Upasana
Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi
27th January 2025

Happiness is at once an emotion, a state of being and a long term pursuit and the way one understands it depends on the given context at a particular moment. Theoretically, the two major traditions of conceptualising happiness are hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2014). Drawing from the philosophy of hedonism, the general focus of hedonic happiness is in defining the good life in terms of personal happiness. Within psychology, it is expressed in terms of the concept of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is defined as the existence of three components together, life satisfaction, the presence of positive affect, and a relative absence of negative affect (Ryan & Deci, 2001). On the other hand, eudaimonic happiness draws from the tradition of Aristotle who defined happiness as self-realisation and posited that the good life results from living in alignment with your daimon or your true self. This realisation is what is termed as ‘eudaimonia’ or happiness. In today’s psychology, this philosophy gets expressed within the humanistic school’s emphasis on self-actualisation and the fully functioning person. Further, Waterman (2013) expanded on this by introducing the concept of personal expressiveness to explain eudaimonic happiness. According to him, experiences of personal expressiveness occur during activities when we engage in life activities that fit and express our core values. The distinction between the two traditions is crucial not only for understanding happiness itself but has implications for the experience of (un)happiness, how people pursue the same and how larger societies come to organise themselves.
Peterson (2008) defined positive psychology as “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.” Thus, it is the systematic investigation into subjective experiences like happiness in order to to facilitate the emergence of positive individuals and institutions.
Genetics vs. Environment: The role of biology and life circumstances.
The possible role of genetics in the presence and extent of happiness was first introduced by the foundational work by Tellegen et al. (1988) who used well-being data from the Minnesota twin studies conducted between 1970-1986. They discovered that the identical twins raised apart were more similar on their happiness ratings than the fraternal twins raised together. In a meta-analysis of twin design studies to assess the heritability of well-being, Bartels et al. (2022) in their World Happiness Report, stated that approximately 40% of the differences in happiness are accounted for by genetic differences between people. However, unlike other genetic factors, heritability for complex psychological traits like well-being or happiness are significantly less deterministic. Rather, they signal that a particular outcome is more or less likely. Furthermore, one’s environment interacts with and influences biological factors. For instance, in a study of married male and female twin pairs, Nes et al. (2010) discovered that while genetic factors accounted for around 50% of the variance in well-being among the unmarried people, it reduced to around 40% for those who were married demonstrating that the gene expression was moderated by the interaction of marital status. Similarly, situations like the Covid-19 pandemic revealed that the importance of genetic influences in determining level of happiness decreased significantly, revealing the importance of gene-environment interaction (Vries et al., 2021).
Conversely, a gene-environment correlation can also be understood in terms of exposure to environment or environmental events determined fully or in part by genetic factors. Three types of such interactions have been identified: passive, active, and evocative (Bartels et al., 2022). The passive type occurs when parents create an environment that is consistent with their own genotype. For example, a child with genes for higher levels of well-being may also experience a warm and loving home. The active interaction occurs because children are likely to select their own environment in concordance with their genotype. An example of this would be a child engaging in more verbal affection and friendly play with their peers contributing further to their well-being. Lastly, if environmental variables like peers respond favourably to the child, the impact of the environment would further increase leading to what is called an evocative interaction type.
While the various environmental variables one is subject to since birth hold the most amount of significance when talking of well-being, attention to the role of biology demonstrates the fallacy of one-size-fits-all explanations and interventions. Genetic expression is one way in which individuality becomes a factor that when interacting with the same environment produces different results for different people.
The Hedonic Treadmill: Why people adapt to positive changes.
In their seminal research on the phenomenon of adaptation, Brickman and Campbell (1971) posited that adaptation to happiness is complete and unavoidable by stating that “The nature of adaptation condemns men to live on a hedonic treadmill, to see new levels of stimulation merely to maintain old levels of subjective pleasure, to never achieve any kind of permanent happiness or satisfaction.” This is also reflected in the ideas of the ‘Set Point Theory’ which states that everyone has a lifelong set point or default happiness and deflections in either direction are temporary (Byrnes, 2005). Since the inception of the hedonic treadmill model, research came in trying to empirically validate it. For instance, in a series of classic studies, Brickman et al. revealed that lottery winners were not happier than nonwinners and that people with locomotor disabilities were not less happy than those who could walk (Diener, Lucas & Scollon, 2006). More strong evidence came from longitudinal studies that demonstrated that seemingly catastrophic events affected levels of happiness only for a few months following the event (Silver, 1982).
