Abstract

Has your life gone well? In seeking to answer this question, you will look back on the good times you have had: good movies you have seen and nice dinners you have shared with friends. But you will also ask what you have done with your life. Have you helped others? What have you done that was worth doing? Have you made the most of your talents and opportunities? Perhaps you have enjoyed a successful marriage, got a degree, or got the best out of yourself in your chosen profession. Perhaps you have written a book or raised happy children. Whether you judge your life to have gone well depends partly on what you think you have achieved. One component of well-being, it appears, is achievement.