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Happiness

About: Happiness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 22093 publications have been published within this topic receiving 728411 citations. The topic is also known as: joy & happy.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The theory that happiness is relative is based on three postulates: (1) happiness results from comparison, (2) standards of comparison adjust, and (3) standard of comparison are arbitrary constructs as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The theory that happiness is relative is based on three postulates: (1) happiness results from comparison, (2) standards of comparison adjust, (3) standards of comparison are arbitrary constructs. On the basis of these postulates the theory predicts: (a) happiness does not depend on real quality of life, (b) changes in living-conditions to the good or the bad have only a shortlived effect on happiness, (c) people are happier after hard times, (d) people are typically neutral about their life. Together these inferences imply that happiness is both an evasive and an inconsequential matter, which is at odds with corebeliefs in present-day welfare society. Recent investigations on happiness (in the sense of life-satisfaction) claim support for this old theory. Happiness is reported to be as high in poor countries as it is in rich countries (Easterlin), no less among paralyzed accident victims than it is among lottery winners (Brickman) and unrelated to stable livingconditions (Inglehart and Rabier). These sensational claims are inspected but found to be untrue. It is shown that: (a) people tend to be unhappy under adverse conditions such as poverty, war and isolation, (b) improvement or deterioration of at least some conditions does effect happiness lastingly, (c) earlier hardship does not favour later happiness, (d) people are typically positive about their life rather than neutral. It is argued that the theory happiness-is-relative mixes up ‘overall happiness’ with contentment’. Contentment is indeed largely a matter of comparing life-as-it-is to standards of how-life-should-be. Yet overall hapiness does not entirely depend on comparison. The overall evaluation of life depends also on how one feels affectively and hedonic level of affect draws on its turn on the gratification of basic bio-psychological needs. Contrary to acquired ‘standards’ of comparison these innate ‘needs’ do not adjust to any and all conditions: they mark in fact the limits of human adaptability. To the extend that it depends on need-gratification, happiness is not relative.

1,304 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper measured life satisfaction and the endorsement of three different ways to be happy through pleasure, through engagement, and through meaning, and found that people simultaneously low on all three orientations reported especially low life satisfaction.
Abstract: Different orientations to happiness and their association with life satisfaction were investigated with 845 adults responding to Internet surveys. We measured life satisfaction and the endorsement of three different ways to be happy through pleasure, through engagement, and through meaning. Each of these three orientations individually predicted life satisfaction. People simultaneously low on all three orientations reported especially low life satisfaction. These findings point the way toward a distinction between the full life and the empty life.

1,273 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Harold G. Koenig1
TL;DR: This paper provides a concise but comprehensive review of research on religion/spirituality (R/S) and both mental health and physical health based on a systematic review of original data-based quantitative research published in peer-reviewed journals between 1872 and 2010.
Abstract: This paper provides a concise but comprehensive review of research on religion/spirituality (R/S) and both mental health and physical health. It is based on a systematic review of original data-based quantitative research published in peer-reviewed journals between 1872 and 2010, including a few seminal articles published since 2010. First, I provide a brief historical background to set the stage. Then I review research on R/S and mental health, examining relationships with both positive and negative mental health outcomes, where positive outcomes include well-being, happiness, hope, optimism, and gratefulness, and negative outcomes involve depression, suicide, anxiety, psychosis, substance abuse, delinquency/crime, marital instability, and personality traits (positive and negative). I then explain how and why R/S might influence mental health. Next, I review research on R/S and health behaviors such as physical activity, cigarette smoking, diet, and sexual practices, followed by a review of relationships between R/S and heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, immune functions, endocrine functions, cancer, overall mortality, physical disability, pain, and somatic symptoms. I then present a theoretical model explaining how R/S might influence physical health. Finally, I discuss what health professionals should do in light of these research findings and make recommendations in this regard.

1,264 citations

MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss personality and socio-demograhic influences on happiness and the current Politico-economic process, and conclude that happiness inspires economics and that well-being and economics are linked.
Abstract: Preface vii PART I: Setting the Stage CHAPTER 1: Happiness 3 CHAPTER 2: Well-Being and Economics 19 CHAPTER 3: Personality and Socio-Demograohic Influences on happiness 49 PART II: Economic Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 4: Income 73 CHAPTER 5: Employment 95 CHAPTER 6: Inflation 111 PART III: Political Effects on Happiness CHAPTER 7: The Current Politico-Economic Process 121 CHAPTER 8: Constitution: Popular Referenda and Federalism 133 CHAPTER 9: Outcome and Process 153 PART IV: Conclusions CHAPTER 10: Happiness Inspires Economics 171 APPENDIX A 185 APPENDIX B 191 References 195 Data Sources 215 Index 217

1,249 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results showed that negative emotions and sensitivity to social risks increased, while the scores of positive emotions and life satisfaction decreased, and people were concerned more about their health and family, while less about leisure and friends.
Abstract: COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) has significantly resulted in a large number of psychological consequences. The aim of this study is to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on people’s mental health, to assist policy makers to develop actionable policies, and help clinical practitioners (e.g., social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists) provide timely services to affected populations. We sample and analyze the Weibo posts from 17,865 active Weibo users using the approach of Online Ecological Recognition (OER) based on several machine-learning predictive models. We calculated word frequency, scores of emotional indicators (e.g., anxiety, depression, indignation, and Oxford happiness) and cognitive indicators (e.g., social risk judgment and life satisfaction) from the collected data. The sentiment analysis and the paired sample t-test were performed to examine the differences in the same group before and after the declaration of COVID-19 on 20 January, 2020. The results showed that negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, depression and indignation) and sensitivity to social risks increased, while the scores of positive emotions (e.g., Oxford happiness) and life satisfaction decreased. People were concerned more about their health and family, while less about leisure and friends. The results contribute to the knowledge gaps of short-term individual changes in psychological conditions after the outbreak. It may provide references for policy makers to plan and fight against COVID-19 effectively by improving stability of popular feelings and urgently prepare clinical practitioners to deliver corresponding therapy foundations for the risk groups and affected people.

1,244 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20245
20231,873
20224,089
20211,232
20201,463
20191,352