Subjective well-being ( SWB ) is a self-reported measure of well-being , typically obtained by questionnaire.
124-620: Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, or engaging in enjoyable activities. However, happiness can also arise spontaneously, without any apparent external cause. Happiness is closely linked to well-being and overall life satisfaction. Studies have shown that individuals who experience higher levels of happiness tend to have better physical and mental health, stronger social relationships, and greater resilience in
248-416: A World Happiness Report has been published. Happiness is evaluated, as in "How happy are you with your life as a whole?", and in emotional reports, as in "How happy are you now?," and people seem able to use happiness as appropriate in these verbal contexts. Using these measures, the report identifies the countries with the highest levels of happiness. In subjective well-being measures, the primary distinction
372-630: A community level in some cities. In Seattle, Washington , United States , a version of the GNH Index was used by the Seattle City Council and Sustainable Seattle to assess the happiness and well-being of the Seattle Area population. Other cities and areas in North America, including Eau Claire, Wisconsin , Creston, British Columbia and the U.S. state of Vermont , also used a version of
496-455: A Swedish philosopher and phenomenological researcher, posited that the perception of time affects the change in focus throughout life. In early adulthood, most view life optimistically, looking to the future and seeing an entire life ahead of them. Those that fall into the middle life, see that life has passed behind them as well as seeing more life ahead. Those in older adulthood often see their lives as behind them. This shift in perspective causes
620-649: A behavioral model of GNH based on the use of positive and negative words in social network status updates was developed by Adam Kramer. In 2016, Thailand launched its own GNH center. The former king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej , was a close friend of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck , and conceived the similar philosophy of sufficiency economy . In the Philippines , the concept of GNH has been lauded by various personalities, notably Philippine senator and UN Global Champion for Resilience Loren Legarda , and former environment minister Gina Lopez . Bills have been filed in
744-563: A beneficial influence on health. Diener argued that the various components of SWB represent distinct constructs that need to be understood separately, even though they are closely related. Hence, SWB may be considered "a general area of scientific interest rather than a single specific construct". Due to the specific focus on the subjective aspects of well-being, definitions of SWB typically exclude objective conditions such as material conditions or health , although these can influence ratings of SWB. Definitions of SWB therefore focus on how
868-643: A causal influence on subjective well-being so causality is difficult to establish. A number of studies found that positive emotions and optimism had a beneficial impact on cardiovascular health and on immune functioning. Changes in mood are also known to be associated with changes in immune and cardiovascular response. There is evidence that interventions that are successful in improving subjective well-being can have beneficial effects on aspects of health. For example, meditation and relaxation training have been found to increase positive affect and to reduce blood pressure. The effect of specific types of subjective well-being
992-429: A conceptualization of SWB. Although its exact definition varies, it is usually measured as an aggregation of well-being across several life domains and may include both subjective and objective components. Eudaimonic measures seek to quantify traits like virtue and wisdom as well as concepts related to fulfilling our potential such as meaning , purpose , and flourishing . Eudaimonic measures are often regarded as
1116-664: A consistently positive or negative manner, depending on their stable personality traits. Top-down theories of SWB suggest that people have a genetic predisposition to be happy or unhappy and this predisposition determines their SWB "setpoint". Set Point theory implies that a person's baseline or equilibrium level of SWB is a consequence of hereditary characteristics and therefore, almost entirely predetermined at birth. Evidence for this genetic predisposition derives from behavior-genetic studies that have found that positive and negative affectivity each have high heritability (40% and 55% respectively in one study). Numerous twin studies confirm
1240-464: A core component of SWB, particularly in the field of positive psychology . However, it is unclear whether measures of meaning are really measures of wellbeing and little data has been collected on them. It is difficult to prove that eudaimonic measures of SWB are reliable, and more research is needed to increase the reliability of research methods which utilize this component of subjective well-being. As interdisciplinary research becomes more commonplace,
1364-886: A curvilinear pattern; which suggest that wealth is subject to a law of diminishing happiness returns." Meaning a $ 1,000 increase in real income, becomes progressively smaller the higher the initial level of income, having less of an impact on subjective well-being. Easterlin (1995) proved that the DMUI is true when comparing countries, but not when looking at rising gross domestic product within countries. There are substantial positive associations between health and SWB so that people who rate their general health as "good" or "excellent" tend to experience better SWB compared to those who rate their health as "fair" or "poor". A meta-analysis found that self-ratings of general health were more strongly related to SWB than physician ratings of health. The relationship between health and SWB may be bidirectional. There
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#17328548768541488-588: A daily basis) do correlate to increased subjective well-being, above and beyond the effects of extroversion and other factors. The Easterlin Paradox also suggests that there is no connection between a society's economic development and its average level of happiness . Through time, the Easterlin has looked at the relationship between happiness and gross domestic product (GDP) across countries and within countries. There are three different phenomena to look at when examining
1612-430: A direct impact on a person’s SWB. When looking beyond the aesthetic aspect of relational consumption, the strong relationship that social influence has with SWB also becomes clear. Research into the effect of social support on SWB shows that the social influence of family strongly impacts an individual’s SWB, while the social influence of a friend has little to no impact on their SWB. Other research has concluded that SWB
1736-509: A distinct life domain contributing to subjective well-being. Additionally, relationship status interacted with age group and gender on differences in leisure satisfaction. The relationship between leisure satisfaction and life satisfaction, however, was reduced when considering the impact of core affect (underlying mood state). This suggests that leisure satisfaction may primarily be influenced by an individual's SWB level as represented by core affect. This has implications for possible limitations in
