Running Towards Authentic Happiness: A Phenomenological Exploration

Many theories of well-being propose how individuals can lead lives that are more satisfying. Within the domain of positive psychology lies the theory of authentic happiness, which proposes three pathways by which individuals can pursue happiness, and experience what is known as the full life. The first pathway, the pleasant life, concerns the maximization of positive emotions. The second pathway, the engaged life, combines flow with engagement, while the last pathway, the meaningful life, concerns purpose and meaning. Although research in positive psychology focuses on happiness, there is a dearth of information within the literature about positive subjective experiences from a qualitative view, and much less from a phenomenological view. Thus, it was vital to know if theoretical descriptors of positive psychology mirrored the experience of happiness. In this phenomenological study, the subjective experience of participants involved in a voluntary activity that required commitment, involved emotions, and posed questions of meaning, such as marathon running, illuminated the extent to which the full life experience was in theoretical alignment. Using individual interviews and a focus group, 11 marathon runners described their experiences. The findings of this study revealed that the pathways of pleasure, engagement and flow, and meaning were supported. In addition, the themes of relationships and achievements were apparent. The findings also revealed that the phenomenological method was useful in generating the data towards the aim of this study, which was to provide a universal description of the full life. Finally, it was recommended that future research involve real life settings and qualitative methods to improve the validity of findings.