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Hedonic Motivation

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Hedonism

Definition

Hedonic motivation is the willingness to initiate behaviors that enhance positive experience (pleasant or good) and behaviors that decrease negative experience. This term has been used in two contexts in the literature. First, it has been used to account for the general principle in human behavior, i.e., that individuals are more likely to initiate behaviors which lead to rewards or away from punishments (Gray 1981). Second, hedonic motivation has been considered in the context of well-being where hedonic motivation (seeking pleasure and avoiding pain) is contrasted against eudaimonic motivation (seeking personal excellence) to explain how people differ in their pursuit of happiness (Huta and Waterman 2014).

Introduction

Psychological conceptualizations of hedonism correspond with works of ancient philosophers who sought to identify the ultimate good in life (Kesebir and Diener 2008; Tatarkiewicz 1976). For instance, Epicurus argued that the pursuit of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, 89 Szamarzewskiego Street, 60-568, Poznan, PL, Poland

    Lukasz D. Kaczmarek

Authors
  1. Lukasz D. Kaczmarek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lukasz D. Kaczmarek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Smugowa 10/12, 91-433, Lodz, Poland

    Monika Wróbel

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Kaczmarek, L.D. (2017). Hedonic Motivation. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_524-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_524-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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