1860-569: A fairy tale. It is home to perhaps 900,000 people most of whom live in grinding poverty." However, in December 2023 Bhutan graduated from the UN's Least Developed Country List to Developing Country as it has made significant improvements over the last few decades, in social and economic progress, including reduction in poverty levels, and improved education standards and life expectancy. Other criticism of GNH cites "increasing levels of political corruption ,
1984-456: A genetically influenced predisposition to SWB comes from findings that personality has a large influence on long-term SWB. This has led to the dynamic equilibrium model of SWB. This model proposes that personality provides a baseline for emotional responses. External events may move people away from the baseline, sometimes dramatically, but these movements tend to be of limited duration, with most people returning to their baseline eventually. Of
2108-430: A holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing. In 2011, The UN General Assembly passed resolution 65/309, "Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development", urging member nations to follow the example of Bhutan and measure happiness and well-being and calling happiness a "fundamental human goal." In 2012, Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigme Thinley and
2232-669: A lesser extent by the other three factors. Life satisfaction was significantly predicted by neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Quality of life was very strongly predicted by neuroticism, and also strongly predicted by extraversion and conscientiousness, and to a modest extent by agreeableness and openness to experience. One study found that subjective well-being was genetically indistinct from personality traits, especially those that reflected emotional stability (low Neuroticism), and social and physical activity (high Extraversion), and constraint (high Conscientiousness). DeNeve (1999) argued that there are three trends in
2356-472: A lot of evidence to support this idea that happiness is affected in some way by genetics. In a 2016 study, Michael Minkov and Michael Harris Bond found that a gene by the name of SLC6A4 was not a good predictor of happiness level in humans. On the other hand, there have been many studies that have found genetics to be a key part in predicting and understanding happiness in humans. In a review article discussing many studies on genetics and happiness, they discussed
2480-590: A much stronger effect on SWB than the quantity of those connections. Those with fewer but more intimate social contacts report higher levels of SWB than those who have many contacts but lower quality of connections. One's level of perceived support plays a role in predicting SWB. Those who believe to have a strong support group tend to have higher levels of SWB than those who do not. High levels of negative affect has also been correlated with low perceived social support. Frequent, high quality social interactions coupled with perceived social support will contribute greatly to
2604-448: A person evaluates his/her own life, including emotional experiences of pleasure versus pain in response to specific events and cognitive evaluations of what a person considers a good life . Components of SWB relating to affect include positive affect (experiencing pleasant emotions and moods) and low negative affect (experiencing unpleasant, distressing emotions and moods), as well as "overall affect" or " hedonic balance", defined as
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#17328548768542728-475: A person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient, and yet a part of the world. This is similar to the flow concept of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi . The concept of flow is the idea that after our basic needs are met we can achieve greater happiness by altering our consciousness by becoming so engaged in a task that we lose our sense of time. Our intense focus causes us to forget any other issues, which in return promotes positive emotions. Erich Fromm said "Happiness
2852-403: A person is being studied through new research. The Well-being Project at Human Science Lab investigates how material well-being and perceptual well-being works as relative determinants in conditioning our mind for positive emotions . In a study done by Aknin, Norton, & Dunn (2009), researchers asked participants from across the income spectrum to report their own happiness and to predict
2976-675: A person's happiness. From abstract: "A friend who lives within a mile (about 1.6 km) and who becomes happy increases the probability that a person is happy by 25%." Various writers, including Camus and Tolle , have written that the act of searching or seeking for happiness is incompatible with being happy. John Stuart Mill believed that for the great majority of people happiness is best achieved en passant, rather than striving for it directly. This meant no self-consciousness, scrutiny, self-interrogation, dwelling on, thinking about, imagining or questioning on one's happiness. Then, if otherwise fortunately circumstanced, one would "inhale happiness with
3100-426: A person’s affect include a narrow focus only on the short term, while limitations from measuring life satisfaction can be overly broad in the scope of the results. Theories of the causes of SWB tend to emphasize either top-down or bottom-up influences. In the top-down view, global features of personality influence the way a person perceives events. Individuals may therefore have a global tendency to perceive life in
3224-412: A population, an opportunity for Twitter to satisfy this need was created by providing a method of collecting large-scale public data that reflects everyone’s reaction to their experiences within a population. Research highlights that the challenges associated with using word-level methods to assess subjective well-being can be overcome by utilizing data-driven methods to evaluate Twitter data and proves that
3348-533: A preference for focusing on more concrete goals instead of promoting GNH when he took office, but subsequently has protected the GNH of his country and promoted the concept internationally. Other Bhutanese officials also promote the spread of GNH at the UN and internationally. GNH is distinguishable from Gross Domestic Product by attempting to be a more direct measure of collective happiness through emphasizing harmony with nature and select cultural values, as expressed in
3472-497: A reliable indicator of how their SWB is influenced on a day-to-day basis. A third measurement to ensure validity is the Day Reconstruction Method. In this measure, participants fill out a diary of the previous days’ activities. The participant is then asked to describe each activity and provide a report of how they were feeling, what mood they were experiencing, and any emotions that surfaced. Thus to ensure valid results,
3596-750: A researcher may tend to use self-reports along with another form of measurement mentioned above. Someone with a high level of life satisfaction and a positive affective balance is said to have a high level of SWB. The research into the SWB of blue-collar immigrant employees offers an alternative to the self-report method by instead measuring resource loss and gain. In research showing how cognitive, affective, or eudemonic components of SWB relate to consumption, it becomes clear that eudemonia needs to be measured differently than affect or cognition when evaluating an individual’s subjective happiness. This research also highlights that an individual’s affect can be used to measure SWB in
