2. Learning Outcomes
• Understand the psychological factors that
help define happiness and well-being.
• Explain how attitudes create barriers to
happiness and well-being.
• Understand how better interpersonal
relationships can enhance well-being.
(continued)
3. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being
• Attitude
– Social relationships
– Perception of personal role in life
– Ability to improve oneself through religious or
spiritual experiences
– Opportunity to learn and grow through educational
studies and cultural experiences
(continued)
4. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Attitude
– Ability to express oneself and enjoy leisure activities
– Materialistic values are a barrier to well-being
– Hyperindividualism – Thinking about oneself and
ignoring community needs; decreased empathy
(continued)
5. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Challenges to understanding happiness and
well-being
– Assumption that happiness comes from achieving
something or gaining stuff
– Ability to achieve effective functioning in one’s life
• Need to understand the meaning of psychological wealth.
• Happiness is not based on money.
(continued)
6. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Attitude and health
– Morbidity – Explains how attitude can ultimately
influence our overall health
– Longevity – Life expectancy
(continued)
7. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Happier people live longer.
– Less anxiety, fear, and anger
– Less depression
• Long-term depression can lead to life-threatening illnesses
and accidents.
(continued)
8. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Need for personal and healthy relationships
• Need for wealth beyond money
– Psychological wealth is needed.
– Money does not necessarily equate with happiness.
– Financial security in the United States is around
$75,000/year, above which people do not get
greater feelings of well-being.
(continued)
9. Determinants of Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
Flow: a source of mental energy that helps focus attention
and motivate action, especially when there is a specific
goal.
10. Ranking Happiness and
Well-Being
• World Database of Happiness (WDBH)
– In 2010, Costa Rica was found to be the happiest
country.
• Utopia
– A community that has ideal sociopolitical and legal
systems where citizens work cooperatively for the
common good.
– Can you think of any communities that exhibit
utopia?
(continued)
11. Ranking Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Happy Planet Index (HPI)
– Measures what people use (natural resources)
against what they get back (well-being and long,
happy lives).
– Measures how efficient a country is in its efforts
toward overall sustainability.
– High levels of well-being are achieved with reduced
consumption.
(continued)
12. Ranking Happiness and
Well-Being (continued)
• Gross National Happiness Index (GNH)
– Measures national progress rather than the
economic-only Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
– Example: Bhutan
13. Emotional Well-Being
• Three basic work orientations that relate to
happiness in the workplace:
1. Work is not simply a job that pays the bills.
2. Work is more than just a career that is enjoyed
some of the time.
3. Work is a vocation or a calling and provides intrinsic
satisfaction.
(continued)
14. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• Happiness in the workplace
– Effective and constructive communication between
workers and bosses creates happiness.
– It creates a sense of community.
– Tribal or social existence gave way to global
individualism very rapidly, eroding well-being.
(continued)
15. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• A good work/home/community experience
requires several emotional competencies:
– Self-awareness
• Recognize and acknowledge your emotions and how you
react to situations and stresses.
• Acknowledge your strengths and limits.
• Have self-confidence.
(continued)
16. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• A good work/home/community experience
requires several emotional competencies:
– Motivation
• Drive to get things done in your life
• Intrinsic versus extrinsic
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
(continued)
18. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• A good work/home/community experience
requires several emotional competencies:
– Self-regulation
• Managing one’s emotional impulses and connecting them
to personal values
– Social competence
• How you handle personal relationships
(continued)
19. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• A good work/home/community experience
requires several emotional competencies:
– Empathy
• Emotionally connecting to someone else’s perspectives and
experiences
• Desire to want to help others in need
• Apathy and antipathy are barriers to community building
(continued)
20. Emotional Well-Being (continued)
• A good work experience requires several
emotional competencies:
– Coping with stress
– Positive relationships
and sense
of community
reduce stress
21. Social Well-Being
• Altruism and compassion
– Altruism – To help and be of benefit to others even if
no direct personal benefit exists.
– People are hardwired to be altruistic.
(continued)
22. Social Well-Being (continued)
• Instinctive compassion and empathy
– Sociability is an evolutionary winning strategy for
survival.
– New tribalism may be a strategy for the future.
– The social norm is toward empathy.
(continued)
