Happiness is an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. (This definition is, however, a synonymous one rather than one based on analytic evaluation, because of the varied and elusive nature of happiness.) For other uses, see Emotion (disambiguation). ... BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. ... Look up joy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Positive psychology research perspectives

Main article: Positive psychology

Positive psychology is a relatively young branch of psychology that studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. ...

Theoretical framework

In his book Authentic Happiness, Martin Seligman, one of the founders of Positive psychology, describes happiness as consisting of 'positive emotions' and 'positive activities'. Martin E.P. Seligman (Albany, New York, 12 August 1942) is an American psychologist and writer. ... Positive psychology is a relatively young branch of psychology that studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. ...

He further categorizes emotions related to the past, present and future. Positive emotions relating to the past include satisfaction, contentment, pride and serenity. Positive emotions relating to the future include optimism, hope and trust. Positive emotions about the present are divided into two categories: pleasure and gratifications. The bodily and higher pleasures are "pleasures of the moment" and usually involve some external stimulus.

Gratifications involve full engagement, flow, elimination of self-consciousness, and blocking of felt emotions. But when a gratification comes to an end then positive emotions will be felt. Gratifications can be obtained or increased by developing 'signature strengths' and virtues. Authenticity is the derivation of gratification and positive emotions from exercising signature strengths. The good life comes from using 'signature strengths' to obtain abundant gratification in, for example, enjoying work and creative activities. The most profound sense of happiness is experienced through the 'meaningful life', achieved if one exercises one's unique strengths and virtues in a purpose greater than one's own immediate goals. Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. ... For other uses, see Gratitude (disambiguation). ... Virtue (Greek αρετη; Latin virtus) is the habitual, well-established, readiness or diposition of mans powers directing them to some goodness of act. ... Authenticity in psychology refers to psychological concept in which the individual derives gratification and positive emotions from exercising signature strengths. ...

Research findings

Looking for the level of happiness as reported by people, and comparing it to various elements in their life reveals the following findings: [1]

• About 50% of one's happiness depends on one's genes. This is shown by studying identical twins, and learning that their happiness is 50% correlated even when growing up in different houses.

• 10-15% is a result of various measurable variables, such as socioeconomic status, marital status, health, income, and others.

• The rest of the variance does not have a discernible cause. Called "unexplained variance", it may actually be attributed to statistical "noise".

Random redirects here. ...

Other psychology perspectives

Michael Argyle developed The Oxford Happiness Inventory as a broad measure of psychological well-being. This measures happiness as an aggregate of self-esteem, sense of purpose, social interest and kindness, sense of humor and aesthetic appreciation. This has been criticized for lacking a theoretical model of happiness and because it is felt that certain aspects overlap. Some studies suggest that happiness can be measured effectively. His Honour Michael Argyle QC MC (31 August 1915 - 4 January 1999) was a judge at the Central Criminal Court of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1988. ... In psychology, self-esteem or self-worth is a persons self-image at an emotional level; circumventing reason and logic. ... Sense of Purpose started as Nextstep in Melbourne, Australia in 1996 and changed their name in 1999. ... Look up kindness in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Worldwide happiness findings

The Satisfaction with Life Index. Green = Happiest > Blue > Purple > Orange > Red = Least Happy; Grey = Data not available