3720-529: A sense of personal control and a consistent sense of identity relate more strongly to SWB in Western cultures than they do in Eastern ones. However, this is not to say that these things are unimportant to SWB in Eastern cultures. Research has found that even within Eastern cultures, people with high self-esteem and a more consistent sense of identity are somewhat happier than those who are low in these characteristics. There
3844-519: A shift in the pursuit of happiness from more tactile, object based happiness, to social and relational based happiness. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs, psychological, and physical. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid, self-actualization is reached. Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as peak experiences , profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which
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3968-668: A society by focusing on how each component of SWB impacts the individual. Affect refers to the emotions, moods, and feelings a person has. These can be all positive, all negative, or a combination of both positive and negative. Some research shows also that feelings of reward are separate from positive and negative affect. Research also recognizes that when evaluating subjective well-being, approaches to affect can be interchangeable between children and adults. Life satisfaction (global judgments of one's life ) and satisfaction with specific life domains (e.g. work satisfaction) are considered cognitive components of SWB. The term " happiness "
4092-471: A stronger understanding of previously overlooked eudaimonic experiences may arise from more reliable research methods. The importance of assessing an individual’s eudaimonia in understanding their subjective well-being can be seen as early as in research with elementary school students. Life satisfaction and Affect balance are generally measured separately and independently. Sometimes a single SWB question attempts to capture an overall picture. For example,
4216-686: A tendency to return to a personal SWB "setpoint" or baseline level. The hedonic treadmill theory originally proposed that most people return to a neutral level of SWB (i.e. neither happy nor unhappy) as they habituate to events. However, subsequent research has shown that for most people, the baseline level of SWB is at least mildly positive, as most people tend to report being at least somewhat happy in general and tend to experience positive mood when no adverse events are occurring. Additional refinements to this theory have shown that people do not adapt to all life events equally, as people tend to adapt rapidly to some events (e.g. imprisonment), slowly to others (e.g.
4340-485: A tool to maintain positive subjective well-being. The research behind the effect of leisure activities on SWB comes to the conclusion that SWB decreases in old age, adding that quality of life also begins to decrease for this demographic. There are a number of domains that are thought to contribute to subjective well-being. In a study by Hribernik and Mussap (2010), leisure satisfaction was found to predict unique variance in life satisfaction, supporting its inclusion as
4464-674: A variety of psychological characteristics that are related to SWB, such as emotion norms and attitudes to the expression of individual needs. Collectivistic cultures are based around the belief that the individual exists for the benefit of the larger social unit, whereas more individualistic cultures assume the opposite. Collectivistic cultures emphasize maintaining social order and harmony and therefore expect members to suppress their personal desires when necessary in order to promote collective interests. Such cultures therefore consider self-regulation more important than self-expression or than individual rights. Individualistic cultures by contrast emphasize
4588-481: A virtue to be considered a key strength in the field of positive psychology it must meet the demands of 12 criteria, namely ubiquity (cross-cultural), fulfilling, morally valued, does not diminish others, be a nonfelicitous opposite (have a clear antonym that is negative), traitlike, measurable, distinct, have paragons (distinctly show up in individuals' behaviors), have prodigies (show up in youth), be selectively absent (distinctly does not show up in some individuals), and
4712-937: A whole." People have been trying to measure happiness for centuries. In 1780, the English utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed that as happiness was the primary goal of humans, it should be measured as a way of determining how well the government was performing. Today, happiness is typically measured using self-report surveys. Self-reporting is prone to cognitive biases and other sources of errors, such as peak–end rule . Studies show that memories of felt emotions can be inaccurate. Affective forecasting research shows that people are poor predictors of their future emotions, including how happy they will be. Happiness economists are not overly concerned with philosophical and methodological issues and continue to use questionaries to measure average happiness of populations. Several scales have been developed to measure happiness: Since 2012,
4836-474: Is a philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan . It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the goal of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan , enacted on 18 July 2008. The advent and concept of "Gross National Happiness" (GNH) germinated in the mind of Bodhisattva Druk Gyelpo ,
4960-438: Is a Greek term variously translated as happiness, welfare, flourishing , and blessedness. Xavier Landes has proposed that happiness include measures of subjective wellbeing, mood and eudaimonia. These differing uses can give different results. Whereas Nordic countries often score highest on swb surveys , South American countries score higher on affect-based surveys of current positive life experiencing. The implied meaning of
5084-500: Is a process of development and learning, rather than an objective norm or absolute end point. Bhutan aspires to enhance the happiness of its people and GNH serves as a measurement tool for realizing that aspiration. Other criticism focuses on the standard of living in Bhutan. In an article written in 2004 in the Economist magazine , "The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is not in fact an idyll in
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5208-705: Is accrued from a balanced act rather than from an extreme approach." The body charged with implementing GNH in Bhutan is the Gross National Happiness Commission. The GNH Commission is composed of the Prime Minister as the Chairperson, Secretaries of each of the ministries of the government, and the Secretary of the GNH Commission. The GNH Commission's tasks include conceiving and also implementing
5332-463: Is affected by life circumstances and situation, and a remaining 40 percent of happiness is subject to self-control. When discussing genetics and their effects on individuals it is important to first understand that genetics do not predict behavior. It is possible for genes to increase the likelihood of individuals being happier compared to others, but they do not 100 percent predict behavior. At this point in scientific research, it has been hard to find
5456-408: Is also evidence that people in more individualistic cultures tend to rate themselves as higher in subjective well-being compared to people in more collectivistic cultures. In Western cultures , predictors of happiness include elements that support personal independence, a sense of personal agency, and self-expression. In Eastern cultures , predictors of happiness focus on an interdependent self that
