Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.[1] A variety of biological Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy, psychological Psychology is the study of human or animal mental functions and behaviors. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is a psychologist. Psychologists are classified as social or behavioral scientists. Psychological research can be considered either basic or applied. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in, religious Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe. It is commonly regarded as consisting of a person’s relation to God or to gods or spirits. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories associated with their deity or deities, that are, and philosophical Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.
While direct measurement of happiness presents challenges, tools such as The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire 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, engagement, and meaning.
Research has identified a number of attributes that correlate with happiness: relationships and social interaction, extraversion Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and interested in seeking out excitement. They tend to think out loud and cannot solve things in their heads as well as introverts. However, it should not necessarily be assumed that just because one has many friends that they are an extravert. Introverts, in contrast, tend to be more reserved, less, 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]
Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life The good life is a term for the life that one would like to live, or for happiness, associated with the work of Aristotle and his teaching on ethics, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this older sense was used to translate the Greek Eudaimonia Eudaimonia 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). Although popular usage of the term happiness refers to, and is still used in virtue ethics Virtue ethics is an approach to ethics that emphasizes the character of the moral agent, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking. This contrasts with consequentialism, which holds that the consequences of a particular act form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action, and deontology, which derives.
Happiness economics Happiness economics is the study of a country's quality of life by combining economists' and psychologists' techniques. It relies on more expansive notions of utility than does conventional economics. Although its usefulness is yet to be determined, it has become a subject of interest and often a measure of comparison with the traditional forms of suggests that measures of public happiness should be used to supplement more traditional economic measures when evaluating the success of public policy.
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Scientific views
Biological approach
The evolutionary perspective offers an alternative approach to understand what happiness or quality of life is about. Briefly, the questions to be answered are: 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? 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. The perspective is presented in detail by the evolutionary biologist Bjørn Grinde Bjørn Grinde is a biologist working in the fields of genetics and evolution, with a particular interest in human evolution. He studied natural sciences as well as psychology and anthropology at the University of Oslo, resulting in a Dr.scient and a Dr.philos (1984) from the same university. Presently he works as a chief scientist at the Norwegian in his book Darwinian Happiness Darwinian Happiness: Evolution As a Guide for Living and Understanding Human Behavior, ISBN 0-87850-159-2, is a 2002 book by the Norwegian biologist Bjørn Grinde from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He argues that human emotions find their cause in evolution and offers ways by which we can use this for our advantage, as well as in a more formal way.[2]
Positive psychology
Main article: Positive psychology Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 2000 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise that achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in individuals, families, and communities." Martin Seligman Martin E. P. Seligman is an American psychologist and author of self-help books. His theory of "learned helplessness" is widely respected among scientific psychologists. He is the director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania asserts that "pleasures of the moment" typically involve external stimulus.[3] Above, A man laughs Laughter is an audible expression or the appearance of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy . It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling or other stimuli. It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation as he attempts to balance three birds on himself.Research findings
Simple exercise, such as running, is cited as key to feeling happy.[4]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.[5] About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, sex[6] 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.[4]
Michael Argyle Michael Argyle was one of the best known English social psychologists of the twentieth century. He spent most of his career at the University of Oxford, and worked on numerous topics. Throughout his career, he showed strong preferences for experimental methods in social psychology, having little time for alternative approaches such as discourse developed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire[7] as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This has been criticized as an aggregate of self-esteem Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. Self-esteem can apply specifically to a particular dimension (for example, "I believe I am a good writer, and feel proud of that in, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness Kindness is the act or the state of being kind —ie. marked by goodness and charitable behaviour, mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions, sense of humor Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: umor, "body fluid"), control human health and emotion and aesthetic appreciation.[8]
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 Stefan Klein is a physicist, author and essayist who has specialized in writing on science and its social implications in an accessible manner. He is best known for his books The Science of Happiness and Time: A User's Guide. His works have been translated into 25 languages and became best sellers in many countries, in his book The Science of Happiness, links the dynamics of neurobiological Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. Nevertheless, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that involves other disciplines such as psychology, computer science, mathematics, physics, philosophy, and medicine. The term neurobiology is usually used systems (i.e., dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of positive psychology and social psychology.[9]
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 BMJ is a partially open access medical journal. It is among the most influential and widely read peer-reviewed general scientific journals in the field of medicine in the world reported that happiness in social networks A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige may spread from person to person.[10] Researchers followed nearly 5000 individuals for 20 years in the long-standing Framingham Heart Study The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term, ongoing cardiovascular study on residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects from Framingham, and is now on its third generation of participants. Prior to it almost nothing was known about "the epidemiology of hypertensive or arteriosclerotic 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.[11][12]
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.[13]
Other correlates
Studies are contradictory as to whether parents are more likely to report being happier than non-parents.[14][15][16] One study found having up to three children increased happiness among married couples, but not among other groups with children.[16]
Happiness is also correlated with the ability to "rationalize or explain" social and economic inequalities.[17]
One American study found that people were happier after spending money on experiences, rather than physical things.[18] Envy Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the is believed to produce unhappiness.
