thesis statement for the pursuit of happiness

Pursuit Of Happiness Theme

The Pursuit of Happyness was a commercially successful film whose main appeal is its ‘feel-good’ ending. It treads the much worn path of the rags-to-riches narrative, albeit with some variations in plot, characterization and context. This paper would argue that despite the commercial success of the film, it fails as a social instrument. In other words, if the purpose of cinema is not merely to entertain but also to educate, the Pursuit of Happyness fails on the latter count.

The main criticism is toward its core message that among the thousands of honest aspirants for the American Dream only a few lucky ones make through.

The final shot of the film is not merely the triumph of its protagonist, but equally the defeat of multitudes of his brethren. The defeated cannot said to have all been less industrious than our hero. Luck plays a major role in deciding who succeeds. One also needs to question the kind of culture in which the odds are so stacked that only one in a thousand makes it big in life.

If the purpose of the film is to celebrate the glamour of the American Dream, then it fails substantially in meeting this objective.

Thesis Statement For Pursuit Of Happiness

A disappointing feature of the film is its predictable plotline. The much treaded rags to riches story genre is tried yet again in the Pursuit of Happyness. Almost from the moment that the homeless hero is introduced one has a sense of predictability of what awaits him.

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The already encumbered hero will be subject to further distress, before he emerges triumphant as a result of industry or ingenuity. In Chris Gardner we have all apt qualities of the disadvantaged hero – black, impoverished, married and professionally uncertain. His wife’s estrangement from him due to his financial failures adds to the melodrama. It can be claimed that director Gabrielle Muccino had gone a little overboard in creating sympathy for his lead characters. It would have served the film well had the focus been more on crisp screenplay and editing.

The ‘feel-good’ focus on the film distorts a bitter actuality of American society. The story is based on the real life of Chris Gardner, who struggled through poverty and went on to become a successful businessman – he founded and managed his own brokerage firm in the 1990s. But the verity of Chris Gardner’s story does not exclude the stark reality of homelessness in America. While Gardner was fortunate enough to escape poverty, millions of Americans are yet homeless.

There are several moments in the film that are touchy. It is as if director Gabrielle Muccino is playing up to audience’s emotions by circumventing their critical thought. The father-son relationship is both its strength and drawback. While there are genuine moments of love and sacrifice incurred by Chris and Christopher Gardner, they don’t counteract the major deficiencies in the film. For example, one of the turning points in the fortunes of the hero is when an influential person from the business world happens to see him solving a hand-held puzzle. This freak coincidence would prove to be pivotal for the hero to breakthrough into the corporate world. But what is the message being delivered by such a narrative. Is not the director telling us that luck plays a major part for success in life? If so, how do we the audience compute this information. It seems that determinism is the dominant philosophical theme in the film, which mutes the roles of free-will and enterprise.

On balance, not all aspects of The Pursuit of Happyness are lacking in merit. For one, the film highlights a pressing social problem in America – homelessness. Despite being the richest country in the world, the number of citizens who don’t have a home is depressingly high. Seen in this light, the film is an invocation for policymakers and social activists to make a change. There are more sociological perspectives at play here – especially that of race. Both the real life Chris Gardner and his celluloid imitator are both black Americans. It is a well acknowledged fact that racial and ethnic minorities bear the brunt of poverty and discrimination in the country. The director should be credited for implicitly projecting this chronic social issue. But at the same time, the deterministic or destiny-ridden narrative does a disservice to minorities. The latter would want to believe that they can change their fortunes through their own constructive actions and not through a government dole or society’s charity.

In conclusion, The Pursuit of Happyness has more demerits than merits. Taken purely as a product for entertainment it works very well. But in terms of the social message the film emits, there is much left to be desired. Although the film is based on a real life story, it is a selected story and not a representative one. Such exceptional stories as that of Chris Gardner create the illusion that the American Dream is within the grasp of all. But, unfortunately, such is not the truth.

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The Pursuit of Happyness, Essay Example

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To be happy and to have a high standard of living is an American dream, which is based on individual freedom and connected with the concept of “self-made man”. This paper describes Chris Gardner’s story (2006) which is riddled with despair, challenges, cruelty, violence, but is advanced and foremost of love, faith and hope. It proposes up reminders that until now the American dream subsist and gives the opportunity to everyone to find it in themselves and to achieve the highest point in their life performance. This story is a saga of various singers, actors, performers, which are used as the examples of happy and fortunate people. It is a saga of a man who destroyed his family’s cycle of people abandoning their kids. Never giving up and falling into despondency and despair, Chris Gardner did an amazement change from being a part of city’s indigent and poor to being a strong and powerful person. The Pursuit of Happyness (Gardner, 2006) is a true American success and welfare story of a person who overcame difficulties and obstacles.

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happyness (Gardner, 2006) is an encouraging and inspiring autobiography of a person, who overcame all types of misfortune and adversity to become a powerful person in a world of finance.

The Pursuit of Happyness (Gardner, 2006) is an autobiographical honest and humility story which describes Chris Gardner’s long, excruciating, ultimately rewarding travel from poor region Milwaukee to the top of success in a Wall Street. It is faithful and rags-to-riches story of a homeless father who brings up his son on mean and cruel streets of San Francisco and becomes a famous businessmen and moneymaker (Gardner, 2006).

Chris Gardner is a poor and indigent minority who is described as honest-minded, fair and comprehensive person. He is trying to show that it is impossible to buy happiness, but money and prosperity can help in this.

This story shows the contrast between San Francisco’s rich and poor, and the capitalistic rage of Dean Witter office where Chris Gardner’s internship was. It is a description of a person who at no time succumbed to self compassion. He did not surrender to bitter stuff either. He censured nobody for his plight, just pushed ahead and found decisions to each situation and problem he faced (Gardner, 2006).

For better understanding Chris Gardner’s psychology and why he denies giving up notwithstanding of having obstacles and impediments in his path at every turn it is important to answer the following questions:

• How does Chris Gardner’s childhood influenced his path to success?
• What were Chris Gardner’s main principles and goals?

Investigation of these questions will show the inner world of the main hero, interesting patterns of his behavior and the things which influenced his strong desire and thirst to become the number one in the world of finance.

Chris Gardner was born and grown up in the Milwaukee inner-city ghetto. He was a dutiful, quiet and good child who got into the mishap from time to time, but stayed on a stable, upward track (Gardner, 2006). It is a pity that the childhood accounts are all described not from a kid’s foreshortening and perspective, but with the grown-up and adult Gardner’s comprehension inserted regularly.How does Chris Gardner’s childhood influenced his path to success?

Gardner was poor, indigent and fatherless. His worship and adored mother Bettye Jean was strong on church and children and was not all the time near. When she was incarcerated, Chris stayed with relatives (Gardner, 2006).

Chris Gardner’s childhood was wracked with cruelty, brutal treatment and abuse of Freddie Triplett, his stepfather, who plainly and routinely verbally and physically mistreated child and whole family. Violent, spiteful and hateful he denied accepting Gardner as a stepchild and contradicted him at every turn.

Freddie Triplett considers being one of most unpleasant and meanest stepfather. His rages made Gardner constantly blue and afraid (Gardner, 2006).

An expert on psychopathy Dr. Robert D. Hare (1999) explains such antisocial or even criminal behavior of Gardner’s stepfather as a “continuations of behavior patterns that first showed themselves in childhood” (p. 97). He underlines that it is impossible to know why people such as Freddie Triplett become psychopaths and cruel with their family and society, but present evidence takes away from the ordinarily held concept that “the behavior of parents bears sole or even primary responsibility for the disorder” (p. 178). That means that in his childhood Freddie Triplett’s parents were cruel and violent with him. When he became an adult he tried to revenge for such bad treatment and violently abused Gardner and his family.