5580-509: Is also heritable. Evidence from one study supports 5 independent genetic mechanisms underlying the Ryff facets of psychological well-being, leading to a genetic construct of eudaimonia in terms of general self-control , and four subsidiary biological mechanisms enabling the psychological capabilities of purpose, agency, growth, and positive social relations. In research assessing the relationship between health and SWB, psychological well-being emerges as
5704-503: Is always depressed. This would obviously be a contradiction in results which would ultimately lead to inaccurate results. Informant reports are found to be ineffective to determine the subjective well-being of children. Another method of gaining a better understanding of the true results is through ESM, or the Experience Sampling Method. In this measure, participants are given a beeper/pager that will randomly ring throughout
5828-409: Is an overarching ideology that encompasses such things as "high levels of pleasant emotions and moods, low levels of negative emotions and moods, and high life-satisfaction." SWB therefore encompasses moods and emotions as well as evaluations of one's satisfaction with general and specific areas of one's life. SWB is one definition of happiness . Although SWB tends to be stable over the time and
5952-504: Is between cognitive life evaluations and emotional reports. The UK began to measure national well-being in 2012, following Bhutan , which had already been measuring gross national happiness . Academic economists and international economic organizations are arguing for and developing multi-dimensional dashboards which combine subjective and objective indicators to provide a more direct and explicit assessment of human wellbeing. There are many different contributors to adult wellbeing, such as
6076-448: Is determined by many different factors and social influences prove to be a strong one. Results from the famous Framingham Heart Study indicate that friends three degrees of separation away (that is, friends of friends of friends) can affect a person's happiness. From abstract: "A friend who lives within a mile (about 1.6 km) and who becomes happy increases the probability that a person is happy by 25%." Quality of social connections has
6200-475: Is directly related to social influence but does not reliably measure the cause-and-effect relationship between the two, creating the need for future research. Social media often leads to comparison. When people compare their life experiences with those seen on social media (which are primarily good, happy, or exciting experiences), those people experience a decrease in their quality of life. Fan Xiaojun et al. point out that, because self-presentation on social media
6324-416: Is evidence that good subjective well-being contributes to better health. A review of longitudinal studies found that measures of baseline subjective well-being constructs such as optimism and positive affect predicted longer-term health status and mortality. Conversely, a number of studies found that baseline depression predicted poorer longer-term health status and mortality. Baseline health may well have
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#17328548768546448-503: Is important for subjective well-being. Appraising events in an optimistic fashion, having a sense of control, and making active coping efforts facilitates subjective well-being. Trust, a trait substantially related to SWB, as opposed to cynicism involves making positive rather than negative attributions about others. Making positive, optimistic attributions rather than negative pessimistic ones facilitates subjective well-being. The related trait of eudaimonia or psychological well-being ,
6572-677: Is inseparable from significant others. Compared to people in individualistic cultures, people in collectivistic cultures are more likely to base their judgments of life satisfaction on how significant others appraise their life than on the balance of inner emotions experienced as pleasant versus unpleasant. Pleasant emotional experiences have a stronger social component in East Asian cultures compared to Western ones. For example, people in Japan are more likely to associate happiness with interpersonally engaging emotions (such as friendly feelings), whereas people in
6696-436: Is mostly used in relation to two factors: Some usages can include both of these factors. Subjective well-being (swb) includes measures of current experience (emotions, moods , and feelings) and of life satisfaction . For instance Sonja Lyubomirsky has described happiness as " the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile. " Eudaimonia ,
6820-459: Is no evidence that low self-esteem and so on are actually beneficial to SWB in any known culture. A large body of research evidence has confirmed that people in individualistic societies report higher levels of happiness than people in collectivistic ones and that socioeconomic factors alone are insufficient to explain this difference. In addition to political and economic differences, individualistic versus collectivistic nations reliably differ in
6944-528: Is not entirely clear. For example, how durable the effects of mood and emotions on health are remains unclear. Whether some types of subjective well-being predict health independently of others is also unclear. Meditation has the power to increase happiness because it can improve self-confidence and reduces anxiety, which increases your well-being. Cultivating personal strengths and resources, like humour, social/animal company, and daily occupations, also appears to help people preserve acceptable levels of SWB despite
7068-549: Is related to many positive outcomes in life. Such outcomes include: improved health and mental health, greater longevity, lower rates of infant mortality, experience fewer stressful life events, and less frequently the victims of violent crimes However, research suggests that wealth has a smaller impact on SWB than people generally think, even though higher incomes do correlate substantially with life satisfaction reports. The relative influence of wealth together with other material components on overall subjective well-being of
7192-425: Is sometimes used in regards to SWB and has been defined variously as "satisfaction of desires and goals" (therefore related to life satisfaction), as a "preponderance of positive over negative affect" (therefore related to emotional components of SWB), as "contentment", and as a "consistent, optimistic mood state" and may imply an affective evaluation of one's life as a whole. Life satisfaction can also be known as
7316-464: Is strongly related to personality traits , the emotional component of SWB can be impacted by situations; for example, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic , lowered emotional well-being by 74%. There is evidence that health and SWB may mutually influence each other, as good health tends to be associated with greater happiness, and a number of studies have found that positive emotions and optimism can have
7440-429: Is supported by some institutions. Numerous short-term self-help interventions have been developed and demonstrated to improve happiness. A person's level of subjective well-being is determined by many different factors and social influences prove to be a strong one. Results from the famous Framingham Heart Study indicate that friends three degrees of separation away (that is, friends of friends of friends) can affect
