ipl-logo

Positive Psychology And Happiness

1394 Words6 Pages

How does Positive Psychology contribute to our understanding of health and happiness?
This essay begins by looking at the definitions of happiness, health, and well-being. It then moves on to speaking about happiness and the areas of study related to happiness within Positive Psychology. From there, the Hedonic and Eudaimonic views on happiness are discussed, as well as the Broaden and Build theory of positive experiences and emotions. Then the essay briefly covers the topic of well-being, before specifically focusing on stress management, and finally offering a critique of Positive Psychology’s contributions to our understanding of health and happiness.

To begin, there is a distinction between happiness and well-being. Happiness can best …show more content…

The Hedonic view comprises more of the Pleasant Life, while the Eudaimonic view comprises more of the Meaningful Life. The Hedonic view concerns itself with an individual’s personal evaluation of how much “good” there is in their life. Happiness is subjective, and measured empirically. If a person is satisfied with the amount of “good” they have, they will feel satisfied, and any positive emotion or experience after that will add to their happiness. The Eudaimonic view proposes that happiness is more than just an emotion and a sense of satisfaction, and is instead reliant on self-realization. The Eudaimonic approach to happiness explores things like delayed gratification, exercising, morals and values. It is proposed that that by living in accordance with morals, a personal code of ethics, one’s perception of oneself and what’s important in the world; one can achieve happiness and a greater sense of well-being than one may be able to …show more content…

(Compton, 2005) In this attempt to explain the purpose of positive emotion Frederickson proposes that positive emotion broadens one’s awareness and encourages exploration, which over time leads to a building of resources and skills. By contrast, negative emotions cause more narrow behaviours, usually concerned with immediate survival or safety. When linked with our understanding of happiness so far, and the proposed views on happiness, It could be posited that the Broaden and Build theory implies a type of snowball effect. By experiencing enough positivity over a period of time, people acquire skills and resources that may be hedonically evaluated as “good”, or eudaimonically used to increase overall well-being. This could then lead to temporarily increased happiness, which may lead to more exploratory thoughts and behaviour as proposed by

Show More
Related
664 Words | 3 Pages

Happiness is a state of mind, and one doesn’t need physical material to be happy, which a majority of people view to be the primary source of happiness. Simply put, a person has the power to control whether they are happy or not. The author utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos to highlight the main ideas, demonstrating his mastery of the material. His usury of pathos, ethos, and logos illustrate to the readers that happiness is primarily a state of mind which isn’t automatically influenced by material things. Ethos is the ethical appeal an author makes to emphasize his authority as a knowledgeable and experienced veteran who corroborates any particular subject matter.

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

Not many achieve happiness in their lifetime. Either they do not live long enough to witness it or they are not prepared for what their happiness is. Happiness is very subjective. Each person’s version of happiness is different. This version of happiness is universal.

Read More
1127 Words | 5 Pages

Hedonism and the desire-satisfaction theory of welfare are typically seen as archrivals in the contest over identifying what makes one’s life better. It is surprising, then, that the most plausible form of hedonism is desire satisfactionism. The hedonism theory focuses on pleasure/happiness while the desire-satisfaction theory elucidates the relevance of fulfilling our desires. Pleasure, in some points of view is the subjective satisfaction of desire. I will explain the similarities and the differences between the desire-satisfaction theory of value and hedonism.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

The fact that happiness is a state of well-being pursued by humans since the beginning of humanity is not new. Since the ancient Greek philosophers, happiness has always been a goal for people. However, the definition of happiness is still subjective and controversial as Mark Kingwell, an award-winning social critic, essayist, and professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, presents in his article “In pursuit of Happiness." The author begins to build his credibility by calling everyday facts and emotions, also by citing philosophers, researchers, and other authors. Using the sources effectively in a persuasive piece, Kingwell demonstrates, through examples and science researches, the difficulty in defining happiness, which can result in unhappiness.

Read More
130 Words | 1 Pages

What Happiness Is In the essay “What Happiness Is,” Eduardo Porter states that happiness is a slippery concept. He believes that happiness doesn’t have a specific definition, it means different things to each person. In the essay happiness is broken down into 3 parts: satisfaction, positive feelings, and the absence of negative feelings. Porter says that most people think that money and economic stability will bring them happiness and because of that they will push themselves to do better at their jobs.

