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Essay on Happiness

List of essays on happiness, essay on happiness – short essay (essay 1 – 150 words), essay on happiness – for kids and children (essay 2 – 200 words), essay on happiness – 10 lines on happiness written in english (essay 3 – 250 words), essay on happiness (essay 4 – 300 words), essay on happiness – ways to be happy (essay 5 – 400 words), essay on happiness – for school students (class 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 standard) (essay 6 – 500 words), essay on happiness – ways of developing happiness (essay 7 – 600 words), essay on happiness – sources of suffering, happiness and conclusion (essay 8 – 750 words), essay on happiness – long essay on happiness (essay 9 – 1000 words).

Happiness is defined by different people in different ways. When we feel positive emotions we tend to feel happy. That is what happiness is all about. Happiness is also regarded as the mental state of a person in an optimistic manner.

Every person defines happiness in his/her own manner. In whatever manner you may define happiness; the truth is that it is vital for a healthy and prosperous life.

In order to make students understand what true happiness is all about, we have prepared short essays for students which shall enlighten them further on this topic.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for school students (Class 3, 4 ,5, 6 and 7 Standard).

Introduction:

Happiness is a state of mind and the feeling expressed when things are going great. It is what we feel when we get our first car, buy a new house or graduate with the best grades. Happiness should be distinguished from joy. When joy is a constant state of mind, happiness depends on events in our lives.

Importance of Happiness:

The opposite of happiness is sadness which is a state of negativity in the mindset. When we remain sad for an extended period of time it can lead to depression. To avoid this state of mind we must always remind ourselves of happenings in our lives that made us happy.

Conclusion:

Though life throws countless challenges at us on a daily basis, if we drown in those challenges we would definitely become depressed. It is important that we find positive things in our daily lives to get excited about and feel the happiness.

Happiness is a state of mind which makes you feel accomplished in life and having everything in this world without a single reason to repent. Well, although there can be no perfect definition of happiness; happiness is when you feel you’re at the top of the world where a sense of complete satisfaction prevails.

The meaning of happiness is relative and varies from people to people. For some, happiness is when you experience professional success, reunions with family and friends, eating out, reading books or watching good movies. While for others, happiness can be accomplished by some weekend activities which might help you de-stress and get the satisfaction of mind.

If you involve yourself in social activities where you help the needy and provide support to the weaker section of the society, you can experience happiness if not anything else. When a young boy flies a kite, plays with mud, and watches the nature, for him, that is the greatest happiness in the world.

The happiness of mind is often considered quite contrary to jealousy and anger which you experience once you have failed or unaccomplished any desired goal. You should always try to rehearse the ways of keeping yourself satisfied and keeping away from negativity to experience peace and happiness in life. True happiness begins where desire ends!

What is happiness? It is a state of being happy. But it does not mean to be happy all the time. Happiness is a feeling of something good that is happening in our life. We feel happy when we achieve something. But happiness is spread when our dear one is happy as well. Some people find true happiness in playing with their pets, while some may find happiness in staying engaged in creative work.

Happiness is often derived from channelizing thoughts to positive thinking. However, it is not as simple as it may sound.

To achieve the state of complete happiness one has to practice on improving the state of life by:

1. Staying contended in life with what you have. Cribbing and grumbling never lead to happiness.

2. Staying focused on the current life instead of daydreaming of the good days or old days.

3. Stop blaming for something that went terribly wrong in life. The life is all about moving on. Stop worrying and set new goals in life.

4. Being thankful to God for all the good things that you have in your life.

5. Having good people around you who can boost up positivity in your life.

Everyone desires to be happy in life. Happiness cannot be achieved without establishing complete control of one’s thoughts as it is very easy to be carried away by the waves of thoughts and emotions surrounding us. Remind yourself of the good things of your life and be thankful about it.

What is happiness? Some would state that happiness implies being well off. Others would state that for them, happiness intends to be sound. You will discover individuals saying that for them happiness implies having love in their life, having numerous companions, a great job, or accomplishing a specific objective. There are individuals, who trust that the want of a specific wish would make happiness in their life; however, it may not be so. Having true happiness is something which is desired by all.

The Path to Happiness:

There are small things which when incorporated into our daily lives, can lead us to the path of happiness. For instance, instead of thinking about problems, we should actually be thinking about the solutions. Not only will we be happier but we shall also be able to solve our problems faster. Similarly, once in a while, you start the day with the longing to achieve a few targets. Toward the day’s end, you may feel disappointed and miserable, in light of the fact that you haven’t possessed the capacity to do those things. Take a look at what you have done, not at what you have not possessed the capacity to do. Regularly, regardless of whether you have achieved a ton amid the day, you let yourself feel disappointed, due to some minor assignments you didn’t achieve. This takes away happiness from you.

Again, now and then, you go throughout the day effectively completing numerous plans, yet as opposed to feeling cheerful and fulfilled, you see what was not cultivated and feel troubled. It is out of line towards you.

Each day accomplishes something good which you enjoy doing. It may tend to be something little, such as purchasing a book, eating something you cherish, viewing your most loved program on TV, heading out to a motion picture, or simply having a walk around the shoreline. Even small things can bring great levels of happiness in our lives and motivate us for new goals.

Happiness is not what you feel from outside, rather it is something which comes from your inner soul. We should find happiness in us rather than searching for it in worldly desires.

Happiness is defined by different people in different ways. Some find happiness in having a luxurious life while some find it in having loving people around them rather than money. True happiness lies within us and our expectation of happiness. It is something that should be felt and cannot be explained in words.

Even though this simple word has a lot of meaning hidden in it, many fail to understand the real one or feel the real happiness. Finding happiness in the outer world is the main reason for this failure. Nothing can buy you happiness, whether be the favorite thing you desire for or the person you love the most or the career you build, unless and until you feel it within yourself.

Ways to be Happy:

Bring happiness and soulful life to yourself rather than expecting it from the outside world like things, money, etc. Being happy is not as easy as advised to be one happier person. To be content and happy with whatever you have and yourself it takes time and patience. You should practice to be a happier person in all moments and eventually you will notice that no sorrow can sink you down.

Whatever good or bad happened in your past shouldn’t bother your present. Learn to live today with more happiness than yesterday and forget about your past sadness for a harmonious life. Thankfulness to the life you got is another important character you should acquire to be happy. If you compare yourself with someone with better luxurious life, then you will never be happy or content and do it the other way.

Don’t depress your mind with bad and negative thoughts about yourself and around. Try to find every goodness in a situation you face and accept the things that already happened, whether good or bad. Never forget to choose merrier and positive people to be closer to you so that their vibes will also help you in being one merrier person.

Whenever you feel low and depressed never hesitate to go to those around you to find happiness. But be aware of those negative ones that may pull you even deeper into the bad thoughts. Always surround yourself with positive thinking and motivating people so that you can rise higher even from the deepest fall.

Happiness is nothing but a feeling that will be seeded into your soul only if you wish to and nothing other than yourself can indulge this feeling in you. Don’t spoil your life finding happiness somewhere else.

Happiness is a very complicated thing. Happiness can be used both in emotional or mental state context and can vary largely from a feeling from contentment to very intense feeling of joy. It can also mean a life of satisfaction, good well-being and so many more. Happiness is a very difficult phenomenon to use words to describe as it is something that can be felt only. Happiness is very important if we want to lead a very good life. Sadly, happiness is absent from the lives of a lot of people nowadays. We all have our own very different concept of happiness. Some of us are of the opinion that we can get happiness through money, others believe they can only get true happiness in relationships, some even feel that happiness can only be gotten when they are excelling in their profession.

As we might probably know, happiness is nothing more than the state of one being content and happy. A lot of people in the past, present and some (even in the future will) have tried to define and explain what they think happiness really is. So far, the most reasonable one is the one that sees happiness as something that can only come from within a person and should not be sought for outside in the world.

Some very important points about happiness are discussed below:

1. Happiness can’t be bought with Money:

A lot of us try to find happiness where it is not. We associate and equate money with happiness. If at all there is happiness in money then all of the rich people we have around us would never feel sad. What we have come to see is that even the rich amongst us are the ones that suffer depression, relationship problems, stress, fear and even anxiousness. A lot of celebrities and successful people have committed suicide, this goes a long way to show that money or fame does not guarantee happiness. This does not mean that it is a bad thing to be rich and go after money. When you have money, you can afford many things that can make you and those around you very happy.

2. Happiness can only come from within:

There is a saying that explains that one can only get true happiness when one comes to the realisation that only one can make himself/herself happy. We can only find true happiness within ourselves and we can’t find it in other people. This saying and its meaning is always hammered on in different places but we still refuse to fully understand it and put it into good use. It is very important that we understand that happiness is nothing more than the state of a person’s mind. Happiness cannot come from all the physical things we see around us. Only we through our positive emotions that we can get through good thoughts have the ability to create true happiness.

Our emotions are created by our thoughts. Therefore, it is very important that we work on having only positive thoughts and this can be achieved when we see life in a positive light.

Happiness is desired by every person. However, there are very few persons that attain happiness easily in life.

It is quite tough to get happiness in life as people usually link it with the things and the people around them. The simple fact is that happiness usually starts as well as finishes with your own life. All those people who understand this fact easily get the true happiness in their life.

Happiness in Relationships:

There are lots of people who link happiness with the money and there are few others also who link it with the personal relations. It is very important to know that if you are not happy with yourself then, it is not possible to remain happy in your relationship as well.

The problems in the relationship have been increasing speedily and the main cause behind it is the huge amount of expectation that we have from the other individual. We always want them to make us feel happy. For example, some people feel happy if their partner plans a surprise for them or if he/she buy them a new dress. But all these things are not a true source of happiness in life.

Ways of Developing Happiness:

The lack of happiness in the relationship not only exists in couples but also in the relationship of friends, sister – brother or parent-child.

The following are the few ways that help in creating happiness in the relationships:

1. Pay Attention to Yourself:

You should always pay attention to yourself to get happiness. You should not give importance to any other person in your life in comparison to yourself and also expect the same from that person. Giving too much importance to the other and not receiving anything back from them makes a person disappointed and happiness gets lost.

2. Have some Initiative:

You can make the plan of traveling outside yourself. Don’t wait for your parent, partner or kid to take you outside. You can ask them to come along with you if they want. But, if they decline your offer then, don’t get discouraged and carry on your trip plan along with full happiness.

3. Provide some Space:

It is necessary to provide some amount of space to every individual and spend some time with oneself. It helps in creating happiness.

Happiness is Necessary for Good Life:

It does not matter that whether you are a working expert, a schoolchild, a retired person or a housewife, happiness is necessary for everybody to live a good and happy life. Happiness is essential for an individual’s emotional comfort. A person who is not fit emotionally will feel an impact on his complete health that will drain very soon.

Unluckily, despite the fact that happiness is tremendously necessary, people do not give so much importance to all those habits which can keep them happy. They are so excessively captivated inside their professional lives as well as other nuts and bolts of life that they overlook to relish the happy memories of their life. It is also the main reason that problems like anxiety, stress, and depression are increasing gradually in people’s lives today.

Happiness is an internal feeling. It is a healthy emotion. Happiness helps us to stay fit both mentally and physically. Happiness helps in lowering stress and keeping away from any health issues. The reason of happiness may be different for different person. You just need to find out what actually makes you happy. So, if you want real happiness in life then, you need to understand that only you can make yourself happy.

“There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way” this sentence has been attributed to Buddha. Well, at least that’s what it says on one sticker in my dorm room. The fact is that man has occupied himself with the path to happiness for millennia. Something happened during our evolution that made us deeply question the purpose of our existence. People like Buddha are part of the answer, or at least they try to give us the answer.

Since these questions have troubled us there have been many who sought to answer them and by doing so, they formed philosophies and religions. The search for earthly happiness will make many do incredible deeds but if this energy is used in the wrong way it can cause great suffering. How can we know which recipe for happiness is the best one and what we should devote our time and attention to? The trick is, there is no right answer and as the first sentence of this essay states, there is no way to be happy because being happy is the way. That’s how I got my head around this problem, let me explain some more.

Source of Suffering:

At the expense of sounding Buddhist, when you think about most of the things that make us unhappy are material in nature. They are the things that we really do not need but they make us feel happy. This notion is not just something the wise man from the 6 th century BC India expressed but many more have said this before and after him. Socrates and Jesus to name just a few.

What I find interesting in the struggle for happiness is the paradox present in the instructions to reach it. One has a  thought all through life to be good and hard working so he can get the things he wants and needs later on in life but then as you start to struggle for the money you realize that your life is turning into a money grabbing game. So, the source of happiness and stability becomes the source of all your anxiety and aggression. Naturally, we can see how some people thought that all material things stand on the path to our happiness.

But what about the immaterial, what if you are in love with someone you are not supposed to love? The above instruction would tell you to surrender your heart’s desire and you will be free from constraints. Is this happiness? Or is it the struggle to do and achieve the impossible the real source of happiness?

Source of Happiness:

People often forget that they are animals and like all of them they have a logic to their nature and their own specific needs. Like all the other animal’s people are caught in the struggle for existence and sometimes surviving the day can be a real ordeal if you get caught in the wrong circumstances. Men has made himself safe from most of the things that could have harmed him in nature but in doing so he forgot what he has made.

Think about the present from a historical perspective. Even a hundred years ago most people lost up to 80% of all their children to diseases, clean water was a rarity for most of our existence, and people actually had to labor to make food and to have enough to feed their family all through the year. The fact is we have a lot to be grateful for in the present age and the fact that some of us are unhappy because we do not have all our heart’s desires is just a symptom of collective infancy. Having all of your loved ones around you, with a roof to shelter under and with lots of delicious food is the only source of happiness man needs everything else should just be a bonus.

Happiness cannot be found by rejecting everything that is material or by earning more money then you can spend. The trick is to find balance by looking at yourself and the lives of people around you and by understanding that there is a lot to be grateful for, the trick is to stop searching for a path and to understand that we are already walking on one. As long as we are making any type of list of the prerequisite for our life of happiness, we will end up unsatisfied because life does not grant wishes we are the ones that make them come true. Often the biggest change in our lives comes from a simple change of perspective rather than from anything we can own.

Happiness is the state of emotional wellbeing and being contented. Happiness is expressed through joyful moments and smiles. It is a desirable feeling that everybody want to have at all times. Being happy is influenced by situations, achievements and other circumstances. Happiness is an inner quality that reflects on the state of mind. A peaceful state of mind is considered to be happiness. The emotional state of happiness is mixture of feelings of joy, satisfaction, gratitude, euphoria and victory.

How happiness is achieved:

Happiness is achieved psychologically through having a peaceful state of mind. By a free state of mind, I mean that there should be no stressful factors to think about. Happiness is also achieved through accomplishment of goals that are set by individuals. There is always happiness that accompanies success and they present feelings of triumph and contentment.

To enable personal happiness in life, it is important that a person puts himself first and have good self-perception. Putting what makes you happy first, instead of putting other people or other things first is a true quest towards happiness. In life, people tend to disappoint and putting them as a priority always reduces happiness for individuals. There is also the concept of practicing self-love and self-acceptance. Loving oneself is the key to happiness because it will mean that it will not be hard to put yourself first when making decisions.

It is important for an individual to control the thoughts that goes on in their heads. A peaceful state of mind is achieved when thoughts are at peace. It is recommended that things that cause a stressful state of mind should be avoided.

Happiness is a personal decision that is influenced by choices made. There is a common phrase on happiness; “happiness is a choice” which is very true because people choose if they want to be happy or not. Happiness is caused by circumstances and people have the liberty to choose those circumstance and get away from those that make them unhappy.

Happiness is also achieved through the kind of support system that an individual has. Having a family or friends that are supportive will enable the achievement of happiness. Communicating and interacting with the outside world is important.

Factors Affecting Happiness:

Sleep patterns influence the state of mind thus influence happiness. Having enough sleep always leads to happy mornings and a good state of mind for rest of the day. Sleep that is adequate also affects the appearance of a person. There is satisfaction that comes with having enough sleep. Enough rest increases performance and productivity of an individual and thus more successes and achievements are realized and happiness is experienced.

Another factor affecting happiness is the support network of an individual. A strong support network of family and friends results in more happiness. Establishing good relationships with neighbors, friends and family through regular interactions brings more happiness to an individual. With support network, the incidences of stressful moments will be reduced because your family and friends will always be of help.

Sexual satisfaction has been established to affect happiness. It is not just about getting the right partner anymore. It is about having a partner that will satisfy you sexually. There is a relationship between sex and happiness because of the hormones secreted during sexual intercourse. The hormone is called oxytocin and responsible for the happiness due to sexual satisfaction. Satisfaction also strengthens the relationships between the partners and that creates happiness.

Wealth also plays a significant role in happiness. There is a common phrase that is against money and happiness: “money cannot buy happiness” is this true? Personally, I believe that being financially stable contributes to happiness because you will always have peace of mind and many achievements. Peace of mind is possible for wealthy people because they do not have stressors here and then compared to poor people. Also, when a person is wealthy, they can afford to engage in luxurious activities that relaxes the mind and create happiness. For a person to be wealthy, they will have had many achievements in life. These achievement make them happy.

A good state of health is an important factor that influences the happiness of individuals. A healthy person will be happy because there are no worries of diseases or pain that they are experiencing. When a person is healthy, their state of mind is at peace because they are not afraid of death or any other health concerns. Not only the health of individuals is important, but also the health of the support system of the person. Friends and family’s state of health will always have an impact on what we feel as individuals because we care about them and we get worried whenever they are having bad health.

Communication and interactions are important in relation to an individual’s happiness. Having a support system is not enough because people need to communicate and interact freely. Whenever there are interactions like a social gathering where people talk and eat together, more happiness is experienced. This concept is witnessed in parties because people are always laughing and smiling in parties whenever they are with friends.

Communication is key to happiness because it helps in problem solving and relieving stressors in life. Sharing experiences with a support system creates a state of wellbeing after the solution is sought. Sometime when I am sad, I take my phone and call a friend or a family member and by the time the phone call is over, I always feel better and relieved of my worries.

Happiness is an important emotion that influences how we live and feel on a daily basis. Happiness is achieved in simple ways. People have the liberty to choose happiness because we are not bound by any circumstances for life. Factors that influence happiness are those that contribute to emotional wellbeing. Physical wellbeing also affects happiness. Every individual finds happiness in their own because they know what makes them happy and what doesn’t.

Emotions , Happiness , Psychology

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Happiness Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on happiness.

Happiness is something which we can’t describe in words it can only be felt from someone’s expression of a smile. Likewise, happiness is a signal or identification of good and prosperous life. Happiness is very simple to feel and difficult to describe. Moreover, happiness comes from within and no one can steal your happiness.

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Every day we see and meet people who look happy from the outside but deep down they are broken and are sad from the inside. For many people, money is the main cause of happiness or grief. But this is not right. Money can buy you food, luxurious house, healthy lifestyle servants, and many more facilities but money can’t buy you happiness.

And if money can buy happiness then the rich would be the happiest person on the earth. But, we see a contrary image of the rich as they are sad, fearful, anxious, stressed, and suffering from various problems.

In addition, they have money still they lack in social life with their family especially their wives and this is the main cause of divorce among them.

Also, due to money, they feel insecurity that everyone is after their money so to safeguard their money and them they hire security. While the condition of the poor is just the opposite. They do not have money but they are happy with and stress-free from these problems.

In addition, they take care of their wife and children and their divorce rate is also very low.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Happiness Comes from Within

As we now know that we can’t buy happiness with money and there is no other shortcut to happiness. It is something that you feel from within.

In addition, true happiness comes from within yourself. Happiness is basically a state of mind.