7564-440: Is that the participants may be lying or at least not telling the whole truth on the questionnaires. Participants may be lying or holding back from revealing certain things because they are either embarrassed or they may be filling in what they believe the researcher wants to see in the results. To gain more accurate results, other methods of measurement have been used to determine one's SWB. Another way to corroborate or confirm that
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#17328548768547688-532: Is the indication that man has found the answer to the problem of human existence: the productive realization of his potentialities and thus, simultaneously, being one with the world and preserving the integrity of his self. In spending his energy productively he increases his powers, he „burns without being consumed."" Self-determination theory relates intrinsic motivation to three needs: competence , autonomy , and relatedness . Competence refers to an individual's ability to be effective in their interactions with
7812-461: Is the strongest predictor of overall SWB and is the strongest predictor of negative affect. A large number of personality traits are related to SWB constructs, although intelligence has negligible relationships. Positive affect is most strongly predicted by extraversion, to a lesser extent agreeableness, and more weakly by openness to experience. Happiness was most strongly predicted by extraversion, and also strongly predicted by neuroticism, and to
7936-445: Is very common, viewers of those pages can experience chronic pressure, leading to overall lower SWB. Social media increases the effects that relational and experiential consumption have on an individual’s overall SWB. The digital footprint left by an individual's social media use can be exploited to assess the SWB of an entire population. Because of the challenges associated with assessing a self-reporting questionnaire from everyone in
8060-479: The World Happiness Report uses a Cantril ladder survey, in which respondents are asked to think of a ladder, with the best possible life for them being a 10, and the worst possible life being a 0, and are then asked to rate their own current lives on that 0 to 10 scale. The issue with such measurements of life satisfaction and affective balance is that they are self-reports. The problem with self-reports
8184-1100: The state of things ." The idea of motivational hedonism is the theory that pleasure is the aim for human life. Since 2000 the field of positive psychology , which focuses on the study of happiness and human flourishing rather than maladjusted behavior or illness, expanded drastically in terms of scientific publications. It has produced many different views on causes of happiness, and on factors that correlate with happiness, such as positive social interactions with family and friends. These factors include six key virtues: 1. Wisdom and knowledge, which includes creativity, curiosity, love of learning and open-mindedness. 2. Courage, which includes bravery, persistence, integrity, and vitality. 3. Humanity, which includes love, kindness, and social intelligence. 4. Justice, which includes leadership, fairness, and loyalty. 5. Temperance, which includes self-regulation, prudence, forgiveness, humility, patience and modesty. 6. Transcendence, which includes religious/spirituality, hope, gratitude, appreciation of beauty and excellence, and humor. In order for
8308-451: The "stable" component in one's life. Affective concepts of SWB can be considered in terms of momentary emotional states as well as in terms of longer-term moods and tendencies (i.e. how much positive and/or negative affect a person generally experiences over any given period of time). Life satisfaction and in some research happiness are typically considered over long durations, up to one's lifetime. " Quality of life " has also been studied as
8432-478: The 4th King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuk , groomed with the evolution of "Gaki Phuensum" (Peace and Prosperity) and the modernization period of Bhutan during the reign of Druk Gyelpo, the 3rd King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk . The term "Gross National Happiness" as conceptualized by the 4th King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972 was declared as, "more important than Gross Domestic Product." The concept implies that sustainable development should take
8556-500: The 9 domains of happiness and 4 pillars of GNH. According to the Bhutanese government, the four pillars of GNH are: The nine domains of GNH are psychological well-being, health, time use, education, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards. Each domain is composed of subjective (survey-based) and objective indicators. The domains weigh equally but
8680-453: The Bhutanese government to distract from ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses it has committed. The Bhutanese democratic government started from 2008. Before then, the government practiced massive ethnic cleansing of the non-Buddhist population of ethnic Nepalese of Hindu faith in the name of GNH cultural preservation. The NGO Human Rights Watch documented the events. According to Human Rights Watch, "Over 100,000 or 1/6 of
8804-478: The COVID-19 pandemic. In Victoria, British Columbia , Canada , a shortened version of Bhutan's GNH survey was used by the local government, local foundations and governmental agencies under the leadership of Martha and Michael Pennock to assess the population of Victoria. In the state of São Paulo , Brazil , Susan Andrews, through her organization Future Vision Ecological Park, used a version of Bhutan's GNH at
8928-468: The GNH Index. The state of Vermont's Governor declared April 13 (President Jefferson's birthday) "Pursuit of Happiness Day", and became the first state to pass legislation enabling development of alternative indicators and to assist in making policy. The University of Vermont Center for Rural Studies Vermont perform a periodic study of well-being in the state. At the University of Oregon , United States,
9052-539: The Good Life" became the most popular course in the history of Yale University and was made available for free online to non-Yale students. Some commentators focus on the difference between the hedonistic tradition of seeking pleasant and avoiding unpleasant experiences, and the eudaimonic tradition of living life in a full and deeply satisfying way. Kahneman has said that ""When you look at what people want for themselves, how they pursue their goals, they seem more driven by
9176-672: The Philippine Senate and House of Representatives in support of Gross National Happiness in the Philippines. Additionally, Executive Director of Bhutan's GNH Center, Dr. Saamdu Chetri, has been invited by high-level officials in the Philippines for a GNH Forum. Many other cities and governments have undertaken efforts to measure happiness and well-being (also termed "Beyond GDP" ) since the High Level Meeting in 2012, but have not used versions of Bhutan's GNH index. Among these include
9300-403: The SWB a person experiences. Research has consistently shown that social influences are a key mechanism in supporting the homeostasis of one's SWB, as these influences provide the individual with an immediate positive response to whatever situation they may be facing. By evaluating the research behind the experiences of blue-collar immigrant employees, it becomes clear that social influences have
