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Mattering, wellness, and fairness: psychosocial goods for the common good
Prilleltensky, I. Scarpa, M.P. Ness, O.
Prilleltensky, I.
Scarpa, M.P.
Ness, O.
Publication Date
2023-03
End of Embargo
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© 2023 Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice.
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
openAccess
Accepted for publication
2022
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Abstract
Whereas the behavioral and health sciences have been mainly concerned with the private good,
there is an urgent need to understand and foster the collective good. Without a coherent framework
for the common good, it will be extremely difficult to prevent and manage crises such as
pandemics, illness, climate change, poverty, discrimination, injustice, and inequality, all of which
affect marginalized populations disproportionally. While frameworks for personal well-being
abound in psychology, psychiatry, counseling and social work, conceptualizations of collective
well-being are scarce. Our search for foundations of the common good resulted in the identification
of three psychosocial goods: mattering, wellness, and fairness. There are several reasons for
choosing them, including the fact that they concurrently advance personal, relational, and collective
value. In addition, they represent basic human motivations, have considerable explanatory power,
exist at multiple ecological levels, and have significant transformative potential. The
complementary nature of the three goods is illustrated in an interactional model. Based on empirical
evidence, we suggest that conditions of justice lead to experiences of mattering, which, in turn,
enhance wellness. Challenges and opportunities afforded by the model at the intrapersonal,
interpersonal, occupational, communal, national, and global levels are presented. The proposed
psychosocial goods are used to formulate a culture for the common good in which we balance the
right with the responsibility to feel valued and add value, to self and others, in order to promote not
just wellness but also fairness.
Version
Accepted manuscript
Citation
Prilleltensky I, Scarpa MP, Ness O et al (2023) Mattering, wellness, and fairness: psychosocial goods for the common good. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 93(3): 198-210.
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Article