Life in Three Dimensions How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life

 
　　究竟何謂「美好的人生」？心理學家們展開辯論，各自提出研究報告。1984年，艾德‧迪安納（Ed Diener）發表了一篇聚焦在「快樂」（happiness）的論文；五年後，他的競爭對手提出另一種聚焦於「目的和意義」（purpose and meaning）的模型。如今，心理學界受矚目的學者大石茂弘（Shigehiro Oishi）提出另一種論點，關注長期被眾人忽視的第三個維度——「心理豐盛」（psychological richness）。
 
　　對許多人來說，美好人生是走在廣受眾人認可的道路，維持穩定、舒適的生活。作者以自己的父親為例，他的父親一直生活在日本的山間小鎮，總是把家人的需求置於自己之上。世代以來，多數人也選擇走在類似的穩健道路上，但大石懷疑，這是否會是通往美好人生的最佳路徑？
 
　　大石獲獎的研究報告指出，一個人的好奇心、探索力、和經驗的多寡決定了心理豐盛度，只要勇於接受挑戰、樂於學習新事物，無論是正面或負面的經驗，都能讓人成長，進而活出美好人生！生動的文筆和豐富的例證，為我們指出一條通往更加圓滿、少有遺憾的人生新道路。(文/博客來編譯)
 
好評推薦：

　　「有些人渴望在人生中得到的，不僅僅是幸福，而是擁抱生命的各種樣貌與可能。他們希望自己的人生如同一個偉大的故事、一場偉大的旅程，充滿曲折起伏，讓人得以在過程中見證正不同類型的生命之美。過往的心理學鮮少照顧到這群人，他們大多只能從浪漫的文學作品中尋得指引和知音，如今這本書將提供第三維度的全新見解來詮釋美好人生，包括如何找到可能最合適你的人生方向。」——紐約大學商學院教授、《失控的焦慮世代》（The Anxious Generation）作者強納森‧海德特（Jonathan Haidt）
 
　　「每週都有關於幸福和意義的新書上市，以致於很難有一本書能從中脫穎而出。然而，大石茂弘做到了！身為心理學領域最閃亮的明星之一，他動人的文筆、原創的觀點，引人深思。這本書將改變你對美好人生的看法。」——《強大內心的自我對話習慣》（Chatter）作者伊森‧克洛斯（Ethan Kross）

        From one of our foremost psychologists, a trailblazing book that turns the idea of a good life on its head and urges us to embrace the transformative power of variety and experience
 
        For many people, a good life is a stable life, a comfortable life that follows a well-trodden path. This is the case for Shigehiro Oishi's father, who has lived in a small mountain town in Japan for his entire life, putting his family's needs above his own, like his father and grandfather before him. But is a happy life, or even a meaningful life, the only path to a good life?
 
        In Life in Three Dimensions, Shige Oishi enters into a debate that has animated psychology since 1984, when Ed Diener (Oishi's mentor) published a paper that launched happiness studies. A rival followed in 1989 with a model of a good life that focused on purpose and meaning instead. In recent years, Shige Oishi's award-winning work has proposed a third dimension to a good life: psychological richness, a concept that prioritizes curiosity, exploration, and a variety of experiences that help us grow as people.
 
        Life in Three Dimensions explores the shortcomings of happiness and meaning as guides to a good life, pointing to complacency and regret as a "happiness trap" and narrowness and misplaced loyalty as a “meaning trap.” Psychological richness, Oishi proposes, balances the other two, offering insight and growth spurred by embracing uncertainty and challenges.
 
        In a lively style, drawing on a generation of psychological studies and on examples from famous people, books and film, Oishi introduces a new path to a fuller, more satisfying life with fewer regrets.
 

        SHIGEHIRO OISHI is the Marshall Field IV Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. He is one of the foremost authorities on happiness, meaning, and culture. He is the author of The Psychological Wealth of Nations, and his research has been featured in major media outlets, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.