9424-646: The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations convened the High Level Meeting: Well-being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm to encourage the spread of Bhutan's GNH philosophy. At the meeting, the first World Happiness Report was issued. Shortly afterward, 20 March was declared to be International Day of Happiness by the UN in 2012 with resolution 66/28. Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay proclaimed
9548-485: The United States are more likely to associate happiness with interpersonally disengaging emotions (pride, for example). There are also cultural differences in motives and goals associated with happiness. For example, Asian Americans tend to experience greater happiness after achieving goals that are pleasing to or approved of by significant others compared to European Americans. There is also evidence that high self-esteem,
9672-436: The air you breathe." Subjective well-being Ed Diener developed a tripartite model of SWB in 1984, which describes how people experience the quality of their lives and includes both emotional reactions and cognitive judgments. It posits "three distinct but often related components of wellbeing: frequent positive affect , infrequent negative affect , and cognitive evaluations such as life satisfaction ." SWB
9796-495: The citizens about living conditions and religious behavior, including questions about the times a person prayed in a day and other karma indicators. It took several hours to complete one questionnaire. Later rounds of the GNH Index were shortened, but the survey retained the religious behavioral indicators. The Bhutan GNH Index was developed by the Centre for Bhutan Studies with the help of Oxford University researchers to help measure
9920-423: The common findings. The author found an important factor that has affected scientist findings this being how happiness is measured. For example, in certain studies when subjective wellbeing is measured as a trait heredity is found to be higher, about 70 to 90 percent. In another study, 11,500 unrelated genotypes were studied, and the conclusion was the heritability was only 12 to 18 percent. Overall, this article found
10044-402: The common percent of heredity was about 20 to 50 percent. Theories on how to achieve happiness include "encountering unexpected positive events", "seeing a significant other", and "basking in the acceptance and praise of others". Some others believe that happiness is not solely derived from external, momentary pleasures. Research on positive psychology, well-being, eudaimonia and happiness, and
10168-476: The conclusions that can be drawn from assessing the development of subjective well-being across one's life span includes the extent to which the set point of SWB can be considered hereditary, which supports the top-down perspective. From a bottom-up perspective, happiness is created from happy experiences. Bottom-up influences include external events, and broad situational and demographic factors, including health and marital status. Bottom-up approaches are based on
10292-547: The connection between money and Subjective well-being; rising GDP within a country, relative income within a country, and differences in GDP between countries. More specifically, when making comparisons between countries, a principle called the Diminishing Marginal Utility of Income (DMUI) stands strong. Veenhoven (1991) said, "[W]e not only see a clear positive relationship [between happiness and GNP per capita], but also
10416-469: The day. Whenever the beeper/pager sounds, the participant will stop what he/she is doing and record the activity they are currently engaged in and their current mood and feelings. Tracking this over a period of a week or a month will give researchers a better understanding of the true emotions, moods, and feelings the participant is experiencing, and how these factors interact with other thoughts and behaviors. Measuring an individual's mood over time may also be
10540-421: The death of a loved one), and not at all to others (e.g. noise and sex). The research behind the development of SWB across one’s life span concludes that despite the impact certain experiences may have on an individual’s subjective well-being their subjective well-being will eventually return to its set point over time, which supports the bottom-up perspective. Research describes homeostatically protected mood as
10664-426: The degree of happiness depends on economic and cultural factors that enable free choice in how people live their lives. Happiness also depends on religion in countries where free choice is constrained. Sigmund Freud said that all humans strive after happiness, but that the possibilities of achieving it are restricted because we "are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment only from a contrast and very little from
10788-446: The distinction between joy and happiness is that "joy accompanies the process through and through, whereas happiness seems to be more strictly tied to the moment of achievement of the process... joy is not only a direct emotional response to an event that is embedded in our life-concerns but is also tightly bound to the present moment, whereas happiness presupposes an evaluative stance concerning one period of one's life or one's own life as
10912-639: The dynamics within their family is also reflected in research, supporting the idea that an adolescent’s SWB depends on their experience with family dynamics. Through examining research highlighting the complexity of gender experiences between countries, it becomes clear that almost all societies on the planet are constructed in a way that favors boys over girls. Girls are more concerned by their satisfaction with self, their satisfaction with peers, and their satisfaction with family, while boys are more concerned by their satisfaction with their performance in school or other objective measures. Research indicates that wealth
11036-488: The environment, autonomy refers to a person's flexibility in choice and decision making, and relatedness is the need to establish warm, close personal relationships. Ronald Inglehart has traced cross-national differences in the level of happiness based on data from the World Values Survey . He finds that the extent to which a society allows free choice has a major impact on happiness. When basic needs are satisfied,
11160-457: The extent to which leisure satisfaction may be improved beyond pre-existing levels of well-being and mood in individuals. Multiple sources have examined the way that leisure activities can positively impact an individual’s SWB through assessing relational consumption. Research shows that regular leisure activities are positively correlated with SWB while the individual’s preferred activity itself may vary between gender and age groups, thus indicating
11284-450: The face of adversity. The pursuit of happiness has been a central theme in philosophy and psychology for centuries. While there is no single, universally accepted definition of happiness, it is generally understood to be a state of mind characterized by positive emotions, a sense of purpose, and a feeling of fulfillment. "Happiness" is subject to debate on usage and meaning, and on possible differences in understanding by culture. The word
11408-415: The following: Psychologist Robert Emmons has identified the centrality of goals in pursuing happiness. He found that when humans pursue meaningful projects and activities without primarily focusing on happiness, happiness often results as a by-product. Indicators of meaningfulness predict positive effects on life, while lack of meaning predicts negative states such as psychological distress. Emmons summarizes
