Buddhist Wisdom: Promoting Positive Well-Being for a Flourishing Aging Society
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Abstract
The objectives of this study were to: (1) examine the current conditions, problems, and essential needs for promoting well-being among individuals approaching older adulthood;
(2) develop a positive well-being promotion model based on Buddhist wisdom; and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the developed model. The research was conducted in two phases using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research instruments included in-depth interview guides, focus group discussion guidelines, and questionnaires. All instruments were examined for content validity by five experts, and the Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index was calculated. Only items with IOC values of 0.80 or higher were selected.
Qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews with experts in Buddhism and psychology, as well as focus group discussions with 11 key informants in Koh Kret Subdistrict. Quantitative data were gathered through a questionnaire survey of 400 middle-aged adults (aged 41–60 years) regarding concerns about entering older adulthood, and through pre-test and post-test assessments of 25 purposively selected participants who joined the program. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis, while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation). Comparisons of pre- and post-participation scores were conducted using inferential statistics.
The findings revealed that the participants reported a moderate level of concern about entering older adulthood (Mean = 2.94), particularly in the social, cognitive, and economic domains. However, they expressed the highest level of perceived necessity for promoting positive well-being (Mean = 4.55), with health being identified as the top priority. Based on these findings, the researcher developed a two-day workshop program entitled the “Five Wisdom Model,” which integrated Buddhist wisdom principles (the Threefold Training: morality, concentration, and wisdom) with positive psychology principles (the PERMA-V Model).
The evaluation of the program with 25 participants indicated that, after participation, the participants demonstrated significantly higher overall mean scores in well-being based on Buddhist wisdom, resilience quotient (RQ), and happiness than before participation, at the .01 level of statistical significance. The most prominent self-reported change was “having a better perspective on life and greater acceptance of change” (60.0%), while the activity perceived as most beneficial was “mindfulness practice and breathing awareness” (44.0%). These findings confirm that the developed model was able to enhance positive well-being in a concrete and measurable manner.
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