The type of event also greatly determines the presence and extent of hedonic adaptation. For instance, sensory experiences, novel experiences and external gratification are situations where one quickly returns to the baseline level of happiness. This may be explained by going back to the ideas of hedonic versus eudaimonic happiness mentioned in the introduction, those sources of happiness that produce pleasure, enjoyment etc. only represent hedonic happiness and may have a short-term effect whereas those activities that reaffirm our core values represent eudaimonic happiness and have a long term effect.
Cultural Perspectives: How definitions and sources of happiness vary globally.
Post the industrial revolutions in the West, there has developed a burgeoning emphasis on the hedonic tradition of happiness with contemporary western cultures and even psychological theory defining happiness in terms of subjective well-being with a focus on individual traits and virtues like self-esteem, self-determination etc. On the other hand, eastern definitions of happiness, deriving largely from religious and moral philosophy are collectivistic in nature with de-emphasis on the individual self. In Hinduism and Islam, happiness is said to be achieved through abdication of the self in favour of merging with the transcendent or the universe. Similarly, in Confucianism, happiness is thought to be achieved by sacrificing personal desires for the larger good.
Joshanloo (2013) discussed five fundamental differences in the conceptualisation of happiness in the two traditions:
Self Transcendence versus Self Enhancement: western understanding of the self focuses on enhancing autonomy, independence, capability etc. and this is reflected in the mainstream instruments and tools used for the measurement of happiness and well-being. The eastern notion of self transcendence means moving beyond the self to focus on and connect with others to gain satisfaction and happiness.
Eudaimonism versus hedonism: the western notion is more hedonic with focus on individual pleasure whereas eastern notion is more eudaimonic with a focus on growth and expression of the true self. Further, most eastern traditions have been critical of hedonic happiness and have called it a false happiness.
Harmony versus Mastery: the popular model of a ‘fully functioning person’ in western psychology reveals the focus on mastery of one’s environment as a precursor to a good life, again underlining the importance of autonomy and competence. However, eastern cultures place value in being in harmony with nature and the universe at large thereby giving importance to values of gentleness and adaptation.
Contentment versus satisfaction: in eastern cultures, contentment is seen as the goal rather than satisfaction and is a complex experience of balance between both joy and sorrow and emerges from the realisation of the transcendent self. Life satisfaction is an important indicator of subjective well-being in the West but is a more linear and one dimensional trait that does not take into account the causes and implications of it.
Valuing versus avoiding suffering: a potential fallout of the stress on maximisation of hedonistic pleasure at all costs is the inability to navigate and accept suffering which is a normal and integral part of life. For eastern cultures, happiness and unhappiness can and often do co-exist and one is encouraged to make space for opposing emotions and experiences.
The Science of Happiness
Foundational and recent research can be synthesised to reveal the following important factors as the determinants of happiness:
Personality Traits and Genetics: Personality is an important factor that mediates the impact of the environment on a person’s general level of happiness. Research from western cultures has shown that happier people are optimistic, have high self esteem and an internal locus of control (Diener et al., 1999). Further, 50% of variance in personality traits themselves are known to be genetic and that combined with the research on heritability of happiness reveal the important role played by biology (Paris, 1996).
Relationships: Married people are happier than unmarried people, be they divorced, separated or never married (Myers, 2000). However, the least happy of all are people trapped in unhappy marriages. Marriage provides psychological and physical intimacy, a context within which to have children and build a home, a social role as a spouse and parent, and a context within which to affirm identity and create posterity. The link between subjective well-being and being married holds for people of all ages, income and educational levels, and racial-ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, close supportive relationships between parents and children, between siblings, and between extended family members enhance the social support available to all family members. This social support enhances subjective well-being and from an evolutionary perspective we are ‘hard-wired’ to derive happiness from this contact with our kinship network (Argyle, 2001; Buss, 2000).
