Motives for hedonia (pleasure, fun) and eudaimonia (living life to one’s potential) underlie the universal pursuit of well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Yet, little is known about these motives in youth, despite their relevance for children and adolescents and the importance of understanding the development of well-being motives. In three samples of youth (Ns = 76, 152, and 142), we examined age differences in motives and tested hypotheses about how hedonic and eudaimonic motives would relate to several social and affective outcomes. Results showed some evidence for age differences (i.e. hedonic motives were higher in a sample of children aged 7–12 years compared to adolescents aged 14–18 years, and eudaimonic motives were positively correlated with age in 12–18 year olds). Consistent with hypotheses, hedonic motives related to both positive (fewer depressive symptoms, more frequent positive interpersonal events) and negative outcomes (e.g. less empathy and self-control), whereas eudaimonic motives were only associated with positive outcomes (e.g. greater well-being, self-control, empathy, self-worth, friendship closeness). Interactions between motives also indicated that hedonic motives may be more problematic when youth less frequently seek out eudaimonia. These studies offer novel and important information on the pursuit of well-being in youth.

享乐（享乐，娱乐）和幸福感（使生活发挥潜能）的动机是人们普遍追求幸福的基础（Ryan＆Deci，2001）。然而，尽管这些动机与儿童和青少年有关，并且对了解幸福动机的发展很重要，但对于青年的这些动机知之甚少。在青年三个样品（Ñs = 76、152和142），我们研究了动机上的年龄差异，并检验了享乐主义和情感动机与几种社会和情感结果之间的关系的假设。结果显示了年龄差异的一些证据（即，7-12岁儿童的享乐动机比14-18岁青少年高，而eudaimonic动机与12-18岁年龄成正相关）。与假设一致，享乐动机与积极（抑郁症状减少，人际交往事件更频繁）和消极结果（例如较少的同理心和自我控制）相关，而自我情感仅与积极的结果（例如，幸福感，自我控制，同理心，自我价值，亲密关系）。动机之间的相互作用还表明，当青年人较少地寻求性爱时，享乐主义动机可能会更成问题。这些研究为追求青年的幸福提供了新颖而重要的信息。