The Role of Goodwill in Emotional Health

Goodwill is wanting to do the right thing, and by extension, efforts to do the right thing, and interest in finding out the right thing to do. It is a present strong cultural belief that goodwill is not only necessary but sufficient for happiness (subjective well being).

In the Reich and Lowen tradition, goodness is assumed to be present in all participants. It is a premise that healthy people do good things. Goodwill is an artifact of low self-esteem and self-doubt, in which a person believe's her- or himself basically bad and therefore, in need of willing goodness to occur. It is common for a person to consider their goodwill an asset and want to build upon it. Accepting 'agreeableness' as the best motivation for action is controversial.