John W. Livesley (2003) a psychiatrist, whose investigation and research has been orientated at the grading, classification and etiology of individual disorder supposes that antisocial, dangerous and aggressive behavior in people such as Gardner’s stepfather runs in families. He underlines that “many difficult to alter because the environment remains the same” (p. 78). Livesley (2003) believes that the etiology of individual disorders within a wide framework where neither genetic spirited nor psychosocial factors may have considered for their development. Whereas admitting research demonstrating that a lot of patients experience childhood miseries, Livesley (2003) does not clarify and explain an individual disorder as through the sequel of such events. Instead, the author underlines the factors that keep up and support maladaptive features in the present.     Hare (1999) believes that though people can change, “many personality traits and behavioral patterns remain stable through-out life” (p. 97). That means that person’s personality and behavior are determined and fixed early in life, or that maturation, experience and development are not powerful coercion in define what kind of adults the person will become.

At the same time, Dr Stanton E. Samenow (2004), a clinical psychologist, supposes that such kind of people like Freddie Triplett cause offence not because of parents, neighbors, unemployment and television but because of their mind. Samenow (2004) strongly believed that different thinking is the cause of psychopaths violent behavior. On the other hand Samenow (2004) underlines that everything and everyone is responsible for the offence. The environment, economy, policy, poverty are responsible for committing a crime, brutal treatment and abuse.

People like Freddie Triplett “feel that their abilities will enable them to become anything they want to be” (Hare, 1999, p. 39). They want to be “physically and psychologically abusive to others with our society’s glorification of violence” (Wolman, 1999, p. 117). Hare (1999) believes that such people see nothing dishonest or wrong with their personality and find their behavior as “rational, rewarding, and satisfying; they never look back with regret or forward with concern” (p. 195).     Such people like Freddie Triplett do not “feel they have psychological or emotional problems, and they see no reason to change their behavior to societal standards with which they do not agree” (Hare, 1999, p. 195). That means, that Freddie Triplett was well satisfied with his own personality and with his “inner landscape, break as it may seem to outside observers” (p. 195). Samenow (2004) found that criminals, psychopaths and offenders will not change their personality until other options forsakes him / her. The author underlines that if a person wants to change a criminal or offender behavior, he / she should make alternative.

Hare (1999) emphasizes that people like Gardner’s stepfather does not authorize their actions to themselves. Once, Freddie Triplett because of groundless and irrational anger physically abused Chris. During cold winter, he threw him and his mother into the snow. He did it at the time Gardner was taking a bath and was thrown out naked.

The only way to curtail violence in such people is to change their way of thinking. Samenow (2004) found that such people think otherwise from a responsible person. The only appropriate offender’s issues are to continue their behavior, to change their personality or to suicide. Freddie chosen to continue his behavior and to abuse Chris, his family and weak people.

Wolman (1999) found some distinctive features between dangerous individuals, which are cruel and passive and the community which created them. According to his research, Chris Gardner’s stepfather belonged to the first type of such dangerous individuals. Freddie Triplett is an impassive, resourceful, amoral, impetuous and guileful individual. He is represented as no signs of remorse for his disgusting and terrible actions. Wolman (1999) underlines that such people are totally lacking sympathy for a human being. They are self-enamored individuals who have a tendency to consider that they are authorized to another people’s things, and that they merit to be loved.     The growth of sociopath behavior among children and adults, whether in a strained poor district or in a quiet suburban and country setting, is skillfully described by Dr Benjamin Wolman (1999) a famous national psychologist. He supposes that the growth of sociopath individuals is accountable for the moral and ethical collapse, whereas at the same time proposing the contrary hypothesis that the moral and ethical collapse is accountable for the growth in the population of sociopaths.

“Parental psychopathology” (Livesley, 2003, p. 57) growth and increasing the risk of developing individual problems is most extensive for unsociable antisocial feature. Livesley (2003) supposes that personal behavior like Freddie Triplett had toward Chris Gardner is due to regularities and consistencies in the environment. Samenow (2004) underlines that even though they are not able to change their past, they can change their future. When the person is responsible for himself / herself, it allows him / her to believe in changing its personality and life.

Of course Chris Gardner could escape or rescue his realities over any means accessible whether it was drugs or even mesmerism it would work. However, he didn’t. He was really afraid his stepfather. Even so, even during these bad and unfavorable times when everything was against him Gardner continued to struggle for everything better. He found some satisfaction and solace in reading various books in the library. He ran with different crowds being a young person and usually stayed out of difficulty and trouble (Gardner, 2006).

Emotional and physical maltreatment by Freddie Triplett towards Chris Gardner implicated “emotional abuse (verbal assaults and demeaning components) or emotional neglect (the failure of caregivers to meet the child’s needs for love, nurturance, and support)” (Livesley, 2003, p. 58). It means that pari passu with physical abuse and violent, emotional abuse has important, great and prevalent effects. Physical abuse increases the danger and risk of different individual problems, which include an antisocial personality disorder, Livesley (2003) emphasizes. Fortunately physical maltreatment by Triplett towards Gardner didn’t lead to the causes described by Livesley (2003).     Wolman (1999) emphasizes that parents and teachers sometimes may assist to the growth of sociopath and antisocial behavior. The way which parents bring up their children may be significant. The author underlines that parents which allow their children to do whatever they want and those which do not teach their kids the importance of morality will default to tell apart wrong from right. On the other hand, children of cruel and abusive parents, like Chris Gardner are generally very rough, aggressive, and unfriendly and used to hate and detest their parents. However, such children are not able to treat aggressively and rough against their own parents because they feel terror that they may retaliate. Instead such children conduct themselves rough and aggressively against weak people.

What Were Chris Gardner’s Main Principles and Goals?

Inspired by his uncle’s worldwide adventures and trips in the United States Navy, Gardner decided to hire shortly after graduating high school (Gardner, 2006). Thanks to the Navy Chris could leave his native city and start his life from the beginning.

At the age of twenty after the Navy Chris Gardner went to San Francisco where he got married and divorced. His wife was an educated and intelligent woman who was looking-for to sit for her dental boards. Right this time Gardner started a medical career, which led him to the market of medical equipment (Gardner, 2006).     The majority of Gardner’s time in the Navy was spent as a medical man at a military base. He assisted with the surgeon investigation and was honorable as well-informed and intelligent expert in teaching medical interns on surgical methods (Gardner, 2006).

Gardner, a smart and intelligent salesman invests all the family money and savings in bone-density scanners. This equipment was twice as costly as an x-ray equipment but with a little distinct image.

Unfortunately, the money, Gardner earned as a salesman was not enough for him, his girlfriend and their son (Gardner, 2006). Right that time, Gardner decided to change his profession and to earn more money. He was interested in selling, inspiration, business, motivation and social speaking. Gardner was good with numbers and great with people. He became an internship in Dean Witter company. Chris wanted to gain an entry level position, beat each candidate and obtain the position he wanted. Chris Gardner became an interned person just around the time he became homeless. During his internship Chris was paid a little stipend, but it was too small for living in hotels all the time. Right that time, his girlfriend left Gardner, and took their small son Christopher with her (Gardner, 2006).

Abandoned by own father and left to the depraved rage of a mean and cruel stepfather, Chris Gardner sworn that no matter what occurred in his own life, he would be committed and faithful father to his own kids. Induced and motivated by the promise Chris Gardner made to himself as a fatherless kid he took away his son.