Religion and happiness
Research findings
Joy, tacuinum sanitatis The Tacuinum Sanitatis is a medieval handbook on wellness, based on the Taqwim al‑sihha تقويم الصحة ("Maintenance of Health"), an eleventh-century Arab medical treatise by Ibn Butlan of Baghdad. Aimed at a cultured lay audience, the text exists in several variant Latin versions, the manuscripts of which are characteristically casanatensis (XIV century)There is now extensive research suggesting that religious people are happier and less stressed.[19][20] 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.[21][22][23][24][25]
Surveys by Gallup The Gallup Organization, currently just Gallup, provides a variety of management consulting, human resources and statistical research services. It has over 40 offices in 27 countries. World headquarters are in Washington, D.C.; operational headquarters are in Omaha, Nebraska. Its current Chairman and CEO is Jim Clifton, the National Opinion Research Center The National Opinion Research Center , established in 1941, is one of the largest and most highly respected social research organizations in the United States. Its headquarters are located on the University of Chicago campus, at 1155 E. 60th Street, Chicago. It also has offices in Chicago’s downtown Loop, and Washington DC and the Pew Organization The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization, while the Pew conclude that spiritually committed people are twice as likely to report being "very happy" than the least religiously committed people.[26] 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,"[27] 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 Hypertension or high blood pressure is a chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. It is the opposite of hypotension. It is classified as either primary (essential) or secondary. About 90–95% of cases are termed "primary hypertension", which refers to high blood pressure for which no medical, depression, and clinical delinquency.[28][29] 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 Self-actualization is a term that has been used in various psychology theories, often in slightly different ways . The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. In his view, it is the master motive—indeed, the only real motive a person has, all others being merely.[30] 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."[31]
Religious perspectives
Buddhism
Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an. For ultimate freedom from suffering Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths on dukkha are taught as the primary means to attain the ultimate aim of nirvana, the Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion. The Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the leads its practitioner to Nirvana Nirvāna (Sanskrit: निर्वाण; Pali: निब्बान ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering (or dukkha). In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through Moksha. The word literally means "blowing out", a state of everlasting peace. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving Taṇhā or tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit; Devanāgarī: तृष्णा) literally means "thirst," figuratively denotes unwholesome "desire" or "craving," and is traditionally juxtaposed with "peace of mind" (upekkha) 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 In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch. In contemporary Buddhist communities, householder is often used synonymously with laity, or non-monastics (see sukha Sukha is a Sanskrit and Pāli word that is often translated as “happiness" or "ease" or "pleasure" or "bliss." In Buddhism's Pali literature, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions and intra-psychic phenomena). Buddhism also encourages the generation of loving kindness Mettā or maitrī (Sanskrit) is loving-kindness, friendliness, benevolence, amity, friendship, good will, kindness, love, sympathy, and active interest in others. It is one of the ten pāramīs of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four sublime states (Brahmavihāras). This is love without clinging (upādāna) and compassion, the desire for the happiness and welfare of all beings.[32][33]
Catholicism
In Catholicism Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity (Latin equivalent to the Greek eudaimonia Eudaimonia 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). Although popular usage of the term happiness refers to), or "blessed happiness", described by the 13th-century philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Order, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis. He is frequently referred to as Thomas because "Aquinas" refers to his residence rather than his surname as a Beatific Vision In Christian theology, the beatific vision is the eternal and direct visual perception of God enjoyed by those who are in Heaven, imparting supreme happiness or blessedness of God's essence in the next life.[34]
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Sun, 29 Aug 2010 08:18:46 GMT+00:00
Detroit Free Press I definitely thought long and hard about it, and the bottom line was my happiness here and the guys here telling me this is a good place for me. ...
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Thu, 08 May 2008 15:21:28 PDT
One of the most important lessons we can ever learn is to enjoy every day of our lives as we look forward to the future. Joyce Meyer TV Podcast. video.google.com.
The Situationist Staff
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:01:02 GM
Social scientists have conducted numerous empirical and experimental studies of self-reported . happiness. . This review focuses on two fundamental areas of research in . happiness. and law, namely alternative measures of . happiness. and various ...