Moreover, it can only be achieved by being positive and avoiding any negative thought in mind. And if we look at the bright side of ourselves only then we can be happy.

Happiness in a Relationship

People nowadays are not satisfied with their relationship because of their differences and much other reason. But for being happy in a relationship we have to understand that there are some rules or mutual understanding that keeps a relationship healthy and happy.

Firstly, take care of yourself then your partner because if you yourself are not happy then how can you make your partner happy.

Secondly, for a happy and healthy relationship give you partner some time and space. In addition, try to understand their feeling and comfort level because if you don’t understand these things then you won’t be able to properly understand your partner.

Most importantly, take initiative and plan to go out with your partner and family. Besides, if they have plans then go with them.

To conclude, we can say that happiness can only be achieved by having positive thinking and enjoying life. Also, for being happy and keeping the people around us happy we have to develop a healthy relationship with them. Additionally, we also have to give them the proper time.

FAQs about Happiness

Q.1 What is True Happiness? A.1 True happiness means the satisfaction that you find worthy. The long-lasting true happiness comes from life experience, a feeling of purpose, and a positive relationship.

Q.2 Who is happier the rich or the poor and who is more wealthy rich or poor? A.2 The poor are happier then the rich but if we talk about wealth the rich are more wealthy then the poor. Besides, wealth brings insecurity, anxiety and many other problems.

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What Does Happiness Really Mean?

It's not the same for everyone

Verywell/ Jiaqi Zhou

How to Cultivate Happiness

How to be a happier person.

Happiness is something that people seek to find, yet what defines happiness can vary from one person to the next. Typically, happiness is an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. While happiness has many different definitions, it is often described as involving positive emotions and life satisfaction. 

When most people talk about the true meaning of happiness, they might be talking about how they feel in the present moment or referring to a more general sense of how they feel about life overall.

Because happiness tends to be such a broadly defined term, psychologists and other social scientists typically use the term ' subjective well-being ' when they talk about this emotional state. Just as it sounds, subjective well-being tends to focus on an individual's overall personal feelings about their life in the present.  

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 ones.
• 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.

Another definition of happiness comes from the ancient philosopher Aristotle, who suggested that happiness is the one human desire, and all other human desires exist as a way to obtain happiness. He believed that there were four levels of happiness: happiness from immediate gratification, from comparison and achievement, from making positive contributions, and from achieving fulfillment. 

Happiness, Aristotle suggested, could be achieved through the golden mean, which involves finding a balance between deficiency and excess.

Signs of Happiness

While perceptions of happiness may be different from one person to the next, there are some key signs that psychologists look for when measuring and assessing happiness.

Some key signs of happiness include:

• Feeling like you are living the life you wanted
• Going with the flow and a willingness to take life as it comes
• Feeling that the conditions of your life are good
• Enjoying positive, healthy relationships with other people
• Feeling that you have accomplished (or will accomplish) what you want in life
• Feeling satisfied with your life
• Feeling positive more than negative
• Being open to new ideas and experiences
• Practicing self-care and treating yourself with kindness and compassion
• Experiencing gratitude
• Feeling that you are living life with a sense of meaning and purpose
• Wanting to share your happiness and joy with others

One important thing to remember is that happiness isn't a state of constant euphoria . Instead, happiness is an overall sense of experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones.

Happy people still feel the whole range of human emotions—anger, frustrastion, boredom, loneliness, and even sadness—from time to time. But even when faced with discomfort, they have an underlying sense of optimism that things will get better, that they can deal with what is happening, and that they will be able to feel happy again.

"Even people who have experienced terrible trauma can still also experience happiness," says Hannah Owens, LMSW , "though it is important to recognize that it might be more difficult for them to obtain the balance generally associated with overall happiness, and that their happiness might look very different from others' who have not had to deal with such challenges."

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.

• 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.
• 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. 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.

Hedonia and eudemonia are more commonly known today in psychology as pleasure and meaning, respectively. More recently, psychologists have suggested the addition of the third component that relates to engagement . These are feelings of commitment and participation in different areas of life.

Research suggests that happy people tend to rank pretty high on eudaimonic life satisfaction and better than average on their hedonic life satisfaction.  

All of these can play an important role in the overall experience of happiness, although the relative value of each can be highly subjective. Some activities may be both pleasurable and meaningful, while others might skew more one way or the other.

For example, volunteering for a cause you believe in might be more meaningful than pleasurable. Watching your favorite tv show, on the other hand, might rank lower in meaning and higher on pleasure.

Some types of happiness that may fall under these three main categories include:

• Joy: A often relatively brief feeling that is felt in the present moment
• Excitement: A happy feeling that involves looking forward to something with positive anticipation
• Gratitude: A positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative
• Pride: A feeling of satisfaction in something that you have accomplished
• Optimism: This is a way of looking at life with a positive, upbeat outlook
• Contentment: This type of happiness involves a sense of satisfaction

While some people just tend to be naturally happier, there are things that you can do to cultivate your sense of happiness. 

Pursue Intrinsic Goals 

Achieving goals that you are intrinsically motivated to pursue, particularly ones that are focused on personal growth and community, can help boost happiness. Research suggests that pursuing these types of intrinsically-motivated goals can increase happiness more than pursuing extrinsic goals like gaining money or status.  

Enjoy the Moment

Studies have found that people tend to over earn—they become so focused on accumulating things that they lose track of actually enjoying what they are doing.  

So, rather than falling into the trap of mindlessly accumulating to the detriment of your own happiness, focus on practicing gratitude for the things you have and enjoying the process as you go. 

Reframe Negative Thoughts

When you find yourself stuck in a pessimistic outlook or experiencing negativity, look for ways that you can reframe your thoughts in a more positive way. 

People have a natural negativity bias , or a tendency to pay more attention to bad things than to good things. This can have an impact on everything from how you make decisions to how you form impressions of other people. Discounting the positive—a cognitive distortion where people focus on the negative and ignore the positive—can also contribute to negative thoughts.

Reframing these negative perceptions isn't about ignoring the bad. Instead, it means trying to take a more balanced, realistic look at events. It allows you to notice patterns in your thinking and then challenge negative thoughts.

Avoid Social Comparison

Another way to cultivate happiness and to make sure that you are able to maintain your happiness, Owens says, is to stop comparing yourself to others.

"No two lives are alike, and focusing on what others have is a sure-fire way to feel envy and regret. Focus on the good things in your own life, and you'll be more likely to find contentment in them," she says.

Impact of Happiness

Why is happiness so important? Happiness has been shown to predict positive outcomes in many different areas of life including mental well-being, physical health, and overall longevity.

• Positive emotions increase satisfaction with life.
• Happiness helps people build stronger coping skills and emotional resources.
• Positive emotions are linked to better health and longevity. One study found that people who experienced more positive emotions than negative ones were more likely to have survived over a 13 year period.
• Positive feelings increase resilience. Resilience helps people better manage stress and bounce back better when faced with setbacks. For example, one study found that happier people tend to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and that these benefits tend to persist over time.
• People who report having a positive state of well-being are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors such as eating fruits and vegetables and engaging in regular physical exercise.
• Being happy may make help you get sick less often. Happier mental states are linked to increased immunity.

Some people seem to have a naturally higher baseline for happiness—one large-scale study of more than 2,000 twins suggested that around 50% of overall life satisfaction was due to genetics, 10% to external events, and 40% to individual activities.

So while you might not be able to control what your “base level” of happiness is, there are things that you can do to make your life happier and more fulfilling. Even the happiest of individuals can feel down from time to time and happiness is something that all people need to consciously pursue.

Cultivate Strong Relationships

Social support is an essential part of well-being. Research has found that good social relationships are the strongest predictor of happiness. Having positive and supportive connections with people you care about can provide a buffer against stress, improve your health, and help you become a happier person.

In the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a longitudinal study that looked at participants over 80 years, researchers found that relationships and how happy people are in those relationships strongly impacted overall health.

So if you are trying to improve your happiness, cultivating solid social connections is a great place to start. Consider deepening your existing relationships and explore ways to make new friends. 

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is good for both your body and mind. Physical activity is linked to a range of physical and psychological benefits including improved mood. Numerous studies have shown that regular exercise may play a role in warding off symptoms of depression, but evidence also suggests that it may also help make people happier, too.

In one analysis of past research on the connection between physical activity and happiness, researchers found a consistent positive link.  

Even a little bit of exercise produces a happiness boost—people who were physically active for as little as 10 minutes a day or who worked out only once a week had higher levels of happiness than people who never exercised.

Show Gratitude

In one study, participants were asked to engage in a writing exercise for 10 to 20 minutes each night before bed.   Some were instructed to write about daily hassles, some about neutral events, and some about things they were grateful for. The results found that people who had written about gratitude had increase positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improve life satisfaction.

As the authors of the study suggest, keeping a gratitude list is a relatively easy, affordable, simple, and pleasant way to boost your mood. Try setting aside a few minutes each night to write down or think about things in your life that you are grateful for.

Find a Sense of Purpose

Research has found that people who feel like they have a purpose have better well-being and feel more fulfilled.   A sense of purpose involves seeing your life as having goals, direction, and meaning. It may help improve happiness by promoting healthier behaviors. 

Some things you can do to help find a sense of purpose include:

• Explore your interests and passions
• Engage in prosocial and altruistic causes
• Work to address injustices
• Look for new things you might want to learn more about

This sense of purpose is influenced by a variety of factors, but it is also something that you can cultivate. It involves finding a goal that you care deeply about that will lead you to engage in productive, positive actions in order to work toward that goal.

Challenges of Finding Happiness

While seeking happiness is important, there are times when the pursuit of life satisfaction falls short. Some challenges to watch for include:

Valuing the Wrong Things

Money may not be able to buy happiness, but there is research that spending money on things like experiences can make you happier than spending it on material possessions. 

One study, for example, found that spending money on things that buy time—such as spending money on time-saving services—can increase happiness and life satisfaction.  

Rather than overvaluing things such as money, status, or material possessions, pursuing goals that result in more free time or enjoyable experiences may have a higher happiness reward.

Not Seeking Social Support

Social support means having friends and loved ones that you can turn to for support. Research has found that perceived social support plays an important role in subjective well-being. For example, one study found that perceptions of social support were responsible for 43% of a person's level of happiness.  

It is important to remember that when it comes to social support, quality is more important than quantity. Having just a few very close and trusted friends will have a greater impact on your overall happiness than having many casual acquaintances.

Thinking of Happiness as an Endpoint

Happiness isn’t a goal that you can simply reach and be done with. It is a constant pursuit that requires continual nurturing and sustenance.

One study found that people who tend to value happiness most also tended to feel the least satisfied with their lives.   Essentially, happiness becomes such a lofty goal that it becomes virtually unattainable. 

“Valuing happiness could be self-defeating because the more people value happiness, the more likely they will feel disappointed,” suggest the authors of the study.

Perhaps the lesson is to not make something as broadly defined as “happiness” your goal. Instead, focus on building and cultivating the sort of life and relationships that bring fulfillment and satisfaction to your life. 

It is also important to consider how you personally define happiness. Happiness is a broad term that means different things to different people. Rather than looking at happiness as an endpoint, it can be more helpful to think about what happiness really means to you and then work on small things that will help you become happier. This can make achieving these goals more manageable and less overwhelming.

History of Happiness

Happiness has long been recognized as a critical part of health and well-being. The "pursuit of happiness" is even given as an inalienable right in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Our understanding of what will bring happiness, however, has shifted over time.

Psychologists have also proposed a number of different theories to explain how people experience and pursue happiness. These theories include:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to pursue increasingly complex needs. Once more basic needs are fulfilled, people are then motivated by more psychological and emotional needs.

At the peak of the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization, or the need to achieve one's full potential. The theory also stresses the importance of peak experiences or transcendent moments in which a person feels deep understanding, happiness, and joy. 

Positive Psychology

The pursuit of happiness is central to the field of positive psychology . Psychologists who study positive psychology are interested in learning ways to increase positivity and helping people live happier, more satisfying lives. 

Rather than focusing on mental pathologies, the field instead strives to find ways to help people, communities, and societies improve positive emotions and achieve greater happiness.

Finley K, Axner M, Vrooman K, Tse D. Ideal levels of prosocial involvement in relation to momentary affect and eudaimonia: Exploring the golden mean . Innov Aging . 2020;4(Suppl 1):614. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2083

Kringelbach ML, Berridge KC. The neuroscience of happiness and pleasure .  Soc Res (New York) . 2010;77(2):659-678.

Panel on Measuring Subjective Well-Being in a Policy-Relevant Framework; Committee on National Statistics; Division on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; National Research Council; Stone AA, Mackie C, editors. Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience [Internet]. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US).

Lee MA, Kawachi I. The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea . PLoS One . 2019;14(1):e0209821. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209821

Hsee CK, Zhang J, Cai CF, Zhang S. Overearning . Psychol Sci . 2013;24(6):852-9

Carstensen LL, Turan B, Scheibe S, et al. Emotional experience improves with age: evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling . Psychol Aging . 2011;26(1):21‐33. doi:10.1037/a0021285

Steptoe A, Wardle J. Positive affect and biological function in everyday life . Neurobiol Aging . 2005;26 Suppl 1:108‐112. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2005.08.016

Sapranaviciute-Zabazlajeva L, Luksiene D, Virviciute D, Bobak M, Tamosiunas A. L ink between healthy lifestyle and psychological well-being in Lithuanian adults aged 45-72: a cross-sectional study . BMJ Open . 2017;7(4):e014240. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014240

Costanzo ES, Lutgendorf SK, Kohut ML, et al. Mood and cytokine response to influenza virus in older adults . J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci . 2004;59(12):1328‐1333. doi:10.1093/gerona/59.12.1328

Lyubomirsky S, Sheldon KM, Schkade D. Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change . Review of General Psychology. 2005;9 (2):111–131. doi:0.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111

The Harvard Gazette. Good genes are nice, but joy is better .

Zhang Z, Chen W. A systematic review of the relationship between physical activity and happiness . J Happiness Stud 20, 1305–1322 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-9976-0

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Ryff CD. Psychological well-being revisited: advances in the science and practice of eudaimonia . Psychother Psychosom . 2014;83(1):10‐28. doi:10.1159/000353263

Whillans AV, Dunn EW, Smeets P, Bekkers R, Norton MI. Buying time promotes happiness .  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 2017;114(32):8523‐8527. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706541114

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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Essays About Happiness: 5 Essay Examples and 6 Writing Prompts

Being happy and content is essential to living a successful life. If you are writing essays about happiness, start by reading our helpful guide.

Whenever we feel positive emotions rushing through our heads, chances are we are feeling happy. Happiness is what you feel when you enter the house, the smell of your favorite food being cooked or when you finally save up enough money to buy something you’ve wanted. It is an undeniably magical feeling. 

Happiness can do wonders for your productivity and well-being; when you are happy, you are more energetic, optimistic, and motivated. So it is, without a doubt, important. However, do not become caught up in trying to be happy, as this may lead to worse problems. Instead, allow yourself to feel your emotions; be authentic, even if that means feeling a little more negative.

5 Top Essay Examples

1. causes of happiness by otis curtis, 2. how to be happy by tara parker-pope, 3. reflections on ‘happiness’ by shahzada sultan.

• 4.  Happiness is Overrated by John Gorman

5. Toxic positivity by Suhani Mahajan

6 prompts for essays about happiness, 1. why is it important to be happy, 2. what is happiness to you, 3. the role of material things in happiness, 4. how does happiness make you more productive, 5. is true happiness achievable, 6. happiness vs. truth.

“If you don’t feel good about yourself you will have a similarly negative attitude towards others and education is one way of having good self-esteem, as it helps you to live life successfully and happily. Education is one way of getting that dream job and education is an essential cog in the wheel to living comfortably and happily. One English survey that included over 15,000 participants revealed that 81 percent of people who had achieved a good level of education had a high level of life satisfaction.”

Based on personal beliefs and research, Curtis’ essay describes different contributing causes to people’s happiness. These include a loving, stable family and good health. Interestingly, there is a positive correlation between education level and happiness, as Curtis cites statistics showing that education leads to high self-esteem, which can make you happier. 

“Socratic questioning is the process of challenging and changing irrational thoughts. Studies show that this method can reduce depression symptoms. The goal is to get you from a negative mindset (“I’m a failure.”) to a more positive one (“I’ve had a lot of success in my career. This is just one setback that doesn’t reflect on me. I can learn from it and be better.”)”

Parker-Pope writes about the different factors of happiness and how to practice mindfulness and positivity in this guide. She gives tips such as doing breathing exercises, moving around more, and spending time in places and with people that make you happy. Most importantly, however, she reminds readers that negative thoughts should not be repressed. Instead, we should accept them but challenge that mindset.

“Happiness is our choice of not leaving our mind and soul at the mercy of the sways of excitement. Happiness cannot eliminate sorrow, suffering, pain or death from the scheme of things, but it can help keep fear, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, pessimism and other fathers of unhappiness at bay.”

Sultan discusses what happiness means to her personally. It provides an escape from all the dreariness and lousy news of daily life, not eliminating negative thoughts but keeping them at a distance, even just for a moment. She writes that to be happy; we should not base our happiness on the outcomes of our actions. We cannot control the world around us, so we should not link our happiness to it. If something doesn’t go our way, that is just how the world works. It is useless to be sad over what we cannot control.

4.   Happiness is Overrated by John Gorman

“Our souls do float across the sea of life, taking on water as they go, sinking ever so slightly — perhaps even imperceptibly — into despair. But our souls are not the bucket. Happiness itself is. And it’s the bucket we use to pour water out our souls and keep us afloat. What we really need is peace. Peace patches the holes in our souls and stops the leaking. Once we have peace, we will no longer need to seek happiness.”

In his essay, Gorman reflects on how he stopped trying to chase happiness and instead focused on finding peace in life. He writes that we are often so desperate looking for happiness that our lives become complicated, chaotic, and even depressing at times. He wants readers to do what they are passionate about and be their authentic selves; that way, they will find true happiness. You might also be interested in these essays about courage .

“That’s the mindset most of us have. Half of toxic positivity is just the suppression of 200% acceptable feelings such as anger, fear, sadness, confusion, and more. Any combination of such feelings is deemed “negative.” Honestly, mix ‘em up and serve them to me in a cocktail, eh? (Fine, fine, a mocktail. I reserve my right to one of those little umbrellas though.)

But by closing ourselves off to anything but positivity, we’re experiencing the same effects as being emotionally numb. Why are we doing this to ourselves?”

Mahajan writes about the phenomenon known as “toxic positivity” in which everyone is expected to be happy with their lives. It trivializes people’s misfortunes and sufferings, telling them to be happy with what they have instead. Mahajan opposes this, believing that everyone’s feelings are valid. She writes that it’s okay to be sad or angry at times, and the stigma around “negative feelings” should be erased. When we force ourselves to be happy, we may feel emotionally numb or even sad, the exact opposite of being happy. 

Many would say that happiness aids you in many aspects of your life. Based on personal experience and research, discuss the importance of being happy. Give a few benefits or advantages of happiness. These can include physical, mental, and psychological benefits, as well as anything else you can think of. 

Happiness means different things to different people and may come from various sources. In your essay, you can also explain how you define happiness. Reflect on this feeling and write about what makes you happy and why. Explain in detail for a more convincing essay; be sure to describe what you are writing about well. 

Happiness has a myriad of causes, many of which are material. Research the extent to which material possessions can make one happy, and write your essay about whether or not material things can truly make us happy. Consider the question, “Can money buy happiness?” Evaluate the extent to which it can or cannot, depending on your stance.  

