Discussion: The Science of Subjective Well-Being

Discussion: The Science of Subjective Well-Being

Order for an original paperwork Assignment: The Science of Subjective Well-Being

Discussion: The Science of Subjective Well-Being

Questions Description

• Describe three major forms of happiness and a cause of each of them.
• Be able to list two internal causes of subjective well-being and two external causes of subjective well-being.
• Describe the types of societies that experience the most and least happiness, and why they do.
• Describe the typical course of adaptation to events in terms of the time course of SWB.
• Describe several of the beneficial outcomes of being a happy person.
• Describe how happiness is typically measured.

Introduction

When people describe what they most want out of life, happiness is almost always on the list, and very frequently it is at the top of the list. When people describe what they want in life for their children, they frequently mention health and wealth, occasionally they mention fame or success—but they almost always mention happiness. People will claim that whether their kids are wealthy and work in some prestigious occupation or not, “I just want my kids to be happy.” Happiness appears to be one of the most important goals for people, if not the most important. But what is it, and how do people get it?

In this module I describe “happiness” or subjective well-being (SWB) as a process—it results from certain internal and external causes, and in turn it influences the way people behave, as well as their physiological states. Thus, high SWB is not just a pleasant outcome but is an important factor in our future success. Because scientists have developed valid ways of measuring “happiness,” they have come in the past decades to know much about its causes and consequences.

Causes Of Subjective Well-Being

There are external influences on people’s happiness—the circumstances in which they live. It is possible for some to be happy living in poverty with ill health, or with a child who has a serious disease, but this is difficult. In contrast, it is easier to be happy if one has supportive family and friends, ample resources to meet one’s needs, and good health. But even here there are exceptions—people who are depressed and unhappy while living in excellent circumstances. Thus, people can be happy or unhappy because of their personalities and the way they think about the world or because of the external circumstances in which they live. People vary in their propensity to happiness—in their personalities and outlook—and this means that knowing their living conditions is not enough to predict happiness.

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