Several scales have been developed to measure happiness: In Christianity, the ultimate end of human existence is bliss, the Latin equivalent of the Greek eudaimonia (“blessed happiness”), described by the 13th century philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas as a happy vision of God`s essence in the next life. [147] Of course, it depends on the individual – a happy life for one can be the nightmare of the other! Unlike happiness, meaning is not a fleeting state that drifts throughout the day; It`s a broader sense of purpose and the feeling of contributing to something bigger than yourself. Most of us probably don`t believe we need a formal definition of happiness; We know this when we feel it, and we often use the term to describe a range of positive emotions, including joy, pride, contentment, and gratitude. It`s possible that if you know which emotions you value the most, you can understand your definition of happiness more clearly and achieve it more easily. Once you know what skills you need to learn, use luck enhancement activities that reinforce those skills. For example, you might practice positive reappraisal, learn to use your strengths, or manifest experiences in your life that give you more meaning. It`s important to remember that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to social support. Having just a few very close and trustworthy friends will have a bigger impact on your overall happiness than many casual acquaintances. Other demographics also show weak associations with happiness. Religious people tend to report more happiness than non-religious people, although the magnitude of these effects varies depending on whether religious beliefs or religious behaviours are measured. Factors such as intelligence, education and professional prestige are also unrelated to well-being. Happiness does not seem to change dramatically over the course of life, except perhaps at the very end of life, when the decline is somewhat steep. In addition, gender differences in subjective well-being are not significant.
Although we often think that happiness comes from things that happen to us, science suggests that happiness largely comes from our brain. Therefore, changing the way we think can increase our happiness, even if we don`t change anything in our lives. For example, when we focus on positive words (memorizing them), it activates the regions of your brain associated with those words. So when I think of the word “adventure,” it will probably activate my memories of adventure and the positive emotions associated with adventure. In the Nicomachean Ethics, written in 350 BC, Aristotle explained that happiness (also being healthy and being good) is the only thing people desire for their own good, as opposed to wealth, honor, health, or friendship. He observed that people sought wealth, honor, or health not only for their own good, but also to be happy. [64] For Aristotle, the term eudemonism, which translates as “happiness” or “fulfillment,” is an activity rather than an emotion or state. [65] Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a classical Greek word composed of the words “eu” (“good” or “well-being”) and “daimōn” (“spirit” or “little deity”). Understood in this way, the happy life is the good life, that is, a life in which a person fulfills human nature in an excellent way. In particular, Aristotle argued that the good life is the life of excellent rational activity.
He arrived at this statement with the “functional argument.” Basically, if this is correct, every living thing has a function, which it does uniquely. For Aristotle, the human function is to reason, since it is only what man does in a unique way. And performing its function well or excellently is good. According to Aristotle, living with excellent rational activity is the happy life. Aristotle argued that a second life for those who were unable to engage in excellent rational activity was the life of moral virtue. [66] The key question Aristotle tries to answer is: “What is the ultimate goal of human existence?” Many people are looking for pleasure, health and a good reputation. It is true that these have value, but none of them can replace the greater good to which humanity aspires. It may seem that all goods are a means to happiness, but Aristotle said that happiness is always an end in itself. [67] In one study, participants were asked to do a 10- to 20-minute writing exercise each night before bed. Some were ordered to write about everyday problems, others about neutral events, and some about things they were grateful for. The results showed that people who had written about gratitude increased positive emotions, increased subjective happiness, and improved life satisfaction.
It also highlights a possible difference of opinion between previous generations and our own generations of the 20th and 21st centuries: that happiness was not a determining factor in a good life, but essentially a bonus that some lucky people were allowed to experience.