Happiness has often been associated with a higher level of productivity. In your essay, look into the link between these two. In particular, discuss the mental and chemical effects of happiness. Since this topic is rooted in research and statistics, vet your sources carefully: only use the most credible sources for an accurate essay.

In their essays, many, including Gorman and Mahajan, seem to hold a more critical view of happiness. Our world is full of suffering and despair, so some ask: “Can we truly be happy on this earth?” Reflect on this question and make the argument for your position. Be sure to provide evidence from your own experiences and those of others. 

In dystopian stories, authorities often restrict people’s knowledge to keep them happy. We are seeing this even today, with some governments withholding crucial information to keep the population satisfied or stable. Write about whether you believe what they are doing is defensible or not, and provide evidence to support your point. 

For help with this topic, read our guide explaining “what is persuasive writing ?”

For help picking your next essay topic, check out our top essay topics about love .

1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

Philosophy, One Thousand Words at a Time

Happiness: What is it to be Happy?

Author: Kiki Berk Category: Ethics , Phenomenology and Existentialism Words: 992

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Do you want to be happy? If you’re like most people, then yes, you do.

But what is happiness? What does it mean to be “happy”? [1]

This essay discusses four major philosophical theories of happiness. [2]

1. Hedonism

According to hedonism, happiness is simply the experience of pleasure. [3] A happy person has a lot more pleasure than displeasure (pain) in her life. To be happy, then, is just to feel good. In other words, there’s no difference between being happy and feeling happy.

Famous hedonists include the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus and the modern English philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. [4] These philosophers all took happiness to include intellectual pleasures (such as reading a book) in addition to physical pleasures (such as having sex).

Although we associate being happy with feeling good, many philosophers think that hedonism is mistaken.

First, it’s possible to be happy without feeling good (such as when a happy person has a toothache), and it’s also possible to feel good without being happy (such as when an unhappy person gets a massage). Since happiness and pleasure can come apart, they can’t be the same thing.

Second, happiness and pleasure seem to have different properties. Pleasures are often fleeting, simple, and superficial (think of the pleasure involved in eating ice cream), whereas happiness is supposed to be lasting, complex, and profound. Things with different properties can’t be identical, so happiness can’t be the same thing as pleasure.

These arguments suggest that happiness and pleasure aren’t identical. That being said, it’s hard to imagine a happy person who never feels good. So, perhaps happiness involves pleasure without being identical to it.

2. Virtue Theory

According to virtue theory, happiness is the result of cultivating the virtues—both moral and intellectual—such as wisdom, courage, temperance, and patience. A happy person must be sufficiently virtuous. To be happy, then, is to cultivate excellence and to flourish as a result. This view is famously held by Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. [5]

Linking happiness to virtue has the advantage of treating happiness as a lasting, complex, and profound phenomenon. It also explains how happiness and pleasure can come apart, since a person can be virtuous without feeling good, and a person can feel good without being virtuous.

In spite of these advantages, however, virtue theory is questionable. An important part of being virtuous is being morally good. But are immoral people always unhappy? Arguably not. Many bad people seem happy in spite of—or even because of—their unsavory actions. And a similar point can be made about intellectual virtue: unwise or irrational people aren’t always unhappy, either. In fact, some of these people seem happy as a direct result of their intellectual deficiencies. “Ignorance is bliss,” the saying goes!

But virtue theorists have a response here. Maybe some immoral people seem happy, on the surface; but that doesn’t mean that they are truly happy, at some deeper level. And the same thing can be said about people who lack the intellectual virtues: ignorance may lead to bliss, but that bliss isn’t true happiness. So, there seems to be some room for debate on these issues.

3. Desire Satisfaction Theory

According to the desire satisfaction theory, happiness consists in getting what you want—whatever that happens to be. A happy person has many of her desires satisfied; and the more her desires are satisfied, the happier she is.

Even though getting what you want can be a source of happiness, identifying happiness with desire satisfaction is problematic.

To start, this implies that the only way to become happier is by satisfying a desire. This seems wrong. Sometimes our happiness is increased by getting something we didn’t previously want—such as a surprise birthday party or getting stuck taking care of a neighbor’s cat. This implies that desire satisfaction is not necessary for happiness.

Desire satisfaction is not always sufficient for happiness, either. Unfortunately, it is common for people to feel disappointed when they get what they want. Many accomplishments, such as earning a degree or winning a tournament, simply don’t bring the long-lasting happiness that we expect. [6]

So, even if getting what we want sometimes makes us happy, these counterexamples suggest that happiness does not consist in desire satisfaction. [7]

4. Life Satisfaction Theory

According to the life satisfaction theory, happiness consists in being satisfied with your life. A happy person has a positive impression of her life in general, even though she might not be happy about every single aspect of it. To be happy, then, means to be content with your life as a whole.

It’s controversial whether life satisfaction is affective (a feeling) or cognitive (a belief). On the one hand, life satisfaction certainly comes with positive feelings. On the other hand, it’s possible to step back, reflect on your life, and realize that it’s good, even when you’re feeling down. [8]  

One problem for this theory is that it’s difficult for people to distinguish how they feel in the moment from how they feel about their lives overall. Studies have shown that people report feeling more satisfied with their lives when the weather is good, even though this shouldn’t make that much of a difference. But measuring life satisfaction is complicated, so perhaps such studies should be taken with a grain of salt. [9]

5. Conclusion

Understanding what happiness is should enable you to become happier.

First, decide which theory of happiness you think is true, based on the arguments.

Second, pursue whatever happiness is according to that theory: seek pleasure and try to avoid pain (hedonism), cultivate moral and intellectual virtue (virtue theory), decide what you really want and do your best to get it (desire satisfaction theory), or change your life (or your attitude about it) so you feel (or believe) that it’s going well (life satisfaction theory).

And if you’re not sure which theory of happiness is true, then you could always try pursuing all of these things. 😊

[1] This might seem like an empirical (scientific) question rather than a philosophical one. However, this essay asks the conceptual question of what happiness is, and conceptual questions belong to philosophy, not to science.

[2] Happiness is commonly distinguished from “well-being,” i.e., the state of a life that is worth living. Whether or not happiness is the same thing as well-being is an open question, but most philosophers think it isn’t. See, for example, Haybron (2020).

[3] The word “hedonism” has different uses in philosophy. In this paper, it means that happiness is the same thing as pleasure (hedonism about happiness). But sometimes it is used to mean that happiness is the only thing that has intrinsic value (hedonism about value) or that humans are always and only motivated by pleasure (psychological hedonism). It’s important not to confuse these different uses of the word.

[4] For more on Epicurus and happiness, see Konstan (2018). For more on Bentham and Mill on happiness, see Driver (2014), as well as John Stuart Mill on The Good Life: Higher-Quality Pleasures by Dale E. Miller and Consequentialism by Shane Gronholz

[5] For more on Plato and happiness, see Frede (2017); for more on Aristotle and happiness, see Kraut (2018), and on the Stoics and happiness, see Baltzly (2019).

[6] For a discussion of the phenomenon of disappointment in this context see, for example, Ben Shahar (2007).

[7] For more objections to the desire satisfaction theory, see Shafer-Landau (2018) and Vitrano (2013).

[8] If happiness is life satisfaction, then happiness seems to be “subjective” in the sense that a person cannot be mistaken about whether or not she is happy. Whether happiness is subjective in this sense is controversial, and a person who thinks that a person can be mistaken about whether or not she is happy will probably favor a different theory of happiness.

[9] See Weimann, Knabe and Schob (2015) and Berk (2018).

Baltzly, Dirk, “Stoicism”,  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Berk, Kiki (2018). “Does Money Make Us Happy? The Prospects and Problems of Happiness Research in Economics,” in Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 1241-1245.

Ben-Shahar, Tal (2007). Happier . New York: McGraw-Hill.

Driver, Julia, “The History of Utilitarianism”,  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Frede, Dorothea, “Plato’s Ethics: An Overview”,  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Haybron, Dan, “Happiness”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy  (Summer 2020 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Konstan, David, “Epicurus”,  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Kraut, Richard, “Aristotle’s Ethics”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

Shafer-Landau, Russ (2018). The Ethical Life: Fundamental Readings in Ethics and Moral Problems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vitrano, Christine (2013). The Nature and Value of Happiness. Boulder: Westview Press.

Weimann, Joachim, Andreas Knabe, and Ronnie Schob (2015). Measuring Happiness . Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Related Essays

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The Philosophy of Humor: What Makes Something Funny?  by Chris A. Kramer

Virtue Ethics  by David Merry

John Stuart Mill on The Good Life: Higher-Quality Pleasures by Dale E. Miller

Consequentialism by Shane Gronholz

Ethical Egoism by Nathan Nobis

Ancient Cynicism: Rejecting Civilization and Returning to Nature by G. M. Trujillo, Jr.

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About the Author

Dr. Kiki Berk is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southern New Hampshire University. She received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the VU University Amsterdam in 2010. Her research focuses on Beauvoir’s and Sartre’s philosophies of death and meaning in life.

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A block party during Carnival in Belo Horizonte, Brazil; 11 February 2024. Photo by Washington Alves/Reuters

Learning to be happier

In order to help improve my students’ mental health, i offered a course on the science of happiness. it worked – but why.

by Bruce Hood   + BIO

In 2018, a tragic period enveloped the University of Bristol, when several students killed themselves related to work stress. Suicide is usually the ultimate culmination of a crisis in mental health, but these students weren’t alone in feeling extreme pressure: across the campus there was a pervasive sense that the general student body was not coping with the demands of higher education. My own tutee students, whom I met on a regular basis, were reporting poor mental health or asking for extensions because they were unable to meet deadlines that were stressing them out. They were overly obsessed with marks and other performance outcomes, and this impacted not only on them, but also on the teaching and support staff who were increasingly dealing with alleviating student anxiety. Students wanted more support that most felt was lacking and, in an effort to deal with the issue, the university had invested heavily, making more provision for mental health services. The problem with this strategy, however, is that by the time someone seeks out professional services, they are already at a crisis point. I felt compelled to do something.

At the time, Bristol University was described in the British press as a ‘toxic’ environment, but this was an unfair label as every higher education institution was, and still is, experiencing a similar mental health crisis. Even in the Ivy League universities in the United States, there was a problem, as I discovered when I became aware of a course on positive psychology that had become the most popular at Yale in the spring of 2018. On reading about the course, I was somewhat sceptical that simple interventions could make much difference until I learned that Yale’s ‘Psychology and the Good Life’ course was being delivered by a colleague of mine, Laurie Santos, who I knew would not associate herself with anything flaky.

That autumn term of 2018, I decided to try delivering a free lunchtime series of lectures, ‘The Science of Happiness’, based on the Yale course. Even though this pilot was not credit-bearing, more than 500 students gave up their Wednesday lunchtimes to attend. That was unusual as, in my experience, students rarely give up time or expend effort to undertake activities unless they are awarded credit or incentives. There would be 10 lectures, and everyone was requested to fill in self-report questionnaires assessing various mental health dimensions both before and after the course, to determine whether there had been any impact and, if so, how much.

The Science of Happiness had clearly piqued interest as indicated by the audience size, but I was still nervous. This was not my area of academic expertise and there was heightened sensitivity following the media attention over recent tragic events on campus. What were the students’ expectations? Talking about mental health seemed hazardous. Would I trigger adverse reactions simply by discussing these issues?

D espite my initial reservations, the final feedback after the course ended was overwhelmingly positive. That was gratifying but, as a scientist, I like hard evidence. What would the questionnaires tell us? The analysis of the before and after scores revealed that there had been a 10-15 per cent positive increase in mental wellbeing across the different measures of wellbeing, anxiety and loneliness. That may not sound much but it was the average, and a significant impact in the field of interventions. Who wouldn’t want to be 15 per cent happier, healthier or wealthier? I was no longer a sceptic; I was a convert. I would stop focusing on developmental psychology, my own area of research, and concentrate on making students happier. Even a 15 per cent improvement might lead to a degree of prevention that was better than dealing with a student who was already struggling.

The following year, we launched a credit-bearing course for first-year students who had room in their curriculum schedule to take an open unit, which has now been running for five years. These psychoeducational courses are not new and predate my efforts by at least a decade. But what makes the Bristol psychoeducational course unique (and I believe this is still the case) is that we persuaded the university to allow a credit-bearing course that had no graded examinations but was accredited based on engagement alone. Not only was I convinced by compelling arguments for why graded assessment is the wrong way to educate, but it would have been hypocritical of me to lecture about the failings of an education system based solely on assessment, and then give students an exam to determine if they had engaged. Rather, engagement required regular weekly attendance, meeting in peer-mentored small groups, but also undertaking positive psychology exercises and journaling about their experiences so that we could track progress. Again, to test the impact of the course, students were asked to fill in the various psychometric questionnaires to give us an insight to impact.

Meditation stops you thinking negative thoughts. Not exactly a scientific explanation

We now have five years’ worth of data and have published peer-reviewed scientific papers on evaluation of the course. As with the initial pilot, the consistent finding is that there is, on average, a 10-15 per cent significant increase in positive mental wellbeing over the duration of the course. The course improves mental wellbeing but there are limitations. Our most recent analysis over the longer term shows that the positive benefits we generate during the course, and the two months after, are lost within a year, returning to previous baseline scores, unless the students maintain some of the recommended activities. However, in those students who kept practising at least one of the positive psychology interventions (PPIs) such as journaling, meditation, exercise, expressing gratitude or any of the other evidence-based activities, they maintained their benefits up to two years later.

Why do interventions work and why do they stop working? As to the first question, there are countless self-help books promoting PPIs, but the level of explanation is either missing or tends to be circular. Acts of kindness work because they make you feel better. Meditation calms the mind and stops you thinking negative thoughts. Not exactly a scientific explanation or revelation. Even though I had largely put my experimental work with children on hold because of the demands of teaching such a large course, I was still intellectually intrigued by the same basic theoretical question that has always motivated my research. What is the mechanism underlying positive psychology?

T here are several plausible hypotheses out there from established academics in the field that explain some of the activities, but they lack a unifying thread that I thought must be operating across the board. I started considering the wide and diverse range of PPIs to see if there was any discernible pattern that might suggest underlying mechanisms. Two years ago, I had an insight and I think the answer can be found in the way we focus on our self.

In my role as a developmental psychologist, I see change and continuity everywhere in relation to human thought and behaviour. For some time, I have been fascinated by the concept of the self and how it emerges but must change over the course of a lifetime. I believe earlier childhood notions lay the foundation for later cognition which is why development is so critical to understanding adults. My most recent work concentrated on how ownership and possessions play major roles in our concept of self, and I was particularly interested in acts of sharing among children. Specifically, we had completed a set of studies demonstrating that, when children are instructed to talk about themselves, they thought about their own possessions differently and became less willing to share with others. Emphasising their self had made these children more selfish. This got me thinking about the role of self-focus in happiness.

The most pernicious aspect of self-focus is the tendency to keep comparing ourselves to others

Infants start off with an egocentric view of the world – a term and concept introduced by the psychologist Jean Piaget. Egocentric individuals tend to perceive the world from their own perspective, and many studies have shown that young children are egocentric in the way they see the world, act, talk, think and behave with others. Normal development requires adopting a more allocentric – or other-based perspective in order to be accepted. The sense of self changes from early ebullient egocentrism to an increasing awareness of one’s relative position in the social order. Children may become more other-focused but that also includes unfavourable comparisons. They increasingly become self-aware and concerned about what others think about them – a concern that transitions into a preoccupation when they enter adolescence that never really goes away. As for adults, like many features of the human mind, earlier ways of thinking are never entirely abandoned. This is why our self-focus can become a ‘curse’, as the psychologist Mark Leary describes , feeding the inner critic who is constantly negatively evaluating our position in life.

One reason that self-focus can become a curse is that we are ignorant of the biases our brains operate with that lead us to make wrong decisions and comparisons. When it comes to happy choices, we want something because we think it will make us happy, but our predictions are inaccurate. We think events will be more impactful than they turn out to be, and we fail to appreciate how fast we get used to things, both good and bad. This is called a failure of affective forecasting which is why the psychologist Dan Gilbert explains that our tendency to ‘stumble on happiness’ is because our emotional predictions are so way off. We don’t take into consideration how future circumstances will differ because we focus on just one element and we also forget how quickly we adapt to even the most pleasurable experiences. But the most pernicious aspect of self-focus is the tendency to keep comparing ourselves to others who seem to be leading happier lives. Social media is full of images of delicious plates of food, celebrity friends, exotic holidays, luxurious products, amazing parties and just about anything that qualifies as worthy of posting to bolster one’s status. Is it any wonder that the individuals who are the most prone to social comparison are the ones who feel the worst after viewing social media? As Gore Vidal once quipped: ‘Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.’

If egocentric self-focus is problematic then maybe positive psychology works by altering our perspective to one that is more allocentric or ‘other-focused’? To do so is challenging because it is not easy to step out of ourselves under normal circumstances. Our stream of conscious awareness is from the first-person, or egocentric, perspective and, indeed, it is nigh-on-impossible to imagine an alternative version because our sensory systems, thought processes and representation of our selves are coded as such to enable us to interact within the world as coherent entities.

M any PPIs such as sharing, acts of kindness, gratitude letters or volunteering are clearly directed towards enriching the lives of others, but how can we explain the benefits of solitary practices where the self seems to be the focus of attention? The explanation lies with the self-representation circuitry in the brain known as the default mode network (DMN). One of the surprising discoveries from the early days of brain imaging is that, when we are not task-focused, rather than becoming inactive, the brain’s DMN goes into overdrive. Mind-wandering is commonly reported during bouts of DMN activity and, although that may be associated with positive daydreaming, we are also ruminating about unresolved problems that continue to concern us. According to one influential study that contacted people at random points of the day to ask them about what they were doing, what they were thinking and how they were feeling, people were more likely to be unhappy when their minds were wandering, which was about half of the waking day. Probably because they were focusing on their own predicaments.

If you focus on your problems, this can become difficult to control. There’s no point trying to stop yourself ruminating because the very act of trying not to think about a problem increases the likelihood that this becomes the very thought that occupies your mind. This was first described in an 1863 essay by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, when he observed the effect of trying not to think; he wrote: ‘Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.’ My late colleague Dan Wegner would go on to study this phenomenon called ironic thought suppression , which he explained resulted from two mechanisms: the tendency to increase the strength of the representation of a thought by the act of trying to suppress it, and a corresponding increased vigilance to monitor when the thought comes to the fore in consciousness. Ironic thought suppression is one reason why it can be so difficult to fall asleep. This is why one of our recommended activities on our Science of Happiness course is to journal on a regular basis because this helps to process information in a much more controlled and objective way, rather than succumbing to the torment of automatic thinking.

Could the long-term benefits be something to do with altering the ego?

Other recommended activities that calibrate the level of self-focus also attenuate DMN activity. For example, mindfulness meditation advocates not trying to suppress spontaneous thoughts but rather deliberately turning attention to bodily sensations or external sounds. In this way, the spotlight of attention is directed away from the internal dialogue one is having with oneself. It is during such states that brain imaging studies reveal that various solitary interventions we recommend on the course – such as meditation or taking a walk in the country – are associated with lowered DMN activity and, correspondingly, less negative rumination. This is why achieving absorption or full immersion during optimal states of flow draws conscious awareness and attention out of egocentric preoccupation. To achieve states of flow, we recommend that students engage in activities that require a challenge that exceeds their skill level to an extent that they rise to the task, but do not feel overwhelmed by it. When individuals achieve flow states, their sense of self, and indeed time itself, appears to evaporate.

