Happiness

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Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.[1] A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.

While direct measurement of happiness presents challenges, tools have been developed by researchers. Positive psychology researchers use theoretical models that include describing happiness as consisting of positive emotions and positive activities, or that describe three kinds of happiness: pleasure (positive sensory experience), engagement (involvement with one’s family, work, romance and hobbies), and meaning (using personal strengths to serve some larger end).[2]

Research has identified a number of attributes that correlate with happiness: relationships and social interaction, extraversion, marital status, employment, health, democratic freedom, optimism, endorphins released through physical exercise and eating chocolate, religious involvement, income and proximity to other happy people.[citation needed] Happiness is mediated through the release of so-called happiness hormones.

Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this older sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics.

Happiness economics suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating the success of public policy.

Contents

Scientific views

Biological approach

The evolutionary perspective offers an alternative approach to understand what happiness or quality of life is about. Briefly, it focuses on the questions: What features are included in the brain that allow humans to distinguish between positive and negative states of mind, and how do these features improve humans' ability to survive and reproduce? It claims that answering these questions points towards an understanding of what happiness is about and how to best exploit the capacities of the brain with which humans are endowed. This perspective is presented formally and in detail by the evolutionary biologist Bjørn Grinde in his book Darwinian Happiness.[3]

Research findings

See also: Positive psychology
Martin Seligman asserts that "pleasures of the moment" typically involve external stimulus.[4] Above, A man laughs as he attempts to balance three birds on himself.
Simple exercise, such as running, is cited as key to feeling happy.[5]

Some researchers, such as David T. Lykken, have found that about 50% of one's happiness depends on one's genes, based on studying identical twins, whose happiness is 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses.[6] About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, sex[7] and others. The remaining 40% is a combination of unknown factors and the results of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. These actions may vary between persons; extroverts, for example, may benefit from placing themselves in situations involving large amounts of human interaction. Also, exercise has been shown to increase one's level of momentary subjective well-being significantly.[5]

Michael Argyle developed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire[8] as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This has been criticized as an aggregate of self-esteem, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation.[9]

Though it may be impossible to achieve any comprehensive measure of happiness objectively, some physiological correlates to happiness can be measured through a variety of techniques. Stefan Klein, in his book The Science of Happiness, links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (i.e., dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of positive psychology and social psychology.[10]

Happiness in social networks

Human relationships are consistently found to be the most important correlation with human happiness.

A widely publicized study from 2008 in the British Medical Journal reported that happiness in social networks may spread from person to person.[11] Researchers followed nearly 5000 individuals for 20 years in the long-standing Framingham Heart Study and found clusters of happiness and unhappiness that spread up to 3 degrees of separation on average. Happiness tended to spread through close relationships like friends, siblings, spouses, and next-door neighbors, and the researchers reported that happiness spread more consistently than unhappiness through the network. Moreover, the structure of the social network appeared to have an impact on happiness, as people who were very central (with many friends, and friends of friends) were significantly more likely to be happy than those on the periphery of the network. Overall, the results suggest that happiness might spread through a population like a virus.[12][13]

Aging and happiness

Research in the US has found that older Americans are generally happier than younger adults. The effect does not appear to be generational, because longitudinal research found that happiness increased over time for the older people who were studied. While older individuals reported more health problems, they reported fewer problems overall. Young adults reported more anger, anxiety, depression, financial problems, troubled relationships and career stress.[14]

Other correlates

Studies are contradictory as to whether parents are more likely to report being happier than non-parents.[15][16][17] One study found having up to three children increased happiness among married couples, but not among other groups with children.[17]

Happiness is also correlated with the ability to "rationalize or explain" social and economic inequalities.[18]

One American study found that people were happier after spending money on experiences, rather than physical things.[19] Envy is believed to produce unhappiness.[citation needed]

A 2010 study by Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University with 2200 probands, giving a quarter-million responses, found that people are happier when they are concentrating on the present, about half their waking time according to the study, than when they are daydreaming.[20][21]

Religion and happiness

See Religion and happiness

Research findings

Joy, tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (XIV century)

There is now extensive research suggesting that religious people are happier and less stressed.[22][23] It is not clear, however, whether this is because of the social contact and support that result from religious activities, the greater likelihood of behaviors related to good health (such as less substance abuse), indirect forms of psychological and social activity such as optimism and volunteering, psychological factors such as "reason for being," learned coping strategies that enhance one's ability to deal with stress, or some combination of these and/or other factors.[24][25][26][27][28]

