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Defining Happiness
What is happiness? There are many definitions around the world about the word happiness. I
like the definition the Wikipedia gives us:
“Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or
pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy…
Defining happiness can seem as elusive as achieving it. We want to be happy, and we can say
whether we are or not, but can it really be defined, studied and measured? And can we use this
learning to become happier?
Psychologists say yes, and that there are good reasons for doing so. Positive psychology is “the
scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.”
These researchers’ work includes studying strengths, positive emotions, resilience, and
happiness. Their argument is that only studying psychological disorders gives us just part of the
picture of mental health.

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We will learn more about well-being by studying our strengths and what makes us happy.
The hope is that by better understanding human strengths, we can learn new ways to recover
from or prevent disorders, and may even learn to become happier.
So how do these researchers define happiness? Psychologist Ed Diener, author of Happiness:
Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, describes what psychologists call “subjective
well-being” as a combination of life satisfaction and having more positive emotions than
negative emotions.
Martin Seligman, one of the leading researchers in positive psychology and author of Authentic
Happiness, describes happiness as having three parts:
(1) Pleasure, engagement, and meaning.
(2) Pleasure is the “feel good” part of happiness.
(3) Engagement refers to living a “good life” of work, family, friends, and hobbies.
(4) Meaning refers to using our strengths to contribute to a larger purpose.
Seligman says that all three are important, but that of the three, engagement and meaning make
the most difference to living a happy life.

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Moment-by-moment vs. long term
Researchers also distinguish between the moment-by-moment feeling of happiness produced by
positive emotions and how we describe our lives when we think about it.
Regardless of whether you had a good day or not, do you describe your life as a happy one?
Or describe yourself as a happy person? Psychologist
Daniel Kahneman describes this difference as the “experiencing self” and the “remembering
self.”
Psychologists study both to better understand how daily experiences add up to a happy life.
Scientifically measuring happiness…
Since happiness is so subjective; can it really be measured and studied scientifically?
Researchers say yes.
They believe that we can reliably and honestly self-report our state of happiness and increases
and decreases in happiness.
After all, isn’t our own perception of happiness what matters?
And if we can report it, scientists can measure it. Psychologist Daniel Gilbert compares this to
optometry:
“Optometry is another one of those sciences that is built entirely on people's reports of subjective
experience.
The one and only way for an optometrist to know what your visual experience is like is to ask
you, ‘Does it look clearer like this or (click click) like this?’”

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Research Framework
Researchers have formed a useful framework for studying happiness:
1. Happiness is made up of pleasure, engagement, and meaning
2. It involves both daily positive emotions and a global sense that life is worthwhile
3. People can accurately report their own levels of happiness
Using this framework, researchers are learning more and more all the time about who is happy,
what makes them happy.
Read more at “How To Survive As A Woman After 55” or “Growing Old with Grace and
Power”
Next article: “How To Maintain Happiness”