Invited speech at Meaning of Life Conference at Harvard University hosted by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard:

Inventing new tools of thinking that can enhance people’s capability to live a better life. That’s what Frank’s research is ultimately about.

Frank has been a full-time researcher since 2008, when he started his PhD. The dissertation in applied philosophy and organizational research was finalized in 2012, and investigated caring connections between nurses and residents in a nursing home. He has a second PhD in philosophy, with the dissertation building on pragmatist philosophy, especially the philosophy of John Dewey, to explore how we humans can find life-enhancing and reliable values into our lives. The title of that second dissertation captures nicely what Frank’s activities as a researcher amount to:
A pragmatist inquiry into the art of living.

Most up to date list of Frank’s scientifc publications can be found on his research site at Aalto University and on his Google Scholar page.

Here are a few key publications (updated in November 2017):

• Psychology
  • Martela, F., Ryan, R. M., & Steger, M. F. (2017). Meaningfulness as satisfaction of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and beneficence: Comparing the four satisfactions and positive affect as predictors of meaning in life. Journal of Happiness Studies, (Advance online publication).
  • Martela, F., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). The Benefits of Benevolence: Basic Psychological Needs, Beneficence, and the Enhancement of Well-Being. Journal of Personality, 84(6), 750–764.
  • Martela, F., & Steger, M. F. (2016). The meaning of meaning in life: Coherence, purpose and significance as the three facets of meaning. Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531–545.
  • Martela, F., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Prosocial behavior increases well-being and vitality even without contact with the beneficiary: Causal and behavioral evidence. Motivation and Emotion, 40(3), 351–357.

   

• Organizational Research
  • Martela, Frank & Tuukka Kostamo (2017): Adaptive self-organizing: The necessity of intrinsic motivation and self-determination. In Knowledge Management and Complexity. Ed. Anne Eskola. Routledge
  • Martela, F. (2015). Fallible inquiry with ethical ends-in-view: A pragmatist philosophy of science for organizational research. Organization Studies, 36(4), 537–563.
  • Martela, F. (2014). Sharing well-being in a work community – Exploring well-being generating relational systems. In N. M. Ashkanasy, W. J. Zerbe, & C. E. J. Härtel (Eds.), Research on Emotion in Organizations: Vol. 10 (pp. 79–110). Emerald Group.

   

• Philosophy
  • Martela, F. (2017). Meaningfulness as Contribution. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 55(2), 232–256.
  • Martela, F. (2017). Moral Philosophers as Ethical Engineers: Limits of Moral Philosophy and a Pragmatist Alternative. Metaphilosophy, 48(1–2), 58–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12229
  • Martela, F. (2015). Pragmatism as an attitude. In U. Zackariasson (Ed.), Nordic Studies in Pragmatism 3: Action, Belief and Inquiry – Pragmatist Perspectives on Science, Society and Religion (pp. 187–207). Helsinki: Nordic Pragmatism Network.

 

Keynote speak at the Self-determination theory conference Spring 2019 on ‘The curious case of beneficence as a candidate psychological need’:

Speech at the International Meaning Conference in London Summer 2019 on ‘Is the crisis of meaning a modern phenomenon’: