Flourishing in Contexts and Cultures

Sociocultural Perspectives on Fostering Youth Well-Being

Edited by:
Gregory Arief D. Liem, Nanyang Technological University
Dennis M. McInerney, The Education University of Hong Kong

A volume in the series: Research on Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning. Editor(s): Gregory Arief D. Liem, The Education University of Hong Kong.

Published 2023

The youth of today is confronted with a myriad of challenges of living in a world that has never been more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. These multifaceted challenges compromise their well-being. Fostering the well-being of young people across sociocultural boundaries, rather than of the select groups of privileged individuals, is a timely and worthy endeavor and should not take a back seat. The advent of Positive Education, which is an educational paradigm that emphasizes the goal of developing both cognitive abilities and well-being skills in students and young people in general, has offered a promising generic approach to promoting the well-being of young people. The twin goals of Positive Education are indeed aligned with two major views of well-being: eudaimonia highlighting the importance of one’s engaged pursuit of meaningful goals, and hedonia stressing the importance of one’s positive emotion and life satisfaction in one’s well-being. Their combination – that wellness is achieved when a person is feeling good and functioning well – has often been termed ‘flourishing’. Unfortunately, scholarly discussions on sociocultural influences on flourishing or well-being and ways of promoting it have been scarce.

This volume addresses such a gap in a rigorous and timely manner. International scholars from culturally diverse backgrounds put together their thoughts and ideas in their respective chapter contributions that, collectively, invite us to mindfully take into account youth’s sociocultural and sociodemographic backgrounds in promoting their flourishing. This book, which embodies the ‘who’, ‘what’, when, ‘where’, and ‘how’ of youth well-being, will be extremely insightful and useful for scholars and researchers as well as policy makers and practitioners (teachers, interventionists, counsellors, youth mentors) who seek to promote the well-being of young people in their respective contexts and beyond.

CONTENTS
Dedication. Sociocultural Perspectives on Youth Flourishing: Considering the Interplay of Constructs, Contexts, and Cultures, Gregory Arief D. Liem and Dennis M. McInerney. SECTION I: CONSTRUCTS UNDERLYING YOUTH WELL-BEING AND FLOURISHING. How Core Personal Goals and the Pursuit of Life Purpose Can Facilitate Thriving and Well-Being in Adolescents and Young Adults, Anthony R. Arciero, Micaela Gutierrez, and Martin E. Ford. Purpose Through a Sociocultural Lens, Kendall Cotton Bronk, Elyse Postlewaite, Rebecca Donaldson, and Dacey Bashaw. Harnessing Sociocultural and Sociodemographic Factors to Promote Gratitude in Diverse Youth, Jadwiga Hescox, Giacomo Bono, and Miguel Palacios. Forgiveness Education and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents: Forgiveness Education as Positive Education, Jichan J. Kim, Suzanne Freedman, and Robert D. Enright. SECTION II: CONTEXTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING YOUTH WELL-BEING AND FLOURISHING. Examining the Lives of Youth From Immigrant Families: Identity, Cultural Stress, and Crisis Migration, Seth J. Schwartz, Christopher P. Salas-Wright, Cory L. Cobb, Ingrid Zeledon, Maria Duque, Jaimee Stuart, Pablo Montero-Zamora, Patrizia A. Perazzo, Carolina Scaramutti, and Simon Ozer. The Contribution of Digital Ecosystems to Adolescent Well-Being, J. Maya Hernandez, Linda Charmaraman, and Stephen M. Schueller. SECTION III: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON WELL-BEING AND FLOURISHING. Sociocultural Considerations in Youth Pursuit of Well-Being, Yea Won Park, Laura E. Bernstein, Sarah E. Francis, and Amy L. Gentzler. Advancing Positive Youth Development in Diverse Cultural Contexts: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice, Jet U. Buenconsejo and Jesus Alfonso D. Datu. Author Biographies.