How can we live well? To answer this question, psychology must acknowledge and integrate its descriptive and prescriptive components. One of psychology's strengths has been its willingness to embrace different purposes, perspectives, and approaches, and this recommendation is in the spirit of the field's history. At present, psychology knows more about people's problems and how to solve them than it does about what it means to live well and how to encourage and maintain such a life. Moreover, what is known is often fragmented because of psychology's specialization. Our article calls for further discussion in psychological terms of what it means to live well; the study of actual people and how they behave; multivariate, multimethod, and longitudinal research; more sophisticated interventions; interdisciplinary collaboration; and translational research.
© 2009 Association for Psychological Science.