Dobrobyt contra dobrostan konsumpcjonizm a ideał dobrego życia z perspektywy psychologii pozytywnej

Positive psychology is a rapidly developing branch of science and is gaining increasing popularity in the West and in Poland. Its main aim is to define the conditions necessary to achieve a subjective sense of well being. Considerable progress has been made in this direction already. There is no lack of ideas on the conditions that are required for living a positive, ‘full’ life, abounding in enriching experiences. The purpose of this text is to contrast the ideals behind certain concepts of positive psychology with the dominant values of consumer society. The vision of a good life set forward by, among others, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Martin Seligman, (the scholars who largely created the bases of positive psychology), would seem entirely incompatible with the priorities of consumer ideology. To what degree is it possible to harmonize the striving for well being with the challenges facing an ‘ordinary’ consumer? The author assumes that the contradiction could prove insurmountable and that the only choice provided by consumer society for psychological well being is economic well being