The Satisfaction with Life Index is an attempt to show the average self-reported happiness (subjective life satisfaction) in different nations. This is an example of recent trend to use direct measures of happiness, such as surveys asking people how happy they are, as an alternative to traditional measures of policy success to GDP or GNP. There are also several other examples of measures that includes self-reported happiness as one variable. Happy Life Years, a concept brought by Dutch sociologist Veenhoven, combines self-reported happiness with life expectancy. The Happy Planet Index combines it with life expectancy and ecological footprint. Gross national happiness is a concept introduced by the King of Bhutan as an alternative to GDP but there is as yet no exact definition.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 61 KB, MIME type: image/png) English: Satisfaction with Life Index Map Map coloured according to The World Map of Happiness, Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist, University of Leicester. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 351 pixelsFull resolution (1425 × 625 pixel, file size: 61 KB, MIME type: image/png) English: Satisfaction with Life Index Map Map coloured according to The World Map of Happiness, Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist, University of Leicester. ... Green = Happiest > Blue > Purple > Orange > Red = Least Happy; Grey = Data not available The Satisfaction with Life Index was created by Adrian White, an Analytic Social Psychologist at the University of Leicester. ... Green = Happiest > Blue > Purple > Orange > Red = Least Happy; Grey = Data not available The Satisfaction with Life Index was created by Adrian White, an Analytic Social Psychologist at the University of Leicester. ... Subjective life satisfaction is a measure of an individuals perceived level of well-being. ... A concept developed by the Dutch Sociologist Ruut Veenhoven[1], this is a proxy measure of well-being combining subjective data (subjective life satisfaction, measured on a scale of 0 to 10) and objective data (life expectancy). ... The Dutch (Ethnonym: Nederlanders meaning Lowlanders) are the dominant ethnic group[1] of the Netherlands[2]. They are usually seen as a Germanic people. ... This article is about the measure of remaining life. ... // The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact, introduced by the new economics foundation (nef), in July 2006. ... Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define a standard of living in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product. ... GDP is an acronym which can stand for more than one thing: (in economics) an abbreviation for Gross Domestic Product. ...

Happiness and economics

Main article: Happiness economics

Typically market health measures such as GDP and GNP have been used as a measure of successful policy. However, although on average richer nations tend to be happier than poorer nations, beyond an average GDP/capita of about $15,000 a year, studies indicate the average income in a nation makes little difference to the average happiness of the people in the nation.^[1][2] It has been argued that happiness measures could be used not as a replacement for more traditional measures but as a supplement.^[3] There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Biological approach

Though it may be impossible to objectively measure happiness, physiological correlates to happiness can be measured through a variety of techniques. For instance, psychophysiologist R.J. Davidson has developed reliable fMRI and EEG tests that correlate to subjective levels of happiness.^{[citation needed]} Stefan Klein in his book "The Science of Happiness" links the dynamics of neurobiological systems (ie. dopaminergic, opiate) to the concepts and findings of Positive Psychology and Social Psychology. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (or fMRI) describes the use of MRI to measure hemodynamic signals related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. ... EEG can mean: Electroencephalography - the method and science of recording and interpreting traces of brain electrical activity as recorded from the skull surface or the device used to record such traces Emperor Entertainment Group - A Hong Kong entertainment company. ... Stefan Klein is an essayist and science writer. ...

The evolutionary perspective offers an alternative approach to understand what happiness or quality of life is about. Briefly, the questions to be answered are: What features are included in the brain that allows humans to distinguish between positive and negative states of mind, and why did evolution add these features? Answering these questions points towards an understanding of what happiness is about; and how to best exploit the capacities of the brain that humans are endowed with. The perspective is presented in detail by the evolutionary biologist Bjørn Grinde in his book “Darwinian Happiness”, as well as in a more formal way.^[4] A request has been made on Wikipedia for this article to be deleted in accordance with the deletion policy. ...

Everyday correlates of happiness

Research in the US has found that citizens who identify themselves as "conservative" are more likely to report being "happy" or "very happy" than those who consider themselves to be "liberal." On both sides of the political spectrum, extremists report being happier than moderates. Parents are more likely to report being happy than non-parents, and religious belief also appears to be positively correlated with happiness,^[5][6][7] as is the ability to rationalize inequalities.^[8]

Religious involvement and happiness

Joy, tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (XIV century)

