Aristotle's view that everything we do has an intention to pursue happiness. However, he soon found that this concept was limiting and defined "authentic happiness" to include 3 elements: Positive Emotions, Engagement, and Meaning. However, a decade later, positive psychology shifted goals from happiness and increasing life satisfaction to human flourishing. Martin Seligman writes,

"If positive psychology is to be more than a "happiology" of cheerful mood, we need to shift our focus to well-being. I believe the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing, and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing."

The PERMA model includes Accomplishments and Relationships in addition to the 3 initial elements used to define happiness and hence the PERMA model serves as the five essential pillars for human flourishing.

Flourishing is then defined as a multi-dimensional concept, and is not a characteristic or trait, but a process that anyone can start experiencing after making an effort to pursue PERMA and enhance well-being. In addition to the 5 elements of PERMA, Felicia Huppert and Timothy So from the University of Cambridge who have studied flourishing all over Europe and define it as life that is going well, add that some additional features of flourishing include: Self-esteem, Optimism, Resilience, Vitality, and Self-Determination.