Wolman (1999) emphasizes that parental refusal, like Gardner had in his childhood, could adversely affect their kid’s self-reliance and self-assurance. Such children will feel abandoned in case their parents are not sentimental, loving and attentive. That is why Chris Gardner was trying to give his small son more love, attention, protection and stable life (Gardner, 2006). Rather than give up his son, Gardner continued to follow his dream of being a successful and well-to-do businessman.     Livesley (2003) strongly believes that “family disorder, parental psychopathology, and various forms of parenting behavior” (p. 57) like Gardner had in his childhood can be considered as individual confusion. “Antisocial and psychopathic features” (Livesley, 2003, p. 57) in people like Freddie Triplett, are not able to prophesy antisocial features, traits and characteristics in his children.

“Poor parenting and unfavorable social and physical environments” (Hare, 1999, p. 178) may noticeably complicate potential problems and play an intense role in “molding the behavioral patterns” (Hare, 1999, p. 178). However, Samenow (2004) found that indigence, poverty, divorce and cruelty, the factors which Gardner had, were not the reasons of criminality.

Livesley (2003) determines two main types of parenting behavior, which are “neglectful (as opposed to loving and supportive) and overprotective (as opposed to encouraging independence and autonomy)” (p. 58). In his life Gardner used these two types of parenting behavior. The first type of parenting behavior belongs to the relations between Chris Gardner and his stepfather, the second is the relations between Gardner and Christopher.

Livesley (2003) pays great attention that the “higher-order patterns reflect the genetic architecture of personality” (p. 132) and consequently, represent essential and fundamental differences in individual structure. Each state of personality allure a particular pattern of emotions, means of thinking about “the self and others, interpersonal relationships, and coping strategies” (Livesley, 2003, p. 35).

It was difficult and complicated times for Gardner and his son. Because of lack of money they spent nearly a year traveling among hotels and shelters. Gardner had to carry out their clothes on his back all the time they were traveling (Gardner, 2006).

Sometimes Gardner with Christopher slept at the office and was afraid to be discovered by the night guards and cleaning crew. When Chris Gardner lived in shelters and hotels with his son, they used to play different games the main goal of which was to keep quiet, when people were searching them and knocking the door. Chris tried to make his best not to defeat (Gardner, 2006).

Chris Gardner is a personality with a response to the problems and tasks of everyday living. Personality disorder is represented as an inability to get adaptive solutions to life problems and tasks, and domains of sequel psychopathology proposed as coextensive (Livesley, 2003). Livesley (2003) found that the relation and connection between particulars and components of the personality system – “traits, self system, person system, and environment” (p. 76) generate a structure in which modification to one constituent tends to be dampened by its influence on other parts of the system.

Chris Gardner is a real personality. The relations with his stepfather influenced his personality, but it gave him a strong desire not to be like Freddie was. The main principles in his life were to be a human, to be a real father to his son and to be a useful part of the society. Thanks to these, Gardner became an individual with his own views on a human being and the importance to be a person, not a violent and cruel offender.

The story of Chris Gardner is not particularly fresh, but his voice is pleasant and likable, resulting in a virtue and quality African-American. He is the person who he is, and he is a successful and great moneymaker. Wolman (1999) believes that social harmony and true happiness are the main for each person. Chris Gardner succeeded contrary the establishment and became a successful businessman and moneymaker. After Gardner’s talents were estimated at company’s true worth, and he got the job he wanted, his American dream became real. Though all his achievements and progresses Chris Gardner was a prideful father. His own fatherless blues is disappeared now.

Chris Gardner’s Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is a painful, astonishing and amazing story, which describes remarkable frankness, comprehension and intelligent (Gardner, 2006). Best of all is that he is entirely unapologetic about following material benefits and success, and saying that these are pieces of his pursuit of happiness.

Hare, R. D. (1999). Without conscience . New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Gardner, C. (2006). The Pursuit of Happyness . New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Livesley, J. W. (2003). Practical management of personality disorder . New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Samenow, S. E. (2004). Inside the criminal mind . New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

Wolman, B. B. (1999). Antisocial behavior: personality disorders from hostility to homicide . Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

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Happiness Essay: Definition, Outline & Examples

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A happiness essay is an academic paper that explores the concept of happiness, and how it can be achieved and maintained in our lives. The purpose of a happiness essay is to explore the psychological, social, and cultural factors that contribute to happiness. On this type of essay, students should provide insights into how individuals can cultivate a happy and fulfilling life.

In this article, we will explore the definition of happiness and its various components and outline the key elements of happiness essay structure. Whether you are seeking how to write a happiness essay or want to know more about this feeling, this is the right article. You will also find en example for your inspiration. Struggling with your writing? Say goodbye to stress and let our experts handle your ' write my essay for me ' challenge. Our team of skilled writers is ready to tackle any topic and deliver top-notch papers tailored to your instructions.

What Is a Happiness Essay?

The definition of a happiness essay can differ, but in general, a happiness essay is a paper that examines emotions, experiences, and perspectives related to the pursuit of contentment. Likewise, it may explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of delight and how it is affected by factors like wealth, relationships, and personal circumstances. A happiness essay provides a deeper understanding of enjoyment, how it can be achieved, and its influence on society. It is an opportunity to take readers on a reflective and stimulating journey, exploring the essence of joy. Writing a thematic essay on happiness is also a chance for writers to share their thoughts and observations with other people. Let's dive in and explore what delight really means to you!

Purpose of an Essay on Happiness

The reason for writing an essay about happiness is to explore the concept of delight to understand what it means to different people. For example, many believe it primarily depends on external factors such as wealth, success, or material possessions. However, it can be illustrated that true joy largely comes from internal factors, like one's outlook, personal growth, and relationships, especially with family and friends. A happiness essay helps to dispel common misconceptions about what satisfaction truly is. Writing a paper on this subject can describe a deeper, healthy understanding of this universal pursuit.

Ideas to Write a Happiness Essay on

When you want to write a happiness essay , first, it is important to ask: What is happiness to you? How can it be understood? One approach is to define happiness and examine its various dimensions, such as psychological, emotional, and physiological.  For example, career satisfaction is a crucial factor in achieving contentment. When people enjoy their jobs and feel fulfilled, they tend to report higher levels of delight. It's worth exploring the link between happiness and career satisfaction and how people can find meaning in their work.  Another idea of how to be happy would look at factors like relationships, personal growth, and achievement. Besides, the connection between money and happiness can also be a significant factor in the quality of life. Can you buy satisfaction?  The pursuit of happiness is a fundamental aspect of life, and analyzing its various dimensions can help us gain valuable insights into what leads to a happy life.

Happiness Essay Outline

An outline for a happiness essay serves as a roadmap for writers to keep their paper organized. It helps to break down researched content into manageable sections while ensuring that all necessary information is included.  The essay outline on happiness example might look something like this:

• Topic definition
• Topic importance
• Thesis statement
• Topic sentence
• Supporting evidence
• Concluding sentence, connected to your thesis
• Summarizing main points
• Final thoughts and future recommendations
• Encouraging readers to reflect on their delight

This outline provides a comprehensive format for an essay about happiness, ensuring that articles are well-structured, easy to understand, and cover all the necessary information.

Structure of a Happiness Essay

Happiness essay structure is critical to a successful article because it helps to organize the ideas clearly and coherently. It is easier for readers to follow and understand writers' perspectives on this complex and multifaceted topic if the essay has the following sections: Introduction:  provides context for the topic with a clear thesis statement. Body:  delves into the details while providing evidence to support the thesis. Conclusion:  summarizes the main points while restating the thesis statement in a new way. By following this structure, writers can produce compelling essays on happiness in life that engage and inform readers.

