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This chapter explains the need for this . It clarifies the role in this book project of the of the . The helpful role of the in bringing salutogenesis to the health promotion arena is acknowledged. It is pointed out that significant contributions to salutogenesis are in the literatures of nursing science, psychology, sociology, educational science, medicine, public health, health services research, and more. The editors and authors have made a concerted effort to write a book that is useful to this broad array of disciplines and specialties, and many chapter authors have affiliations reflecting the diversity. The editors have long been aware that important developments in salutogenesis are published in many languages other than English. This Handbook therefore aims to illuminate non-English salutogenesis literature in a major Part devoted to that purpose.

The term salutogenesis is associated with a variety of meanings that Aaron Antonovsky introduced in his 1979 book and expounded in many subsequent works. In its most thoroughly explicated meaning, salutogenesis refers to a model described in detail in , which posits that life experiences help shape one’s sense of coherence (a global orientation); life is understood as more or less comprehensible, meaningful and manageable. A strong sense of coherence helps one mobilise resources to cope with stressors and manage tension successfully. Through this mechanism, the sense of coherence helps determine one’s movement on the health Ease/Dis-ease continuum. In its most particular meaning, salutogenesis is almost equivalent to the sense of coherence. In its more general meaning, salutogenesis refers to a scholarly orientation focusing attention on the study of the origins of health, contra the origins of disease. Salutogenesis—model, sense of coherence and orientation—is in harmony with developments across the social sciences that seek better understanding of positive aspects of human experience. For instance, the key concepts of salutogenesis, of positive psychology and of positive organisational behaviour are consonant even if the terminologies are not uniform. It is therefore quite easy to label research and practice in these arenas as having a salutogenic orientation, and use the salutogenesis umbrella metaphor to embrace the cornucopia of scholarly ideas. Among these is the quite specific idea of the sense of coherence, and this meaning of salutogenesis is dominant, at least in the health promotion literature. This is so much so that some equate salutogenesis with the sense of coherence and refer to the sense of coherence as a model or theory (rather than as part of the salutogenic model). This book is about salutogenesis in all these meanings, which are briefly characterised in this chapter, to set the stage for the chapters that follow. We also briefly discuss salutogenesis in relation to other concepts within and beyond the health arena, with which salutogenesis has important kinship.

Rebelling against the mainstream and searching for the right questions seem to be the two most salient characteristics that bridge between Aaron the scholar and Aaron the man. In this chapter, we wish to share some insights we have regarding the development of the salutogenic idea, by drawing lines connecting it to the Aaron was. Having been very close to Aaron for several decades, we feel that a certain degree of familiarity with his personal background would contribute to the understanding of the development of the salutogenic theory. Therefore, we wish to shed some light on Aaron’s personal experiences, ideological beliefs, and professional development throughout his life, until the crystallization of the salutogenic idea.

This chapter follows the development of Antonovsky’s thinking about health, stress, and coping from the middle of the 1950s and until 1994, from his awakening interest for the salutogenic question to his proposal of the Salutogenic Model of Health as a theory to guide health promotion. This chapter reproduces Antonovsky’s depiction of the salutogenic model of health from Chapter 7 in his book from 1979, , including his definitions of main constructs such as stress, health, breakdown, Generalized Resistance Resources, and Sense of Coherence. While the chapter briefly describes these constructs and their place in the salutogenic model of health as a whole, in-depth discussion of them is left to designated chapters. The role of this chapter is to provide an overview of the Salutogenic Model of Health the way Antonovsky wrote about it over nearly 30 years.

Aaron Antonovsky was my mentor in the long journey of writing my doctoral dissertation, which was the first to be written in the framework of the salutogenic paradigm. He was not only my advisor in the academic research, but also had a tremendous impact on my life. For me, the salutogenic model is not only a theoretical paradigm whose genesis I witnessed and later on took an active part in its development. For me, this theory is the basis for a meaningful understanding of my lifestory, a story which has been embedded in the conflictual Jewish existence in Israel. Aaron and his salutogenic ideas have guided me in this difficult path too.

This chapter focuses on some emerging ideas that are stimulated by, or relevant to, the salutogenic model of health. This is also the subject, in part at least, of other chapters in this book. Therefore, the developments discussed here are meant to supplement the other contributions. The salutogenic model of health is a useful foundation for thinking about and describing departures from traditional risk factor thinking. This is evident in assets models in health promotion and the Health Development Model, which is unique in its attractive amalgamation of pathogenesis and salutogenesis. Fortigenesis makes room for health-as-well-being. The Margin of Resources Model has relevance for development of the salutogenic model of health, even if the two are not explicitly linked. Closer to the health promotion area is the Self-tuning Model of Self-care, developed by health promotion scholars, and actually used to guide intervention. The use of the Positive Deviance approach to intervention has significant potential to direct action research to exploit the links between resistance resources, the sense of coherence, and health.

This chapter reviews and integrates conceptual and empirical research focusing on the role of Generalized Resistance Resources (GRRs) within the Salutogenic model. In particular, this chapter discusses findings regarding the conceptual and empirical progress seen in the study of GRRs at the individual, family, and community ecological levels in understanding individual differences in sense of coherence (SOC). First, the present chapter briefly describes the theoretical assumptions and findings regarding the concepts of the GRRs and the GRDs (Generalized Resistance Deficits). Next, this chapter presents an overview of findings regarding the empirical progress seen in the study of GRRs at the individual, family, and community ecological levels. We end with suggestions for future research directions and interventional implications.

This chapter discusses conceptual and concrete differences between generalised and specific resistance resources in the salutogenic model of health. This is important to health promotion research and practice, because the means by which these different types of resources are strengthened are dissimilar. It is important to distinguish between the two types of resistance resources, to ensure that health promotion pays balanced attention to both types. Generalised resistance resources arise from the cultural, social and environmental conditions of living and early childhood rearing and socialisation experiences, in addition to idiosyncratic factors and chance. Specific resistance resources, on the other hand, are optimised by societal action in which health promotion has a contributing role, for example the provision of supportive social and physical environments. Specific resistance resources actually have as much or more relevance to health promotion practice as do generalized resistance resources. By drawing attention to the special nature of specific resistance resources, one also draws attention to what should be a core aim of health promotion: to ensure that availability of the right specific resistance resource at the right time is not all too often a matter of ‘chance or luck’, as Antonovsky worried.

This chapter aims to raise some new directions in the framework of the salutogenic paradigm developing the possibility of its interdisciplinarity. We suggest that salutogenic questions should be asked not only about health and well-being, but also in the context of other aspects of life, such as social relations. In this chapter, we review the very few studies related to the connections between sense of coherence, social relations, and intergroup relations. The chapter includes a discussion of theoretical and methodological challenges in these new directions of research in the framework of salutogenesis.

The positive psychology movement has generated interest in topics such as optimism, hope, creativity, empathy, and gratitude and their application to educational, health, and workplace contexts. However, despite the feeling of innovation, it has also become clear that positive psychology has had a much longer past and has not fully acknowledged the salutogenic paradigm of Antonovsky. In this chapter, however, we attempt to reflect on the conceptualisation of positive psychology in light of Antonovsky’s theory of salutogenesis. Both positive psychology and the salutogenic paradigm challenge mainstream thought to reconsider the resources of healthy functioning. We conclude that researchers in both traditions may learn from each other. Firstly, the Sense of Coherence concept deserves greater research attention by positive psychologists in their search for understanding the mechanisms underpinning optimal functioning. Secondly, those working in the salutogenic paradigms may benefit from greater attention to the conceptualisation of healthy outcomes as defined in positive psychological terms.