Psychological Research Studies on the Pursuit of Happiness: What Makes People Happy?

Posted by Allie Mendoza on May 15, 2011

The successful pursuit of happiness is vital to our life satisfaction. All of us want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives… we want to enhance our experiences of love and relationships as well as work and play… we want to find true happiness.

by a4gpa

What is happiness?

Happiness is commonly defined as a state of well being; it is commonly associated with feeling good or experiencing pleasure.

Understanding happiness and related positive mental states involves the study of contentment with the past, happiness in the present and hope for the future.

What makes people happy?

There isn’t one key that can lead to happiness and life satisfaction. Instead, multiple components are involved in finding happiness; this is similar to having different ingredients in a recipe for happiness.

To understand what makes people happy, it’s important to look at multiple factors that can contribute to finding happiness. Some findings about happiness are surprising.

Your social relationships can greatly influence your happiness. People who have close relationships with family and friends tend to have greater life satisfaction and happiness. The loss of a close family member or friend can cause dissatisfaction with life – it can take a long time for people to recover from that loss.
Having meaningful and enjoyable work – whether it is paid or unpaid activity – contributes to life satisfaction. Being fully engaged in this activity can be so gratifying that some people are willing to do it for it’s own sake instead of what they will get out of it. The activity is it’s own reward.
Wealth does not contribute a great deal to your happiness. Once your basic needs are met, particularly when income is above the poverty level, additional income does NOT raise your sense of life satisfaction.
Older people are more satisfied with their lives compared to young people.
Activities that provide moments of pleasure and enjoyment — including shopping, eating good food and making money – do not lead to long-term fulfillment.

According to Seligman in his 2002 book, “Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment,” happiness is based on our memories; it’s more than the sum of our experiences of happy moments.

Studies looking at day-to-day experiences of happy moments tend to focus on transient happiness. In contrast, global reports of well-being and life satisfaction – what we remember – emphasize deeper and lasting happiness.

Based on Seligman’s research, there are three components of happiness:

Pleasure – feeling good, having positive emotions and sensory experiences.
Engagement – the depth of involvement with one’s family, friends and other relationships as well as hobbies, work and play.
Meaning – having a sense of purpose in life.

Pleasure is the least important component of happiness. Engagement and meaning are far more important in achieving lasting happiness and satisfaction in life.

The most fundamental finding from research studies on the psychology of happiness is that being with other people makes people happy. The “need to belong” is important in life satisfaction. So, it’s important to work on social skills in order to build closer interpersonal connections and social support. In turn, this can lead to greater happiness and satisfaction in life.

I hope that findings from psychological research on the pursuit f happiness helps you figure out what truly makes you happy.

Allie

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