11532-633: The four categories of meaning which have appeared throughout various studies. He proposes to call them WIST, or work, intimacy, spirituality, and transcendence. Throughout life, one's views of happiness and what brings happiness can evolve. In early and emerging adulthood many people focus on seeking happiness through friends, objects, and money. Middle aged-adults generally transition from searching for object-based happiness to looking for happiness in money and relationships. In older adulthood, people tend to focus more on personal peace and lasting relationships (ex. children, spouse, grandchildren). Antti Kauppinen,
11656-579: The happiness of others and themselves at different income levels. In study 1, predicted happiness ranged between 2.4 and 7.9, and actual happiness ranged between 5.2 and 7.7. In study 2, predicted happiness ranged between 15-80 and actual happiness ranged between 50 and 80. These findings show that people believe that money does more for happiness than it really does. However, some research indicates that while socioeconomic measures of status do not correspond to greater happiness, measures of sociometric status (status compared to people encountered face-to-face on
11780-400: The idea that there are universal basic human needs and that happiness results from their fulfilment. In support of this view, there is evidence that daily pleasurable events are associated with increased positive affect, and daily unpleasant events or hassles are associated with increased negative affect. However, research suggests that external events account for a much smaller proportion of
11904-543: The inalienable value of each person and expect individuals to become self-directive and self-sufficient. Although people in collectivistic cultures may gain happiness from the social approval they receive from suppressing self-interest, research seems to suggest that self-expression produces a greater happiness "payoff" compared to seeking approval outside oneself. Gross national happiness Gross National Happiness , ( GNH ; Dzongkha : རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་དགའ་སྐྱིད་དཔལ་འཛོམས། ) sometimes called Gross Domestic Happiness ( GDH ),
12028-461: The indicators within each domain differ by weight. Several scholars have noted that "the values underlying the individual pillars of GNH are defined as distinctly Buddhist ," and "GNH constructs Buddhism as the core of the cultural values of the country (of Bhutan). They provide the foundation upon which the GNH rests." GNH is thus seen as part of the Buddhist Middle Way , where "happiness
12152-526: The last decade through the contribution of western and local scholars to a version that is more democratic and open. Therefore, probably, the more accurate historical reference is to mention the coining of the GNH phrase as a key event, but not the Bhutan GNH philosophy, because the philosophy as understood by western scholars is different from the philosophy used by the King at the time." Other viewpoints are that GNH
12276-410: The levels of GNH in Bhutan. In 2008, the first Bhutanese GNH survey was conducted. It was followed by a second one in 2010. The third nationwide survey was conducted in 2015. The GNH survey covers all twenty districts (Dzonkhag) and results are reported for varying demographic factors such as gender , age, abode, and occupation . The first GNH surveys consisted of long questionnaires that polled
12400-402: The most inclusive terminology despite the determination of eudaimonia to be outside its scope. Autonomy is identified as one of the six factors that determine an individual’s psychological well-being. Research shows the close relationship that autonomy and eudaimonia have with self-determination theory , which identifies autonomy as a basic human need. A person's level of subjective well-being
12524-479: The nation's 5-year plan and promulgating policies. The GNH Index is used to measure the happiness and well-being of Bhutan's population. A GNH Policy Screening Tool and a GNH Project Screening Tool is used by the GNH commission to determine whether to pass policies or implement projects. The GNH Screening tools are used by the Bhutanese GNH Commission for anticipating the impact of policy initiatives upon
12648-517: The national governments of the United Kingdom 's Office of National Statistics and the United Arab Emirates , and cities including Somerville, Massachusetts , United States, and Bristol , United Kingdom. Also a number of companies which are implementing sustainability practices in business that have been inspired by GNH. GNH has been described by critics as a propaganda tool used by
12772-537: The need for further study around SWB benefits provided by leisure activities in relation to gender and age. One leisure activity that research has shown to benefit both genders and all age groups is leisure activities involving family. Going forward, research examining the effects of adolescent’s engagement in leisure activities over a long period of time may show their long-term effects on an individual's SWB throughout their life. Although all cultures seem to value happiness, cultures vary in how they define happiness. There
12896-534: The notion of set point theory, however, they do not rule out the possibility that is it possible for individuals to experience long term changes in SWB. Diener et al. note that heritability studies are limited in that they describe long-term SWB in a sample of people in a modern western society but may not be applicable to more extreme environments that might influence SWB and do not provide absolute indicators of genetic effects. Additionally, heritability estimates are inconsistent across studies. Further evidence for
13020-481: The numeric set point where an individual’s SWB will consistently return, supporting the ideas presented by the bottom-up perspective. A number of studies have found that SWB constructs are strongly associated with a range of personality traits, including those in the five factor model . Findings from numerous personality studies show that genetics account for 20–48% of the variance in the Five-Factor Model and
13144-456: The other models is that the other models are designed for secular governments and do not include religious behavior measurement components. The data is used to compare happiness among different groups of citizens , and changes over time. According to the World Happiness Report 2019, Bhutan is 95th out of 156 countries. The holistic consideration of multiple factors through the GNH approach has been cited as impacting Bhutan's response to
13268-446: The overall equilibrium between positive and negative affect, and usually measured as the difference between the two. High positive affect and low negative affect are often highly correlated, but not always. There are three components of SWB: affect (hedonic measures), life satisfaction (cognitive measures), and eudaimonia (a sense of meaning and purpose). Current research recognizes the importance of accurately assessing SWB within
13392-499: The point that happiness judgements partly reflect the presence of salient constraints, and that fairness, autonomy, community and engagement are key aspects of happiness and wellbeing throughout the life course. Although these factors play a role in happiness, they do not all need to improve simultaneously to help one achieve an increase in happiness. Happiness has been found to be quite stable over time. As of 2016, no evidence of happiness causing improved physical health has been found;