Religion and Spirituality: Moderate correlations have been found between happiness and involvement in religious activity in North American studies (Myers, 2000) since religion provides a coherent belief system that allows people to find meaning in life and hope for the future.
Environment: Financial status is more highly correlated with satisfaction for students in poor nations than for those in wealthy nations (Diener & Diener, 1995). Moreover, the people in wealthy nations generally are happier than those in impoverished nations. However, once household income rises above the poverty line, additional bumps in income are not necessarily associated with increases in well-being. Additionally, geographic location also plays a role. People report positive feelings in geographical locations where there is vegetation, water and panoramic views (Ulrich et al., 1991). Evolutionary factors probably contribute to preferences for these types of geographical locations (Buss, 2000).
Physical Health: While subjective ratings of personal health correlate with happiness, objective health ratings made by physicians do not (except where people are severely disabled) (Diener et al., 1999). In the short term exercise induces positive mood states and in the long term regular exercise leads to greater happiness (Argyle, 2001; Sarafino, 2002).
Evidence-Based Strategies to Boost Happiness
Gratitude practices like journaling what you are grateful for everyday or at regular intervals is one of the most tested interventions in positive psychology with an almost unanimous positive effect on well-being. For instance, in a randomized clinical trial conducted by Cunha et al. (2019), they discovered that the group that was asked to write daily gratitude lists for 14 days showed increased positive affect, subjective happiness and life satisfaction, and reduced negative affect and depressive symptoms.
Other forms of gratitude expression are behavioural expressions and grateful contemplation. A research on grateful contemplation i.e. taking out time to think about what you are grateful for over a 4-week period showed a significant increase in participants’ life satisfaction, well-being and self-esteem (Rash et al., 2011). Thus, even the simplest form of practicing gratitude can have a positive impact on happiness.
Throughout the discussion of happiness, the importance of relationships cannot be underestimated. Relationship satisfaction has an immense amount of predictive value for life satisfaction, especially during big life changes like pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum depression (Dyrdal et al., 2010). The quality of your most intimate relationships like those with your spouse may systematically determine your level of life satisfaction (Heller et al., 2006).
Happiness has a multiplier effect in relationships and increase in happiness of one member may result in happiness of others in that context as well. This is especially true for adults interacting with children. Research has shown that the level of happiness of parents or teachers has a predictive impact on the happiness levels of the children or students (Moskowitz & Dewaele, 2019).
Friendship is another important relationship that affects one’s level of happiness. The quality of one’s closest friendship as well as resolution of conflicts in the same are significant predictors of happiness. Within the quality of friendships, companionship emerged as the most important trait (Demir et al., 2006).
The negative effects of individualism, materialism and affluence of contemporary society can also be counteracted through kind emotions and helping behaviour. In a study of retirees older than 65 years of age, those who volunteered for various causes scored higher on life satisfaction and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and somatization (Post, 2005). These findings have been replicated with more diverse and larger sample sizes, the results of which all underline the importance of giving help for better mental health. The relationship between altruism and happiness is also a mutually reinforcing one with increase in one leading to an increase in the other (Rhoades et al., 2021).
Csikszentmihalyi defined flow experiences as “the holistic sensation of activating with total involvement.” The commonsensical understanding of it may be that of “being absorbed” in one’s work. High flow activities have shown to increase positive affect in university students (Rogatko, 2009) and working professionals (Kawalya et al., 2019) both. This has implications for the way we choose to both select and perform our tasks. If we choose tasks and roles that align with our interests and priorities, we are more likely to devote our complete attention to it, making flow experience easier to induce. Secondly, within the task itself, being aware of one’s role in the outcome and feeling significant to the organisation as a whole is likely to encourage greater concentration.
Conclusion
Happiness has always been seen as the goal of all human endeavours. However, the irony is that we may be striving towards happiness without making any progress towards it due to ill-informed beliefs, social norms and invisible barriers. Thus, understanding happiness in context of both larger social structures and traditions, and the various components of an individual’s self is crucial to not only understanding happiness but also work towards achieving it in a more rational and sustainable manner.
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Upasana is part of the Global Internship Research Program (GIRP) under IJNGP.
TAGS HAPPINESS | RELATIONSHIPS | FLOW STATE | BIOLOGY
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