Happiness Essay Introduction

The introduction of a happiness essay is critical to setting the stage for the article’s body. Good introductions should have three key elements: a hook, background information, and a thesis statement.  The hook draws readers in and keeps them engaged, but a boring or generic one may make them lose interest. The background information provides context for the topic and gives the audience a better understanding of why the essay is being written. Lastly, the thesis statement states the writer's stance on contentment, providing a roadmap for the rest of the essay.  An essay about happiness introduction is an important part that sets the tone and lays the foundation for the paper. By following this structure, authors can ensure that the introduction of their paper is well-organized, concise, and effective in drawing the readers into their piece.

Happiness Essay Introduction Example

An introduction to your paper should be engaging, interesting, brief, and to the point. It clearly states the objectives of the research and introduces readers to the key arguments that will be discussed. Here is an example of a happiness essay introduction:

Happiness Essay Thesis Statement

A happiness essay thesis statement is the backbone of an article and a crucial element in your paper. A good thesis statement about happiness should be arguable, specific, and relevant to the topic. It is important for defining the scope of an article and highlighting its focus while also identifying what it will not cover.  Finally, the thesis statement tells readers the writer's point of view and sets a standard for judging whether the essay achieves its goal. By creating an effective statement, writers can significantly impact their paper's quality by providing direction and focus to the author’s argument.

Happiness Thesis Statement Example

This thesis statement defines the pursuit of delight and outlines its contributing factors. Here is an example of a happiness essay thesis statement sample:

Happiness Essay Body

A happiness body paragraph is a component of the body section of an article that provides evidence, examples, and supporting arguments to develop an essay's central idea. Good paragraphs cover a topic in-depth and engage readers, prompting them to reflect on what brings joy and how to pursue it. A paragraph about happiness should be well-structured and focused, analyzing factors contributing to contentment in a logical and coherent manner. A well-crafted essay body on happiness includes several paragraphs, each focused on specific aspects of enjoyment while supporting an article's overall argument. Following these guidelines, writers can create persuasive essay paragraphs.

Happiness Body Paragraph Example

Body paragraphs should provide a deeper understanding of the topic while engaging readers with relevant, thought-provoking information. Happiness body paragraph example:

Happiness Essay Conclusion

A conclusion is the last section of an essay that summarizes the main points while offering a final perspective on the topic. To write a strong conclusion on a happiness essay, consider these key elements: 

• summarize the main arguments
• provide closure
• include a final thought or reflection
• leave a lasting impression
• avoid introducing new information.

A good conclusion can make the difference between a forgettable essay and one that stays with the reader long after they've finished. Following these guidelines ensures that your essay conclusion about happiness effectively wraps up the argument and provides readers with memorable final impressions.

Happiness Essay Conclusion Sample

Conclusion helps readers better understand the topic by providing a sense of resolution or insight. Here is an example of a happiness essay conclusion:

How to Write an Essay on Happiness?

If you want to write an essay on happiness, remember that it can be a hard yet rewarding experience. Whether you are doing it for a class assignment, a job, a scholarship application, or personal growth, exploring what contentment means to you can be the journey of self-discovery.  You should clearly understand the topic and have a well-structured plan. The steps to effective happiness essay writing include defining satisfaction, conducting research, and organizing thoughts. When writing, it's crucial to consider factors that contribute to delight and obstacles that can hinder the process. Following the steps below, you can craft an article that effectively communicates your perspective on this topic.

1.  Pick a Topic About Happiness

Choosing a topic about happiness essay can be daunting, but with some guidance and creativity, you may find a subject that is both interesting and relevant. When brainstorming for happiness essay topics, follow these steps:

• Start with a broad idea related to your issue. Narrow the focus to a specific aspect, gather information, list potential cases, evaluate options, refine the matter, and check for relevance to your audience.
• Gather information, consider the different perspectives, and take note of the arguments you come across.
• Come up with five to ten potential concerns and evaluate each, asking questions such as if it is interesting, has enough information available, and if you can find a unique approach.
• Refine your chosen discussion to make it specific, focused, relevant, and interesting to your audience.

2. Do In-Depth Research

Gathering information from credible sources is crucial when writing an essay about happiness. Here are some tips to ensure that you collect accurate and relevant facts:

• Research from trustworthy sources like academic journals, books by experts, and government websites.
• Evaluate information's credibility and reliability. When you are reading, take notes on the information that you find. Write down the author, title, and publication date of each source to keep track of your research.
• Use multiple sources to broaden your understanding of your topic.
• Organize your research with a citation manager or bibliography.

Following these tips, you can delve into a wealth of credible sources for your happiness essays to elevate your article to new heights of insight.

3. Create an Outline for a Happiness Essay

Crafting an outline is essential in writing an essay on happiness and can give your work the structure and direction it needs to succeed. Here's how to create an effective happiness essay outline:

• Framework Start by outlining the main sections of your essay - introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Pinpoint your ideas Determine the key points you want to convey in each section.
• Supplement with specifics Add details that reinforce and support your ideas under each main point.
• Follow the guide Use the happiness essay outline example above as a starting point, but feel free to customize depending on the situation.

By following these steps and utilizing an essay outline , you'll have a clear map to guide you as you craft your paper, ensuring that your ideas are coherently organized, and your writing flows effortlessly.

4. Write an Essay About Happiness

In this essay about happiness, we will delve into the elusive and complex nature of this emotion. Here is an example to follow when you write your happiness essay.

5. Proofread Your Happiness Essay

When proofreading your happiness essay, make sure to take your time and approach it methodically. Follow these steps:

• Read through the entire essay to get a sense of its overall structure and flow.
• Pay close attention to the introduction, as this sets the tone for the entire piece.
• Look for typos, grammatical errors, and awkward phrasing .
• Ensure your paragraphs are well-organized, with clear transitions between ideas. Check that your happy essay accurately reflects your thoughts and clearly conveys the message you want.
• Finally, read the paper out loud to yourself, or have someone else read it to you.

This can help you pick up on any errors that you might have missed during your initial proofreading. Finally, the article will leave a lasting impression on your reader and enhance your credibility as a writer.

Happiness Essay Examples

If you're looking to write truly captivating happiness essays, it's always helpful to seek inspiration from various sources. Consider checking out these excellent essay examples about happiness:  Happiness essay example 1

Essay example about happiness 2

Happiness essay sample 3

Essay on happiness example 4

Example of a happiness essay 5

They offer a rich tapestry of perspectives on what enjoyment truly means. Whether you draw on your own experiences or delve into the experiences of others, a happiness essay example will serve as a valuable resource as you strive to make your mark on this timeless topic.

Happiness Essay Writing Tips

When writing a happiness essay, there are key tips to keep in mind to help you create a compelling piece of work. Here are a few suggestions to get you started in happiness essays writing:

• Explore the concept from a cultural or historical perspective, looking at how attitudes towards your topic have changed over time across different societies.
• Consider how relationships, community, and social connections shape our enjoyment. How can these factors interact?
• Weigh the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches, such as positive or negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-care, offering a well-rounded perspective on the topic.
• Reflect on the connection between happiness and success, considering whether one necessarily leads to the other or can be pursued independently of success.
• Incorporate humor and lightheartedness into your writing, making your essay entertaining.

By going about integrating these unique tips into your writing day by day, you'll be able to craft essays on happiness that are both original and memorable, capturing the reader's imagination from start to finish. Students can explore a vast range of topics through our platform, from an essay about true friendship  and a  family essay to an illustration essay that will show how to convey complex ideas in a clear and engaging way.

