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.

Children and Life Satisfaction

Abstract: We investigate the relationship between having children at home and life satisfaction. Contrary to much of the literature, our results are consistent with an effect of children on life satisfaction that is positive, large and increasing in the number of children. The effect, however, is contingent on the individual’s characteristics. In particular, our findings are consistent with children making married people better off, while most unmarried individuals appear to be worse off with children. We also analyze the role of factors such as gender, age, income and education.

Personal or Interpersonal Construal of Happiness: A Cultural Psychological Perspective

Abstract: Cultural psychological research reveals considerable variation in how people construe happiness and experience subjective wellbeing. This paper identified substantial cultural differences in (1) meanings of happiness, (2) predictors of happiness, and (3) how social changes such as globalization are related to happiness. In European-American cultural contexts, happiness is construed as including experience of a highly desirable and positive emotional state defined in terms of a high arousal state such as excitement and a sense of personal achievement. Moreover, individual happiness is best predicted by personal goal attainment and high self-esteem or self-efficacy. In contrast, in East Asian cultural contexts (i.e., those found in Japan), happiness is construed as including experience of both positive and negative emotional state. Happiness is defined in terms of experiencing a low arousal state such as calmness and interpersonal connectedness and harmony. Furthermore, individual happiness is best predicted by relationship harmony and emotional support from others. While people maintain traditional cultural norms, some societies and organizations are under pressure from globalization and this might affect happiness. We examined how cultural change affects wellbeing, especially focusing on current Japanese contexts where individuals have experienced an increasing shift toward individualism and have experienced a large national disaster. Cultural psychological perspectives regarding happiness provide important contributions to psychological science and society at large.

Well-being Inequality and Reference Groups: An Agenda for New Research

Abstract: This discussion paper resulted in a publication in the 'The Journal of Economic Inequality' , 2011, 9(1), 111-127. In this paper it is argued that subjective well-being of the individual depends on two types of variables. The first type consists of characteristics of the individual himself, such as age, health, income, etc. The second type of variables consists of the characteristics of the individuals belonging to his reference group. The vast literature about happiness, quality of life, and well-being informs us extensively about the effects of objective variables. How the second type affects well-being is much less investigated. It is argued that the concept of well-being inequality cannot be properly defined without taking the referencing process into account. The reference effect depends on how frequently individuals compare with others and on the degree of social transparency in society. We attempt to give a structural embedding of the idea of reference groups in SWB-models. In this paper we employ the reference-extended model for incorporating in happiness studies the concept of inequality in happiness or SWB. Finally, we plead for an extension of the present happiness paradigm by setting up a new additional agenda for empirical research in order to get quantified knowledge about the referencing process. As a first step we suggest a new question module to be included in new survey questionnaires.

Positive living: A pilot study of group positive psychotherapy for people with schizophrenia.

Abstract: Positive psychology interventions target positive emotions in order to increase happiness, engagement in life, and well being while also ameliorating the impact of symptoms on a person’s life. We examined an adapted version of group positive psychotherapy for people with schizophrenia (Positive Living (PL)) in a pilot study. Sixteen participants were recruited to participate in two separate PL groups and were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and at three-month follow-up. We examined feasibility of this intervention in addition to a preliminary exploration of well-being outcomes including psychological well-being, hope, savoring, and selfesteem as well as clinically related outcomes including symptoms, psychological recovery, and social functioning. Findings indicate that the PL group was feasible and associated with possible improvements in psychological well-being, hope, savoring, psychological recovery, self-esteem, and psychiatric symptoms.

Happiness inequality in the United States

Abstract: This paper examines how the level and dispersion of self‐reported happiness has evolved over the period 1972–2006. While there has been no increase in aggregate happiness, inequality in happiness has fallen substantially since the 1970s. There have been large changes in the level of happiness across groups: two‐thirds of the black‐white happiness gap has been eroded, and the gender happiness gap has disappeared entirely. Paralleling changes in the income distribution, differences in happiness by education have widened substantially. We develop an integrated approach to measuring inequality and decomposing changes in the distribution of happiness, finding a pervasive decline in within‐group inequality during the 1970s and 1980s that was experienced by even narrowly defined demographic groups. Around one‐third of this decline has subsequently been unwound. Juxtaposing these changes with large increases in income inequality suggests an important role for nonpecuniary factors in shaping the well‐bein...