The Relationship between Eudaimonic Well-Being and Social Well-Being with Millennials

Abstract

There appears to be growing support for calls to accentuate marketing practices in higher education that emphasize positive psychology forms of satisfaction over simple measures of credentialing for employment (i.e., marketization). A study is reported that empirically considers the potential of acting upon these recent calls for including eudaimonia and well-being in measures of success in the operations of universities. Such efforts will necessarily occur within the domain of positive social psychology. We propose and empirically assess a theory of positive social psychology that reconciles self-determination theory, goal hierarchy theory (and means-end theory), as well as the theory of the mind associated with these calls. The reported study provides empirical evidence supporting the possibility that universities can affect the social well-being of students as stakeholders by focusing on eudaimonic- and flourishing-related goal achievement. This suggests an emphasis on higher forms of satisfaction. The implications for university marketers and decision makers, as well as social science researchers, are presented and discussed.