There are other more controversial ways to alter the egocentric self into one that is more allocentric. Currently, there is a growth in the use of psychedelics as a treatment for intractable depression and, so far, the initial findings from this emerging field are highly encouraging. One clinical study has shown that psychedelic-assisted therapy produced significant improvement in nearly three-quarters of patients who previously did not respond to conventional antidepressants. The primary mechanism of action of psychedelics is upon serotonin (5-HT 2A ) receptors within the DMN which, in turn, produce profound alterations of consciousness, including modulations in the sense of self, sensory perception and emotion. Could the long-term benefits be something to do with altering the ego? One of the most common reports from those who have undergone psychedelic-assisted therapy, aside from euphoria and vivid hallucinations, is a lasting, profound sense of connection to other people, the environment, nature and the cosmos. Across a variety of psychedelics, the sense of self becomes more interconnected, which is why a recent review concluded that there was consistent acute disruption in the resting state of the DMN.

I f chemically induced states of altered consciousness through psychedelics (which is currently still illegal in most places) is not your thing, then there are other ways to redress the balance between egocentrism and allocentrism. Engaging in group activities that generate synchronicity – such as rituals, dancing or singing in choirs – alter the sense of self and increase connection with others. But if group activities or psychedelic trips don’t work for you, then take a rocket trip. One of the most moving emotional and lasting experiences, known as ‘ the overview effect ’, occurs to those lucky individuals given the opportunity to view our planet from outer space. As the astronaut Edgar Mitchell described it, it creates an ‘explosion of awareness’ and an ‘overwhelming sense of oneness and connectedness … accompanied by an ecstasy … an epiphany.’

Back down on Earth, we can be happier when we simply acknowledge that we are all mortal, interconnected individuals who suffer personal losses and tragedies. No one’s life is perfect, and indeed you need to experience unhappiness in order recognise when things are going well. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it: ‘Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.’ In other words, it’s not what happens to you, but how you respond, that matters, and that’s where positive psychology can make a difference – but only if you keep reminding yourself to get out of your own head.

Happiness hack

How to shift your egocentric self to one that is more allocentric using language

Consider a problem that is currently bothering you. A real problem – not a hypothetical one or a world problem beyond your control. Find something that makes you unhappy and then say to yourself: ‘I am worried about [whatever it is] because [whatever the reason may be] and this makes me upset.’ Now repeat the exercise but this time don’t use egocentric or first-person terms such as ‘I’ or ‘me’. Rather use your name and non-first-person language such as: ‘Bruce is worried about his [whatever it is] problem and this makes him upset.’

Speaking in non-first-person language should automatically transpose you out of the egocentric perspective to one that is other or allocentric, making the problem seem less.

Anthropology

Your body is an archive

If human knowledge can disappear so easily, why have so many cultural practices survived without written records?

Helena Miton

Seeing plants anew

The stunningly complex behaviour of plants has led to a new way of thinking about our world: plant philosophy

Stella Sandford

Sex and sexuality

Sexual sensation

What makes touch on some parts of the body erotic but not others? Cutting-edge biologists are arriving at new answers

David J Linden

Knowledge is often a matter of discovery. But when the nature of an enquiry itself is at question, it is an act of creation

Céline Henne

Human reproduction

When babies are born, they cry in the accent of their mother tongue: how does language begin in the womb?

Darshana Narayanan

History of ideas

All that we are

The philosophy of personalism inspired Martin Luther King’s dream of a better world. We still need its hopeful ideas today

Bennett Gilbert

The Science of Happiness in Positive Psychology 101

Whether on a global or an individual level, the pursuit of happiness is one that is gaining traction and scientific recognition.

There are many definitions of happiness, and we will also explore those in this article. For now, we invite you to think of a time when you were happy. Were you alone? With others? Inside? Outside.

At the end of this article, revisit that memory. You may have new insight as to what made that moment “happy,” as well as tips to train your brain towards more happiness.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Happiness & Subjective Wellbeing Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients identify sources of authentic happiness and strategies to boost wellbeing.

This Article Contains:

A definition of happiness, a look at the science of happiness, the scientific research on happiness at work, 17 interesting facts and findings, a study showing how acts of kindness make us happier, the global pursuit of happiness, measures of happiness, four qualities of life.

• How to Train your Brain for Happiness

A Take-Home Message

In general, happiness is understood as the positive emotions we have in regards to the pleasurable activities we take part in through our daily lives.

Pleasure, comfort, gratitude, hope, and inspiration are examples of positive emotions that increase our happiness and move us to flourish. In scientific literature, happiness is referred to as hedonia (Ryan & Deci, 2001), the presence of positive emotions and the absence of negative emotions.

In a more broad understanding, human wellbeing is made up of both hedonic and Eudaimonic principles, the literature on which is vast and describes our personal meaning and purpose in life (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Research on happiness over the years has found that there are some contributing correlational factors that affect our happiness. These include (Ryan & Deci, 2001):

• Personality Type
• Positive Emotions versus Negative Emotions
• Attitude towards Physical Health
• Social Class and Wealth
• Attachment and Relatedness
• Goals and Self-Efficacy
• Time and Place.

So what is the “ science of happiness? ”

This is one of those times when something is exactly what it sounds like – it’s all about the science behinds what happiness is and how to experience it, what happy people do differently, and what we can do to feel happier.

This focus on happiness is new to the field of psychology; for many decades – basically since the foundation of psychology as a science in the mid- to late-1800s – the focus was on the less pleasant in life. The field focused on pathology, on the worst-scenario cases, on what can go wrong in our lives.

Although there was some attention paid to wellbeing, success, and high functioning, the vast majority of funding and research was dedicated to those who were struggling the most: those with severe mental illness, mental disorders, or those who have survived trauma and tragedy.

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with doing what we can to raise up those who are struggling, there was an unfortunate lack of knowledge about what we can do to bring us all up to a higher level of functioning and happiness.

Positive psychology changed all of that. Suddenly, there was space at the table for a focus on the positive in life, for “ what thoughts, actions, and behaviors make us more productive at work, happier in our relationships, and more fulfilled at the end of the day ” (Happify Daily, n.d.).

The science of happiness has opened our eyes to a plethora of new findings about the sunny side of life.

Current research and studies

For instance, we have learned a lot about what happiness is and what drives us.

Recent studies have shown us that:

• Money can only buy happiness up to about $75,000 – after that, it has no significant effect on our emotional wellbeing (Kahneman & Deaton, 2010).
• Most of our happiness is not determined by our genetics, but by our experiences and our day-to-day lives (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005).
• Trying too hard to find happiness often has the opposite effect and can lead us to be overly selfish (Mauss et al., 2012).
• Pursuing happiness through social means (e.g., spending more time with family and friends) is more likely to be effective than other methods (Rohrer et al., 2018).
• The pursuit of happiness is one place where we should consider ditching the SMART goals; it may be more effective to pursue “vague” happiness goals than more specific ones (Rodas et al., 2018).
• Happiness makes us better citizens – it is a good predictor of civic engagement in the transition to adulthood (Fang et al., 2018).
• Happiness leads to career success, and it doesn’t have to be “natural” happiness – researchers found that “experimentally enhancing” positive emotions also contributed to improved outcomes at work (Walsh et al., 2018).
• There is a linear relationship between religious involvement and happiness. Higher worship service attendance is correlated with more commitment to faith, and commitment to faith is related to greater compassion. Those more compassionate individuals are more likely to provide emotional support to others, and those who provide emotional support to others are more likely to be happy (Krause et al., 2018). It’s a long road, but a direct one!

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There’s been a ton of research on the effects of happiness in the workplace. Much of this is driven by companies who want to find a way to improve productivity, attract new talent, and get a dose of good publicity, all at the same time. After all, who wouldn’t want to do business with and/or work for a company full of happy employees?

Although the jury is still out on exactly how happy employees “should” be for maximum productivity, efficiency, and health, we have learned a few things about the effects of a happy workforce:

• People who are happy with their jobs are less likely to leave their jobs, less likely to be absent, and less likely to engage in counterproductive behaviors at work.
• People who are happy with their jobs are more likely to engage in behavior that contributes to a happy and productive organization, more likely to be physically healthy, and more likely to be mentally healthy.
• Happiness and job performance are related—and the relationship likely works in both directions (e.g., happy people do a better job and people who do a good job are more likely to be happy).
• Unit- or team-level happiness is also linked to positive outcomes, including higher customer satisfaction, profit, productivity, employee turnover, and a safer work environment.
• In general, a happier organization is a more productive and successful organization (Fisher, 2010).

To sum up the findings we have so far, it’s easy to see that happiness at work does matter – for individuals, for teams, and for organizations overall. We don’t have all the answers about exactly how the relationship between happiness and productivity works, but we know that there is a relationship there.

Lately, many human resources managers, executives, and other organizational leaders have decided that knowing there’s a relationship is good enough evidence to establish happiness-boosting practices at work, which means that we have a lot of opportunities to see the impact of greater happiness at work in the future.

Research in this field is booming, and new findings are coming out all the time. Here are a few of the most interesting facts and findings so far:

• Happiness is linked to lower heart rate and blood pressure, as well as healthier heart rate variability.
• Happiness can also act as a barrier between you and germs – happier people are less likely to get sick.
• People who are happier enjoy greater protection against stress and release less of the stress hormone cortisol.
• Happy people tend to experience fewer aches and pains, including dizziness, muscle strain, and heartburn.
• Happiness acts as a protective factor against disease and disability (in general, of course).
• Those who are happiest tend to live significantly longer than those who are not.
• Happiness boosts our immune system, which can help us fight and fend off the common cold.
• Happy people tend to make others happier as well, and vice versa – those who do good, feel good!
• A portion of our happiness is determined by our genetics (but there’s still plenty of room for attitude adjustments and happiness-boosting exercises!).
• Smelling floral scents like roses can make us happier.
• Those who are paid by the hour may be happier than those on salary (however, these findings are limited, so take them with a grain of salt!).
• Relationships are much more conducive to a happy life than money.
• Happier people tend to wear bright colors; it’s not certain which way the relationship works, but it can’t hurt to throw on some brighter hues once in a while—just in case!
• Happiness can help people cope with arthritis and chronic pain better.
• Being outdoors – especially near the water – can make us happier.
• The holidays can be a stressful time, even for the happiest among us – an estimated 44% of women and 31% of men get the “holiday blues.”
• Happiness is contagious! When we spend time around happy people, we’re likely to get a boost of happiness as well.

Newman (2015) is the source for the first six facts and findings, and Florentine (2016) for the latter 11 .

Feeling blue? Treat yourself to a decadent dessert.

Feeling frustrated after an argument with a friend? Skip your workout and have an extra scoop of ice cream.

The message is clear: If you want to feel happy, you should focus on your own wishes and desires. Yet this is not the advice that many people grew up hearing. Indeed, most of the world’s religions (and grandmothers everywhere) have long suggested that people should focus on others first and themselves second.

Psychologists refer to such behavior as prosocial behavior and many recent studies have shown that when people have a prosocial focus, doing kind acts for others, their own happiness increases.

But how does prosocial behavior compare to treating yourself in terms of your happiness? And does treating yourself really make you feel happy?

Nelson et al. (2016) presented their research answering these questions.

Participants were divided into four groups and given new instructions each week for four weeks.

One group was instructed to perform random acts of kindness for themselves (such as going shopping or enjoying a favorite hobby); the second group was instructed to perform acts of kindness for others (such as visiting an elderly relative or helping someone carry groceries); the third group was instructed to perform acts of kindness to improve the world (such as recycling or donating to charity); the fourth group was instructed to keep track of their daily activities.

Each week, the participants reported their activities from the previous week, as well as their experience of positive and negative emotions.

At the beginning, the end, and again two weeks after the four-week period, participants completed a questionnaire to assess their psychological flourishing. As a measure of overall happiness, the questionnaire included questions about psychological, social, and emotional wellbeing .

The Results

The results of the study were striking. Only participants who engaged in prosocial behavior demonstrated improvements in psychological flourishing.

Participants who practiced prosocial behavior demonstrated increases in positive emotions from one week to the next. In turn, these increases in feelings such as happiness, joy, and enjoyment predicted increases in psychological flourishing at the end of the study. In other words, positive emotions appeared to have been a critical ingredient linking prosocial behavior to increases in flourishing.

But what about the people who treated themselves?

They did not show the same increases in positive emotions or psychological flourishing as those who engaged in acts of kindness. In fact, people who treated themselves did not differ in positive emotions, negative emotions, or psychological flourishing over the course of the study compared to those who merely kept track of their daily activities.

This research does not say that we shouldn’t treat ourselves, show ourselves self-love when we need it, or enjoy our relaxation when we have it. However, the results of this study strongly suggest that we are more likely to reach greater levels of happiness when we exhibit prosocial behavior and show others kindness through our actions.

In world economic circles, Richard Easterlin investigated the relationship between money and wellbeing.

The Easterlin paradox—”money does not buy happiness” (Mohun, 2012)—sparked a new wave of thinking about wealth and wellbeing.

In 1972, Bhutan chose to pursue a policy of happiness rather than a focus on economic growth tracked via their gross domestic product (GDPP). Subsequently, this little nation has been among the happiest, ranking amongst nations with far superior wealth (Kelly, 2012).

More global organizations and nations are becoming aware and supportive of the importance of happiness in today’s world. This has lead to The United Nations inviting nations to take part in a happiness survey, resulting in the “ World Happiness Report ,” a basis from which to steer public policy. Learn about the World Happiness Report for 2016 .

The United Nations also established  World Happiness Day , March 20 th , which was the result of efforts of the Bhutan Kingdom and their Gross National Happiness initiative (Helliwell et al., 2013).

Organizations such as the  New Economic Foundation are playing an influential role as an economic think tank that focuses on steering economic policy and development for the betterment of human wellbeing.

Ruut Veenhoven, a world authority on the scientific study of happiness, was one of the sources of inspiration for the United Nations General Assembly (2013) adopting happiness measures. Veenhoven is a founding member of the World Database of Happiness , which is a comprehensive scientific repository of happiness measures worldwide.

The objective of this organization is to provide a coordinated collection of data, with common interpretation according to a scientifically validated happiness theory, model, and body of research.

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“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

At this point, you might be wondering: Is it possible to measure happiness? Many psychologists have devoted their careers to answering this question and in short, the answer is yes.

Happiness can be measured by these three factors: the presence of positive emotions, the absence of negative emotions, and life satisfaction (Ryan & Deci, 2001). It is a uniquely subjective experience, which means that nobody is better at reporting on someone’s happiness than the individuals themselves.

For this reason scales, self-report measures, and questionnaires are the most common formats for measuring happiness. The most recognized examples are the following:

• The PANAS (Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule);
• The SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale) ;
• The SHS (Subjective Happiness Scale)

However, there are  many instruments available to measure happiness that have proven reliable and valid over time (Hefferon & Boniwell, 2011).

Of the four dimensions, satisfaction is our personal subjective measure of happiness as we interpret life as a whole. Veenhoven’s (2010) global research into happiness suggests that happiness is possible for many.

This is an overview of his Four Qualities:

Using Veenhoven’s Four Qualities it is possible to assess the happiness of any country.

Liveability of environment

This dimension includes factors such as law, freedom, schooling, employment, electricity or gas, etc. It is a measurement of how well an environment meets what Maslow proposed as our basic needs (safety, security, shelter, food) (Maslow, 1943).

Life-ability of individuals

The ability of individuals to deal with life is important; both mental and physical health are identified as important factors, together with social values of solidarity, tolerance, and love (Veenhoven, 2010).

Utility of life

In this dimension, Veenhoven (2010) references a higher-order meaning, for example, religious affiliations.

Uchida et al. (2014) found that high levels of national disaster negatively impacted a nation’s level of happiness.

Satisfaction

Happiness is a complex construct that cannot be directly controlled. Through policy and individual and organizational action, one can endeavor to influence and increase happiness (Veenhoven, 2010).

However, happiness is a subjective experience and only once we change the way we perceive the world can we really begin sharing and creating happiness for others.

But is it possible to train yourself to be happier?

The answer is yes!

How to Train Your Brain for Happiness

At birth, our genetics provide us a set point that accounts for some portion of our happiness. Having enough food, shelter, and safety account for another portion.

There’s also quite a bit of happiness that’s entirely up to us (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005).

By training our brain through awareness and exercises to think in a happier, more optimistic, and more resilient way, we can effectively train our brains for happiness.

New discoveries in the field of positive psychology show that physical health, psychological wellbeing, and physiological functioning are all improved by how we learn to “feel good” (Fredrickson, et al., 2000).

What Are The Patterns We Need To “Train Out” of Our Brains?

• Perfectionism  – Often confused with conscientiousness, which involves appropriate and tangible expectations, perfectionism involves inappropriate levels of expectations and intangible goals. It often produces problems for adults, adolescents, and children.
• Social comparison  – When we compare ourselves to others we often find ourselves lacking. Healthy social comparison is about finding what you admire in others and learning to strive for those qualities. However, the best comparisons we can make are with ourselves. How are you better than you were in the past?
• Materialism – Attaching our happiness to external things and material wealth is dangerous, as we can lose our happiness if our material circumstances change (Carter & Gilovich, 2010).
• Maximizing  – Maximizers search for better options even when they are satisfied. This leaves them little time to be present for the good moments in their lives and with very little gratitude (Schwartz et al., 2002).

Misconceptions About Mind Training

Some of the misconceptions about retraining your brain are simply untrue. Here are a few myths that need debunking:

1. We are products of our genetics so we cannot create change in our brains.

Our minds are malleable. Ten years ago we thought brain pathways were set in early childhood. In fact, we now know that there is huge potential for large changes through to your twenties, and neuroplasticity is still changing throughout one’s life.

The myelin sheath that covers your neural pathways gets thicker and stronger the more it is used (think of the plastic protective covering on wires); the more a pathway is used, the stronger the myelin and the faster the neural pathway. Simply put, when you practice feeling grateful, you notice more things to be grateful for.

2. Brain training is brainwashing.

Brainwashing is an involuntary change. If we focus on training our mind to see the glass half full instead of half empty, that is a choice.

3. If we are too happy we run the risk of becoming overly optimistic.

There is no such thing as overly optimistic, and science shows that brain training for positivity includes practices like  mindfulness and gratitude. No one has ever overdosed on these habits.

How Is The Brain Wired For Happiness?

Our brains come already designed for happiness. We have caregiving systems in place for eye contact, touch, and vocalizations to let others know we are trustworthy and secure .

Our brains also regulate chemicals like oxytocin.

People who have more oxytocin trust more readily, have increased tendencies towards monogamy, and exhibit more caregiving behavior. These behaviors reduce stress which lowers production of hormones like cortisol and inhibits the cardiovascular response to stress (Kosfeld et al., 2005).

The following TED talk provides an insight into how we can overcome our negative mental patterns:

If happiness has little to do with having too many resources, then it is an inner state that we have the power to cultivate. The above video even offers specific exercises for you to try. Just by doing them, you are actively re-wiring your brain towards calm and happy sensations.

Meanwhile, this TED talk gives a better understanding of how to wire your brain to accept the positivity and happiness in your life:

The negativity bias that Dr. Rick Hanson discusses can help us understand how we can activate and “install” positive thinking as part of our core brain chemistry. If you don’t have a moment to watch either of these videos now, make time for it later—they are rich with relevant data and tips.

17 Exercises To Increase Happiness and Wellbeing

Add these 17 Happiness & Subjective Well-Being Exercises [PDF] to your toolkit and help others experience greater purpose, meaning, and positive emotions.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Happiness is the overall subjective experience of our positive emotions. There are many factors which influence our happiness, and ongoing research continues to uncover what makes us happiest.