Bottom Line on Happiness Essay Writing

To write a happiness essay, you should consider providing long and in-depth ways to explore what truly brings us joy. Instead of repeating common knowledge, take a personal approach and reflect on the things that delight you. Consider the fact that relationships, gratitude, mindfulness, and activities all contribute to shaping our joy. Your happiness essays should also showcase your introspective side. Examine any challenges or obstacles you have faced in your journey toward contentment. This will make your paper not only unique but also relatable and insightful. The goal is to create a piece that offers a fresh perspective on the concept of happiness and a true reflection of your experiences.

Buy custom essay online from StudyCrumb and get a happiness paper delivered on time. Top-notch quality is guaranteed!

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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Satisfaction is never a straightforward and easily attainable idea. It has intrigued philosophers, religious figures, and people alike for centuries. Some say contentment is found inside a material wealth lifestyle, and others believe it is a state of mind or a result of spiritual fulfillment. But what is happiness, really? And how can we cultivate it in our own lives?

True happiness comes from family, friends, and learning to be content in life, while money can only purchase momentary happiness.

Contentment brings a smile to our faces, peace to our hearts, and a skip in our steps. It's what many of us strive for every day, and it turns out it's not just good for our spirits but our health too! Studies have linked contentment to lower stress, reduced risk of heart disease, and elevated life satisfaction. Delight can come from doing what you love, being with loved ones, or having a sense of purpose. Or, it may simply be found in everyday moments like a sunny day, a good meal, or a breathtaking sunset. Although joy can be fleeting and affected by life events, we can still work to cultivate it in our lives.

In conclusion, delight is a difficult and multi-faceted concept that can influence various factors, including personal relationships, life events, and individual perspectives. The pursuit of contentment is a common initiative for all humans, and it is evident that becoming content requires a perfect balance and order of internal and external factors. This article presents evidence that helps you see clearly that contentment is not a fixed state. It is a journey that needs effort, reflection, and self-awareness to enjoy. I hope this paper has helped you realize a deeper understanding of this topic and become better equipped to embark on your pursuit of joy. 

Contentment is a subjective experience that varies significantly from person to person. It is often considered the ultimate goal of human life, and many people spend their entire lives searching for it. Despite its elusive nature, it is a crucial component of well-being and has been linked to numerous benefits for physical, mental, and emotional health. The reasons to smile or experience joy are varied and can be both internal and external. Some individuals find joy in the simple things in life, like being with family, pursuing their passions, or exploring new experiences. On the other hand, others may find it through accomplishing personal goals, acquiring material goods, or attaining financial security. Nonetheless, it's crucial to keep in mind that these external sources of happiness may not always be possible and may not alleviate suffering. Conversely, true joy comes from within and is characterized by a sense of being content, satisfied, and with purpose. It can be cultivated through mindfulness, gratitude, and self-reflection. By focusing on personal growth, forming meaningful relationships, and finding meaning and purpose in life, individuals, including children, can develop a deep sense of satisfaction that is not dependent on external circumstances and is not easily disturbed by life's problems. In conclusion, delight is a complex and multifaceted experience that both internal and external factors can influence. While external sources can bring temporary joy, true and lasting contentment can only be found within. Individuals can create a foundation for joy that will endure throughout their lives by focusing on personal growth and cultivating a positive mindset.

Psychology of Happiness: A Summary of the Theory & Research

Little did I know the overwhelming depth of this topic! I found myself asking questions – can science explain happiness?

Can happiness be measured? What is happiness, anyway?

Arguably, a lot has been written on the topic of happiness , including on this website. The following provides an exploration of happiness, and, importantly, it provides you with links to further resources on this important topic.

Keep reading to discover a range of topics including the main theories of happiness, and a fascinating look at the neuroscience of happiness, as well as an interesting discussion on topics such as subjective wellbeing (the more scientific term for happiness), what positive psychology has to say about happiness, success and happiness, and more. Hopefully, it will answer some questions about happiness. Please enjoy!

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Happiness & Subjective Wellbeing Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients identify sources of authentic happiness and strategies to boost wellbeing.

This Article Contains:

A scientific explanation of happiness, a look at the theory and science of happiness, the psychology of happiness, happiness and positive psychology, interesting research and studies, the happiness research institute, the happiness professor, other well-known researchers, articles on success and happiness, 16 most important happiness articles, other recommended journal and scholarly articles (pdf), a take-home message.

What exactly do we mean when we talk about a scientific explanation of happiness? What, in fact, is the science of happiness?

Put very simply, the science of happiness looks at “ what makes happy people happy ” (Pursuit of Happiness, 2018). If you think about it, the subjective nature of happiness makes it incredibly difficult to define and also challenging to measure (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

Let’s look into this further …

In the past

Happiness has been the topic of discussion and debate since the ancient Greek times. Hedonism has a long history (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Science has looked closely at happiness as ‘hedonically’ defined – or, in other words, happiness is the outcome of the pursuit of pleasure over pain (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Aristippus, a Greek philosopher from the 4th century BC claimed happiness was the sum of life’s ‘hedonic’ moments (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Hedonic enjoyment is a state whereby an individual feels relaxed, has a sense of distance from their problems and, can be said to feel ‘happy’ (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Since the days of Aristotle, happiness has been conceptualized as being composed of at least 2 aspects – hedonia (or, pleasure) and eudaimonia (a sense that life is well-lived) (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

In the present

What does science say about this? Well, research has shown that, whilst these two aspects are definitely distinct and that, in ‘happy’ people, both hedonic and eudaimonic components of happiness correspond (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

A study by Kesebir and Diener (2008) report that in happiness surveys , more than 80% of interviewees rated their overall ‘eudaimonic’ life satisfaction as “pretty to very happy” and, at the same time, 80% of people interviewed also rate their current, hedonic ‘mood’ as positive (e.g. giving a rating of 6-7 on a 10-point valence scale, where 5 is ‘hedonically neutral’).

Neuroscientists have made substantial progress into investigating the functional neuroanatomy of pleasure (which, according to Kringelbach and Berridge 2010, makes an important contribution to our experience of happiness and plays a key role in our sense of wellbeing).

Pleasure has, for many years in the discipline of psychology, been closely associated with happiness (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

According to Sigmund Freud (1930), people: ‘ strive after happiness; they want to become happy and to remain so. This endeavor has two sides, a positive and a negative aim. It aims, on the one hand, at an absence of pain and displeasure, and, on the other, at the experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure ’ (p. 76).

Kringelbach and Berridge (2010) argue that the neuroscience of both pleasure and happiness can be found by studying hedonic brain circuits. This is because, according to most modern perspectives, pleasure is an important component of happiness.

Does this provide the opportunity to ‘measure’ happiness, therefore providing a scientific explanation of happiness?

In fact, work of neuroscientists has found that pleasure is not merely a sensation, or thought, but rather an outcome of brain activity in dedicated ‘hedonic systems’ (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

All pleasures, from the most fundamental (food, sexual pleasure) right through to higher-order pleasures (e.g. monetary, medical, and altruistic pleasures) seem to involve the same brain systems (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

Some of the hedonic mechanisms are found deep within the brain (the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, and brainstem) and others are located in the cortex (orbitofrontal, cingulate, medial prefrontal and insular cortices) (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

In the future

It can be said, then, that pleasure activated brain networks are widespread. Despite this exciting finding – a brain network for happiness – Kringelbach and Berridge (2010) say that further research is needed to fully comprehend the functional neuroanatomy of happiness.

As well as the findings from neuroscience supporting an anatomical basis to happiness, another component of a scientific explanation of happiness is the issue of measurement.

Can happiness be measured?

