May 7, 2026. I found my way through the crowd at Dublin Airport, overwhelmed by the weight of the kilt bag in my injured hand and the speed of the passers-by. When I checked my phone to find the gate number, a text message sent chilling water to my heart: “Dear friends! I have sad news! Isaac P passed away yesterday.Ottar Ness said.
Isaac Prilleltensky had a visiting professorship at NTNU, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, my alma mater and the institution where I had just returned to work part-time, and was very interested in continuing to work and mentor me with him and Ottar. I knew he was sick, though stable a tone in our last email made me wonder if all those we cherish are immortal. And they, as if; let their legacy live on in us.
Isaac has transformed the lives and work of academics around the world, challenging us to understand well-being in light of the dynamics of power and social justice. For example, he encouraged well-being researchers to focus on SPEC—strength, prevention, empowerment, and community change.(1)— changing how well-being interventions are designed, evaluated and translated into policy. In cooperation with NTNU WellFare, his ideas even inspired the World Health Organization’s work on welfare economics(2).
Whether you’ve heard of Isaac Prilleltensky or not, he may already be influencing the ways you promote wellness in your city or country without you even realizing it. He can still change your life for the better or even encourage you to become a change-maker if you dare to approach his legacy. There are at least three ways his work can make your life more meaningful.
He dared to challenge mainstream systems, and so can you
Isaac Prilletensky was not only a social psychologist, but also a critical theorist(3). He advocated for more voices to be heard in decisions that affect the personal, relational and collective aspects of their daily lives.(4). As obvious as it may seem, the idea of listening before making decisions that affect us is an approach that challenges some of the premises that many “experts” still hold and comfortably support top-down decisions that leave the richness of context at the doorstep of university laboratories. In contrast, Isaac’s legacy has made it easier for policymakers and research councils to understand why we need consistent user experience and systemic understanding of everyday life contexts when planning, implementing, or evaluating community interventions.
He wanted human values in essence – which of them are most important to you?
Isaac Prilletensky’s approach to community psychology is a call to elevate the conversation about morality and ethics while promoting well-being. The relation of values to well-being is far from it toxic positive positions that idealize harmony and joy; it requires us to face conflicting values in processes and decisions, inconsistencies in what is preached but not experienced, and the humility to start anew and strive for a sense of personal and collective harmony while building societies in which the common good is promoted from within. Bringing values to their core requires awareness, and awareness prompts important questions that challenge us from our comfort zones.
He brought common sense to the mind of well-being
Isaac Prilletensky wanted to make common sense a common practice in our ways of thinking and psychology. He reminds us that we all deserve a good life. However, not all of us have the same opportunities to achieve such a sense of well-being, and we may also disagree about what the good life is and how to achieve it. Prilletensky’s work revolves around three words that simplify understanding and thus also motivate the tasks involved in promoting well-being: importance, well-being and justice.(5).
In short, to feel well-being, we need to feel that we matter to others, that we have a place around the table where we can actively contribute and where our contributions are valued and included.(6). Then, we also need to realize that the positives in our lives outweigh the negatives, that our emotional bank account is not emptied of joyful experiences with situations of suffering that outweigh them.(7). Then, we must feel justice, a sense of justice in our dealings, and believe that power structures can be challenged democratically so that there is an understanding of the privileges and disadvantages of members of society and the common good can be fully developed.(8).
Whenever I find myself in the days of struggle, it means mental injuries in us politicsor at the risk of being academic in times like ours, I take a cue from Isaac’s work and ask myself: Where do I feel that I matter as a person? What makes me healthy? Where will I be treated fairly?
And vice versa: In what areas of my life did people intend to make me feel like an outsider and deny my contribution? Where in my life do I feel tired? What torments me and robs me of opportunities for joy? And what injustices bother me the most?
These questions have helped me gain clarity about my moral compass and the values I want to embody in my daily life. These or similar questions can help you try to take personal, relational, and collective actions that are consistent with the human values that matter most to you. It was Isaac’s hope to make us realize that a daily practice of social justice is possible at the same time for the common good as we know it.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Ottar Ness for his thoughts and input on this text as we mourn together the passing of a dear colleague and mentor.
