Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Arts And Humanities Interventions For Well-Being: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review (#336)

Yerin Shim 1 , Michaela Ward 1
  1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Does engagement in the arts and humanities increase well-being? If so, why? A recent conceptual model of the role of the arts and humanities in human flourishing (Tay, Pawelski, & Keith, 2018) suggested possible well-being outcomes and underlying mechanisms of arts and humanities engagement. In this presentation, we will share the results of a study in progress, which seeks to examine the effectiveness and mechanisms of arts and humanities interventions in non-clinical populations through a mixed methods systematic review of empirical primary studies in the psychology literature. A total of 9,543 articles were retrieved through a systematic search on the PsycINFO database. A selection process based on an abstract and full text review is currently in progress. A final set of included studies will be analyzed through a mixed methods approach: (a) a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of arts and humanities interventions on well-being outcomes (i.e., what works) and (b) a qualitative analysis of mechanisms of art and humanities interventions (i.e., how and why it works). A summary of findings from the quantitative and qualitative analyses will be integrated and implications for future positive arts and humanities intervention development and implementation will be suggested.