Some individuals argue that maybe happiness should not be the subject of scientific explanation because it is impossible to objectively measure it (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Perhaps, though, as argued by Ed Diener, happiness is subjective. According to Ed Diener, people are happy if they think they are, and each person is the best judge of whether they are, in fact, happy or not (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

He introduced a term to describe this ‘measure’ of happiness: Subjective wellbeing .

Having the measure of subjective wellbeing makes a scientific explanation of happiness possible… by asking questions such as:

• Are you happy?
• How would you rate your happiness on a scale of 1 – 10

Controlled experiments can be devised to determine what can be done to raise/lower these responses.

The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) has been valuable in the assessment of subjective wellbeing. It has been a positive development in the science of happiness.

ESM provides an overall indication of wellbeing over time, based on the total balance of measurement of positive and negative affect at different times (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Diener provided evidence that subjective wellbeing has “construct validity” meaning that, yes, it is measuring something ‘real’! This is because Diener showed that subjective wellbeing is constant over time, is highly correlated with some personality traits and has the capacity to predict future outcomes.

Diener and colleagues suggest that it is possible to measure happiness using valid, reliable methods including using instruments, looking at observable indicators of happiness such as smiling behavior, and objective reports from one’s friends and family (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Nevertheless, many critics have opposed the concept of subjective wellbeing, including psychologist Michael Argyle (2001). Argyle states

“the main weakness of subjective measure is that they are affected by cognitive biases such as the effects of expectation and adaptation so that we don’t know how far to believe the scores”

However, other researchers have developed several well-validated scales for measuring happiness, supporting its’ validity as a scientific construct.

The Steen Happiness Index (Seligman, Steen, Park & Peterson, 2005)

Consists of twenty items. Participants read a series of statements and select the one that best describes how they are at the present time. Items indicate three kinds of ‘happy life’ – the pleasant life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life.

These dimensions will be explored closely very soon!

Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999)

Consists of four items to assess global subjective happiness. The participants read four statements, including ‘In general, I consider myself…’ and the individual then selects an item from 1 to 7 from, for example, ‘not a very happy person’ to ‘a very happy person’.

Test-retest and self-peer correlations have suggested good to excellent reliability, and construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity have confirmed the use of this scale to measure the construct of subjective happiness.

Happiness Scale (Fordyce, 1977)

This scale is also referred to as the Emotion Questionnaire as it assesses emotional wellbeing as an indication of perceived happiness. It is comprised of two items. The first is a scale measuring happiness/unhappiness by participants ranking descriptive phrases on a 0 – 10 scale.

The other item making up the test requires participants to give an approximate percentage of time that he/she feels happy, unhappy and neutral. The test has shown to have adequate reliability and validity.

Therefore, evidence from neuroscience, paired with evidence from the measurement of subjective wellbeing, or, happiness, suggest that a scientific explanation of happiness is, in fact, possible.

It is overwhelming to consider what happiness is… where to begin?! Happiness has been the topic of discussion and debate since the ancient Greek times.

In 1973, ‘Psychology Abstracts International’ began listing happiness as an index term (Diener, 1984). However, because happiness is a term that is used widely and frequently, it has various meanings and connotations (Diener, 1984).

The construct of happiness is still evolving, and although challenging to define, it is a construct that can be empirically evaluated through qualitative and quantitative assessment (Delle Fave, Brdar, Freire, Vella-Brodrick & Wissing, 2011). Delle Fave and colleagues (2011) noted that happiness is also an ambiguous term which can have a number of meanings:

• A transient emotion (that is synonymous with joy)
• An experience of fulfillment and accomplishment (characterized by a cognitive evaluation)
• A long-term process of meaning-making and identity development through achieving one’s potential and the pursuit of subjectively relevant goals.

Historically, since the days of Aristotle, happiness has been conceptualized as being composed of at least 2 aspects – hedonia (or, pleasure) and eudaimonia (a sense that a life is well-lived) (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

Research has shown that, whilst these two aspects are definitely distinct, that in ‘happy’ people, both hedonic and eudaimonic components of happiness correspond (Kringelbach & Berridge, 2010).

A study by Kesebir and Diener (2008) report that in happiness surveys, more than 80% of interviewees rated their overall ‘eudaimonic’ life satisfaction as “pretty to very happy” and, at the same time, 80% of the people interviewed also rate their current, hedonic ‘mood’ as positive (e.g. giving a rating of 6-7 on a 10-point valence scale, where 5 is ‘hedonically neutral’).

Moving forward into the modern era, there is some agreement about the aspects that make up theories of happiness. There are, according to Haybron (2003), when looking at theories of happiness, 3 basic views:

• Hedonism – in other words, to be happy is to experience, on the whole, a majority of pleasure. Hedonia.
• Life-satisfaction view – to be happy is to have a favorable attitude about one’s life as a whole, either over its entirety or just over a limited period of time. Eudaimonia.
• Affective state theory – that happiness depends on an individual’s overall emotional state.

Other theories of happiness are so-called ‘hybrid’ theories that combine the life satisfaction theory with other hedonistic or affective-state theories (Haybron, 2003). One of these hybrid theories is the one that is the most widely accepted theory of happiness: subjective wellbeing (Haybron, 2003). Subjective wellbeing is considered to be a more scientific term than happiness.

A closer look at hedonia

Hedonism has a long history (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Science has looked closely at happiness as ‘hedonically’ defined – or, in other words, the pursuit of pleasure over pain (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Aristippus, a Greek philosopher from the 4th century BC claimed happiness was the sum of life’s ‘hedonic’ moments (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Hedonic enjoyment is a state whereby an individual feels relaxed, has a sense of distance from their problems and, can be said to feel ‘happy’ (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Hedonia refers, in simple terms, to the pursuit of pleasure. It was argued by Hobbes that happiness is found in the successful pursuit of our human appetites, and DeSade went on to say that the pursuit of sensation and pleasure is the ultimate goal of life (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

The Utilitarian philosophers, including Bentham, put forth the argument that a good society is one which is developed out of individuals attempting to maximize pleasure and pursue self-interest (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

It should be clarified that hedonia, in respects to happiness, does not have the same meaning as physical hedonism: happiness can come not only from short-term pleasure, but can also arise from achieving goals or other valued outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2001). So-called hedonic psychologists are of the belief that happiness can include the preferences and pleasures of the mind, as well as the body (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Kahneman (1999) defined hedonic psychology as the study of “what makes experiences and life pleasant and unpleasant” (p. ix). Within the framework of hedonic psychology, the terms wellbeing and hedonism are used interchangeably (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Hedonic psychology explains wellbeing in terms of pleasure versus pain, and it, therefore, becomes the center of much research and also interventions that principally aim to enhance human happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Hedonic psychology has been a focus of the theory of happiness, in part, due to the links between hedonia and other dominant theories. For example, hedonia ties in with behavioral theories of reward and punishment, as well as theories that focus on the cognitive expectations of the outcomes of reward and punishment (Ryan & Deci, 2001).

Despite there being a variety of ways to consider the human experience of pleasure/pain, the majority of research in hedonic psychology looks into the assessment of subjective wellbeing. To introduce the term, briefly, subjective wellbeing (or ‘happiness’) consists of three components (Ryan & Deci, 2001):

• Life satisfaction
• The presence of a positive mood
• The absence of a negative mood

Elsewhere in this website, you can read more about eudaimonia and the Aristotelian view of happiness . For the purpose of exploring theories of happiness, I will briefly look at eudaimonia now:

What is eudaimonia? (The life satisfaction view of happiness)

Aristotle argued that, because of man’s unique capacity to reason, pleasure alone cannot achieve happiness – because animals are driven to seek pleasure, and man has greater capacity than animals (The Pursuit of Happiness, 2018).