Surveys by Gallup, the National Opinion Research Center and the Pew Organization conclude that spiritually committed people are twice as likely to report being "very happy" than the least religiously committed people.[29] An analysis of over 200 social studies contends that "high religiousness predicts a lower risk of depression and drug abuse and fewer suicide attempts, and more reports of satisfaction with sex life and a sense of well-being,"[30] and a review of 498 studies published in peer-reviewed journals concluded that a large majority of them showed a positive correlation between religious commitment and higher levels of perceived well-being and self-esteem and lower levels of hypertension, depression, and clinical delinquency.[31] A meta-analysis of 34 recent studies published between 1990 and 2001 found that religiosity has a salutary relationship with psychological adjustment, being related to less psychological distress, more life satisfaction, and better self-actualization.[32] Finally, a recent systematic review of 850 research papers on the topic concluded that "the majority of well-conducted studies found that higher levels of religious involvement are positively associated with indicators of psychological well-being (life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and higher morale) and with less depression, suicidal thoughts and behavior, drug/alcohol use/abuse."[33]

Being a part of a minority, when it comes to religious views, may lead to decreased happiness

Some researchers suggest there are happiness benefits to being in the majority when it comes to religious belief. Many studies finding correlations between happiness and religiosity come from measuring Religion in the United States - a predominantly Christian country (making the nonreligious a minority). According to a 2007 paper by Liesbeth Snoep, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, there is no significant correlation between religiosity and individual happiness when researchers measure Religion in the Netherlands and Denmark. These countries have lower rates of religious affiliation than the United States, meaning the non-religious are not the vast minority - a fact that Snoep thinks might help explain the different correlations.[34] According to the Gallup World Poll survey conducted between 2005 and 2009 Denmark is the happiest country in the world, and the Netherlands rank fourth.[35]

Religious perspectives

Buddhism

Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings. For ultimate freedom from suffering, the Noble Eightfold Path leads its practitioner to Nirvana, a state of everlasting peace. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms. More mundane forms of happiness, such as acquiring wealth and maintaining good friendships, are also recognized as worthy goals for lay people (see sukha). Buddhism also encourages the generation of loving kindness and compassion, the desire for the happiness and welfare of all beings.[36][37]

Catholicism

In Catholicism, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity (Latin equivalent to the Greek eudaimonia), or "blessed happiness", described by the 13th-century philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas as a Beatific Vision of God's essence in the next life.[38]

Philosophical views

The Chinese Confucian thinker Mencius, who 2300 years ago sought to give advice to the ruthless political leaders of the warring states period, was convinced that the mind played a mediating role between the "lesser self" (the physiological self) and the "greater self" (the moral self) and that getting the priorities right between these two would lead to sage-hood. He argued that if we did not feel satisfaction or pleasure in nourishing one's "vital force" with "righteous deeds", that force would shrivel up (Mencius,6A:15 2A:2). More specifically, he mentions the experience of intoxicating joy if one celebrates the practice of the great virtues, especially through music.[39]

Al-Ghazali (1058–1111) the Muslim Sufi thinker wrote the Alchemy of Happiness, a manual of spiritual instruction throughout the Muslim world and widely practiced today.

The Hindu thinker Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, wrote quite exhaustively on the psychological and ontological roots of bliss.[40]

In the Nicomachean Ethics, written in 350 BCE, Aristotle stated that happiness (also being well and doing well) is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake, unlike riches, honor, health or friendship. He observed that men sought riches, or honor, or health not only for their own sake but also in order to be happy. Note that eudaimonia, the term we translate as "happiness", is for Aristotle an activity rather than an emotion or a state.[41] Happiness is characteristic of a good life, that is, a life in which a person fulfills human nature in an excellent way. People have a set of purposes which are typically human: these belong to our nature. The happy person is virtuous, meaning they have outstanding abilities and emotional tendencies which allow him or her to fulfill our common human ends. For Aristotle, then, happiness is "the virtuous activity of the soul in accordance with reason": happiness is the practice of virtue.

