The document discusses factors related to subjective well-being and happiness. It covers topics like the influence of geography, race/ethnicity, personality, goals, success, internet use, and different types of happiness. Key findings include that people in different US regions value different factors for happiness, strong ethnic identity correlates with higher well-being, personality traits like low neuroticism and high extraversion predict happiness cross-culturally, and having meaningful goals enhances life satisfaction. It also discusses research showing happiness may lead to greater success and debates around internet use and happiness.

1. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY – (Rey Ensepedo)

2. Geography: Where You Live Is Important
 A nationwide survey of Americans (ages 25–75) found different criteria for
happiness in various parts of the country (Plaut, Markus, & Lachman,
2002). People in the New England states considered physical well-being,
autonomy, and not feeling constrained as necessary for subjective well-
being. People in western south-central states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas,
and Louisiana) showed a greater concern with personal growth and
feelings of cheerfulness and happiness as criteria for subjective well-being.
Those in eastern south-central states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi,
and Alabama) focused more on social responsibility and contributing to
the welfare and well-being of others as necessary for their own feelings of
happiness.

3. Race and Ethnicity
 In multicultural societies, people with a stronger sense of ethnic identity rated higher in subjective
well-being than people with low levels of identifying with their ethnic heritage (Le, Lai, & Wallen,
2009). Research on African-American college students found that those who felt a greater sense of
identification with and acceptance by the Black community at their college or university reported
higher levels of psychological well-being than those who felt less of an identification with and
acceptance by fellow African Americans (Postmes & Branscombe, 2002).
 When African-American adults were asked to rate their life satisfaction, those who had experienced
discrimination reported lower levels than those who had experienced no discrimination. Those who
attended predominantly White schools reported higher life satisfaction levels than those who went
to predominantly Black or mixed-race schools, although this may have changed in the decades
since this research was conducted (Broman, 1997).

4. Personality
 Considerable research has been conducted on the personality correlates
of the happy personality, particularly facets of the five-factor model (see
Chapter 8). People who score low on neuroticism and high on
extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness report high levels of
subjective well-being (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998; Hayes & Joseph, 2003;
Keyes, Shmotkin, & Ryff, 2002; Marrero, Quevedo, & Abella, 2011; Siegler
& Brummett, 2000; Solo, 2015). Research in China found that extraversion
was one of the most important predictors of subjective well-being (Zhang
& He, 2010).

5. Personality
 A study in 39 nations of Eysenck’s three personality factors, and a study in 26
nations of the Big Five factors, found that low neuroticism and high extraversion
correlated significantly with national levels of subjective well-being (Steel &
Ones, 2002). A comparison of adult subjects in the United States and in Germany
found that low neuroticism was the strongest predictor of subjective well-being
(Staudinger, Fleeson, & Baltes, 1999). Other research in more than 30 countries
confirmed that low neuroticism and high extraversion were major correlates of
subjective well-being (Gomez, Krings, Bangerter, & Grob, 2009; Libran & Howard,
2006; Lynn & Steel, 2006). Similar results were found in apes! The happiest
orangutans in zoos in the United States, Canada, and Australia were those rated
by zoo employees as being high in extraversion, low in neuroticism, and high in
agreeableness (Weiss, King, & Perkins, 2006).

6. Self-Efficacy and Internal Locus of Control
 Both self-efficacy and internal locus of control are positively related to life
satisfaction. In general, we are happiest when we feel competent in coping
with life and in control of the reinforcers that are important to us. Studies in
Germany and in Australia confirmed that the feelings of self-mastery and
being in control of one’s life were strongly related to subjective well-being
(Lang & Heckhausen, 2001; Windsor & Anstey, 2010). Autonomy (having a
strong sense of self-determination) is a significant contributor to happiness
(Schmutte & Ryff, 1997; Sheldon, Kasser, Houser-Marko, Jones, & Turban,
2005). Trust, emotional stability, self-esteem, and the ability to deal positively
with stress all correlate with high subjective well-being (DeNeve & Cooper,
1998)