This global pursuit of happiness has resulted in measures such as the World Happiness Report, while the World Happiness Database is working to collaborate and consolidate the existing happiness pursuits of different nations.

We are living in a time when the conditions for happiness are known. This can be disheartening at times when there is much negativity in the world.

There is, however, good news in this situation: neuroplasticity.

The human brain is wired for happiness and positive connections with others. It is actually possible to experience and learn happiness despite what has been genetically hardwired.

In a world where the focus on happiness is growing and the mirror is turning back towards ourselves, the happiness of the world relies on the happiness within each one of us and how we act, share, and voice the importance of happiness for everyone.

What are the steps you are taking to make yourself and others happier? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Happiness Exercises for free .

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• Fang, S., Galambos, N. L., Johnson, M. D., & Krahn, H. J. (2018). Happiness is the way: Paths to civic engagement between young adulthood and midlife.  International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42 (4), 425–433.
• Fisher, C. D. (2010). Happiness at work.  International Journal of Management Reviews ,  12 (4), 384–412.
• Florentine, E. (2016, July 1).  11 Scientific facts about happiness.  Bustle . Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/articles/169675-11-scientific-facts-about-happiness-that-youll-want-to-know.
• Fredrickson, B. L., Mancuso, R. A., Branigan, C., & Tugade, M. M. (2000). The undoing effect of positive emotions . Motivation and Emotion , 24 (4), 237–258.
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• Kelly, A. (2012) Gross national happiness in Bhutan: the big idea from a tiny state that could change the world. The Guardian . Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/01/bhutan-wealth-happiness-counts?CMP=share_btn_link
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• Krause, N., Ironson, G., & Hill, P. (2018). Religious involvement and happiness: Assessing the mediating role of compassion and helping others.  The Journal of Social Psychology ,  158 (2), 256–270.
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change.  Review of General Psychology, 9 (2), 111–131.
• Maguire, E., Gadian, D., Johnsrude, I., Good, C., Ashburne, J., Frackowiak, R., & Frith, C. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 97(8), 4398-4403.
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• Mauss, I. B., Savino, N. S., Anderson, C. L., Weisbuch, M., Tamir, M., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2012). The pursuit of happiness can be lonely.  Emotion, 12 (5), 908–912.
• Mohun, J. (2012) The economics book . DK.
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• Newman, K. M. (2015, July 28). Six ways happiness is good for your health . Greater Good Magazine .  Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_happiness_is_good_for_your_health
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• Rohrer, J. M., Richter, D., Brümmer, M., Wagner, G. G., & Schmukle, S. C. (2018). Successfully striving for happiness: Socially engaged pursuits predict increases in life satisfaction.  Association for Psychological Science ,  29 (8), 1291–1298.
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• Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, (2006). Achieving Sustainable Gains in Happiness: Change your actions, not your circumstances . Journal of Happiness Studies (2006) 7:55-86.
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Thank you for this beautiful well written article. I came across it during my research regarding the science of happiness. The beauty in writing this post is the power to influence souls in a positive manner many who you will not meet.

Sending some love and light to you and all those who get to read your blog.

Being in the field of Human Resource for four decades, coming across and dealing with millions of minds, after reading your article, gives a feeling that I have learnt something new today…

Thank you and congratulations for such a informative work.

God bless…

Thank you for your search light into one of the nerve center of our generation. i will like to use part of this in my upcoming book

Hello Katherine, Now reading https://positivepsychology.com/happiness/ Salute to you for enriching us. Nearly hundred of us relatives are creating an audio book for our blind uncle about life skills. Any quote from you that I can add in the document? Will be grateful. regards, Prabodh Sirur

Hi Prabodh,

Wow, that sounds like a lovely gift for your uncle! We actually have a couple of posts containing quotes about happiness, so you may want to take a look at those for some inspiration. You can find those here and here .

Hope this helps, and good luck with the audiobook!

– Nicole | Community Manager

Thanks for your article, I translated this article for a mental health lesson and I really enjoyed this article.

Thank you for this super helpful article!!

Thank You for such an Informative and Detailed Article on Science of Happiness. I am a Budding Happiness Life Coach and stumbled on this Article. This gives me more understanding of Happiness in Scientific way, with your permission, I would like to share my learning in my course. Thank You and looking forward for more such Articles. Thank You and God Bless You

Hi Srinivas, Thank you for your lovely feedback. We’re glad you liked the article. Feel free to share it with others by clicking ‘Yes’ on the ‘Was this article useful to you’ button. From there, a range of sharing options will appear. – Nicole | Community Manager

Thanks, very nice lecture and informative But I wish to know more about role of religious effects on Happiness? another thing is it ok to translate lecture to other language and share it? Regards Dr Eirebi Albogasim

Hi Dr. Albogasim, Thanks for reading. There’s quite a bit of research showing that those who practice religion tend to be happier than the general population ( here’s an article on the topic). And yes, feel free to translate and share the lecture. – Nicole | Community Manager

I stumbled on your article as I am researching on Happiness to publish my 3rd book. Thanks for sharing! A very elaborate and informative article. The “Take home message” is very encouraging. And I vouch for the neuroplasticity of the brain. We can train ourselves to be Happy. Once we change our attitude, it is easy to be Happy. I learnt how to be Happy at the age of 23. Few years back I posted an article sharing my findings on Happiness in this Linked-in forum. Please see the link for the same https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/easy-happy-ramesh-thota-pmp-cqa/ . Appreciate if you can share your views.

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Happiness Essay: Definition, Outline & Examples

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A happiness essay is an academic paper that explores the concept of happiness, and how it can be achieved and maintained in our lives. The purpose of a happiness essay is to explore the psychological, social, and cultural factors that contribute to happiness. On this type of essay, students should provide insights into how individuals can cultivate a happy and fulfilling life.

In this article, we will explore the definition of happiness and its various components and outline the key elements of happiness essay structure. Whether you are seeking how to write a happiness essay or want to know more about this feeling, this is the right article. You will also find en example for your inspiration. Struggling with your writing? Say goodbye to stress and let our experts handle your ' write my essay for me ' challenge. Our team of skilled writers is ready to tackle any topic and deliver top-notch papers tailored to your instructions.

What Is a Happiness Essay?

The definition of a happiness essay can differ, but in general, a happiness essay is a paper that examines emotions, experiences, and perspectives related to the pursuit of contentment. Likewise, it may explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of delight and how it is affected by factors like wealth, relationships, and personal circumstances. A happiness essay provides a deeper understanding of enjoyment, how it can be achieved, and its influence on society. It is an opportunity to take readers on a reflective and stimulating journey, exploring the essence of joy. Writing a thematic essay on happiness is also a chance for writers to share their thoughts and observations with other people. Let's dive in and explore what delight really means to you!

Purpose of an Essay on Happiness

The reason for writing an essay about happiness is to explore the concept of delight to understand what it means to different people. For example, many believe it primarily depends on external factors such as wealth, success, or material possessions. However, it can be illustrated that true joy largely comes from internal factors, like one's outlook, personal growth, and relationships, especially with family and friends. A happiness essay helps to dispel common misconceptions about what satisfaction truly is. Writing a paper on this subject can describe a deeper, healthy understanding of this universal pursuit.

Ideas to Write a Happiness Essay on

When you want to write a happiness essay , first, it is important to ask: What is happiness to you? How can it be understood? One approach is to define happiness and examine its various dimensions, such as psychological, emotional, and physiological.  For example, career satisfaction is a crucial factor in achieving contentment. When people enjoy their jobs and feel fulfilled, they tend to report higher levels of delight. It's worth exploring the link between happiness and career satisfaction and how people can find meaning in their work.  Another idea of how to be happy would look at factors like relationships, personal growth, and achievement. Besides, the connection between money and happiness can also be a significant factor in the quality of life. Can you buy satisfaction?  The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental aspect of life, and analyzing its various dimensions can help us gain valuable insights into what leads to a happy life.

Happiness Essay Outline

An outline for a happiness essay serves as a roadmap for writers to keep their paper organized. It helps to break down researched content into manageable sections while ensuring that all necessary information is included.  The essay outline on happiness example might look something like this:

• Topic definition
• Topic importance
• Thesis statement
• Topic sentence
• Supporting evidence
• Concluding sentence, connected to your thesis
• Summarizing main points
• Final thoughts and future recommendations
• Encouraging readers to reflect on their delight

This outline provides a comprehensive format for an essay about happiness, ensuring that articles are well-structured, easy to understand, and cover all the necessary information.

Structure of a Happiness Essay

Happiness essay structure is critical to a successful article because it helps to organize the ideas clearly and coherently. It is easier for readers to follow and understand writers' perspectives on this complex and multifaceted topic if the essay has the following sections: Introduction:  provides context for the topic with a clear thesis statement. Body:  delves into the details while providing evidence to support the thesis. Conclusion:  summarizes the main points while restating the thesis statement in a new way. By following this structure, writers can produce compelling essays on happiness in life that engage and inform readers.

Happiness Essay Introduction

The introduction of a happiness essay is critical to setting the stage for the article’s body. Good introductions should have three key elements: a hook, background information, and a thesis statement.  The hook draws readers in and keeps them engaged, but a boring or generic one may make them lose interest. The background information provides context for the topic and gives the audience a better understanding of why the essay is being written. Lastly, the thesis statement states the writer's stance on contentment, providing a roadmap for the rest of the essay.  An essay about happiness introduction is an important part that sets the tone and lays the foundation for the paper. By following this structure, authors can ensure that the introduction of their paper is well-organized, concise, and effective in drawing the readers into their piece.

Happiness Essay Introduction Example

An introduction to your paper should be engaging, interesting, brief, and to the point. It clearly states the objectives of the research and introduces readers to the key arguments that will be discussed. Here is an example of a happiness essay introduction:

Happiness Essay Thesis Statement

A happiness essay thesis statement is the backbone of an article and a crucial element in your paper. A good thesis statement about happiness should be arguable, specific, and relevant to the topic. It is important for defining the scope of an article and highlighting its focus while also identifying what it will not cover.  Finally, the thesis statement tells readers the writer's point of view and sets a standard for judging whether the essay achieves its goal. By creating an effective statement, writers can significantly impact their paper's quality by providing direction and focus to the author’s argument.

Happiness Thesis Statement Example

This thesis statement defines the pursuit of delight and outlines its contributing factors. Here is an example of a happiness essay thesis statement sample:

Happiness Essay Body

A happiness body paragraph is a component of the body section of an article that provides evidence, examples, and supporting arguments to develop an essay's central idea. Good paragraphs cover a topic in-depth and engage readers, prompting them to reflect on what brings joy and how to pursue it. A paragraph about happiness should be well-structured and focused, analyzing factors contributing to contentment in a logical and coherent manner. A well-crafted essay body on happiness includes several paragraphs, each focused on specific aspects of enjoyment while supporting an article's overall argument. Following these guidelines, writers can create persuasive essay paragraphs.

Happiness Body Paragraph Example

Body paragraphs should provide a deeper understanding of the topic while engaging readers with relevant, thought-provoking information. Happiness body paragraph example:

Happiness Essay Conclusion

A conclusion is the last section of an essay that summarizes the main points while offering a final perspective on the topic. To write a strong conclusion on a happiness essay, consider these key elements: 

• summarize the main arguments
• provide closure
• include a final thought or reflection
• leave a lasting impression
• avoid introducing new information.

A good conclusion can make the difference between a forgettable essay and one that stays with the reader long after they've finished. Following these guidelines ensures that your essay conclusion about happiness effectively wraps up the argument and provides readers with memorable final impressions.

Happiness Essay Conclusion Sample

Conclusion helps readers better understand the topic by providing a sense of resolution or insight. Here is an example of a happiness essay conclusion:

How to Write an Essay on Happiness?

If you want to write an essay on happiness, remember that it can be a hard yet rewarding experience. Whether you are doing it for a class assignment, a job, a scholarship application, or personal growth, exploring what contentment means to you can be the journey of self-discovery.  You should clearly understand the topic and have a well-structured plan. The steps to effective happiness essay writing include defining satisfaction, conducting research, and organizing thoughts. When writing, it's crucial to consider factors that contribute to delight and obstacles that can hinder the process. Following the steps below, you can craft an article that effectively communicates your perspective on this topic.

1.  Pick a Topic About Happiness

Choosing a topic about happiness essay can be daunting, but with some guidance and creativity, you may find a subject that is both interesting and relevant. When brainstorming for happiness essay topics, follow these steps:

• Start with a broad idea related to your issue. Narrow the focus to a specific aspect, gather information, list potential cases, evaluate options, refine the matter, and check for relevance to your audience.
• Gather information, consider the different perspectives, and take note of the arguments you come across.
• Come up with five to ten potential concerns and evaluate each, asking questions such as if it is interesting, has enough information available, and if you can find a unique approach.
• Refine your chosen discussion to make it specific, focused, relevant, and interesting to your audience.

2. Do In-Depth Research

Gathering information from credible sources is crucial when writing an essay about happiness. Here are some tips to ensure that you collect accurate and relevant facts:

• Research from trustworthy sources like academic journals, books by experts, and government websites.
• Evaluate information's credibility and reliability. When you are reading, take notes on the information that you find. Write down the author, title, and publication date of each source to keep track of your research.
• Use multiple sources to broaden your understanding of your topic.
• Organize your research with a citation manager or bibliography.

Following these tips, you can delve into a wealth of credible sources for your happiness essays to elevate your article to new heights of insight.

3. Create an Outline for a Happiness Essay

Crafting an outline is essential in writing an essay on happiness and can give your work the structure and direction it needs to succeed. Here's how to create an effective happiness essay outline:

• Framework Start by outlining the main sections of your essay - introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Pinpoint your ideas Determine the key points you want to convey in each section.
• Supplement with specifics Add details that reinforce and support your ideas under each main point.
• Follow the guide Use the happiness essay outline example above as a starting point, but feel free to customize depending on the situation.

By following these steps and utilizing an essay outline , you'll have a clear map to guide you as you craft your paper, ensuring that your ideas are coherently organized, and your writing flows effortlessly.

4. Write an Essay About Happiness

In this essay about happiness, we will delve into the elusive and complex nature of this emotion. Here is an example to follow when you write your happiness essay.

5. Proofread Your Happiness Essay

When proofreading your happiness essay, make sure to take your time and approach it methodically. Follow these steps:

• Read through the entire essay to get a sense of its overall structure and flow.
• Pay close attention to the introduction, as this sets the tone for the entire piece.
• Look for typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing .
• Ensure your paragraphs are well-organized, with clear transitions between ideas. Check that your happy essay accurately reflects your thoughts and clearly conveys the message you want.
• Finally, read the paper out loud to yourself, or have someone else read it to you.

This can help you pick up on any errors that you might have missed during your initial proofreading. Finally, the article will leave a lasting impression on your reader and enhance your credibility as a writer.

Happiness Essay Examples

If you're looking to write truly captivating happiness essays, it's always helpful to seek inspiration from various sources. Consider checking out these excellent essay examples about happiness:  Happiness essay example 1

Essay example about happiness 2

Happiness essay sample 3

Essay on happiness example 4

Example of a happiness essay 5

They offer a rich tapestry of perspectives on what enjoyment truly means. Whether you draw on your own experiences or delve into the experiences of others, a happiness essay example will serve as a valuable resource as you strive to make your mark on this timeless topic.

Happiness Essay Writing Tips

When writing a happiness essay, there are key tips to keep in mind to help you create a compelling piece of work. Here are a few suggestions to get you started in happiness essays writing:

• Explore the concept from a cultural or historical perspective, looking at how attitudes towards your topic have changed over time across different societies.
• Consider how relationships, community, and social connections shape our enjoyment. How can these factors interact?
• Weigh the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches, such as positive or negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-care, offering a well-rounded perspective on the topic.
• Reflect on the connection between happiness and success, considering whether one necessarily leads to the other or can be pursued independently of success.
• Incorporate humor and lightheartedness into your writing, making your essay entertaining.

By going about integrating these unique tips into your writing day by day, you'll be able to craft essays on happiness that are both original and memorable, capturing the reader's imagination from start to finish. Students can explore a vast range of topics through our platform, from an essay about true friendship  and a  family essay to an illustration essay that will show how to convey complex ideas in a clear and engaging way.

Bottom Line on Happiness Essay Writing

To write a happiness essay, you should consider providing long and in-depth ways to explore what truly brings us joy. Instead of repeating common knowledge, take a personal approach and reflect on the things that delight you. Consider the fact that relationships, gratitude, mindfulness, and activities all contribute to shaping our joy. Your happiness essays should also showcase your introspective side. Examine any challenges or obstacles you have faced in your journey toward contentment. This will make your paper not only unique but also relatable and insightful. The goal is to create a piece that offers a fresh perspective on the concept of happiness and a true reflection of your experiences.

Buy custom essay online from StudyCrumb and get a happiness paper delivered on time. Top-notch quality is guaranteed!

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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Satisfaction is never a straightforward and easily attainable idea. It has intrigued philosophers, religious figures, and people alike for centuries. Some say contentment is found inside a material wealth lifestyle, and others believe it is a state of mind or a result of spiritual fulfillment. But what is happiness, really? And how can we cultivate it in our own lives?

True happiness comes from family, friends, and learning to be content in life, while money can only purchase momentary happiness.

Contentment brings a smile to our faces, peace to our hearts, and a skip in our steps. It's what many of us strive for every day, and it turns out it's not just good for our spirits but our health too! Studies have linked contentment to lower stress, reduced risk of heart disease, and elevated life satisfaction. Delight can come from doing what you love, being with loved ones, or having a sense of purpose. Or, it may simply be found in everyday moments like a sunny day, a good meal, or a breathtaking sunset. Although joy can be fleeting and affected by life events, we can still work to cultivate it in our lives.

In conclusion, delight is a difficult and multi-faceted concept that can influence various factors, including personal relationships, life events, and individual perspectives. The pursuit of contentment is a common initiative for all humans, and it is evident that becoming content requires a perfect balance and order of internal and external factors. This article presents evidence that helps you see clearly that contentment is not a fixed state. It is a journey that needs effort, reflection, and self-awareness to enjoy. I hope this paper has helped you realize a deeper understanding of this topic and become better equipped to embark on your pursuit of joy. 

Contentment is a subjective experience that varies significantly from person to person. It is often considered the ultimate goal of human life, and many people spend their entire lives searching for it. Despite its elusive nature, it is a crucial component of well-being and has been linked to numerous benefits for physical, mental, and emotional health. The reasons to smile or experience joy are varied and can be both internal and external. Some individuals find joy in the simple things in life, like being with family, pursuing their passions, or exploring new experiences. On the other hand, others may find it through accomplishing personal goals, acquiring material goods, or attaining financial security. Nonetheless, it's crucial to keep in mind that these external sources of happiness may not always be possible and may not alleviate suffering. Conversely, true joy comes from within and is characterized by a sense of being content, satisfied, and with purpose. It can be cultivated through mindfulness, gratitude, and self-reflection. By focusing on personal growth, forming meaningful relationships, and finding meaning and purpose in life, individuals, including children, can develop a deep sense of satisfaction that is not dependent on external circumstances and is not easily disturbed by life's problems. In conclusion, delight is a complex and multifaceted experience that both internal and external factors can influence. While external sources can bring temporary joy, true and lasting contentment can only be found within. Individuals can create a foundation for joy that will endure throughout their lives by focusing on personal growth and cultivating a positive mindset.

Essay on What Makes You Happy

Students are often asked to write an essay on What Makes You Happy in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on What Makes You Happy

Defining happiness.

