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Part III    Humanistic/Existential Theories338
theirpresent selfwiththeirpastself?Individuals might cope withthechallenge that
cancer provides byperceiving positive growth inthemselves where noobjective evi-
dence foritexists. Eighty-three people withbreast orprostate cancer completed mea-
sures ofpersonal positive attributes andpersonal lifegoals before andafterradiation 
therapy treatment. Thefindings strongly supported Rogers’ conceptualization ofthe
OVP. Patients showed bothactual andperceived change overthecourse ofradiation 
therapy. But,important tohumanistic psychology, shifts toward amore personal and
genuine goalorientation among survivors predicted PTG. Thatis,patients’ reports of
positive personal growth werenotjustillusory; theywerereflected inaveryrealtran-
sition tovaluing deeper andmore fulfilling goals overmore materialistic onesduring 
thecourse oftheircancer treatment.
Setting goals andfinding themotivation topursue them arebothimportant 
aspects oftheorganismic valuing process (OVP), butunless wecanfindawayto
maintain ourgoalpursuits inspiteofadversity andoften overlongperiods oftime, 
wearelikely toburnoutorgiveup.Gritisconceived ofasthedisposition topursue 
goals inadetermined wayforyears orsometimes evendecades, andtopassionately 
maintain thatperseverance despite inevitable setbacks (Duckworth, Peterson, Mat-
thews, &Kelly, 2007). Grithasbeen shown topredict anumber ofpositive out-
comes inpeople’s lives, including higher academic achievement, remaining married, 
andsticking withchallenging military training oraNewYear’s resolution toexercise 
more (Duckworth etal.,2007; Eskreis-Winkler, Shulman, Beal, &Duckworth, 2014). 
Butaregritty people happier people? Researchers MiaVainio andDaiva Daukantaitė 
(2015) proposed thatRogers’ organismic valuing process provides atheoretical 
framework forpredicting thattheyought tobe.
ForRogers andother humanists, thegood lifeisnotabout thepursuit ofplea-
sure, butrather thepursuit ofwhat theGreek philosophers suchasAristotle called 
“eudaimonia,” orflourishing. Thiskindofhappiness doesnotcome from without 
(e.g., obtaining goods andservices), butfrom within—from pursuing excellence, 
growth, meaning, andauthenticity (Huta &Waterman, 2013).
Vainio andDaukantaitė (2015) conducted astudy exploring whether gritis
positively related towell-being andwhether thisrelationship ismediated bytwoof
Rogers’ features oftheOVP: authenticity andsense ofcoherence intheself(Rogers, 
1961, 1964). Over 600individuals inSweden—200 students atLund University, and
over400non-students viaonline sources—were sampled.
Participants completed abattery ofquestionnaires investigating theirgrit(items 
include “Ihaveovercome setbacks toconquer animportant challenge”), psychologi -
calwell-being (items include “Forme,lifehasbeen acontinuous process oflearning, 
changing, andgrowth”), satisfaction withlife(e.g., “Inmost ways mylifeisclose 
tomyideal”), authenticity (e.g., “Iliveinaccordance withmyvalues andbeliefs”), 
andsense ofcoherence (e.g., “Doyouhavethefeeling thatyouarebeing treated 
unfairly?”—this itemwould bereverse coded, and“Doyouhavethefeeling thatyou
don’t really careabout what goesonaround you?” would alsobereverse coded) as
wellassocio-demographic variables suchasage,gender, andeducational attainment.
Vainio andDaukantaitė found thatgritwas,aspredicted, highly positively 
related tobothwell-being andlifesatisfaction. Grittier individuals hadhigher levels of
psychological well-being aswellasgreater satisfaction withtheirlivesoverall. Further 
analyses showed some interesting andmore complex findings. Forexample, theFinal PDF to printer