What is the PERMA Wellbeing Framework?

In this article I will be discussing the PERMA wellbeing framework model (Seligman, 2011).

Wellbeing is a multidimensional concept, made of different elements related to one’s personal, physical, emotional, social and mental health. Being a broad umbrella term, it is useful to clarify its scope and key aspects. A well-established definition states that “wellbeing can be understood as how people feel and how they function, both on a personal and social level, and how they evaluate their lives as a whole, how well someone’s life is going for them” (Mental Health Commission of NSW, 2017, p9).

It is useful to note the two sides to wellbeing, eudemonic, which focuses on meaning and self-realisation, where wellbeing has to do with the degree to which an individual is fully functioning. Hedonic wellbeing, is about the happiness element, defining wellbeing in line with its pleasure attainment and pain avoidance (Ryan, 2001). Wellbeing can also be explained as subjective because it is about experiencing a high level of positive affect, low levels of negative affect, and a high degree of life satisfaction (Deci & Ryan, 2008).

Professor Seligman, founder of positive psychology and former head of the American psychological association, put forth the PERMA model, which stands for positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment. No single element defines wellbeing, but each contributes to it.

These five key elements or pathways build individual well-being and are the means through which individuals can pursue happiness. (Seligman, 2011). Well-being consists of nurturing one or more of these elements and combined are the best “approximation of what humans pursue for their own sake” (Oades & Mossman, 2017, p5).

“Wellbeing can be understood as how people feel and how they function, both on a personal and social level, and how they evaluate their lives as a whole, how well someone’s life is going for them” (Mental Health Commission of NSW)