Happiness is a positive feeling characterized by joy, contentment, and fulfilment. It’s a state of well-being where one feels satisfied with their life and experiences. Happiness can be short-lived or long-lasting, depending on the source and intensity of the positive emotions.

Pursuit of Happiness

Simple pleasures.

Often, the simplest things in life can bring immense happiness. Spending time in nature, listening to music, or engaging in a hobby can provide a sense of joy and contentment. Appreciating the beauty of the natural world or the kindness of others can also contribute to feelings of happiness.

Gratitude and Positive Thinking

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude and focusing on the positive aspects of life can greatly enhance happiness. Practicing gratitude involves acknowledging and appreciating the good things in one’s life, no matter how small. Positive thinking involves focusing on the solutions rather than the problems, and it can help promote optimism and hope.

250 Words Essay on What Makes You Happy

What makes you happy.

Happiness is a feeling of joy, contentment, and well-being. It is a state of mind that can be influenced by many factors, both internal and external. Some things that make people happy include:

Friends and Family

Spending time with loved ones is one of the most important things you can do to boost your happiness. Talking to friends and family, laughing together, and sharing experiences can all help to create a sense of connection and belonging.

Doing Things You Enjoy

When you do things you enjoy, you are more likely to feel happy and fulfilled. This could include anything from playing a sport to reading a book to spending time in nature.

Helping Others

Helping others is a great way to feel good about yourself and make a difference in the world. Volunteering your time, donating to charity, or simply lending a helping hand to someone in need can all give you a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Taking Care of Yourself

Taking care of your physical and mental health is essential for happiness. This means eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. It also means taking time for yourself to relax and de-stress.

Living in the Present Moment

500 words essay on what makes you happy, what makes you happy.

What is happiness?

Happiness is a feeling of joy, contentment, and overall well-being. It’s a state of mind where you feel positive and satisfied with your life. Everyone has their own unique things that make them happy, but there are some common things that many people find enjoyable.

Spending Time with Loved Ones

Doing activities you enjoy.

Helping others can also make you happy. When you do something nice for someone else, it makes you feel good about yourself. It also strengthens your sense of community and belonging.

Happiness is a choice. You can choose to be happy, even when things are tough. When you focus on the good things in your life, and you appreciate the people you have, you’re more likely to be happy.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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55 Positive Emotions That Make You Healthier and Happier

All emotions have their appropriate place and time, but positive emotions are the ones most of us prefer to have more frequently, with maybe a light scattering of negative ones to prove we’re still human.

And yet, we often find ways to make ourselves miserable, and then we wonder why we catch every bug that’s going around.

It’s no longer a leap to see the connection between our emotions and our physical (as well as mental) health.

In essence, the more time we spend with positive emotions that are in congruence with our core truth, the healthier we are.

And because what we feel is tied to what we believe and to the words we use to express those beliefs, we can make more room for positive feelings by eliminating the beliefs and the language that are hostile to them.

First, though, we need to know what emotions are and why they’re so powerful.

What are emotions?

Why we need positive emotions., positive emotions list, how will you use this list of positive emotions.

Generally speaking, an emotion is a felt response to something that affects you in some way. Depending on whom you ask, emotions can either be an involuntary response to something (like a reflex) or a chosen response (like a judgment).

However you see them, the emotions you feel have a profound effect on every aspect of your life, from your relationships to the quality of your work to your longevity and overall health.

As much as we usually enjoy positive emotions more than negative ones, though, we actually need both.

Take a look at some of the benefits of positive emotions:

• Better health and productivity
• Stronger relationships
• More effective coping strategies and greater resilience
• Protection against cognitive decline
• Better productivity and more effective work
• More effective leadership and enhanced job performance
• A greater feeling of connectedness to others

Taking the time to cultivate and to mindfully enjoy positive emotions helps us to grow and makes us better able to contribute to the happiness of others.

You can no doubt think of more, but let’s consider the following 55 positive emotions.

As you go down the positive emotions list, take a moment to think of a time when you felt each one.

Visualize that moment and try to feel its corresponding emotion with the same intensity. Don’t be surprised if you remember other, less positive emotions associated with the same memories.

Sometimes anger is the prelude to triumph. Sometimes sadness leads us to a moment of awe and admiration. And guilt can make us eager to become better examples to others.

Sometimes that very guilt and shame we feel can make it easier to forgive others the hurt they’ve caused us.

There’s power in knowing that the context (which includes your response to it) rather than the feeling itself is what makes it either beneficial or harmful. See if you can find proof of this as you go through your own memories of each positive emotion in this list.

1. Admiration

Think of this as approval with a dash of awe — often with respect to a person you look up to.

2. Abundance

This emotion is how it feels when you have everything you need and then some — so much that there’s no need to worry you’ll run out.

3. Affection

This is a warm feeling directed toward someone (or a pet) whose company you enjoy.

4. Attraction

Ever felt a strong inner pull toward something or toward another person?

5. Altruism

This is the feeling you get when you do something good for someone else. It can also be an overwhelming desire to show generosity to others without expecting a return.

6. Amusement

You get this feeling when something takes you by surprise and makes you laugh or when you find yourself pleasantly distracted by something.

Think of admiration or gratitude with a touch of reverence.

8. Abundance

9. bold and daring.

Have you ever felt a fearless or fear-defying readiness to step (or ask) beyond your comfort zone?

10. Blissful

Imagine a state of intense or increased satisfaction or contentment.

11. Cheerfulness

This is what you feel when you’re noticeably happy and upbeat. You might just think of it as “being in a good mood.”

12. Compassion

Imagine feeling a strong sympathy and concern for the sufferings of others.

13. Confidence

Think of this as a feeling of calm trust in your abilities or qualities — or a certainty that something is true.

14. Connectedness

You feel consciously linked to all humanity or all living things, so much that you can’t stomach the thought of harming anyone or ignoring their suffering.

15. Contentment

When you feel content, you’re genuinely happy and satisfied with your current state of reality.

16. Curiosity

Curiosity is what you feel when you feel compelled to know more about something that has captured your interest.

17. Dynamism

Dynamism is what you feel when you overcome something that once daunted you. Something in you has shifted, and you feel ready for the next challenge. 

18. Eagerness

Have you ever felt a passionate readiness to do or experience something?

19. Elevation

This is the feeling you get when you see someone go above and beyond the normal level of kindness, generosity, and compassion.

20. Empowerment

To feel this is to feel endowed with the power to do something (or anything).

21. Enjoyment and Delight

Think of how you feel when you take pleasure in something or find joy in it.

22. Enthusiasm

Imagine yourself feeling an energetic and optimistic interest in something.

23. Euphoria

To feel euphoric is to feel an intense, giddy happiness or elation.

24. Excitement

This is a state of agitated and optimistic anticipation — often in regards to something that’s about to happen or something you want to do.

25. Fascination

You feel such an intense interest in something it eclipses all else. You ache to know more about it.

26. Freedom

Imagine a strong feeling of self-determination or of having just been liberated from a type of slavery.

27. Friendship

You feel bound to someone by fellowship or mutual understanding. You like each other well enough to spend time together, and you like the way you feel when you do. 

28. Forgiveness

The power of this emotion is in its readiness to let go of any ill will toward someone who has hurt you and to want only good for them instead.

29. Generosity

This is a feeling that makes you want to give more of your resources or yourself to others to help them or show them your love and support.

30. Gratitude

The power of gratitude is in its readiness to show thankfulness for something or for all the goodness in your life.

31. Goodwill

Imagine the feeling of wanting only good things for someone and wanting a good life for that person, regardless of whether the feeling is mutual.

32. Harmony

You feel at peace with those around you. Maybe you don’t agree on everything, but your mutual respect and love eclipse any differences.

33. Hopefulness

Hope is more often associated with faith or trust than with arbitrarily choosing to expect everything to turn out well. It goes beyond mere optimism to embrace and hold onto a promise of ultimate happiness.

34. Happiness

Genuine happiness is a feeling of intense and unshakable well-being regarding your current state of reality.

35. Importance

You feel a sense of importance when someone acknowledges your value and how critical you are to their success or happiness.

36. Inspiration

Think of when you’ve felt mentally stimulated to do or to create something.

37. Interest

Imagine the feeling of wanting to know more about something or someone that has caught your attention.

38. Joyfulness

When you feel this intense delight or happiness, it’s often because of something that has happened or because of something someone did.

The emotion of love is a feeling of profound affection for someone and an intense desire to serve that person’s best interest. It can also include a desire for a closer relationship.

40. Momentum

You’ve got the ball rolling, and you’re accomplishing things you hadn’t before. You feel unstoppable.

41. Optimism

When you feel optimistic, you have confidence that things will work out to your advantage and/or to someone else’s.

42. Passion

Passion is what you feel when something or someone lights a fire in you. You love what you’re doing so much that it compels you to continue doing it.

Imagine feeling a deep satisfaction in the accomplishment of something or a strong appreciation for your own worth or dignity.

Think of the feeling that washes over you when something turns out better than expected.

45. Revelation

Think of a moment when you suddenly realized a profound and life-changing truth (an epiphany).

46. Romance

You feel romance when you’re in love with someone, or when your partner does something romantic for you.

47. Satisfaction

Satisfaction implies both gratification and approval with regard to an experience or an occurrence.

48. Serenity

Have you ever felt an unshakable calm or tranquility irrespective of your circumstances?

49. Spontaneity

Ever felt propelled into doing something unexpected and spur-of-the-moment? Maybe it surprised you, or perhaps you felt freer and more like yourself. 

50. Surprise (the good kind)

Think of surprise as a feeling of pleasant astonishment or stunned satisfaction over a sudden or an unexpected experience or occurrence.

51. Spontaneity

52. triumph.

Remember the feeling of having achieved a great victory or of having prevailed over a challenge.

You feel united with someone or with a group of like-minded fellows. You stand as one.

54. Wholeness

You feel integrated as if something you lost has returned, or something you were always missing is now part of you.

55. Worthiness

To feel worthy is to feel good enough and deserving of something good.

Observe Your Feelings And Emotions

One of the best ways to understand and savor these positive feeling words is by observing them as they appear in yourself. Pay attention to emotions as they rise up in your conscious awareness.

Or at random times, check in with yourself to see what emotional state you are in.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What positive emotion am I experiencing right now?
• How does this emotion make me feel?
• How does this emotion impact my attitude and outlook?
• What might have triggered or fostered this positive feeling?
• How can I return to this happy emotion again?

Having more clarity around your good feelings helps you know yourself and what impacts your mood for the better. When negative feelings arise, you can use this information to improve your state of mind.

Understanding Good Emotions

Good emotions are those that are consistent with the truth; they represent an appropriate response to the way things are — inside and out.

But while your subconscious knows the difference between real and fake emotions (and your body will reflect what it knows), you can make more room for positive emotions.

• You can practice being more grateful and present in each moment.
• You can spend more time enjoying and taking delight in the good things you have.
• And you can forgive others, even when it’s not the first response that comes to mind when you think of them. Forgive them for your own sake, so you can replace that stubborn and painful resentment with serenity and goodwill.

Good emotions — both positive and negative — can work together to help you put your house in order. What will you start with today?

Want a free download of the complete list of positive emotions?

More Related Articles:

37 Quotes On Gratitude To Shower People You Love

101 Life-Changing Positive Affirmations

15 Dynamite Qualities Of A Dynamic Personality

I hope this article has helped clarify the role of positive emotions in your life and in the lives of those close to you.

Whatever kind of day you’re having, remember that the words you use to express what you believe and what you feel about something impacts everything you do.

You don’t have to use positive feeling words all the time, either. Sometimes, it makes more sense to acknowledge a negative emotion and give it its due — as long as it doesn’t stick around longer than you need it.

If you’ve found value in this article, I hope you’ll share it with others and encourage them to pass it on. The more we share what has helped us grow, the more we contribute to the growth of others. It’s a win-win.

Keep on winning.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Emotions & Feelings — Happiness

Happiness Essays

The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental aspect of human existence, and it is a topic that has been explored and debated by philosophers, psychologists, and writers for centuries. When it comes to writing an essay on happiness, there are a multitude of topics to choose from, each offering a unique perspective on what it means to be happy and how to achieve it. In this article, we will explore some of the best essay topics related to happiness.

The Definition of Happiness

One of the most fundamental questions to explore in an essay on happiness is the definition of happiness itself. What does it mean to be happy? Is happiness a fleeting emotion, or is it a more profound state of being? How do different cultures and societies define and pursue happiness? These are all questions that can form the basis of a thought-provoking essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness is a central theme in many philosophical and literary works, and it is a topic that lends itself to exploration in an essay. What are the key factors that contribute to a person's happiness? Is happiness something that can be pursued and achieved, or is it something that simply happens to us? How do different life experiences and circumstances impact our ability to pursue happiness?

The Science of Happiness

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the science of happiness, with researchers studying the factors that contribute to happiness and well-being. An essay on the science of happiness could explore topics such as the role of genetics, the impact of social relationships, and the influence of external factors such as income and material possessions on happiness. This is a topic that can provide a wealth of research and data to support your arguments.

The Relationship Between Money and Happiness

The relationship between money and happiness is a perennial topic of debate, and it is one that can provide plenty of material for an essay. Does money buy happiness, or are there other, more important factors at play? How does the pursuit of wealth impact our ability to find happiness? These are all questions that can be explored in an essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness in Literature

Literature is full of stories and characters that grapple with the pursuit of happiness, and it is a rich source of inspiration for an essay on the subject. You could explore how different authors and poets have depicted the quest for happiness in their works, and how their portrayals have influenced our understanding of the subject.

The Role of Gratitude in Happiness

The practice of gratitude has been shown to have a profound impact on our happiness and well-being, and it is a topic that is well worth exploring in an essay. How does gratitude contribute to our happiness, and how can we cultivate a greater sense of gratitude in our lives? These are all questions that can form the basis of a compelling essay on the subject.

The Pursuit of Happiness in the Digital Age

The rise of social media and digital technology has had a profound impact on our lives, and it has also raised new questions about the pursuit of happiness in the modern world. How does the constant connectedness of the digital age impact our ability to find happiness? What role does social media play in shaping our perceptions of happiness, and how can we navigate these new challenges to find greater fulfillment in our lives?

The choice of essay topics related to happiness is vast and varied, offering a rich tapestry of ideas and perspectives to explore. By choosing a compelling topic, you can reach a wide audience and contribute to the ongoing conversation about what it means to be happy. Whether you choose to explore the definition of happiness, the pursuit of happiness in literature, or the role of gratitude in happiness, there are endless opportunities to create a thought-provoking and impactful essay on the subject.

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Essay on Happiness for Students in English | 500 Words Essay

December 20, 2020 by Sandeep

Essay on Happiness: Happiness is a blissful feeling within the heart. Money can buy everything, but not happiness. It is essentially a state of mind that can be achieved with a sense of joy and satisfaction of the mind and soul. Hard work, achievements, materialistic gains and possessions, appreciation, etc., bring a lot of happiness. Definition of happiness changes at every stage of our life. The key to a happy life is remaining positive, always irrespective of the situation.

Essay on Happiness 500 Words in English

Below we have provided Happiness Essay in English, written in easy and simple words for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 school students.

“Happiness is a gift, and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes”~ Charles Dickens.

What you feel when you buy your first house, meet an old friend, eat your favourite dish, can be interpreted as happiness. It can be referred to as both an emotional and a mental state of contentment. Happiness cannot be described by the use of words. It can only be perceived through someone who feels it. We all need this feeling if we want to lead a good life. The context of happiness is a bit complicated. It can vary between the notions of contentment to an overwhelming sense of joy. Some people confuse joy and happiness.

While joy is a constant state of mind, happiness relies on certain episodes of our lives. Happiness makes us feel alive (like we are at the top of the world). It comes with a quality of complete satisfaction. The meaning of happiness varies from one person to another. We all have our unique definitions for it. For some, happiness is when you complete the last chapter of a classic novel. Some seek it while playing with their pets or watching a good movie. Others might find it on a weekend getaway.

Everyone wants to be happy, but sadly not all of us are. We struggle to find happiness from an outside source. What we don’t understand is that happiness has to be discovered and built from scratch. Our mind is the key for us to decide if we want happiness in our life. No matter what challenges come our way, we must find the faith to be happy. The situations we go through influence our state of being happy.

Factors Affecting Happiness

Our state of being happy can be affected by a couple of factors. Let us take a look at them:

Irregular sleep patterns can prove detrimental to us in the long run. An adequate amount of sleep is needed if we want to be productive. Waking up in the morning after proper six to eight hours of rest makes us feel good. A moral system greatly affects the happiness of an individual. She/he must find a strong morale booster platform. It helps them to deal with the stressful incidences of their life.

Relationships also play a vital role. If you are in a healthy relationship with your partner, you will be in a considerably good state of mind. A healthy body is crucial for a sound mind. If you are ill or if you feel discomfort, you tend to worry. On the contrary, a healthy person lives at ease and comfort without worrying about the painful health conditions.

Can Happiness Be Bought?

People around us might look happy in our eyes. However, deep down, they are dealing with their hardships. Some of them are sad, and some wrestle with depression every single day. Often, people have a misconception that money can solve everything. They think their grief would be resolved, and they would find happiness if they were rich. This is not quite true. Money can surely benefit us with our basic amenities.

It can give us food, shelter, a good lifestyle, recreational opportunities, etc. But it cannot buy happiness for us. If it could, then the wealthiest of the lot would also be the happiest. The reality we experience has a different picture altogether. Rich people deal with fear, anxiety, stress, and not to forget the sadness. They have their battles to fight. Imagine living the life of a rich man for a day. You might have the world’s entire treasure, but you cannot have a sound sleep ever. You might have serious arguments with your friends and families.

Moreover, you would always find yourself troubled about the safety of your wealth. Thus, happiness cannot be bought. There are no shortcuts to finding it. If you have a positive approach in life and choose to act peacefully, you will find what you desire. Our emotions are built on our thoughts. Therefore, it is very important to work on constructive thoughts if we want a clear mind. That way, we would be able to enjoy the little things in life.

Ways to find Happiness

There are a few ways that can induce a state of complete happiness. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Stop complaining about your struggles and look at all the good things that surround you.
• Be thankful for your life and for the privileges you get to have in it.
• Work your way around patience. It takes time to accomplish greater things in life.
• If something goes wrong, do not search for a source to blame. Instead, move on and aim for something better.
• Do not let your past trouble your present. All the misery that you experienced yesterday will teach you how to live today.
• Do not compare your life with someone else’s. You will be filled with jealousy, anger, and dissatisfaction.
• Share good vibes with others. Their smiles will lift your mood, as well.
• Find motivation and goodwill from the people near you. Spend time with the ones who make you feel happy.
• Give more time to yourself. Get to explore your identity. Dream about the things that would genuinely make you happy.
• Self-love and self-acceptance is the key to happiness.
• Stop worrying about the problems. If you have a calm mind, you can easily figure out the solution.
• Find a hobby like painting, music, or writing poetry.
• Last but not least, talk to your family because they are your biggest support system.

Essay On Happiness In English [Short & Long]

Essay On Happiness : Every human on this planet wants to be happy and contented. But the thing is the definition of happiness varies from person to person. Many think that happiness is something that comes from within while others believe that happiness is a state of mind.

By the way, whatever people think about happiness. It is a feeling that signals a prosperous and contented life. If you are not happy despite having lots of money and luxury, your wealth is worthless. Hence, it is clear that there is no direct connection between money and happiness.

Short Essay on Happiness | 250-300 Words

Introduction- “Happiness” is something that is loved by all. No one can deny the fact that everyone aspires to a happy life. But happiness has no definite definition because it is not something that can be described in words, it can only be identified by noticing the expressions of a person.

