CHAPTER 1
The Problem and Its Background
Introduction
It is a common if not the ultimate goal for people to be happy, in any stage of human life. Happiness in fact is almost interchangeably referred to as well-being, is in the heart of positive psychology. The nascent literature on this provides insights to helping professionals like psychologists and counselors who work with families, schools, religious communities and corporations (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The adolescents in schools are not exempted from wanting to be happy. They involve themselves in activities and leisure that are enjoyable and for some fulfilling. Albeit gratitude has been the favored topic in many disciplines like religion, sociology and economics for centuries, positive psychology focuses on it recently
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Happiness is about what benefits a person, is good for him and make him better, serves his interests and desirable for his sake. This concept is better known as hedonism which holds subjective raw feeling. Desire theory on the other hand holds that happiness is a matter of getting what people want or the fulfilment of their desires. Objective List Theory lodges that happiness outside of feeling and onto a list of truly valuable things in real world. These three are theories of happiness. (Happiness Scale Manual) Seligman’s (2002) authentic happiness theory as mentioned in the work of Schueller & Seligman, 2010, posits three distinct pathways to well-being: pleasure (Pleasant Life), engagement (Good Life) and meaning (Meaningful Life). This will encompass the three theories of hedonism, desire theory and objective list theory and this is the main theoretical framework of the Happiness Scale that will be used by the
What if one book could give you the answers to life-long happiness? Is it possible? Well, according to the book “Happiness Hypothesis” written by Jonathan Haidt, he believes he has found the steps in which happiness can be achieved by looking into virtue, morals, and the meaning of life. The book was written as a directional guide to make us self-examine our overall happiness. Haidt invents this hypothesis by exploring ancient beliefs and comparing that to modern-day philosophy.
Some people are happy with their friends, some people are happy with money, some people are happy with cats...the possibilities are endless. Although this relates to happiness, I broaden the aspects and took the ideas a step further. Every being in this world can improve themselves in their own unique ways. Just like how people have their own sources of happiness, students have their own ways to expand their thinking, skills, knowledge, and
Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjective satisfaction of desire. I will explain the similarities and the differences between the desire-satisfaction theory of value and hedonism.
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been a necessity in our daily lives since Thomas Jefferson stated these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, of Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act, pursuing happiness. However, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in Fahrenheit 451, that special elements in our life which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. Beatty, the fire chief, has a contentious job which pulls him
People miss the fact that happiness comes from within. In an attempt to find joy – we must also be cautious about over excessive desire to acquire material objects and wealth. There is a delicate balance that must be reached between the pursuit of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment. While there are many conditions that fulfill ones emotional wellbeing, happiness and how we acquired it, depends upon the
I believe that pursuing happiness as a goal has detrimental effects. As a society, we tend to believe that we need to be full of joy at all times, but that isn't realistic - life happens. By attempting to be cheery all the time, you will never be genuinely content. You will always be searching for more and won't be satisfied with what you have, creating a permanent cycle of gloom rather than bliss.
The Pursuit of Happiness It is a fundamental aspect of society and of mankind that individuals seek their own happiness. Almost every aspect of life centres on the importance of self-fulfillment, and throughout history, the often selfish nature of man loans itself to the idea that life is about pursuing one’s own happiness. In a perfect world, the search for satisfaction in life would go unheeded, and every man would come to realize a perfect sense of self. Unfortunately, there are often many challenges and compromising aspects of society that inhibit individuals from achieving happiness.
Not many achieve happiness in their lifetime. Either they do not live long enough to witness it or they are not prepared for what their happiness is. Happiness is very subjective. Each person’s version of happiness is different. This version of happiness is universal.
In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the concept of happiness is introduced as the ultimate good one can achieve in life as well as the ultimate goal of human existence. As Aristotle goes on to further define happiness, one can see that his concept is much different from the 21st-century view. Aristotelian happiness can be achieved through choosing to live the contemplative life, which would naturally encompass moralistic virtue. This differs significantly from the modern view of happiness, which is heavily reliant on material goods. To a person in the 21st-century, happiness is simply an emotional byproduct one experiences as a result of acquiring material goods.
The doctrines of happiness: There are different perspectives on happiness, two of which are the hedonic and the eudaimonic views. Both views have roots in philosophy, such as Aristotle and Aristippus. Despite their ancient origins, these views on human well-being are relevant even today. The hedonic view encompasses the idea those people are happiest when their life is filled with positive experiences and emotions, without negative ones.
(1991) indicates that the balance between negative and positive feelings is a good indicator of happiness. This suggests the measurement of objective happiness by means of individual balance of positive and negative experiences. Other studies revealed that purely measuring positive emotions, strong implications could be made about the individual happiness level; they can be seen as markers and sources of happiness (Diener, 2005). This is the reason why Seligman only used positive emotions in the PERMA model. Having a valued and worth filling positive life also strongly depends on positive emotions, (Fredrickson, 2001) due to the high correlation of life satisfaction and SWB (Michalos, et al., 2009).
Happiness can be viewed from many perspectives. Individuals display their happiness in countless ways, could be having someone to speak to on good and bad times, happy relationships, passing an exam, having your loved ones alive and healthy can be happiness to you the list goes on. It all comes down in the way you view things in life. In my opinion it is about the energy you display or attract. When you give off positive energy into the universe you attract positive energy in return.
A collection of philosophical, religious, psychological and biological approaches had attempted to define happiness and analyze its connections. Researchers have found that about 50% of people happiness depends on our genes, based on studies of identical twins, whose happiness was 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses. About 10% to 15% is a result of various measurable life circumstances variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others. The remaining 40% is a combination of intentional factors and the results of actions that individuals deliberately engage in to become happier. Studies have also found that most of us are born with a fixed “set point” of happiness that we fall in throughout our lives.
He says that happiness has evolved over time and uses his theory to support it. Seligman is able to use some of Aristotle’s thoughts and use his science to portray his viewpoints and philosophies. In his book “Flourish”, Seligman identifies five endeavors crucial to human flourishing or happiness. They are positive emotion, engagement, good relationships, meaning and purpose in life, and accomplishment, also referred to as PERMA. Seligman believes that these five elements can help people reach a life of fulfillment, happiness, and meaning.