Read More
782 Words | 4 Pages

I believe that pursuing happiness as a goal has detrimental effects. As a society, we tend to believe that we need to be full of joy at all times, but that isn't realistic - life happens. By attempting to be cheery all the time, you will never be genuinely content. You will always be searching for more and won't be satisfied with what you have, creating a permanent cycle of gloom rather than bliss.

Read More
1514 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout the course of one’s life, there is a constant search for some form of happiness. We may not always realize we are on the quest for it, but it’s part of human nature. In “Silver Linings Playbook” we see this happen throughout with Pat and Tiffany, who are both searching for happiness. The film is relatable to us all in that many times we go looking for happiness only to come up empty-handed.

Read More
1517 Words | 7 Pages

(2013), states that eudaimonism “results from striving towards meaning and a noble purpose beyond simple gratification”. In other words, happiness in life comes from self-growth, surmounting

Read More
1087 Words | 5 Pages

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the concept of happiness is introduced as the ultimate good one can achieve in life as well as the ultimate goal of human existence. As Aristotle goes on to further define happiness, one can see that his concept is much different from the 21st-century view. Aristotelian happiness can be achieved through choosing to live the contemplative life, which would naturally encompass moralistic virtue. This differs significantly from the modern view of happiness, which is heavily reliant on material goods. To a person in the 21st-century, happiness is simply an emotional byproduct one experiences as a result of acquiring material goods.

Read More
680 Words | 3 Pages

People miss the fact that happiness comes from within. In an attempt to find joy – we must also be cautious about over excessive desire to acquire material objects and wealth. There is a delicate balance that must be reached between the pursuit of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment. While there are many conditions that fulfill ones emotional wellbeing, happiness and how we acquired it, depends upon the

Read More
1002 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the history, there have been heated discussions on what constitutes a good life. Philosophers have given different annotations on the meaning of good life based on their beliefs, perspectives or even scientific-based evidences. Some view a good life as an accumulation of material goods that brings “large amount” of pleasure to oneself. On the other hand, Mencius and Aristotle advocate good life as possessing of pleasure that incorporates ethical values and they believe that by doing so one will experience enduring happiness. There is no ultimate right or wrong for these interpretations since this is not a factual question.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

Many activities are directed towards various virtues such as honor, a good reputation, wealth and pleasure, but are ultimately acted upon because it will bring about happiness. To be an ultimate end, an act must be self-sufficient and final, and happiness seems to be “that which is always desirable in itself, and never for the sake

Read More
1118 Words | 5 Pages

Aristotle proposes that eudaimonia is the most intrinsically valuable. Eudaimonia is defined as happiness, or well-being. Happiness is probably the best English word to translate eudaimonia, the term also has relations with fulfillment, success, and flourishing. A person who is eudaimon is not just merely enjoying life but is relishing life by living magnificently. One’s reputation and success, different than one’s emotional welfare, can be affected after death, which makes Aristotle’s discussion of eudaimonia after death significantly more relevant.

Read More
908 Words | 4 Pages

At the end of everyone’s lives, the goal appears to be about attaining happiness. Describing how to obtain happiness has been an issue that was debated in the past but is still talked about now . In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle expands on his view of happiness and he focuses particularly on how reason helps recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life. I feel that Aristotle’s philosophies on happiness are important works within the field of philosophy and he considered one of the………of it . In this paper, I will explore Aristotle’s beliefs regarding happiness then compare and contrast them to those of Martin Seligman.

Read More
1839 Words | 8 Pages

In this essay, I will be discussing Aristotle’s conception of the “good life” which he outlined in the Nicomachean Ethics. As we will see, the “good life” for man according to Aristotle is one where we perform the particular activity which is distinctly ours and guides us towards eudaimonia – sometimes translated as ‘happiness’ or ‘well-being’. He shows us how the other conflicting depictions of the ‘good life’ are misguided, and how we should aim for a life of reason. First, however, I will discuss briefly what Aristotle meant by the term ‘good’ and then move on to how he arrived at the conclusion on human happiness. Aristotle believes that the ‘good life’ for a particular organism depends on what that organism is and the conditions it requires

Read More

More about Positive Psychology And Happiness

Related Topics

Open Document