Happiness Is A Choice – There is no definite definition of the term “Happiness”. Different people percept happiness in different ways. Some people think that money can bring happiness while others think it to be wrong. Many believe that happiness is a state of mind whereas many believe that helping others is happiness.

According to Aristotle , happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc. — that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life.

Can Happiness Be Measured?- In this modern era, science and technology have invented methods and techniques to measure almost each and every materialistic phenomenon. But measuring emotions and feelings is quite a difficult task, we have not developed any instrument that can measure sadness or happiness.

In short, We can only observe the common expressions to conclude if a person is happy or sad. But we can not measure the level or intensity of that emotion. Only the person knows how much he or she has exposed the feeling. Hence, we can say that happiness comes from within and it is beyond materialism.

Conclusion- At last, No matter how a person defines happiness, everyone wants to be happy. In fact, all our actions done by us have a common goal of achieving the peak of happiness and contentment. Most noteworthy, we can not achieve happiness all alone, We can feel it with our friends and loved ones.

500+ Words Essay on Happiness

Introduction.

Happiness is an end goal for everyone. But we can not draft a definition of happiness that suits everyone. The reason behind this is the varied perceptions of happiness for different people. Happiness is subjective. For some people, it indicates a state of mind; for others, it might imply a standard of lifestyle.

Nevertheless, whatever might be the meaning of Happiness, this is a fact that Happiness is an integral part of our lives. Without happiness, there is no purpose in living and going ahead in life. Do you know the most amazing feature of happiness? happiness is something that multiplies when shared.

is happiness A State of Mind?

When do we feel happy? There are various events in life when we can feel the peak of happiness. For example, when we do what we love or we achieve something that we wanted to, we feel extreme happiness. It is proof that true happiness comes from within and hence it is considered a state of mind .

Most importantly, our preferences and our aspirations change over time and we no longer base our happiness on things we used to previously. Thus, even though happiness is a state of mind we can not sustain it for a long time. Our priorities and aspirations change with time and so is a state of happy mind.

Money & Happiness

If we talk about money, it is a means that was invented for replacing Barter System and making trade easier. With time it became a sign of wealth and prosperity. Today, everyone is obsessed with money. People think that money brings happiness and hence they want more and more money accumulation.

There are many people in the world with loads of money. Do you think they are happy? Happiness does not depend on how much money one has. Yes, money can buy you comfort, money can buy you luxury. But it has no potential of buying happiness. Happiness can’t be bought, it is earned.

Health, wealth, relations & Happiness

There has been conducted a study on happiness and its relation to health, wealth and relationships. You might be shocked to know the outcomes. This study is the longest study ever conducted on happiness. It shows that a person with excellent health is not the happiest, and a person with giant wealth is not the happiest. Then?

The happiest ones were the ones whose relationships were great. But it does not mean you must only focus on your relationships. health and wealth are also vital aspects of life that need care. We are social beings hence our relationships impact us more than anything else.

HOW TO BECOME HAPPY

We know that happiness is impacted by many factors but we can do various practices to become happy. Some of them are given below;

• Be Nice To Others:  As we discussed above that our relationships with others impact the quality of happiness. We must practice being nice to others so as to receive the same behaviour back.
• Escape Negativity: It is impossible to be positive all the time but we can definitely escape the negativity in our life by finding some ways to escape it.
• Find Your Passion:  Passion is something you did not get bored of. On top of that, following your passion give you a great sense of happiness. So, find your passion and follow it.
• Give Your Family and Friends Enough Time: We must spend enough time with our family and friends. In fact, they are the ones we live for. Share your happiness and see it multiply.
• Help Others: Helping the needy is one of the best practices which gives you great happiness. If you help others occasionally, make it your habit and soon you can see the difference.

To sum it up, happiness is one of the most important parts of life. We can also say that achieving a happy life is the goal for each of us. Happiness can only be attained by having optimistic thinking and enjoying life. Furthermore, we must develop a healthy relationships with the people around us for being happy and keeping them happy.

Faq’s

What is happiness.

Happiness is an emotion or a state of mind that gives us pleasure and peace. Happiness gives life worth, without it life has no meaning.

How to increase happiness in life?

We can practice a number of things to be happy in life; Having positive thinking, helping others, following your passion, building good relationships with people, and giving your family and friends time are some best practices which will definitely increase happiness in life.

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Psychology Discussion

Essay on emotions: top 8 essays | emotions | psychology.

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After reading this essay you will learn about:- 1. Nature and Characteristics of Emotions 2. Theories of Emotions 3. Neural and Physiological Basis 4. Functions 5. Development 6. Judgement 7. Disruptive Role 8. Measurement.

Essay on Emotions

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Nature and Characteristics of Emotions
• Essay on the Theories of Emotions
• Essay on the Neural and Physiological Basis of Emotions
• Essay on the Functions of Emotions
• Essay on the Development of Emotions
• Essay on the Judgement of Emotions
• Essay on the Disruptive Role of Emotions
• Essay on the Measurement of Emotions

Essay # 1. Nature and Characteristics of Emotions:

Emotional experiences tend to show some characteristics.

Some of these are given below:

(a) To a considerable extent emotions are accompanied by activation or an aroused state in the organism.

(b) They are normally accompanied by bodily changes like gestures, muscular movements, changes in facial expressions, changes in physiological reactions like blood-pressure, pulse rate, heartbeat, respiration, etc.

(c) Whenever an organism is experiencing an emotion, a lot of energy is released. This is true of many emotions. But there are also some emotions like grief, where the energy and activity level are reduced.

(d) In the case of many emotional experiences, it is found that other activities like perception, learning, consciousness, memory, etc. are affected. In some cases, where the emotions are mild the influence may be positive and in other cases the influence may be disruptive.

(e) Along with the bodily changes one also finds certain psychological changes or alterations in the content and state of consciousness. Very often, there is a blurring or clouding of consciousness, blocking of memory, a confusion in perception, etc. Thus, emotions are complex experiences including a variety of bodily reactions and also psychological reactions.

William McDougall, a leading psychologist in the earlier part of the century, believed that most of our emotional experiences and reactions are innate and are tied-up with instincts. According to him, instincts are innate springs or roots of behaviour and result in action directed towards certain goals or ends. For example, the instinct of hunger, when aroused, makes the organism hunt for food until it is found and only then does it subside.

McDougall compiled a list of instincts and said that each instinct has a typical emotion as a component. For example, the instinct of self-preservation is accompanied by the emotion of fear. McDougall’s instinct theory, however, was soon discarded and along with this, the view that all emotions are inherited.

Essay # 2. Theories of Emotions:

For a long time, it was believed that an emotional experience basically depends on a change in awareness or the contents of one’s consciousness. Thus, it was believed that whenever an individual became aware of a threatening condition he experienced fear and a number of bodily changes resulted from this.

It was also believed that psychological and conscious experiences came first, followed by physiological and bodily changes. This view was held for a long time. But towards the beginning of this century the famous American psychologist, William James, and the Danish physiologist, Carl Lange, independently expressed their views which questioned the earlier theory.

According to these views which subsequently came to be known as James-Lange theory, the bodily changes were primary and the psychological experiences followed the bodily changes. Thus, the position was reversed. The earlier theory said, “I am afraid so I am running away.” But the James-Lange theory said, “I am running away so I am afraid.”

This controversy regarding the relative importance of the psychological and physiological components of emotional experiences raged for a long time. A number of experiments were undertaken. The James-Lange theory implied that the bodily changes are primary and most of the bodily changes in emotions depended on the activity of the autonomic nervous system, particularly its sympathetic division.

The James- Lange theory, therefore, laid less emphasis on the role of the central nervous system. This theory also came to be known as the peripheral theory of emotions.

Subsequent research by Cannon, Masserman, Sherrington and a number of others, however, showed that the explanation offered by James and Lange was too simple. Employing a very ingenious procedure involving the performance of surgical operations on the nervous system of cats and dogs, they showed that the central nervous system, particularly the hypothalamus and even the cerebral cortex, had an important role to play in emotional experiences.

They showed that it is not possible to make a distinction between bodily changes and psychological changes. On the contrary, emotions constitute complex experiences involving both and it is difficult to attribute primacy to either of them.

No attempt is now made to separate the roles of bodily and psychological changes. An important finding has been that attempts to find specific patterns of bodily changes correlated with different kinds of emotional experiences have largely ended in failure.

The same bodily changes occur in different kinds of emotional experiences. Some differences have no doubt been found between the bodily changes accompanying fear on the one hand, and anger, on the other. Further, the bodily changes occurring in emotions are very often too slow and appear only after the psychological experience of emotion.

Because of this Cannon and Bard advanced the view that emotions are functional processes directed towards energizing the organism to prepare for an emergency situation. According to this theory, psychological changes result from an activation of the cerebral cortex through the thalamus and the other bodily changes occur simultaneously.

Yet, another theory advanced by Donald Lindsley is known as the Activation Theory. According to this theory, emotional experiences depend on an arousal of the reticular system which includes a chain of special neurons in the brain system. The reticular system performs the function of general energizer, thus, contributing to the level of arousal and wakefulness. Lindsley’s theory stresses the condition of general excitement of the organism.

More recently, Schachter and Singer proposed what is known as the Cognitive Appraisal Theory. This theory explains emotions as a result of an individual’s attempt to interpret and understand the physiological changes that have been aroused in him.

An individual who is physiologically aroused and is not able to find a reason for this arousal attributes the physiological changes to some available cognitions or perceptions. The choice of these cognitions is determined by a number of factors like the situation, the cognition of others, etc. This theory, however, is yet to be substantiated.

Both peripheral approach (James-Lange) and the central approach (Camon-Bard) emphasise the process of awareness of bodily changes.

While the peripheral theories tended to lean on an explanation based on a direct awareness of bodily changes, not according a major role to the higher nerve centres- the cerebral cortex, the central theories emphasized the role of the brain and the cerebral cortex, in bringing about qualitative differences among emotional experiences. But neither of them succeeded in answering the question on “How does the interpretation take place?”

An attempt to answer this question was made by Schacter and Singer. This view while on the one hand agreed with the view of James and Lange that the feeling of emotions arouses from a feedback on the bodily changes, at the same time also agrees with the Cannon-Bard theory that such a simple feedback cannot explain subtle differences in emotional experiences.

According to Schacter and Singer, emotional experiences arise from two sources, feedback from bodily changes and at the same time a cognitive appraisal of the stimulating conditions that cause the particular emotional experiences. According to this view, cognitive interpretation comes into operation both when one perceives the stimulus situation that leads to bodily changes and also subsequently when these changes are interpreted.

This latter interpretation mainly at the level of brain is crucial. Thus the same pattern of feedback from bodily changes can be interpreted in many ways. For example, when we cry on hearing that someone close to us has met with a serious accident, and also when we cry when we meet a brother or sister or a close friend whom we have not met for a long time, on both these occasions, the bodily changes and their feedback are similar, but the experience of emotions are different.

Schacter and Singer are of the view that this process of interpreting and labelling depends on the act of what may be called attribution of these experiences to a particular stimulus control. There have been a number of studies which lend support to this view of Schacter and Singer.

First Shacter’s theory as well as that of James and Lange, hold that the intensity of emotions should be related to the amount of physiological changes. Hohman’s studies of individuals with spinal cord injuries proved this.

A second set of studies have shown that if the bodily changes are attributed to non-emotional causes, then the intensity of the emotions would be less. Thus, experiments have shown that when subjects were given a “placebo” injection and were told that it would produce increased blood pressure, heart beat and also increased tremors, these subjects reported less emotions, even when they were placed in a real emotion producing situation, compared to those who were put in a similar situation, but not put under placebo.

A third prediction that can arise from Schacter’s theory is that if bodily changes can be introduced through injection of a drug like adrenalin and the subject is put in a situation where these can be reasonably attributed to certain causes, then the resulting emotional experiences should be high.

Schacter’s studies confirmed these predictions also. But attempts by other investigators like Leventhal, Marshall, Zimbardo and others to replicate these experiments did not produce similar results.

A number of experiments have also shown that excitement can be carried out from one situation to another through a process known as ”transferred excitation”. Such transferred excitation can result either in the attribution of emotions to a new cause or intensification of some emotional reactions already existing.

In an interesting study carried out in British Columbia around a deep gorge with rearing rapids, the gorge could be crossed either by a rather risky and dangerous swinging bridge or by a safe wooden bridge across the river, at a safer place. A female experimenter asked people who have crossed over through either of the bridges, to fill out a questionnaire which aroused sexual imagery.

It was found that the subjects who had crossed the river through the swinging dangerous bridge had higher scores on sexual imagery than those who crossed the river using safe wooden bridge.

However, when the person collecting data with the questionnaire, was a male, no such difference was noticed. The inference drawn is that in the case of the men who crossed through the dangerous bridge, there was a greater transfer of excitement in the situation where the experimenter was a female.

Essay # 3. Neural and Physiological Basis of Emotions:

The role of the nervous system and other physiological processes in emotions has been a dominating question in the study of emotions. For a long time, while it was believed that the autonomic nervous system plays an important role, the role of the central nervous system was not very clearly understood. We may, therefore, begin with the consideration of the autonomic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system with its two divisions, the sympathetic and parasympathetic, plays a crucial role. The sympathetic division is responsible for activation of the various physiological processes like heartbeat, respiration, and blood-pressure and thereby creates additional expenditure of energy.

The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, is concerned with the conservation of energy. The sympathetic system, under conditions of emergency, activates the organism and thereby draws on the energy stored up in the organism. The autonomic nervous system is also closely connected with the functioning of the endocrine glands.

The Role of the Brain in Emotions :

The brain consists of two broad divisions, the cerebral cortex and the sub­cortical centres. Both of these are involved in emotional experiences. Experiments have shown that direct stimulation of the brain by electrical sources can result in emotional experiences even without any outside sensory stimulation.

This is particularly true when areas in the temporal lobe and the limbic structures are stimulated. The hypothalamus which is a subcortical centre is actively involved in emotional experiences as it is responsible for the control of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

The hypothalamus, when stimulated, can create a wide variety of emotional experiences. Another subcortical centre, the thalamus, performs the function of relaying messages of the impulses to the cerebral cortex. Thus, the thalamus, the hypothalamus and the limbic structures play a major role in arousing emotional experiences.

The Cerebral Cortex:

It is the highest centre of the brain and plays a role somewhat contradictory to the roles of the other centres. The cortex, by and large, performs an inhibitory function. It checks emotional over activity.

If the inhibitory influence of the cortex is eliminated through injury on the store-house of memory experiences, the activation of these memory experiences also helps people to decide whether and to what degree a particular situation warrants emotional response. Thus, it may be seen that the whole nervous system is involved in emotional experiences.

The cortical and sub-cortical centres play what appears to be contradictory, but in reality play complementary roles. Apart from the nervous system, the endocrine glands particularly the adrenal glands and its secretion, adrenalin, also play a very important role.

The endocrine glands, because they secrete various hormones directly into the blood, significantly influence the different types of activity. Under emergency conditions our bodily activities are very much affected. The activation of the endocrine glands stimulates these activities for emergency functions, and at the same time interferes with the normal adaptive functions.

Thus, frequent occurrences of intense emotional experiences can cause interruption of vegetative activities thereby resulting in a number of abnormalities including psycho-physiological disturbances like diabetes, hypertension, asthma, etc.

In addition to the involvement of the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine glands as emergency functions, one also finds that emotional experiences are accompanied by altered functioning of the respiratory system, the cardio­vascular system, the muscular system, the circulatory system, etc.

However, the extent of involvement of these various systems and changes, differ from one type of emotion to another type of emotion and also the particular stimulus situations. It also happens that some individuals, because of repeated over-reactions to emotional experiences, tend to acquire a consistently over-active way of dealing with emotions.

Thus, these people get excited even under mild emotion-provoking situations. Such persons are sometimes referred to as anxious reactive persons. It may, therefore, be seen that both physiological processes and nervous activities are involved in emotional experiences.

It has been shown that physiological over­ activity in emotional situations can be injurious to health. Thus, while physiological changes are necessary correlates of emotions, efforts should be made to keep them in check. This can be done in a number of ways like regular relaxation, yogic exercises, meditation, bio-feedback and a number of other ways.

It should be possible through training to establish voluntary control over the intensity of emotional experiences. This will result in preventing wastage of energy and a diversion of the same towards positive growth functions.

Essay # 4. Functions of Emotions:

The emotions are essentially adaptive reactions to specific situations. They are primarily emergency functions for the mobilisation of energy. This is, of course, a purely biological function. In addition, however, emotions also perform certain social functions, including communication.

Facial expressions and the general activity level during emotions influence our interaction with others. For example, if a boy finds his father upset or in an emotional state he accordingly responds with behaviour suited to the occasion.

If he had any idea of asking permission to go to a movie he refrains from doing so. On the other hand, if he finds his father happy or in a light-hearted mood, he makes use of the opportunity to secure many promises and concessions. This can be seen in the behaviour of the domestic dog also. This example illustrates that emotions perform a communicative function.

In addition, emotions also have a stimulating function. For example, a person who is in a happy state of mind invariably makes others also happy and sees happiness all around him. On the other hand, a person who is sad makes those around him also sad. Similarly, a person who is angry makes others angry. Thus, emotions influence the atmosphere.

Emotions play a crucial role in creative and artistic activities. An actor who can stimulate an emotional experience does a better job of his acting. Emotions also make one sensitive to the problems of others. Thus, one may see that emotions have a contagious influence.

It has been found that our ability to understand and interpret the emotional states of others is very important in our social life. To a large extent, our culture and social conditions help us to acquire this ability. Facial expressions often tell us about the emotional states of others. This is very helpful in our social adjustment.

Similarly, our ability to experience joy and happiness enriches our life and makes it pleasant. Thus, a poet who derives pleasure and happiness even from the ordinary things in life enjoys a very rich quality of life and by conveying these emotions enriches the lives of others. Emotions play a very important role in determining the overall quality our lives.

Emotions constitute a basic part of human living, and perhaps as fundamental as blood circulation or heartbeat. Emotions are found to be part of not only human behaviour but also animal behaviour. In view of this, it goes without saying that they have certain basic biological and psychological functions. The general common sense of idea of emotions has had two sides.

On the one hand emotions have been extolled as the foundations of the noblest of human behaviour valour, sacrifice, altruism and creativity, particularly artistic creativity. On the other hand, emotions have been condemned as the villains behind savage and barbaric behaviour, violence, crime, cruelty and atrocity.

The real answer to this question seems to be that there is some truth in both the views. Whether emotions are angels or villains depends on the nature of the particular emotion, its intensity, the cognitive control in the person and many other factors. In view of this, we may now briefly examine the functions of emotions or the role of emotions under two categories, constructive and disruptive.

On the constructive side, there is a general acceptance of the view held by Darwin that the emotional expressions of a person give us a clue about how he or she is feeling and what he or she is likely to do. Thus emotions help us to understand and to some extent even anticipate or predict the behaviour of people.

Thus if a young child finds her father with a frown on his face, she understands that her father is disturbed or angry and decides to postpone her request for a new dress as in her assessment, her request at that time is likely to be rejected. Another positive function that has been emphasised is the role of emotions in communication.

This function is referred to as “social referencing”. In a situation, where we are uncertain or where we have just entered as in the case of a meeting, rather late, we often look to the emotional expressions on the faces of others and get an idea of how they are, whether there is anything disturbed or exciting before deciding our own course of action.

Similarly, the behaviour of infants in the presence of a stranger, is very much guided by the facial expressions on the faces of mothers emotional expressions serve as effective forms of communication, influencing our own course of action. Robert Zajonses says that facial expressions of emotions do serve certain biological functions.