There is now extensive research suggesting that religious people are happier and less stressed.^[9][10] Surveys by Gallup, the National Opinion Research Centre and the Pew Organization conclude that spiritually committed people are twice as likely to report being "very happy" than the least religiously committed people.^[11] An analysis of over 200 social studies contends that "high religiousness predicts a rather lower risk of depression and drug abuse and fewer suicide attempts, and more reports of satisfaction with sex life and a sense of well-being"^[12] and a review of 498 studies published in peer-reviewed journals concluded that a large majority of them showed a positive correlation between religious commitment and higher levels of perceived well-being and self-esteem, and lower levels of hypertension, depression and clinical delinquency.^[13][14] Studies by Keith Ward show that overall religion is a positive contributor to mental health^[15] and a meta-analysis of 34 recent studies published between 1990 and 2001 also found that religiosity has a salutary relationship with psychological adjustment, being related to less psychological distress, more life satisfaction, and better self-actualization.^[16] Finally, a recent systematic review of 850 research papers on the topic concluded that "the majority of well-conducted studies found that higher levels of religious involvement are positively associated with indicators of psychological well-being (life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and higher morale) and with less depression, suicidal thoughts and behavior, drug/alcohol use/abuse." ^[17] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 558 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1000 × 1074 pixel, file size: 342 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Tacuina sanitatis (XIV century) العربية | Česky | Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Español | فارسی | Français | עברית | Indonesian | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Magyar | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Românǎ | Русский | Slovenščina | Српски | Sunda... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 558 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1000 × 1074 pixel, file size: 342 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Tacuina sanitatis (XIV century) العربية | Česky | Deutsch | English | Ελληνικά | Español | فارسی | Français | עברית | Indonesian | Italiano | 日本語 | 한국어 | Magyar | Nederlands | Polski | Português | Românǎ | Русский | Slovenščina | Српски | Sunda... The Tacuinum (sometimes Taccuinum) Sanitatis is a medieval handbook on wellness, based on the Taqwin al‑sihha (Tables of Health), an Arab medical treatise by Ibn Butlan; it exists in several variant Latin versions, the manuscripts of which are profusely illustrated. ... See: Gallup poll (opinion poll) Gallup, New Mexico ... The Reverend Professor (John Stephen) Keith Ward (born 22 August 1938) is a British cleric, philosopher, theologian, and scholar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Maslows hierarchy of needs. ...

Religious and spiritual views of happiness

Explanation of happiness in mystical traditions, especially in advanced spiritual techniques is related to full balance (conjunction, union, "secret marriage") of so called inner energy lines (energy channels of a soul or deepest dimension of the human): nadi (ancient Indian), gimel kavim (Hebrew), pillars, columns, gnostic ophis or caduceus. In balanced state two main lines (left & right, Ida & Pingala) form third line, called Shushumna or lashon hakodesh (hebr.). Speaking technically (full) activity of this third or central line is happiness. Left and right lines include all aspects of normal human life: sleep and awake, body and mind, physical and spiritual and so on. To attain balanced state of these 2 lines is a main task of life - a paradoxical result of all kinds of activities and endeavours combined with full relax or tranquility at the same time.^{[citation needed]} Ancient symbolic representation of the Yogic Nadi model Nadis (Sanskrit: channel or vein)(Tamil: psychic nerve) are the channels through which, in traditional Indian medicine and spiritual science, the energies of the subtle body are said to flow. ... The tree of life. ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge) that only a few possess. ... The Ophites is a blanket term for numerous gnostic sects in Syria and Egypt about 100 A.D. The common trait was that these sects would give great importance to the serpent of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, connecting the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) to... For the medical symbol often mistakenly referred to as a caduceus, see Rod of Asclepius. ... In Mysticism, ida is a nadi or psychic nerve. ... In Mysticism, pingala is a nadi or psychic nerve. ... Shushumna is a Nadi in the human subtle body. ... A right-handed Cartesian coordinate system, presenting the z (up) vector and y (forward) vector, the right is defined to be the positive x vector. ...

In Catholicism, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity (Latin equiv. to the Gk. eudaimonia), or "blessed happiness", described by the 13th-C. philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas as a Beatific Vision of God's essence in the next life. See Summa Theologiae As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic—from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1]—is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Aquinas redirects here. ... In Roman Catholic theology, the beatific vision is the eternal, direct perception of God enjoyed by those who are in Heaven, imparting supreme happiness or blessedness. ...

As an example, according to Augustine's Confessions, he lived much of his life without God. He sinned much and recognized his sinfulness. As a youth, he sinned for its own sake, and later in the pursuit of a perceived good. When he lost a dear friend to death, it troubled him a lot and he turned to God for answers. He turned to God to find true happiness, and was converted to Christianity. He found that true happiness can only come from a relationship with God, and appreciating God's creation for His sake, and not its own. Augustinus redirects here. ... Confessions is the name of a series of thirteen autobiographical books by St. ...

Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings and the Eightfold Path that will lead its practitioner to Nirvana, a state of everlasting peace. In this teaching, happiness is only achieved by overcoming desire in all forms. The philosophy and practice of Buddhism also encourages the generation of compassion, the desire for the happiness and well being of others [2]. Buddhism is a variety of teachings, sometimes described as a religion[1] or way of life that attempts to identify the causes of human suffering and offer various ways that are claimed to end, or ease suffering. ... The Noble Eightfold Path, according to Buddhism and as taught by Gautama Buddha, is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. ... This article is about the Buddhist concept. ... Taṇhā (Pāli: तण्हा) or Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit: तृष्णा) means thirst, desire, craving, wanting, longing, yearning. Synonyms: 愛 Cn: ài; Jp: ai; Vi: ái Tibetan: The most basic of these meanings (the literal meaning) is thirst; however, in Buddhism it has a technical meaning that is much broader. ... The Brahma-viharas (literally: “Brahma-abidings”, “dwellings with Brahma”) are an ancient fourfold Buddhist meditational practice, the cultivation of which is said (by the Buddha) to have the power to cause the practitioner to be re-born in the realm of the god, Brahma. ...

One of the core concepts in Buddhism is that of Dharma, also a central concept in Hinduism. Dharma is about expressing and acting according to your core nature. This eliminates potential causes of 'disharmony' in the mind and leads to happiness.

See also

• Cheeriness
• Eco-sufficiency
• Ecstasy
• Eudaimonia
• Euphoria
• Gemütlichkeit
• Gezelligheid
• Subjective life satisfaction

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article is about informal use of the term. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Euphoria (Greek ) is a medically recognized emotional state related to happiness. ...   (pronounced //) is a German abstract noun whose closest English equivalent is Cosiness. ... Gezelligheid (noun) or gezellig (adjective) is one of the difficult to translate words in Dutch language. ... Subjective life satisfaction is a measure of an individuals perceived level of well-being. ...

References

• Władysław Tatarkiewicz, Analysis of Happiness, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1976.
• Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness, Knopf, 2006
• Barbara Ann Kipfer, 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, Workman, 1990/2007 ISBN 978-0761147213
• Stefan Klein, The Science of Happiness, Marlowe 2006, ISBN 1-56924-328-X
• Richard Layard, Happiness: Lessons From A New Science, Penguin, 2005.
• David G. Myers, Ph. D The Pursuit of Happiness: Who is Happy-- and Why, William Morrow and Co., 1992, ISBN 0-688-10550-5
• Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph. D Authentic Happiness, Free Press 2002, ISBN 0-7432-2298-9
• Saint Augustine, "Confessions",Oxford World's Classics 1998 ISBN 0-19-283372-3
• Psychological Wellbeing, Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082.
• Arthur C. Brooks, "Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America--and How We Can Get More of It," Basic Books (2008) ISBN 978-0-465-00278-8

Władysław Tatarkiewicz Władysław Tatarkiewicz (April 3, 1886, Warsaw – April 4, 1980, Warsaw) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and author of works in ethics. ... Daniel Todd Gilbert (born 1957) is the author of the New York Times bestseller Stumbling on Happiness and the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. ... Stumbling on Happiness is a work of non-fiction by Daniel Gilbert Category: ... Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer is a linguist and lexicographer. ... Stefan Klein is an essayist and science writer. ... Richard Layard (born March 15, 1934) is a British economist and since 1990 director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. ... St. ... The word Confessions has several meanings: Confessions is a series of books composed by St. ...

Notes

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London. ... U.S. News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Is Religion Dangerous? is a book by Keith Ward examining the questions: Is religion dangerous? Does it do more harm than good? Is it a force for evil? Looking at the evidence from history, philosophy, sociology and psychology, Ward focuses on the main question at issue: does religion do more... David G. Myers is a professor of Psychology at Hope College, and the author of several books, including a popular textbook entitled Psychology. ... Is Religion Dangerous? is a book by Keith Ward examining the questions: Is religion dangerous? Does it do more harm than good? Is it a force for evil? Looking at the evidence from history, philosophy, sociology and psychology, Ward focuses on the main question at issue: does religion do more... Is Religion Dangerous? is a book by Keith Ward examining the questions: Is religion dangerous? Does it do more harm than good? Is it a force for evil? Looking at the evidence from history, philosophy, sociology and psychology, Ward focuses on the main question at issue: does religion do more... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

External links

• The World Database of Happiness — a register of scientific research on the subjective appreciation of life
• History of Happiness - concise survey of influential theories
• The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry "Pleasure" -ancient and modern philosophers' and neuroscientists' approaches to happiness, with a long bibliography.