In striving for happiness, the most important factor is for a person to have ‘complete virtue’ – in other words, to have good moral character (Pursuit of Happiness, 2018).

Eudaimonia was, according to Aristotle, “activity expressing virtue” that will therefore lead to a happy life. Aristotle proposed that happiness was neither virtue, or pleasure, but rather the exercise of virtue.

The argument taken by the Aristotelian view is that happiness, per se, is not the principal criterion of wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Proponents of this view see wellbeing as achieved by people living in accordance with the ‘daimon’ (true self). (Ryan & Deci, 2001). Eudaimonic theories of happiness argue that rather than the pursuit of pleasure, happiness is the result of the development of individual strengths and virtues (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

The theory of eudaimonic happiness has its basis in the concept of the self-actualising individual (proposed by Maslow ) and the concept of the ‘fully functioning person’ (Rogers) (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). Many modern scientific explanations of happiness are conducive with the theory of eudaimonic happiness.

For example, Waterman suggested that happiness is enhanced by people acting in accordance with their most deeply held values (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). Waterman also introduced the term ‘personal expressiveness’ to describe the state of authenticity that occurs when people’s activities reflect their values.

The eudaimonic theory of happiness adopts the Self-Determination Theory to conceptualize happiness (Deci & Ryan, 2000). This theory argues that fulfillment in the areas of autonomy and competence will enhance happiness. In other words, this view suggests that subjective wellbeing (i.e. happiness) can be achieved through engaging in eudaimonic pursuits (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Affective state theory

To recap, this theory of happiness proposes that happiness is the result of one’s overall emotional state. Bradburn (1969) put forward the argument that happiness is made up of two separate components that are quite independent and uncorrelated: positive affect and negative affect. According to Bradburn, happiness is a global judgment people make by comparing their negative affect and positive affect (Diener, 1984).

This led to the development of the Affect Balance Scale (Diener, 1984). The Bradburn Affect Balance Scale is a self-report measure of the quality of life. The scale is made up of descriptions of ten mood states (for example, item one is feeling “particularly excited or interested in something”), and the subject reflects upon whether they have been in that mood state during the last week.

A measure of the quality of life, as an indication of happiness, is derived by the sum of the ‘negative’ items are taken away from the sum of the ‘positive’ items (Diener, 1984).

Affect state theory also takes the view that the absence of negative affect is not the same thing as the presence of positive affect (Diener, 1984).

Theories developed by positive psychologists

The discipline of positive psychology has developed some unique theories of happiness. For example, Seligman (2002) introduced the Authentic Happiness theory. This theory is based around the notion that authentic happiness results from a person living according to their ‘signature strengths’ which develop as people become aware of their own personal strengths and take ownership of them (Seligman, 2002).

Another theory of happiness is Csikszentmihalyi’s ‘flow’ theory. Flow may be defined as “ the state of engagement, optimal happiness, and peak experience that occurs when an individual is absorbed in a demanding and intrinsically motivating challenge ” (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008, p. 395). This state of engagement has been proposed to be a pathway to happiness (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Some psychologists suggest that perhaps, in fact, happiness is relative – or, in other words, it is an evaluation of subjective judgments about one’s situations, comparing others’ situations to one’s own or even one’s earlier situations, goals or aspirations (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). This argument has, however, been refuted.

Veenhoven explains that comparison may affect the cognitive or life-satisfaction aspects of happiness, but that the affective component results from hedonic experience (meeting one’s fundamental needs) and is therefore quite separate of any comparisons (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

To summarise these related topics – the scientific explanation of happiness and the theory and science of happiness – there are a number of theories conceptualizing happiness and in keeping with these theories, the term can have slightly different meanings.

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Way back in 1929, Walter A. Pitkin wrote ‘ The Psychology of Happiness ’ and in this book, he differentiated between happiness and related emotions including pleasure and enjoyment (Samuel, 2019). He argued that achieving happiness was not merely the result of luck or chance. Since this time, psychologists have continued to try and define happiness.

According to psychology, happiness is about more than simply the experience of a positive mood. In order to describe happiness, psychologists commonly refer to subjective wellbeing (Kesebir & Diener, 2008). In other words, happiness is “ people’s evaluations of their lives and encompasses both cognitive judgments of satisfaction and affective appraisals of moods and emotions ” (Kesebir & Diener, 2008, p. 118).

The psychological inquiry into happiness is important because happiness is not only associated with improved physical health and even longevity, but it is also a priority for people – across the world, happiness has been rated as being more important than other desirable outcomes including living a meaningful life or making a lot of money (Psychology Today, 2019).

There are three ways that psychologists study happiness:

1. Need and goal satisfaction theories

These theories suggest that happiness results from striving to achieve appropriate goals and meeting one’s fundamental human needs (Nelson, Kurtz & Lyubomirsky, in press). Deci and Ryan (2000) for example, proposed Self-determination Theory, which stipulates that wellbeing is achieved when one meets their basic human needs including autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

2. Genetic and personality predisposition theories

These propose that wellbeing is influenced by genes, and is associated with the personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism (Nelson et al., in press). This, in turn, implies that wellbeing does not change much over time.

3. Process/activity theories

Process/activity theories argue that wellbeing may be improved by participating in activities that are engaging and require effort (Nelson et al., in press).

Psychologists ask the question, ‘is it possible to increase one’s happiness?’. Some psychologists claim that making an attempt to enhance happiness is pointless because happiness levels are predetermined and stable over time (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Consistent with this argument is the happiness set point. The happiness set point argues that a person’s state of happiness will be constant over time, regardless of changes in circumstances (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Adapting to environmental changes is termed ‘the hedonic treadmill ’ or ‘homeostatic control’ (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). This notion of adaptation (leading to relatively stable levels of happiness) is supported by findings in research that individuals who may be high in either positive or negative affect (e.g. lottery winners, paralysis victims) demonstrate that their happiness levels revert to their ‘usual’ range after a period of time (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Some psychologists argue that the happiness set point provides evidence that happiness cannot be enhanced (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). There is a perspective taken by some psychologists that happiness is a ‘trait’ or a personal disposition to experience a certain affect.

This perspective suggests that happiness is relatively stable over time, and therefore efforts to increase happiness are futile (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008). However, research has shown that although subjective wellbeing may be associated with personality traits (e.g. extraversion), that differences in reports of happiness levels over time suggest that, in fact, happiness is not a trait (Norrish & Vella-Brodrick, 2008).

Thus, happiness has been an important area of focus for psychologists. What, then, about the more recent science of happiness…positive psychology?

Positive psychology can be described as a psychology of potential, and what ‘could be’ as compared to what ‘is’ (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). It aims to shift what has historically been the predominant focus of psychology – pathology – to examining the development of positive qualities in individuals and communities (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

In other words, Positive Psychology aims to understand and cultivate the factors that put individuals, communities, and societies in a position where they are able to ‘flourish’ (Fredrickson, 2001).

What does it mean to ‘flourish’? Put simply, it is a state of optimal wellbeing (Fredrickson, 2001). Fredrickson (2001) asked the question “ What role do positive emotions play in positive psychology? ”

Well, as it turns out, happiness can be thought of as experiencing predominantly positive emotions , or affective states, rather than negative ones (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006). Thus, positive emotions are a sign of flourishing, or, in other words, happiness (Fredrickson, 2001). Happiness is central to the assumptions of positive psychology.

Seligman (2011) described the PERMA model of flourishing. This model defines psychological wellbeing in terms of 5 domains:

• P ositive emotions
• E ngagement
• R elationships
• A ccomplishment

For more detail on flourishing and how to achieve it, check out our article on Seligman’s PERMA+ model .

