Is the study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?

• Previous thought on happiness concluded that investigation into this area was indulgent, and the in the instance of maslow's hierarchy, lower level needs (safety, survival, belonging) were more pertinent and achievement of those would ultimately lead to happiness.
• Set point theory – individual happiness levels are static despite external circumstances
• Is the pursuit of happiness a luxury when viewed against suffering?
• scientific definition could be a) cognitive component overall life satisfaction b) affective (concerned with the change of emotions) : contrasting positive/negative affective attributes

Definitions

Hedonistic - good experiences and sense pleasure outweigh painful experiences

Eudaimonic - realisation of personal potential

full happiness occurs when life activities coincide with most profound personal values resulting in authentic experiences and aliveness

autonomy, growth, self-acceptance, life purpose, environmental mastery, positive relation to others are the key aspects of fulfilling ones 'daimon'

happiness does not result from the pursuit of pleasure but by addressing many aspects of ones personality

pleasant life - maximises pleasure & positive experiences

good life - develop key abilities in activities one has deep interest in

meaningful life - developing strengths in activities that contribute to experiences outside themselves, ie the community

Flow theory can be integrated into a possible pathway to happiness, where flow is the deep engagement in an activity where peak experience occurs from accomplishing a clear goal, intense concentration, loss of time -- expanding experience of happiness beyond a pleasure state

Happiness Set Point

Despite changes in circumstance, happiness levels generally remain the same

Humans have a tendency to rapidly adapt to new environments "hedonic treadmill"

Initial evidence of this contrasted lottery winners to paralysis victims who returned to their general states of being after a time

Recent developments in this theory:

• set points are believed to be above neutral, with most people being relatively happy most of the time
• set points are unique to everyone
• +/- affect have unique set points
• drastic life events change happiness levels
• adaptability varies depending on individual coping strategies

these points suggest that intervention is possible in relation to the experience of happiness outside the set point

There is evidence to refute the notion that happiness is an inherent trait in specific individuals -- that it is not independent of external circumstance. While certain personality traits like extroversion may subjectively aid well-being, changes in happiness reports over a long period of time show that individual personalities do not pre-disposed people to happiness.

Relative happiness -- evidence suggests that subjective comparisons between societal situations do not account for the variability in reported well-being. Despite significant changes in economic wealth of a country rarely does this coincide with drastic changes in well-being, generally as standards of comparison change.

Early research into happiness interventions show promising possibilities.

• Changes in life circumstances may not have lasting effects on happiness,
• amplify pleasurable experiences by spacing out the timing of indulgences and savouring memorable experiences.
• tasks to increase awareness of positive aspects of life, identifying personal strengths and abilities, changes in activities (such as initiating work towards a new life goal) are current strategies to increase happiness

Gratitude and kindness have a tangible effect on subjective well-being.

Gratitude has the possibility to counteract materialism

grateful people report being happier more often than less grateful people

literally counting the grateful and kind acts that occur over a time period help people with their happiness

Wealth

After basic needs are met, there is no clear association between happiness and wealth

As western culture and advertising is set on the notion of wealth=happiness, this challenges many fundamental notions

Obsession with these tendencies of materialism distract individuals from aspects of life that contribute to well-being, ultimately becoming detrimental

Excessive consumerism is an obsession detrimental to society as a whole, as these goals are negatively self-serving. People fail at affective forecasting, where they overestimate the amount of happiness an event will cause them. (ie overestimate the intensity and duration pleasure they will recieve from a purchase.)

National :)

National happiness can be evaluated alongside individual, supported by research that suggests positive trends in well-being in times of economic reform

National economic growth and hardship correlates to general happiness in small amounts

In line with movement from basic needs to higher emotional fulfilment, developing nations have more prominent increases in happiness with economic growth than when GDP is measured in developed countries

Quantifying Happiness

Its impossible to objectively measure happiness, though it has been argued that it is a human right to evaluate the whether an individuals life is happy

Research takes the form of surveys that ask for a relational report to past emotional experiences. There are many problems with this, as memory is biased and relative to the current situation, furthermore the end of an experience dictates the emotional memory of it more than the start.

Individuals focus on peaks and lows of experience

There are ways to address these issues through modifying the research parameters -- asking colleagues, smiling behaviour.

Experience Sampling Method Measures +/- affect at different time points, less prone to bias due to real-time measurements not influenced by painted evaluations of the past.

Significant impact on the science of happiness

This type of research was able to demonstrate that people found great happiness in challenging and engaging tasks, however, this raises an interesting epistemological question around whether these time sampling methods indeed represent happiness, in terms of "here and now" compared to longer 'eudaimonic' forms of well-being.

View of Psychology Traditionally the field has only focussed on negative aspects of the human experience, so there is a wealth of information on sadness, depresssion etc...

Debate exists as to whether feeling happy is the opposite of feeling sad, as polar opposites, or whether positive and negative affect exist on opposite ends of the affect continuum.

There would appear to be connections between health and happiness suggesting positive and negative affects are part of related connected biological systems.

A holisitic system of perception would be appear to be a better model of human emotion than a hierarchy of needs, where in times of adversity people can develop coping strategies that lead to positive affect in their approach behaviour (ie positive emotions become a self-reenforcing ecology of experience that strengthen psychological resilience.)

Happiness intervention strategies also strengthen inter-personal relationships and the greater community, particularly with kindness and gratitude --> empathy

National wealth does not correlate with individual happiness, despite economic policy dominating the realm of politics.

An overall holistic approach to happiness is necessary to avoid the "tyranny of the positive attitude", that people must always be happy -- this is problematic in that negative affect can lead to emotional/psychological growth and emotional pain can be experienced if guilt is experienced for feeling negative emotions.

Conclusions Happiness does not correlate to wealth which may lead to people reprioritising their lives to consider the welfare of others. This should be seen in light of national policy initiatives as well.

Further Investigations How can these findings be brought into the current times, ie tech and social media? How has advertising changed to be more subversive in their goals? What are other possible happiness intervention methods? What does the positive/negative affect continuum look like?