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Happiness

Chapter · January 2017

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_522-1

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H

Happiness field of psychology have attempted to translate

these philosophical concepts into empirical
Lukasz D. Kaczmarek measureable constructs (e.g., Waterman et al.
Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz 2010). For the sake of scientific accuracy, it is
University in Poznań, Poznan, Poland recommended to refer to a specific theory when
the term happiness is used in the literature,
because conceptualizations of happiness differ
Synonyms substantially. For instance, for some authors hap-
piness is what people experience (Diener 2000;
Flourishing; Satisfaction with life; Well-being Kahneman 1999), whereas for others happiness is
what people do and achieve (Waterman
et al. 2010).
Definition

Happiness in psychology has two references.

Happiness as a Psychological Construct
First, happiness is an umbrella term for several
theories of well-being. These theories cover
Is Happiness a Scientific Term?
intrinsically rewarding and valued experience,
Most authors use happiness as a valid psycholog-
positive beliefs about self and the world, or posi-
ical term within the well-being literature (e.g.,
tive psychological functioning. Second, happi-
Czapiński and Peeters 1991; Diener 2000; Kah-
ness has been considered a basic emotion by
neman 1999), while other consider happiness too
most theorists within the psychology of emotions.
unwieldy for a psychological term (Seligman et al.
This chapter has been focused on happiness as
2005). However, the occurrence of the term hap-
well-being.
piness has been increasing in the psychological
literature, especially following emerge of positive
psychology (Seligman et al. 2005). Happiness is a
Introduction
pluralistic term, because it is defined in different
ways depending on the context in which it is used
Psychological theories of happiness build upon
and the type of professional group that introduces
philosophical concepts such as hedonia,
it into their terminology (e.g., psychologists, edu-
eudaimonia, and meaning in life as well as philo-
cators, or sociologists).
sophical traditions of utilitarianism or moral phi-
losophy (Tatarkiewicz 1976). Scholars within the
# Springer International Publishing AG 2017
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_522-1
2 Happiness
Categorization of Happiness Theories
Happiness theories can be sorted into hedonic
with an emphasis on immediate subjective expe-
rience (e.g., Kahneman 1999), eudaimonic with
an emphasis on the pursuit of personal excellence
(Waterman et al. 2010), or mixed (see Table 1).
Some theories provide extensive lists of substan-
tial components of happiness that are relatively
independent from each other (Ryff 2013),
whereas other propose specific working mecha-
nisms in which the listed components of happi-
ness interact (Kim-Prieto et al. 2005; Czapiński
and Peeters 1991). Another distinction is between
theories that emphasize subjective (with the sub-
ject as the final judge of whether they are happy or
not) (e.g., Diener 2000) or objective (with the
subject misled by cognitive biases in their judg-
ments) (Kahneman 1999) perspective on the mea-
surement of happiness. Given this variety of
perspectives, happiness theories are similar to
each other in terms of a family resemblance, i.e.,
they are connected by a series of overlapping
constructs (each theory shares at least one com-
ponent with some other theory) rather than one
common feature (see Table 1).
Ingredients of Happiness
There are several theories of happiness in the
literature that attempt to identify basic psycholog-
ical elements that happiness consists of. The most
notable theories include: subjective well-being
(Diener 2000), objective happiness (Kahneman
1999), psychological well-being (Ryff 2013),
eudaimonic well-being (Waterman et al. 2010),
authentic happiness/the well-being (Seligman
et al. 2005), social-psychological prosperity/
flourishing (Diener et al. 2010), or the onion the-
ory of happiness (Czapiński and Peeters 1991).
The subjective well-being theory argues that a
happy individual experiences an abundance of
positive feelings and few negative feelings – a
balance that serves as the basis for the evaluation
of life as very satisfactory (Diener et al. 2010;
Kim-Prieto et al. 2005). The objective happiness
theory argues that broad cognitive evaluations of
well-being (“Am I a happy person?”) are usually
biased; thus, only the quality of immediate expe-
rience (in terms of good vs bad as the indicator of
utility) is a valid measure of well-being
(Kahneman 1999). The psychological well-being
theory argues that a happy individual is character-
ized by several positive psychological character-
istics such as autonomy, environmental mastery,
or personal growth (Ryff 2013). The eudaimonic
well-being theory argues that a happy individual
is, above all, intensely engaged in self-
exploration, self-expression, and the development
of their best potential with positive emotions as an
additional consequence or a by-product of these
pursuits (Waterman et al. 2010). Social-
psychological prosperity theory lists elements of
positive functioning across diverse domains that
are constitutive to a very happy life (flourishing)
such as having rewarding relationships, contrib-
uting to happiness of others, or being engaged in
daily activities (Diener et al. 2010). Happiness
theories proposed by Seligman (Seligman et al.
2005) (authentic happiness theory that evolved
into the well-being theory) have distinguished
components (“routes to happiness”) that consti-
tute the full life: pleasure and positive emotions
(the pleasant life), engagement or flow (the good
life), and meaning (meaningful life). In his further
works, Seligman has included components of
achievements (conceptualized as the pursuit of
them rather than their actual accomplishment)
and social relationships. Happiness is described
with a three-layer structure in the onion theory
with the positive attractor (the will to live) as the
core, the mid-layer of general subjective well-
being, and the outer layer of current effective
experience and satisfaction with specific life
domains that reflects objective life events and
circumstances (Czapiński and Peeters 1991).
Individual Differences in Happiness
Large scale cross-cultural studies indicated that
most individuals consider themselves rather
happy (Diener 2000). There are however mean-
ingful differences in happiness that result from
several factors. Research has established that indi-
vidual differences of various components of hap-
piness result mostly from: (a) genetic influences
that sustain a level of well-being characteristic for
Happiness, Table 1 Basic components in happiness theories and association of happiness theories with philosophical traditions
Happiness theory
Happiness