Many ethicists make arguments for how humans should behave, either individually or collectively, based on the resulting happiness of such behavior. Utilitarians, such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, advocated the greatest happiness principle as a guide for ethical behavior.

Economic views

Main article: Happiness economics

Common market health measures such as GDP and GNP have been used as a measure of successful policy. On average richer nations tend to be happier than poorer nations, but this effect seems to diminish with wealth.[42][43] This has been explained by the fact that the dependency is not linear but logarithmic, i.e., the same percentual increase in the GNP produces the same increase in happiness for wealthy countries as for poor countries.[44][45][46][47]

Economic freedom correlates strongly with happiness[48] while social security not at all,[49] and socialist East European countries were less happy than Western ones, even less happy than other equally poor countries.[49]

It has been argued that happiness measures could be used not as a replacement for more traditional measures, but as a supplement.[50] According to professor Edward Glaeser, people constantly make choices that decrease their happiness, because they have also more important aims. Therefore, the government should not decrease the alternatives available for the citizen by patronizing them but let the citizen keep a maximal freedom of choice.[51]

It has been argued that happiness at work is the one of the driving forces behind positive outcomes at work, rather than just being a resultant product.[52]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (accessed 2008-Dec-23)
  2. ^ "The New Science of Happiness" Time Magazine (accessed 2010-Dec-16)
  3. ^ Grinde, Bjørn (2002). "Happiness in the perspective of evolutionary psychology". Journal of Happiness Studies 3: 331–354. doi:10.1023/A:1021894227295. 
  4. ^ Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Can Happiness be Taught?. Daedalus journal, Spring 2004.
  5. ^ a b Best Benefit of Exercise? Happiness, Robin Loyd, Fox News, May 30, 2006.
  6. ^ Sonja Lyubomirsky, David Schkade and Kennon M. Sheldon, "Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change," Review of General Psychology, Vol. 9, No. 2, 111–131, 2005
  7. ^ Nber.org
  8. ^ Oxford Happiness Questionnaire by Michael Argyle and Peter Hills, a survey of current level of happiness. See also discussion in Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082.
  9. ^ The approach has been criticized as overlapping too much with related concepts, and for lacking a theoretical model of happiness. Kashdan, Todd B. (2004). "The assessment of subjective well-being (issues raised by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire)". Personality and Individual Differences 36: 1225–1232. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00213-7. http://mason.gmu.edu/~tkashdan/publications/happy.PDF. 
  10. ^ Klein, Stefan (2006). The Science of Happiness. Marlowe & Company. ISBN 1-56924-328-X. 
  11. ^ James H. Fowler and Nicholas A. Christakis (3 January 2009). "Dynamic Spread of Happiness in a Large Social Network: Longitudinal Analysis Over 20 Years in the Framingham Heart Study" (PDF). British Medical Journal 338 (768): a2338. doi:10.1136/bmj.a2338. http://jhfowler.ucsd.edu/dynamic_spread_of_happiness.pdf. 
  12. ^ Belluck, Pam (December 5, 2008). "Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/health/05happy-web.html. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
  13. ^ Rob Stein, "Happiness Can Spread Among People Like a Contagion, Study Indicates," The Washington Post, December 5, 2008, Page A08
  14. ^ Vedantam, Shankar (2008-07-14). "Older Americans May Be Happier Than Younger Ones". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/13/AR2008071301641.html?hpid=sec-health. 
  15. ^ "The joys of parenthood". The Economist. 2008-03-27. http://www.economist.com/world/na/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=10924082. 
  16. ^ Brooks, Arthur C. (2008). Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America – and How We Can Get More of It. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465002788. 
  17. ^ a b SmartPlanet.com
  18. ^ Bryner, Jeanna. "Conservatives Happier Than Liberals". LiveScience.com. http://www.livescience.com/health/080507-liberal-conservative.html. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
  19. ^ NPR.org
  20. ^ Gilbert, Daniel T. (2010-11-12). "A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind". Science. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;330/6006/932?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Killingsworth&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
  21. ^ Tierney, John (2010-11-15). "When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16tier.html?_r=1&hp. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
