22 - Happiness Flashcards
Two Types of Happiness
Hedonic: feel pleasure
* Feeling good
* Enjoyment and fun
* Maximizing positive emotion
* Minimizing negative emotions
Eudaimonic: feel purpose
* Feeling fulfilled
* Pursuit of meaning in life
* Engagement
* Realizing full potential
What factors contribute to happiness?
Genes: 50%
Circumstances: 10%
Intentional activities: 40%
What factors contribute to happiness?
Genes
Set Point Theory
* Happiness levels fluctuate around a genetically determined set point
* This set point tends to be positive, not neutral
Different People, Different Set Points
Evidence of Set Point Theory:
1. Happiness seems to be stable over time, despite the occurrence of life
events
Lottery Winners Study
A year after winning the lottery, lottery winners were not any happier than control participants
Why?
The Hedonic Treadmill:
Desire…strive…obtain…enjoy…adapt…desire more… (back to desire)
Adaptation to Negative Events
even after divorce or widowhood, back to original set point with time
2. Happiness levels of identical twins are strongly positively correlated but happiness levels of fraternal twins show no relationship
(uncorrelated)
3. Extroversion and neuroticism are strong predictors of happiness
- These traits have a strong genetic basis (temperament)
Summary of Effects of Genetics
* Life events influence short-term levels of happiness
* But people inevitable move back to their genetically determined set
point fairly soon after
- Due to adaption processes influenced by temperament
What factors contribute to happiness?
Circumstances
Lottery winners and control still had higher happiness level than patients with spinal cord injury
Differential Impact of Life Events?
* Do different life events impact happiness differently?
* Method: Longitudinal study of about 13,000 Australians
* Reported on 18 common events (9 positive, 9 negative)
* Reported on:
- Hedonic happiness: e.g., “feel full of life”, “felt so down in the dumps”
- Eudaimonic happiness: e.g. “how satisfied are you with your life, all things considered?”
Not All Events are Created Equal
* Differences in events in magnitude and duration of effect on happiness
* Differences in impact on hedonic and eudaimonic happiness
Ex: married life = higher eudaimonic happiness than hedonic happiness (but follow same curve), hired = very close but a bit higher hedonic than eudaimonic, childbirth= higher eudaimonic than hedonic (but same curve)
***see others for negative events
Individual Differences in Adaptation
* Although happiness is largely stable, about 25% of people show a significant change to their chronic happiness level
Individual Differences in Happiness Ranges
* Different people can have the same average happiness point but show different levels of variation around this set point
Circumstances
* The things that happen in a person’s life
- Important events in life, like winning an award or being in an accident
* Demographics, like age, gender, or ethnicity
Ex: age curve (happiest before 20 and after 60)
* Life status variables, like marital status, health, or income
Ex: education (higher gpa=higher happiness)
-Money Buys Happiness…Up to A Point
- Hedonic (positive affect & not “blue”) increases and then plateau at 75,000USD
- Eudaimonic happiness (ladder) continues to increase past 75000USD
* National, geographical, cultural region where a person lives
Ex: most happy country = Finland, least happy country = South Sudan
Summary of Effect of Circumstances
* Different life events affect happiness differently
- Some events have a bigger impact on happiness than other
- Some events lead to temporary changes in happiness and others are more
permanent
- Different effects on hedonistic vs. eudaimonic happiness
* Individual differences in adaptation and reaction to events
* Important between group differences in happiness
- Demographics, life status, and where you live
Implications
* Estimate of life circumstances accounting for only ~10% of happiness may be due to complex and contradictory effects
* Research into circumstantial factors suggests that happiness is within
our control to some extent and can change
- Challenges set point theory
Set Point Theory Revisited
* Genetics determine possible happiness range
* Non-genetic factors influence where someone consistently falls within this happiness range
What factors contribute to happiness?
Intentional activities
- Actions or practices in which people can choose to engage in
- Behavioural or cognitive
- Require some effort
Advantages of Intentional Activities
* Happiness boost resulting from circumstantial change fades more
quickly than a change to intentional activity
- i.e., effect of intentional activities on happiness lasts longer than effect of
circumstances
* Why?
- Intentional activities are more controllable on a day to day basis than
circumstances
- Allow for more variety and diverse experiences
Implications
* Suggests that changing intentional activities is most fruitful way of becoming happier
PERMA
Is happiness stable or can we change how happy we are?
- We have a biologically set happiness range that generally keeps our happiness
level stable over time - BUT long-term, chronic changes are possible; circumstances + intentional
activities determine where we consistently fall within our happiness range
How do we become happier?
PERMA
P= positive emotions
E= engagement
R= positive relationships
M= meaning
A= accomplishment
P = Positive Emotions
Research supports the importance of fostering the following for wellbeing:
* Optimism
* Savouring
- Mindfulness of the moment
* Gratitude
- Write a letter to someone that you feel grateful towards and imagine their reaction.
- Read gratitude letter to its recipient.
- Each day, list 3 things you’re grateful for.
E= Engagement
* Being immersed in activities that tap into your strengths that enable you to experience a state of “flow”
* Participate in activities that you really love
* Figure out what your strengths are and make a point of using them/ doing things you excel at
R= Positive Relationships
* Longitudinal studies show that the presence of warm relationships is the single greatest predictor of happiness
* How to foster warm relationships?
- Prioritize time with friends and/or family
- Have deeper conversations
M= Meaning
* Meaning is subjective
* Ask yourself questions like:
- What matters to me?
- After an activity/ end of the day: “What about this day felt the most meaningful?”
- What am I willing to struggle for?
- What makes you forget to eat?
- If you knew you were going to die in 6 months, what would you want to do?
A= Accomplishment
* Accomplishment/ achievement is subjective
* Intrinsic goals are more important for happiness than extrinsic goals
* Set goals that are realistic and speak to you and attain them
- Help you feel confident in yourself and promote internal motivation, pride, and a
feeling of competence
Some Thoughts About PERMA
* Importance of balance between hedonic (positive emotions) and eudaimonic (meaning) happiness
* Importance of satisfying psychological needs - Need to belong (Relationships)
- Competence (Accomplishment)
* Person-activity fit implied (“know thyself”)
- No one particular thing is a blanket solution for every person to become happier
- Individual differences in the importance of each factor