Subjective Objective Psychological Eudaimonic well- Social-psychological Authentic happiness/ well- Onion
well-being happiness well-being being (Waterman prosperity (Diener being theory (PERMA) theory
(Diener 2000) (Kahneman (Ryff 2013) et al. 2010) et al. 2010) (Seligman et al. 2005) (Czapiński
1999) and Peeters
1991)
Component:
Autonomy ✓
Engagement/ ✓ ✓ ✓
involvement in
activities/effort
Environmental ✓ ✓ ✓
mastery/
competence/
achievements
Meaning in life ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Optimism ✓
Personal growth/ ✓ ✓
development of best
potentials
Positive experience ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
(pleasant, good,
enjoyable)
Positive ✓ ✓ ✓
relationships
Respect ✓
Satisfaction with life ✓ ✓ ✓
Self-acceptance ✓ ✓
Self-discovery ✓
Will to live ✓
Perspective:
Hedonic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Eudaimonic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
3
4 Happiness
a specific person (i.e., the happiness set-point),
(b) intentional activity (e.g., how an individual
regulates their positive emotions), and, to a lesser
extent, (c) life events (e.g., marriage) and circum-
stances (e.g., income) (Lyubomirsky et al. 2005).
Life events can cause positive and negative tem-
poral (childbirth or widowhood, respectively) or
lasting changes in well-being (marriage or disabil-
ity) (Anusic et al. 2014).
Personality is the main determinant of well-
being due to its constant interaction with several
aspects of human functioning such as life events
and circumstances, emotional experience, and
cognitive processing (Kim-Prieto et al. 2005).
Several personality traits have been related to
happiness, e.g., extroverts experience more life
satisfaction, whereas individuals high on neuroti-
cism experience less life satisfaction (Costa and
McCrae 1980). Happiness-related personality
traits evolve over time, e.g., individuals become
more extroverted and more emotionally stable
(Roberts et al. 2006). Noteworthy, the influence
of personality on happiness can be modified via
intentional behavioral efforts. For instance, when
less extroverted individuals intentionally try to
initiate behaviors that are typical for extroverts,
they temporarily improve their well-being
(McNiel and Fleeson 2006).
Various aspects of happiness (i.e., life satisfac-
tion or positive emotions) can be successfully
enhanced intentionally via happiness interven-
tions or positive psychological interventions
(Bolier et al. 2013; Seligman et al. 2005). These
interventions are inspired by cognitive therapy
methods and increase happiness through exercises
that enhance positive emotions (e.g., gratitude),
cognitions (e.g., optimism), or behaviors (e.g.,
kind acts).
Conclusion
Happiness is a psychological term with an
increasing popularity that groups theories
concerned with the essence of human well-
being. There are several theories of happiness
that cover a wide range of experience and func-
tioning. These theories have been used to explain
why some individuals are happier than others as
well as to develop interventions to increase hap-
piness. Individual differences in happiness are
explained mostly by biological, personality, and
social influences.
Cross-References
▶ Character
▶ Diener, Ed
▶ Eudaimonic Motivation
▶ Hedonic Motivation
▶ Lyubomirsky, Sonia
▶ Personal Growth
▶ Pleasure
▶ Positive Affect
▶ Positive Psychology
▶ Ryff, Carol D., Satisfaction with Life Scale
▶ Seligman, Martin E. P.
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