7. Thinking Positively
 Having positive emotions such as joy, interest, love, and enthusiasm is linked to
subjective well-being (Frederickson, 2001). Similarly, negative emotions detract
from a sense of well-being. Among eighth-graders and ninth-graders in Finland,
having opportunities for self-fulfillment and social relationships in and out of the
school environment correlated highly with subjective well-being (Konu, Lintonen,
& Rimpelae, 2002). Among college students, it was found that the factor of
vengefulness (the desire to seek revenge or to hurt others) led to lower life
satisfaction (McCullough, Bellah, Kilpatrick, & Johnson, 2001). Research on
Holocaust survivors living in Israel found that even 60 years after the tragedy the
traumatic effects lingered in the form of negative emotions and low levels of
subjective well-being (Ben-Zur & Zimmerman, 2005)

8. Goals
People high in subjective well-being differ from people low in
subjective well-being in terms of their motivations and goals. One
research review concluded that life satisfaction was enhanced when
the goals people set for themselves were concerned with personal
growth and community contributions and were considered realistic
and of value to the culture. People rated high in life satisfaction were
intensely committed to achieving their goals and believed they were
making progress toward those ends (Klug & Maier, 2015; Lyubomirsky,
2001).

10. Happiness and Success
Which comes first: happiness and success? Are some people happy
because they are successful, or are they successful because they are
happy? Research tends to show that happiness, or subjective well-
being, leads to the kinds of behaviors that bring about success
(Boehm & Lyubomirsky, 2008). People high in subjective well-being
“are more likely to secure job interviews, to be evaluated more
positively by supervisors once they obtain a job, [and] to show
superior performance and productivity” (Lyubomirsky, King, &
Diener, 2005, p. 8)

11. Internet Use
 Does the use of online social media affect happiness? A study of adolescents in China found no
significant effects on happiness of participation in online social interactions. However, college
students in Italy showed an increase in subjective well-being and a greater feeling of closeness to
their own social group and to society in general after forming social relationships online (Biao-Bin,
Man-Na, Bi-Qun, & Yong-Hong, 2006; Contarello & Sarrica, 2007). Research in Taiwan found that
use of the Internet had a slightly negative effect on subjective well-being (Huang, 2010a). A large-
scale study of Americans found a stronger negative effect. The more time people spent online—
whether browsing, texting, checking the news, or joining a chat room—the lonelier and less happy
they said they felt (Stepanikova, Nie, & He, 2010). When American college students were assigned
a classroom task, those students who engaged in personal social media use performed more
poorly on the task. They also experienced higher levels of stress and lower levels of happiness than
those who did not engage in social media use during the task (Brooks, 2015).

12. Different Kinds of Happiness: Meaning and
Flourishing
 As the field of positive psychology advanced, Seligman distinguished different kinds of happiness,
or finding satisfaction in life, and he proposed three distinct types:
 • Positive emotion: the pleasant life
 • Engagement: the engaged life
 • Meaning: the meaningful life
 The pleasant life consists of a great deal of positive emotion such as satisfaction, job contentment,
serenity, and optimism. The engaged life consists of engagement, involvement, purpose,
commitment, and absorption in work. As Seligman noted, “time passes quickly” for this type of
person. “Attention is completely focused on the activity. The sense of self is lost” (Seligman, Rashid,
& Parks, 2006, p. 777). Research indicates that having a purpose in life is related not only to finding
meaning in life but also to healthy aging and longevity (Hill & Turiano, 2014)

13. Comment
 Seligman’s original call for a positive psychology received an enthusiastic response.
In 2000, only two years after he introduced the topic, the Journal of Happiness
Studies, the first such journal in the field, began publication. In 2002, he published
a popular book titled Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to
Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. The book was highly praised in
reviews; Newsweek described the positive psychology movement as a new age for
psychology. Time magazine put Seligman’s picture on the cover and published a
40-page special issue. At Harvard the most popular undergraduate course, with
enrollments exceeding 800, was on positive psychology. In 2006, the Journal of
Positive Psychology began publication. Positive psychology as a distinct branch of
psychology has become phenomenally successful and widespread.

14.  Thank you!