Paper
Happiness and Life Satisfaction: A Correlational Study
Published Mar 1, 2012 · Davender, V. Yadav, Pratibha
Indian journal of positive psychology
2
Citations
0
Influential Citations
Abstract
Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Happiness is a goal that people commonly strive for. Sometimes it seems as though formany, it is out ofreach. Strong marriages, family ties, friendships, spirituality, and self-esteem all help to determine happiness (Morris, 20001). People need to find goals for themselves that reflect their interests and values. When the goals are achieved, the person's wellbeing is lifted. People need to find the things that make themselves happy. Laughter is always a key issue of happiness. People need to smile and laugh more and more throughout their lives. Getting rid of all of the bad things and replacing those with good things will always help in the destination to happiness (Morris, 2001 ). Happiness is not merely a life lived by accumulating moments of pleasure. On the contrary, happiness is a long lasting enduring enjoyment of life; it is being in love with living. It is your reward for achieving a good character and personal rational values in life. Some important values are a productive career, romance, friendship and hobbies. Real happiness is a matter of experience, not of speech, not of demonstration. It can be had only by being introvert, cutting ourselves from all the non-self entities and being one with our soul itself. Since the soul is full of happiness, experience of the soul is the experience of happiness. Just as one cannot achieve the soul without experience, in the same manner one cannot get real happiness without the experience of the soul.Traits of Happy PeopleThere are some different traits seem to characterize happy people.* High self-esteem: These people believe themselves to be more ethical, more intelligent, less prejudiced, better able to get along with others, and healthier.* Personal control: People with an internal locus of control, usually achieve more in school, cope better with stress, and live more happily.* Optimistic: These people believe that with enough faith, you can do almost anything. Being a pessimist only makes people more vulnerable to illness (Myers, 1992).* Extroverted: Social, outgoing people report greater happiness and satisfaction with life. (Myers, 1997c).* Health: In studies people frequently cite health as an important contributor to happiness - and for some reason. While we may be able to adapt too many things that happen to us physically, but they take an emotional toll. When it comes to chronic pain and mental illness adaptation is more difficult and there should be a priority placed upon controlling suffering (Layard 2005).* Work: There is considerable evidence that we need to feel we are contributing to the wider society. Layard comments, Work provides not only income but also an extra meaning to life'.If a person isn't happy, how do they become happy? It is easy to say that happiness comes with having positive self-esteem, feeling control over our own lives, and being optimistic, but how do we achieve these if we don't already have them? Some scientists believe that happiness can be learned. If you practice it day in and day out you can achieve it. Increasing your happiness may not always be easy. A person may be working against their own innate personality traits, learned thinking habits, and the environment. "If you want to keep your happiness at the higher end of the set range, "you have to commit yourself every day to doing things to make you happy." (Morris, 2001).Robert E. Lane's influential study (2000) showed strong links between subjective feelings of well-being and companionship (by which Lane meant family solidarity and friendship). We gain happiness through our relationships with other people. He aigued, 'it is their affection or dislike, their good or bad opinion of us, their acceptance or rejection that most influences our moods. To all this we can add what we know of the significance of relationship in the early years of human life particularly in the home. …
Sign up to use Study Snapshot
Consensus is limited without an account. Create an account or sign in to get more searches and use the Study Snapshot.
Full text analysis coming soon...