42. Happiness (Subjective Well-Being)
Introduction
Happiness is more than simply experiencing a positive mood; it is about overall life satisfaction, ie the cognitive dimension of happiness. Happiness is
"...people's evaluations of their lives and encompasses both cognitive judgements of satisfaction and effective appraisals of moods and emotions..."
P. Kesebit et al as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Subjective well-being is generally thought to be the scientific basis of what we mean when we talk about happiness.
"...The science of happiness looks at 'what makes happy people happy'......science has looked closely at happiness as 'hedonically' defined - or, in other words, happiness is the outcome of the pursuit of pleasure over pain......Hedonic enjoyment is a state whereby an individual feels relaxed, has a sense of distance from their problems and, can be said to feel 'happy'..."
Heather Craig, 2019
Happiness is important because it is associated with improved physical health, longevity, etc; it is regarded as more important than other desirable outcomes, like living a meaningful life or making a lot of money.
More recently,
"...Happiness has been conceptualised as being composed of at least 2 aspects - hedonia (or, pleasure) and eudaimonia (a sense that life is well lived)..."
Heather Craig, 2019
NB
"...people strive after happiness; they want to become happy and remain so. This endeavour has two sides, a positive and a negative aim. It aims, on the one hand, at an absence of pain and displeasure, and, on the other hand, had the experiencing of a strong feeling of pleasure..."
Sigmund Freud as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
The construct of happiness is still evolving using qualitative and quantitative assessment; it is an ambiguous term with a number of meanings:
"...- transient emotion (it is synonymous with joy)
- an experience of fulfilment and accomplishment (characterised by a cognitive evaluation)
- a long-term process of meaning-making and identity development through achieving one's potential and the pursuit of subjectively relevant goals..."
A. Delle Fave et al as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Pleasure and happiness are linked. However, pleasure alone cannot achieve happiness.
It has been suggested that they are 3 kinds of happiness:
"...- pleasure and gratification
- embodiment of strengths and virtues
- meaning and purpose..."
Martin Seligman as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Currently there are 3 basic views of happiness:
"...1. Hedonism - in other words, to be happy is to experience, on the whole, a majority of pleasure. Hedonia
2. Life-satisfaction view - to be happy is to have a favourable attitude on one's life as a whole, either over its entirety or just over a limited period of time. Eudaimonia
3. Affective state theory - happiness depends on an individual's overall emotional state..."
D. Haybron as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
There are variations (hybrids) around these 3 basic views of happiness. One of these hybrids is the most widely accepted theory of happiness, ie subjective well-being. This involves 3 components
"...1. Life satisfaction
2. The presence of a positive mood
3. The presence of a negative mood..."
R. Ryan et al, as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Hedonism (pursuit of pleasure over pain)
"...Hedonic enjoyment is a state whereby an individual feels relaxed, has a sense of distance from their problems and, can be said to feel 'happy'..."
R. Ryan as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Utilitarian philosophers favour the argument that a good society is one which developed out of individuals attempting to maximise pleasure and pursue self-interest.
Hedonia is different from physical headonism, ie
"...Happiness can come not only from short-term pleasure, but can also arise from achieving goals or other valued outcomes......happiness can include the preferences and pleasures of the mind, as well as the body..."
R. Ryan as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Hedonia is linked with behavioural theories of reward and punishment plus serious focus on cognitive expectations of the outcomes of reward and punishment.
Eudaimonia (life satisfaction view of happiness)
Happiness and good moral character are linked, ie actively expressing virtue.
"...Happiness is advanced by people acting in accordance with their most deeply held values......the term 'personal expressiveness' to describe the state of authenticity that occurs when people's activities reflect their values..."
Waterman as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
Aristotelian view is that happiness (in itself) is not the principal criterion for wellbeing;
"...happiness is the result of the development of individual strengths and virtues..."
J. Norrish et al as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
It forms the basis of the concepts of a fully functioning person, self-actualising (proposed by Maslow),
(for more details, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base) and self-determination theory; this last theory
"...argues that fulfilment in the areas of autonomy and competence will enhance happiness......subjective well-being..."
Heather Craig, 2019
Affective state theory (happiness is a result of one's overall emotional state, ie positive and negative impacts that are independent and uncorrelated)
"...happiness is a global judgement people make by comparing the negative effects and positive effects......is derived when the sum of the 'negative' items is taken away from the sum of the 'positive items'..."
Ed Diener as quoted by Heather Craig, 2019
NB The absence of negative items is not the same thing as the presence of positive items.