what is happiness psychology

1. Introduction to
Psychology of
Happiness
Unit 1st

2. What is psychology of happiness
• Happiness is an emotional state characterized
by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and
fulfillment.
• Described as involving positive emotions and life
satisfaction.

3. According to psychology
• Happiness is about more
than simply the
experience of a positive
mood. In order to describe
happiness, psychologists
commonly refer to
subjective well being
(Kesebir & Diener, 2008).

4. In other words
• Happiness is “people’s
evaluations of their lives
and encompasses both
cognitive judgments of
satisfaction and affective
appraisals of moods and
emotions” (Kesebir &
Diener, 2008, p. 118).

5. Two key components of happiness (or
subjective well-being ) are:
• The balance of emotions- Everyone
experiences both positive and negative emotions,
feelings, and moods. Happiness is generally
linked to experiencing more positive feelings than
negative.

6. •Life satisfaction: This relates to how
satisfied you feel with different areas of your
life including your relationships, work,
achievements, and other things that you
consider important.

7. Types of Happiness
• There are many different ways of thinking about
happiness. For example, the ancient Greek
philosopher Aristotle made a distinction between
two different kinds of
happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia.

8. •Hedonia -
pleasure

9. •Eudaimonia- life satisfaction

10. Hedonia:
• Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. It is
most often associated with doing what feels good,
self-care, fulfilling desires, experiencing
enjoyment, and feeling a sense of satisfaction.

11. Eudaimonia:
• This type of happiness is derived from seeking
virtue and meaning. Important components of
eudaimonic well-being including feeling that your
life has meaning, value, and purpose.

12. •It is associated more with fulfilling
responsibilities, investing in long-term
goals, concern for the welfare of other
people, and living up to personal ideals.

13. The three components of happiness
• Opinions by many academicians and laymen alike have been written
about the psychology of happiness.

14. James montier wrote a book titled “The
psychology of happiness’, where he considered the
forces that produce the emotion in question and
concluded that it was due to 3 components.
• 50 % of the propensity for being happy was due to having the right
genetics.
• 40 % was due to the right intention and positive activity.
• Finally, the remaining 10 % was due to having the right circumstances
in life.

15. • In other words, being in the right place at the right time; doing just
the right thing and with the right people. But it’s all subjective.

22. There are three ways that psychologists study
happiness
1. Need and Goal Satisfaction
Theories
2. Genetic and Personality
Predisposition Theories
3. Process/activity theories

23. Need and Goal Satisfaction Theories
• These theories suggest that happiness results from striving to
achieve appropriate goals and meeting one’s fundamental human
needs (Nelson, Kurtz & Lyubomirsky, in press).
• Deci and Ryan (2000) for example, proposed Self-determination
Theory, which stipulates that wellbeing is achieved when one meets
their basic human needs including autonomy, competence, and
relatedness.

24. Self-determination Theory

25. Genetic and Personality Predisposition
Theories
• These propose that wellbeing is influenced by genes,
and is associated with the personality traits of
extraversion and neuroticism (Nelson et al., in press ).
• This, in turn, implies that wellbeing does not change much
over time.

26. Process/activity theories
• Argue that wellbeing may be improved by
participating in activities that are engaging and
require effort (Nelson et al., in press ).

27. • Psychologists ask the
question, ‘is it possible to
increase one’s happiness?’.
Some psychologists claim
that making an attempt to
enhance happiness is
pointless because happiness
levels are predetermined and
stable over time (Norrish &
Vella-Brodrick, 2008).
This perspective suggests that
happiness is relatively stable over time,
and therefore efforts to increase
happiness are futile (Norrish & Vella-
Brodrick, 2008). However, research has
shown that although subjective well-
being may be associated with personality
traits (e.g. extraversion), that differences
in reports of happiness levels over time
suggest that, in fact, happiness is not a
trait (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008)

28. well being
•There is no consensus around a
single definition of well-being, but
there is general agreement that

29. •Well-being includes the presence of positive
emotions and moods (e.g., contentment,
happiness )

30. The absence of negative
emotions (e.g., depression,
anxiety )

31. •Satisfaction with life, fulfillment
and positive functioning.

32. Well-being can be described as
judging life positively and feeling
good.
For public health purposes,
•Physical well-being (e.g., feeling very
healthy and full of energy ) is also viewed as
critical to overall well-being.

33. •Researchers from different disciplines
have examined different aspects of well-
being that include the following

34. Scope of
psychology of
happiness

35. Work and career success
• More likely to secure job interviews
• Evaluated more positively by
supervisors once they obtain a job
• Superior performance and
productivity
• Handle managerial jobs better

36. Main areas where it will be helpful:
• Education/Competition
• Business
• Peace in world/Politics
• Research and Analysis works

37. • In all human relations
• Sports: enhance performance. Various mental strategies, such as
visualization, self-talk and relaxation techniques, can help athletes
overcome obstacles and achieve their full potentially cope with the
pressures of competition.

38. Education and competition
• Education is a means to achieve life happiness, it is
ultimately wondered how these reforms will affect
students’ happiness.

39. • Lee (2008) noted that ‘to learn and practice knowledge and wisdom
may be a valuable means to enhance the quality of life and an
effective way to obtain happiness’ (p. 8). Hence, happiness should be
a key concern in the minds and writings of policy makers.

40. • For example, in the recent White Paper (Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills, 2016) the only reference to students’ happiness
is as follows: ‘switching between institutions is possible in theory, but
rare in practice: if students are unhappy with the quality of provision,
they are unlikely to take their funding to an alternative institution’.
Glaringly, happiness is here linked to the more consumeristic notion
of satisfaction from services received, than to the sense of
achievement or enjoyment associated with learning.