13516-552: The population of Bhutan of Nepalese origin and Hindu faith were expelled from the country because they would not integrate with Bhutan's Buddhist culture." The Refugee Council of Australia stated that "it is extraordinary and shocking that a nation can get away with expelling one sixth of its people and somehow keep its international reputation largely intact. The Government of Bhutan should be known not for Gross National Happiness but for Gross National Hypocrisy ." Some researchers state that Bhutan's GNH philosophy "has evolved over
13640-664: The presence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Research suggests that probing a patient's happiness is one of the most important things a doctor can do to predict that patient's health and longevity. In health-conscious modern societies, most people overlook the emotions as a vital component of one's health, while over focusing on diet and exercise. According to Diener & Biswas-Diener, people who are happy become less sick than people who are unhappy. There are three types of health: morbidity, survival, and longevity. Evidence suggests that all three can be improved through happiness: A positive relationship has been found between
13764-598: The progress of Bhutanese society. The Index's function was based on the Alkire & Foster method of 2011. After the creation of the GNH Index, the government used the metric to measure national progress and inform policy. The Bhutan GNH Index is considered by progressive scholars to measure societal progress similarly to other models such as the OECD Better Life Index of 2011, and SPI Social Progress Index of 2013. One feature distinguishing Bhutan's GNH Index from
13888-423: The relationship between personality and SWB. Firstly, SWB is closely tied to traits associated with emotional tendencies ( emotional stability , positive affectivity, and tension). Secondly, relationship enhancing traits (e.g. trust , affiliation) are important for subjective well-being. Happy people tend to have strong relationships and be good at fostering them. Thirdly, the way people think about and explain events
14012-486: The risk of developing clinical depression. Well-being within a family is determined by the relationship between their available resources and the family’s demands. The research behind the relationship SWB has with family dynamics shows that future research needs to incorporate the baseline level at which family dynamics positively influence the SWB and development of adolescents as they prepare to enter society as adults. A positive correlation between an adolescent’s SWB and
14136-503: The search for satisfaction than the search for happiness." Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, noticed that those who lost hope soon died, while those who held to meaning and purpose tended to live on. Frankl observed that joy and misery had more to do with a person's perspective and choice than with their surroundings. Three key sources of meaning that he highlights in his writings include
14260-405: The self-report results are accurate is through informant reports. Informant reports are given to the participant's closest friends and family and they are asked to fill out either a survey or a form asking about the participants mood, emotions, and overall lifestyle. The participant may write in the self-report that they are very happy, however that participant's friends and family record that he/she
14384-506: The short-term, while SWB in the long-term can be measured through the Cantril ladder, life satisfaction, or eudemonia. Research into the relationship between the components of SWB and consumption highlights the positive impact relational and experiential consumption have on an individual’s SWB, while clarifying how materialistic consumption prevents an individual from experiencing those positive effects. Research limitations that arise when measuring
14508-649: The theories of Diener, Ryff, Keyes, and Seligmann covers a broad range of levels and topics, including "the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life." The psychiatrist George Vaillant and the director of longitudinal Study of Adult Development at Harvard University Robert J. Waldinger found that those who were happiest and healthier reported strong interpersonal relationships. Research showed that adequate sleep contributes to well-being. Good mental health and good relationships contribute more to happiness than income does. In 2018, Laurie R. Santos course titled " Psychology and
14632-438: The time in their life when self-discrepancy is least available and accessible to an individual. By understanding what maximizes the utility of an individual’s experiences, an individual can gain the ability to ensure that they age positively. Since this research shows the significant impact goal discrepancies have on an individual’s subjective well-being, it is also implied that managing an individual's goal discrepancies serves as
14756-536: The topic is being researched at the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health . A positive relationship has been suggested between the volume of the brain's gray matter in the right precuneus area and one's subjective happiness score. Sonja Lyubomirsky has estimated that 50 percent of a given human's happiness level could be genetically determined, 10 percent
14880-482: The utilization of these methods can reliably predict future health and economic results. Research has not demonstrated that there are significant differences in subjective well-being between childless couples and couples with children. A research study by Pollmann-Schult (2014) found that when holding finances and time costs constant, parents are happier and show increased life satisfaction than non-parents. Research has found that unhappy married couples are at 3–25 times
15004-435: The variance in self-reports of SWB than top-down factors, such as personality. A theory proposed to explain the limited impact of external events on SWB is hedonic adaptation. Based originally on the concept of a " hedonic treadmill ", this theory proposes that positive or negative external events temporarily increase or decrease feelings of SWB, but as time passes people tend to become habituated to their circumstances and have
15128-547: The variance in subjective well-being is also heritable. Specifically, neuroticism predicts poorer subjective well-being whilst extraversion , agreeableness , conscientiousness and openness to experience tend to predict higher subjective well-being. A Meta-analyses found that neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were significantly related to all facets of SWB examined (positive, negative, and overall affect; happiness; life satisfaction; and quality of life). Meta-analytic research shows that neuroticism
15252-428: The volume of gray matter in the right precuneus area of the brain, and the subject's subjective happiness score. A six-week mindfulness based intervention was found to correlate with a significant gray matter increase within the precuneus. Research that examines the relationship between age and subjective well-being shows that peak psychological well-being can be found in an individual’s old age, which also reflects
15376-419: The word may vary depending on context, qualifying happiness as a polyseme and a fuzzy concept . A further issue is when measurement is made; appraisal of a level of happiness at the time of the experience may be different from appraisal via memory at a later date. Some users accept these issues, but continue to use the word because of its convening power. German philosophy professor Michela Summa says that
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