Thinking outside the box about indicators of well-being: agency, communion and positivity

Flourishing encompasses both feeling good and doing good and is suggested to be a function of high positivity. The present study investigated the relationship between agentic (e.g., being autonomous, responsible and having self-control) and communal (e.g., showing empathy, helping behaviour and social tolerance) traits to positivity. Positivity was measured as either a two-dimensional construct comprising positive and negative affect, as positivity ratios (i.e., positive affect/negative affect) and as affect balance (i.e., positive affect-negative affect). The results suggest that agency and communion predict high levels of positivity and that positivity as a two-dimensional construct might be a more straightforward and theoretically sound way of measuring positivity. Agency, communion and positivity, however, show evidence of being separate indicators of well-being. Further empirical work should answer the question whether agency and communion (i.e., doing good) and positivity (i.e., feeling good) could be used as an index of a nation success.