  22. ^ Rudin, Mike (2006-04-30). "The science of happiness". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4783836.stm. 
  23. ^ Paul, Pamela (2005-01-09). "The New Science of Happiness". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1015870,00.html. 
  24. ^ Clinical Implications of Research on Religion, Spirituality, and Mental Health. Marilyn Baetz & John Toews. La Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, vol 54, no 5, mai 2009
  25. ^ Ellison, C.G. Religious involvement, social ties, and social support in a southeastern community. Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion 1994;33:46–61.
  26. ^ McCullough, M.E. & Larson, D.B. Religion and depression: a review of the literature. Twin Res. 1999;2:126–136.
  27. ^ Strawbridge, W.J., Shema, S.J., Cohen, R.D., et al. Religious attendance increases survival by improving and maintaining good health behaviors, mental health, and social relationships. Ann Behav Med. 2001;23:68–74.
  28. ^ Burris, C.T. Religious Orientation Scale. In: Hill, P.C. & Hood, R.W. Jr., editors. Measures of religiosity. Birmingham (AL): Religious Education Press; 1999. p 144–153.
  29. ^ Is Religion Dangerous? p156, citing David Myers The Science of Subjective Well-Being Guilford Press 2007
  30. ^ Smith, Timothy; Michael McCullough, and Justin Poll (2003). "Religiousness and Depression: Evidence for a Main Effect and Moderating Influence of Stressful Life Events". Psychological Bulletin 129 (4): 614–36. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.4.614. PMID 12848223. 
  31. ^ Is Religion Dangerous? cites similar results from the Handbook of Religion and Mental Health Harold Koenig (ed.) ISBN 978-0124176454
  32. ^ Hackney, Charles H; Glenn S. Sanders (2003). "Religiosity and Mental Health: A Meta–Analysis of Recent Studies". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42 (1): 43–55. doi:10.1111/1468-5906.t01-1-00160. 
  33. ^ Moreira-Almeida, Alexander; Francisco Lotufo Neto, and Harold G. Koenig (September 2006). "Religiousness and mental health: a review". Rev. Bras. Psiquiatr. [serial on the Internet] 28 (3): 242–250. doi:10.1590/S1516-44462006005000006. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462006000300018&lng=en&nrm=iso. 
  34. ^ Liesbeth Snoep, "Religiousness and happiness in three nations: a research note," Journal of Happiness Studies, February 6, 2007.
  35. ^ http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/14/world-happiest-countries-lifestyle-realestate-gallup.html
  36. ^ (see brahmavihara)
  37. ^ Bhikkhu, Thanissaro (1999). "A Guided Meditation". http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/guided.html. 
  38. ^ Aquinas, Thomas. "Question 3. What is happiness". Summa Theologiae. http://www.newadvent.org/summa/200308.htm. 
  39. ^ Chan, Wing-tsit (1963). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ, US: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691019649. 
  40. ^ Levine, Marvin (2000). The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga : Paths to a Mature Happiness. Lawrence Erlbaum. ISBN 0805838333. 
  41. ^ Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a classical Greek word commonly translated as 'happiness'. Etymologically, it consists of the word "eu" ("good" or "well being") and "daimōn" ("spirit" or "minor deity", used by extension to mean one's lot or fortune).
  42. ^ Frey, Bruno S.; Alois Stutzer (December 2001). Happiness and Economics. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691069980. 
  43. ^ "In Pursuit of Happiness Research. Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy?". The Cato institute. 2007-04-11. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8179. 
  44. ^ Wealth and hapiness revisited Growing wealth of nations does go with greater happiness
  45. ^ Leonhardt, David (2008-04-16). "Maybe Money Does Buy Happiness After All". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16leonhardt.html. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 
  46. ^ Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox
  47. ^ Boston.com
  48. ^ In Pursuit of Happiness Research. Is It Reliable? What Does It Imply for Policy? The Cato institute. April 11, 2007
  49. ^ a b The Scientist's Pursuit of Happiness, Policy, Spring 2005.
  50. ^ Weiner, Eric J. (2007-11-13). "Four months of boom, bust, and fleeing foreign credit". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-weiner13nov13,0,5698259.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail. 
  51. ^ Coercive regulation and the balance of freedom, Edward Glaeser, Cato Unbound 11.5.2007
  52. ^ Boehm, J K.; S Lyubomirsky (February 2008). Journal of Career Assessment. Sage. 

Further reading

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 Emotions
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Source: Parrott, W. (2001), Emotions in Social Psychology, Psychology Press, Philadelphia.
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