Is There Such a Thing As a Good Life? Science Says Yes

What is a good life, and how can we create it?

…

“We wanted to capture more explorative, adventurous, creative types of good life,” like those of artists and poets, said Shigehiro Oishi, a psychologist at the University of Chicago who first conceptualized psychological richness.

Happiness, Oishi said, can be thought of as a batting average — it goes up and down with good and bad experiences. Psychological richness, on the other hand, is more akin to career highlights — how many interesting stories and experiences we have over our lifetime.

…

A psychologically rich life is an interesting life that asks us to leave our comfort zones and be open to changing our mind, said Erin Westgate, a social psychologist at the University of Florida. It’s “cognitively and emotionally uncomfortable to realize that I thought the world was one way, and now I realize it’s another way. Or I thought I was one way, and now I realize I’m not,” she said.

…

“I think the theory of psychological richness is the most interesting, exciting new theory in well-being science,” said Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Riverside who was not involved in the research.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): The Washington Post