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.

A review of research on the happiness measures: A sixty second index of happiness and mental health.

Abstract: Eighteen years of research using the Happiness Measures (HM) is reviewed in relation to the general progress of well-being measurement efforts. The accumulated findings on this remarkably quick instrument, show good reliability, exceptional stability, and a record of convergent, construct, and discriminative validity unparalleled in the field. Because of this, the HM is offered as a potential touchstone of measurement consistency in a field which generally lacks it.

Employee well-being and the HRM-organizational performance relationship: A review of quantitative studies

Abstract: There is a lack of consensus on the role of employee well-being in the human resource management–organizational performance relationship. This review examines which of the competing perspectives –‘mutual gains’ or ‘conflicting outcomes’– is more appropriate for describing this role of employee well-being. In addition, this review examines whether study attributes such as the measurement of key variables, the level of analysis and the study design affect a study's outcomes. The review covers 36 quantitative studies published from 1995 to May 2010. Employee well-being is described here using three dimensions: happiness, health and relationship. The main findings are that employee well-being in terms of happiness and relationship is congruent with organizational performance (mutual gains perspective), but that health-related well-being appears to function as a conflicting outcome. Directions for future research and theoretical development are suggested.

The social psychology of leisure

Abstract: Many of us devote more time and energy to leisure than to work, because it is there that we can express ourselves, choose exactly what we want to do and often find our greatest satisfactions. Yet most psychologists have neglected this absolutely fundamental aspect of our lives.Leisure includes reading and religion, bungee-jumping and birdwatching, running marathons, helping the aged and slumping in front of soap operas. We socialize with family and friends or join clubs devoted to anything from collecting engine numbers to protecting the environment. We set off on holiday in pursuit of self-actualization - or just sun, sea and sex.In this eye-opening book, a companion volume to the author's acclaimed The Social Psychology of Work, Michael Argyle explores our motivation in all these activities, examines the influence of age, class and gender and considers where we are most likely to find health, happiness, a sense of achievement and other such benefits. His conclusions challenge much received wisdom about human nature and illuminate the sources of our deepest pleasures. As the work ethic is eroded and more and more leisure time becomes available, no one will be able to ignore the issues raised by this pioneering text.

Strengths of character, orientations to happiness, and life satisfaction

Abstract: Why are certain character strengths more associated with life satisfaction than others? A sample of US adults (N = 12,439) completed online surveys in English measuring character strengths, orientations to happiness (engagement, pleasure, and meaning), and life satisfaction, and a sample of Swiss adults (N = 445) completed paper-and-pencil versions of the same surveys in German. In both samples, the character strengths most highly linked to life satisfaction included love, hope, curiosity, and zest. Gratitude was among the most robust predictors of life satisfaction in the US sample, whereas perseverance was among the most robust predictors in the Swiss sample. In both samples, the strengths of character most associated with life satisfaction were associated with orientations to pleasure, to engagement, and to meaning, implying that the most fulfilling character strengths are those that make possible a full life.

Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: an experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being.

Abstract: An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, again, only in the treatment conditions. We conclude that happiness interventions are more than just placebos, but that they are most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention.