Flourishing as Productive Tension: Theory and Model

Abstract Based on insights from psychology, we argue that individual well-being has two incommensurable dimensions, gratification and flourishing. We provide a model in which the individual’s vitality is tunneled to different goals/practices. Gratification is represented by discharge of flow, while flourishing corresponds to generated power. The two dimensions are correlated in a way that depends on the characteristics of the available goals/practices, and their relationship need not be monotonic. We also extend the model to social interaction, prove existence of an equilibrium and show the possibility of ‘flourishing traps’.