It has been suggested that when facial muscles contract, the flow of blood to the different regions is redistributed. It has been suggested that laughing is helpful because it constricts some arteries and veins enabling the supply of more blood to the brain and thus providing more oxygen.

In addition, emotions also help us to be better prepared for emergency behaviour. They energies us and also make us cognitively and behaviourally more alert, if they are within limits. They certainly energies our activity.

Norman Cousins, whose book the “Anatomy of Illness” has become extremely popular strongly advocates the view that positive emotions like joy or happiness contribute to health and even healing of serious physical disorders.

In fact. Cousins treated himself with laughter therapy. Positive emotion has been found to be helpful in reducing stress. Similarly strong emotions help us to remember certain events and also certain experiences better.

On the disruptive side, emotions certainly, if they are extreme and uncontrolled, very often disturb our cognitive functions and thinking process and lead to impulsive actions resulting in undesirable consequences both to others and to ourselves.

Often in mob situations or in situations which are very exciting, people lose control of themselves and indulge in actions which are destructive and harmful and which subsequently they regret.

Excess of emotions can also result in creating bodily disturbances. When disturbances continue, there can be accumulation of tension resulting in what is known as psychophysiological disorder. Thus one may see that emotions have both positive and negative functions.

Essay # 5. Development of Emotions:

It was found that in addition to genetic and environmental influences, factors such as maturation and growth or epigenetic factors also play an important role in the appearance or non-appearance of particular patterns of behaviour.

Every aspect of human behaviour passes through a pattern of development resulting in changes as the individual grows from childhood to adulthood. Such changes are of different types. They can be quantitative or qualitative in nature.

Further, it was seen that while the basic developmental process is common in a general way for all individuals, at the same time this pattern is greatly influenced by social, cultural and experiential factors. This statement holds true for emotions also.

We may, mention to McDougall’s concept of emotions as being parts of an instinctual process. According to this view, instincts and emotions were both innate patterns. The James-Lange theory also, to some extent, supported this view as it implied that there is a specific pattern of bodily reactions for each emotion and that this formed the core of emotional experience. Thus, for a long time, it was widely believed that emotional behaviour was essentially inherited.

John Watson, the leader of behaviourism, examined this belief and concluded that there are three basic emotional patterns which are found even in infants; and therefore, can justifiably be regarded as being inherited.

Watson identified fear, anger and love as the three basic emotions. Fear could be aroused by a loud noise or loss of bodily support; rage by the restriction of bodily movements; and love by the stimulation of certain sensitive zones of the body.

This view was again put to test by M.C. Jones and the Shermans. All of them found that young infants did really show a general pattern of excitement irrespective of the stimulus and this generalized pattern of excitement later got differentiated into different forms of familiar emotional behaviour.

This differentiation continues until the adult level when the individual develops the capacity to manifest clearly distinguishable emotional behaviour in various situations. Here, one can notice two distinct tendencies. On the one hand, the general pattern of excitement found in infants gradually gives place to differentiated patterns as the individual grows.

At the same time, the exact number of patterns that emerge appear to depend on environmental influences. Thus, it has been found that in certain cultural groups people are capable of a large number of emotional experiences while in other societies the number of different emotional experiences is smaller.

An indication of this is given by the number of words available in different languages which are employed to describe emotional experiences. It has been estimated by Davids that the English language has at least four hundred words to describe emotional experiences.

A classic attempt in the study of the development of emotions was made by Katherine Bridges who observed children with reference to their emotional behaviour. Bridges came to the conclusion that the newborn child exhibits a general pattern of excitement which, within the first three months, gets differentiated into distress and delight. The former appears under unpleasant conditions and the latter under pleasant conditions.

As the child grows and develops, these two patterns are further differentiated into different kinds of pleasant and unpleasant emotions. By the time the child is two-years-old, it is found to be capable of experiencing and expressing a large number of pleasant and unpleasant emotions which are distinct and clearly distinguishable.

Perhaps, even today we cannot clearly and conclusively state the exact number of emotions which can be experienced by an adult. Different investigators have given different lists.

Woodworth, in 1938, proposed the following list of emotions: love (mirth and happiness), surprise, fear, anger and disgust (contempt). Frijda in 1968 proposed the following list: happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust, calm, bitterness, pride, irony, insecurity and scepticism.

It can, therefore, be seen that there is little agreement regarding the exact number of emotions.

Essay # 6. Judgement of Emotions:

A very important component of our social life, particularly direct interpersonal interaction is our ability to judge the emotions of others. Social life will be absolutely impossible without such an ability to judge others emotions and respond accordingly. The young infant, very soon in his or her life learns to read the emotions of the mother and later that of other significant others.

The errant husband who returns home late, first concentrates on judging the emotions of his wife. A contrived silence, non-responsiveness on her part very eloquently communicates a strong anger and disapproval. So, does a clever domestic helper wait for the moment, when he judges the master of the house to be found in a happy and relaxed mood, to moot the idea of an increase in his salary.

The facial expressions of the person, his posture, whether he is sitting quietly or pacing up and down, all these are external indicators of an internal emotional condition. Such external actions serve to communicate the emotions of the individual to others and similarly help others to read the emotions of those experiencing theirs.

In fact such expressions are seen even among lower animals. But while it is true that body movements do convey emotions, nevertheless as observed by Golemen attempts to establish a fixed one to one correspondence between certain body movements and specific underlying emotions have rarely been very successful. As of today, facial expressions offer the best cues, in judging the expressions of emotions.

In view of this there has been a fair amount of research on judgement of emotions of facial expressions. Ruckmick actually designed and standardised a set of pictures to study people’s ability to judge emotions from facial expressions. The pictures have been widely used.

It has been estimated that the human face can generate about six to seven hundred different expressions, the actual number varying from culture to culture and individual to individual. At the same time there is evidence to show that some patterns of expressions are natural and innate. Thus, the expression of a smile has been found to be similar across many cultures.

Similarly, a common pattern of expression of sadness has also been found to be fairly widespread with a’ long face and a reduced muscle tone. Aversion or disgust, is another emotion which has been found to be accompanied by a fairly common and similar type of facial expressions.

Emotional expressions in infants who are normal and those who are blind have been found to be very similar. These facts suggest that there are some innate patterns of expression of certain emotions. At the same time, however, there are specific expressions which are not unusual, and also cannot be regarded as innate.

Such expressions are required through learning mostly by imitation and other forms of social learning. Thus when an Indian is happy, this is expressed through loud vocal expressions, a variety of body movements, hugging and a variety of other signs of exuberance which is not true of an occidental.

Along with this learning of culturally familiar and common expression, gradually there is also an increasing element of individuality. If two adults are displeased with one of your actions, they show it differently. The mechanism of shaping discussed under conditioning plays an important role in this.

While facial expressions of typical emotions are acquired, at the same time people also learn to control such expressions. Thus, in modern society, a cultured or learned individual is expected to be restrained and control open expression of emotions. On the other hand, actors are able to express emotions, under constrained conditions.

Our expressions of emotions are controlled by different parts of the brain. Thus voluntary expression, which is acquired or which we see in the case of actors is controlled by the pyramidal motor system in the cerebral cortex, while involuntary and innate expressions are controlled by the extra pyramidal system in the cortex.

Damages to these areas have been shown to affect the ability for expression of emotions. Other studies have shown that the two hemispheres of the cortex-right and left, play slightly different roles.

Thus individuals in whom there has been some damage to the left hemisphere, the right hemisphere being intact, show an exaggerated expression of negative emotions like crying and may find it difficult to enjoy jokes and humour even though they understand these.

On the other hand those with a damaged right hemisphere without any injury to the left tend to show uncontrollable laughter suggesting that the right hemisphere may have a greater role in the case of positive emotions. Thus there is some evidence that there appears to be a difference between the right and left hemisphere in their roles in the expression of emotions.

On the whole, the right hemisphere plays a more dominant role in the expression of emotions. Studies have shown that the right hemisphere is more efficient than the left in perceiving and expressing emotions and recognising facial expressions while the left has been found to be more efficient in recognising words.

Essay # 7. The Disruptive Role of Emotions:

Emotions have very often been considered as disruptive in nature. It has been said that they affect the physical and mental health of the individual and make him less efficient and socially unpleasant. This is not true of all emotions. One can make a distinction between positive emotions and negative emotions.

Emotions like anger, fear and jealousy are disruptive and energy-consuming if they are aroused very frequently and in intense forms. It has been shown that in some cases they can lead to psychosomatic disorders or psycho-physiological disorders like diabetes, hypertension, peptic-ulcer, etc.

There is no doubt that if one becomes a victim of heightened emotionality and reacts with violent emotions, it will have an adverse effect on one’s mental and physical health. On the other hand, in milder forms emotions can be personally and socially useful. For example, healthy fear and righteous anger are often necessary.

It is healthy fear and righteous anger that have been behind many good things in life including progress of science and the growth of civilizations. Positive emotions like joy contribute to physical and mental health by stimulating the parasympathetic functions.

In addition, they also contribute to the happiness of others and, thus, create pleasantness all around. It is, therefore, necessary that people should develop the ability to derive joy and happiness from life. People should cultivate a love for nature, art and the other good things of life.

This will help us to divert our attention and preoccupation from situations, which are otherwise stressful. The habit of reacting excessively to situations should also be avoided. This is known as the ability to control emotions. The ability to exercise voluntary control on one’s emotions goes a long way in ensuring mental and physical health.

Essay # 8. The Measurement of Emotions:

As psychology developed into a science, attempts were being continuously made to develop techniques of measuring and quantifying different aspects of behaviour. As a part of this process, attempts have also been made to measure emotional behaviour. When it comes to a question of measurement of emotions one can see two dimensions to the problem.

First, there is the activity dimension or the physiological dimension, which includes all the muscular, glandular and energy changes.

Second, there is the psychological dimension or the experiential dimension. While it has been relatively easy to measure the former, the latter poses difficulties.

Bodily activities or changes in emotions are measured with the help of instruments like the Pneumograph (respiratory rate). Sphygmomanometer (blood pressure) and other common instruments. The Polygraph is a composite instrument, which gives us records of a variety of bodily changes in emotions.

The reader might have heard of the ‘Lie Detector’ used by investigative agencies to detect whether a person is speaking the truth or not. The lie detector essentially involves the use of a polygraph. The fluctuations, especially sudden variations in bodily activities give an indication regarding the possibilities of lying.

An important component in the polygraph is the measurement of the G.S.R. or the Galvanic Skin Response. This refers to changes in the electrical resistance of the skin. Under emotional conditions there are changes in the electrical discharge and the pattern of these changes indicate underlying emotional disturbances though this by itself cannot be said to be an infallible indicator.

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Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions Essay

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Introduction

Personal view about happiness, suggestions on how to be happy, works cited.

Happiness means different things for different people. This notwithstanding, every person is concerned about being happy. Drawing from a study by Radwan (1), defining what happiness is a very difficult task. For certain people, happiness is as a result of being content. It is a unique reaction by a person who feels that everything is going the way he or she desires. To some, it is a feeling that one experiences after attaining set goals.

According to Carlin and Capps (185), most people tend to describe happiness in ways that are quite vivid than definitions of happiness. Despite the fact that people have no problem identifying an expression of happiness when they come across one, no agreement on definitions of happiness exists. This view is also supported by Selin and Davey (294), who argued that defining happiness has been complicated by the fact that no common measurement parameters exist.

A major challenge when it comes to defining happiness has to do with the fact that it has many different faces (Lawrence and Lawrence 6). Despite the huge interest expressed by people in happiness and how to define it, it is very rare that most people will spend time thinking about the concept. Personally, I believe that happiness should be defined as that experience that causes an individual to feel alive. Despite the fact that defining happiness is complicated, there are certain things that can be said about happiness.

First, happiness depends on an individual’s way of looking at things. By and large, what makes one person happy may not trigger happiness in another person. For instance, while money will bring happiness to some people, it may not create happiness for others. Secondly, happiness may be realized by a person who gets what meets a need in his or her life. An individual who is financially insecure may experience happiness when he or she finally gets a job with a stable income. I am also of the opinion that happiness just occurs as people go about their businesses.

I strongly believe that true happiness always comes from within a person. It is a feeling of self assurance. While some people are of the opinion that individuals are the best judges of their own happiness, others are convinced that outsiders are better placed when it comes to judging happiness. Unlike the happiness that is from within, happiness due to external factors is bound to disappear after sometime. For example, any happiness that is as a result of one having all the money he or she desires to have fades away when the money gets depleted. While some people will be happy because they have money and everything else they may require, others are not bothered with material wealth and will be happy with or without money.

In order to maximize happiness, nations and communities should put a number of things into consideration when formulating public policies. Among other things, policy makers should come up with plans to ensure that individuals can get rid of all negative emotions that often lead to unhappiness. It is also imperative for policy makers to see to it that public policies include a training component about happiness. Without a doubt, it is necessary to train everyone about happiness and how to go about getting happiness. As has already been explained, one approach of creating happiness in an individual is to ensure that all bad feelings are done away with. Through training, individuals may also be advised on the best way possible to determine what creates happiness for them.

Another requirement for an individual’s happiness is the ability for one to think positively. It is therefore important for policy makers to figure out how to encourage people to be positive thinkers even in the face of serious challenges. As pointed out by Radwan (1), being positive opens an avenue for an individual to be hopeful and this in turn leads to a feeling of happiness. For an individual to increase his or her level of happiness, it is necessary to be aware of the things that make him or her happy. Nations and communities can take advantage of this fact to help people to be happy. Policy makers should be tasked with the responsibility of coming up with policies that lead to the creation of an environment that leads to the availability of those things that make people happy.

A number of factors have been identified as having an impact on the happiness of individuals (Selin and Davey 297). They include income, security, democracy, freedom, culture, and values. Although the actual connection between income and happiness is not very clear, research undertaken by some research professionals indicate that the level of an individual’s income has a huge effect on his or her happiness. According to McEachern (180), happiness is a basic human right that cannot be taken away from an individual and improving the economy is one strategy that a nation or a community can adopt to create happiness. Arguably, the same can also be said about democracy and happiness. In addition, culture plays a very important role in determining a person’s level of happiness. For this reason, it is imperative for policy makers to think about integrating these factors in the formulation of policies that are meant to promote happiness in people’s lives. Security is equally important when considering happiness and state governments must see to it that people live in a secure environment. According to Biswas-Diener (76), every development should be geared towards promoting happiness in the society.

Without a doubt, happiness is a very important need for every human being. For this reason, efforts must be made to come up with policies that will create a healthy environment for happiness to be realized. State governments are therefore expected to do everything possible to create an environment where individuals can be free to pursue happiness. Security also plays a critical role in promoting happiness.

Biswas-Diener, Robert. Positive Psychology as Social Change. Amherst, MA: Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. Print.

Carlin, Nathan and Donald Capps. 100 Years of Happiness: Insights and Findings from the Experts. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print.

Lawrence, Denis And Anne Lawrence. Happiness Makes You Healthy: Research and Practice. USA, Lulu, 2013. Print.

McEachern, William. Macroeconomics: A Contemporary Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.

Radwan, Farouk. Definition of Happiness and How to be Happy in Life . 2014. Web.

Selin, Helaine and Gareth Davey. Happiness across Cultures: Views of Happiness and Quality of Life in Non-Western Cultures, Amherst, MA: Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, June 23). Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions. https://ivypanda.com/essays/happiness-personal-view-and-suggestions/

"Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions." IvyPanda , 23 June 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/happiness-personal-view-and-suggestions/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions'. 23 June.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions." June 23, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/happiness-personal-view-and-suggestions/.

1. IvyPanda . "Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions." June 23, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/happiness-personal-view-and-suggestions/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Happiness: Personal View and Suggestions." June 23, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/happiness-personal-view-and-suggestions/.

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Why You Feel Underappreciated at Work

And how to empower yourself when you do.

Despite working hard and meeting our goals, sometimes it’s not clear why we aren’t getting ahead at work. In the absence of strong feedback, we may begin to feel underappreciated or undervalued. While leaders and managers can help boost employee morale by bridging communication gaps around performance, it can be frustrating to wait for that change to happen. What can you do to empower yourself in this situation? Begin by figuring out the unique circumstances that are contributing to your feelings of underappreciation. In some cases, you may be making false assumptions that are exacerbating your negative emotions or leading you down the wrong path of action. You may need to course correct to move in the right direction.

Do you ever feel underappreciated or undervalued at work? If you answered “yes,” then you’re one of many. In a recent survey of over 1000 full-time employees in the United States, more than a half of respondents reported feeling only somewhat valued (46.4%) or not valued at all (10.7%) by their organization.

• Tessa West is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and a leading expert in the science of interpersonal communication. She is the author of Jerks at Work: Toxic Coworkers and What to Do About Them .

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India Celebrates Friendship Day 2024 - Best Messages, Quotes, Wishes, SMS, Facebook and WhatsApp Status, and Images to Share on Friendship Day

Top 20 Wishes to send on Friendship Day

Top 20 messages to send on friendship day, top 20 quotes to share on friendship day, top images to share on friendship day.

By Armando Iannucci

Mr. Iannucci is a television and movie director and producer whose hits include the HBO series “Veep.”

As soon as President Biden dropped out of the race, leaving his vice president to take on the candidacy, a pile-on of news organizations tracked me down to ask for comment. They weren’t after any insights on Kamala Harris’s campaign (I have none) but instead wanted to know how I felt now that events were tracking the main story line of my HBO show “Veep.”

The show stars the unbeatable Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Vice President Selina Meyer. As the series progresses, Selina is suddenly thrown onto the main stage when the president decides not to run for a second term, leaving her to go into the convention as the new presumptive nominee. For 24 hours, the mainstream media asked if I was pleased with the comparison.

This is the first time I’m setting out a definitive answer to that question, and the answer is: No, I’m not. I’m extremely worried! Not about Ms. Harris. I’m sure she’ll inject much-needed sharpness into the campaign. What worries me is that politics has become so much like entertainment that the first thing we do to make sense of the moment is to test it against a sitcom.

In fact, I fear we’ve now crossed some threshold where the choreographed image or manufactured narrative becomes the only reality we have left. Look how the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, which happened only two weeks ago, so speedily transformed from real-time tragedy into iconography. No sooner had Mr. Trump ducked for cover when some indefinable Trumpy-sense clicked on, calculating with acute precision how best to turn the moment of survival into a sequence of living memes, first by asking for his shoes, perhaps so he could be seen to exit at full height, and then raising a fist to the clouds, mouthing, “Fight, fight, fight.” Someone died in that mindless violence, but what does it say about the supremacy of the defining visual that Mr. Trump commemorated the moment at his party’s convention by caressing the victim’s uniform live onstage?

Which brings us to the Republican convention in Milwaukee. The convention was not so much the choosing of a leader as the transfiguration of one — the Donald reborn as the One who brushed off death as if it were some loser mosquito whack job. With humility he declared himself chosen and protected by God, the sly implication being that while Mr. Biden was slowly stumbling toward his end, Mr. Trump was most likely immune from his. For 20 minutes Mr. Trump spoke with saintly measure of how he was going to unite the country and then for an hour more made it clear he would do this by delegitimizing every alternative point of view.

Heretics, including Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, promptly repented, with conviction in their voices and deadness in their eyes, and a collective hosanna rose from the assembly, many wearing anointed ear bandages to cover the stigmata they prayed would one day afflict the sides of their own heads. The whole event was about making us believe in Mr. Trump’s Second Coming (or his third, if you’re one of those who think his second came in 2020 but that was stolen and everyone knows it).

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