WHAT IS HAPPINESS
From my book Trick Your Brain for Happiness
The ancients believed they could not achieve happiness because it is God-given.
After extensive work on the science of happiness, it is now not considered a divine gift.
People started equating it with the yellow smiley-faced icons. It is about feeling good.
However, it is not solely synonymous with intense pleasure.
Aristotle’s notion of Eudaimonia maintained that it comes from identifying one’s virtues, cultivating them, and living life accordingly.
Happiness is beyond feeling good. It is about doing good.
It comprises three things
- Frequent positive affect,
- Infrequent negative affect,
- High life satisfaction.
Happiness and demographic variables, such as age, sex, and ethnicity, account for 10% of the variance, whereas the remaining 80% is attributable to genetic factors. It is quality social relationships. If people aim to become happier, they should invest in their family, friends, romantic partners, and colleagues.
Individuals in close relationships are found to have a better quality of life, with better physical, mental, and emotional health, and are more adaptive in coping with stress and adversity.
Wealth, human rights, equality between people, fulfilling basic biological needs, individualism, political stability, interpersonal trust, and thinking about it are essential for predicting national happiness.
Policymakers should get the assessment done to promote their citizens’ quality of life as a national priority.
Book’s Link
