Isaac Prilleltensky || The Need to Matter

The Psychology Podcast

In this episode, I talk to Isaac Prilleltensky about well-being and happiness. We start our discussion by highlighting the environment and community’s role in well-being instead of conceptualizing it as a purely individualistic construct. Isaac further elaborates on the dangers of mattering “too much” and why we need to balance personal and collective wellness. We also touch on the topics of fairness, social justice, humanistic psychology, and Isaac’s works as a humor writer.

Bio

Isaac Prilleltensky holds the inaugural Erwin and Barbara Mautner Chair in Community Well-Being at the University of Miami. He’s published 12 books and over 140 articles and chapters. His interests are in the promotion of well-being in individuals, organizations, and communities; and in the integration of wellness and fairness. His most recent book is How People Matter: Why It Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society, co-authored with his wife, Dr. Ora Prilleltensky.

Website: www.professorisaac.com/

Topics

00:01:10 Isaac’s definition of well-being

00:04:55 Predictors of well-being and happiness

00:06:58 The need to matter

00:09:48 Corrective justice to achieve equality

00:19:31 Me vs. We Culture

00:25:44 Fairness is a prerequisite for mattering

00:28:18 Risks of glorifying grit and resilience

00:32:16 Balancing liberty, fraternity, and equality for a self-actualized society

00:39:27 Democratize happiness

00:43:29 The right and responsibility to matter

00:51:27 Psychology and the status quo

00:53:44 Isaac as a humor writer: smarter through laughter

00:56:21 Fun for Wellness

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