Let’s look at some interesting happiness research! In a large random-assignment experiment, Seligman and colleagues (2005) operationalized then evaluated 5 different happiness interventions.

They found that two of the interventions – writing about three good things the person had experienced each day and why they occurred, and using ‘signature strengths’ in a novel way – made people happier, and less depressed up to six months later! Compared to participants who engaged in the intervention, those in the placebo control group returned to the baseline levels of happiness and depression symptoms after just one week!

Lyubomirsky and colleagues (2006) conducted three studies examining the effects of writing, talking and thinking about significant life events – ‘triumphs and defeats’. While the majority of psychological research has focused on the way in which negative life circumstances are processed and managed, this unique study looked at the processing a positive life experience (Lyubomirsky, Sousa & Dickerhoof, 2006). This aspect of the study involved participants reflecting on their happiest day.

The researchers found that when participants thought while ‘replaying’ their happiest moment, it resulted in enhanced personal growth, improvements in general health and physical functioning, as well as lower pain levels, compared to the outcomes if the person was writing while analyzing their happiest moments.

The findings of the study suggest that people should be advised against over-analyzing or trying to make sense of a happy experience. Rather, Lyubomirsky and associates suggest that individuals should feel content in reliving and savoring happy experiences rather than trying to understand their meanings or causes.

Even though the experience of happiness is related to greater wellbeing and psychological health, in fact, some studies have shown that the desire to feel happy in an extreme form, or even simply placing a high value on happiness, can be detrimental in terms of wellbeing. In fact, in a research study by Ford and colleagues (2014), it was found that the emphasis placed upon attaining happiness can present a risk factor for symptoms and even a diagnosis of depression.

In a study of 181 participants, Sheldon et al. (2010) conducted a 6-month longitudinal experiment that sought to increase the happiness levels of those in the ‘treatment’ condition. The treatment group set goals to increase their feelings of autonomy, competence or relatedness in life while the comparison group set out to improve their life experiences.

In fact, it was found that those individuals in the treatment group had sustained increases in happiness (Sheldon et al., 2010). However, this gain lasted only while the individuals were actively engaged with the goals.

Interestingly, those who initially had a positive attitude towards change in happiness experienced greater benefits from the treatment! (Sheldon et al., 2010).

What, do you ask, is the Happiness Research Institute ? Well, it is an independent ‘think tank’ developed to investigate the reasons that some societies are happier than others.

The Happiness Research Institute aims to provide relevant parties with up-to-date information about the origins and effects of happiness, as well as to draw attention to subjective wellbeing as an important area for public policy debate. Furthermore, the Institute aims to improve the quality of life of all people.

The Happiness Research Institute provides knowledge, consultancy, and presentations. An example of the knowledge-building activities carried out by the Institute was that, in 2018, the Happiness Research Institute, in conjunction with the Nordic Council of Ministers compiled a study that was called ‘In the shadow of happiness’.

The study examined the reasons why some people living in Nordic countries are happy whilst others are suffering or struggling. The research also involved an analysis of why some groups within this cluster are struggling more often, and the impact this has on society.

In terms of consultancy, the Happiness Research Institute has also worked with groups including the Danish government, the Minister of State for Happiness in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the city of Goyang in South Korea. The aim of these partnerships is to improve quality of life and wellbeing of citizens.

Presentations by the Happiness Research Institute have taken place globally and featured at more than 1000 international events to share knowledge about what drives happiness, wellbeing, and quality of life.

The Happiness Research Institute analyses the somewhat separate components of the different cognitive, affective and eudaimonic dimensions of happiness, wellbeing and quality of life in order to explore these complex concepts. As previously explained, the cognitive dimension refers to the appraisal of overall life satisfaction, while the affective dimension focuses on the emotions that people experience on a daily basis.

Finally, the eudaimonic dimension looks at Aristotle’s perception of the ‘good life’ and is centered on purpose and meaning.

The reason that the Happiness Research Institute measures happiness is in order to shift policy priorities and therefore try and improve quality of life in societies, that will facilitate, in turn, the achievement of goals such as longevity and productivity. The Institute focuses not on the factors that cannot be changed (i.e. genetics, biology) but rather policies (that can be changed over time) and behavior (that can be changed immediately).

By examining the policies related to overall life satisfaction (i.e. the cognitive dimension of happiness) the Happiness Research Institute can explain 75% of the variance between more than 150 countries which were included in the 2018 World Happiness Report. The Institute also hopes to highlight the overlooked dimension of inequality in wellbeing, and increase the awareness and understanding of this inequality. The Happiness Research Institute is accessible via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and Meik Wiking is the CEO.

Professor Paul Dolan was coined ‘the happiness professor’ in The Telegraph in July, 2018. Professor Dolan is the Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a leading expert in the fields of human behaviour and happiness.

Prof Dolan wrote the best-selling book , Happiness by Design and, more recently, Happy Ever After . His work is centred around two themes:

• The development of measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can then be used in policy, and by individuals who are looking to be happier.
• Utilising work from behavioural science that can be used to understand and change individual behaviour, and contribute more to this evidence base.

What would positive psychology be without its founding fathers , and other famous contributors?

Martin Seligman:

Dr. Seligman was born in 1942, and is credited as being the ‘father of Positive Psychology’ (The Pursuit of Happiness, 2018). Seligman suggests that there are three kinds of happiness:

• Pleasure and gratification
• Embodiment of strengths and virtues
• Meaning and purpose

One can remember that, as discussed earlier, happiness – or, subjective wellbeing – had three similar, distinct components like Seligman suggested. In his book , Authentic Happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment , Seligman (2002) says:

‘[Positive Psychology] takes you through the countryside of pleasure and gratification, up into the high country of strength and virtue, and finally to the peaks of lasting fulfillment: meaning and purpose’

Seligman also wrote a book titled Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life . He is an acclaimed author, and psychologist, also known for his work on ‘learned helplessness’ which has been popular within the discipline of psychology.

Michael W. Fordyce

Fordyce (December 14, 1944 – January 24, 2011) was a pioneer in the subject of happiness research (Friedman, 2013). In 1977, in the journal Social Indicators Research, the Fordyce Happiness Scale was published. In his multitude of research, Fordyce demonstrated that happiness can be measured statistically, and that also, by engaging in ‘volitional behavior’, happiness can also be deliberately increased (Friedman, 2013).

Diener was born in 1946, and is also known as ‘Dr. Happiness’ (Pursuit of Happiness, 2018). He is a leading researcher in the field of positive psychology. Diener is perhaps best known for coming up with the term “subjective wellbeing”, which is the component of happiness that can be empirically measured (Pursuit of Happiness, 2018). Diener believes that happiness has a strong genetic component, and thus is relatively stable. He also developed the Satisfaction with Life Scale.

Sonja Lyubomirsky

Lyubomirsky is a research psychologist who writes the Psychology Today blog titled ‘ The How of Happiness ’ (Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2019). She is a professor and vice chair at the University of California, Riverside. Lyubomirsky is the author of two books : The How of Happiness , and The Myths of Happiness .

Daniel Gilbert

Gilbert, a social psychologist, is also referred to as Professor Happiness at Harvard University (Dreifus, 2008). He is in charge of a laboratory that has been set up to investigate the nature of happiness. Gilbert’s main work centres around the fact that relationships with family and friends, and that the time spent investing in these social relationships contribute more to happiness than material possessions (Dreifus, 2008).

He suggests that more pleasure can be found in experiences, rather than goods or objects – perhaps, he argues, because experiences can be shared with others whereas possessions are generally not shared (Dreifus, 2008).

The psychology of happiness – WOBI

Research has suggested that there might be a causal relationship between positive affect and success … that not only does success bring happiness but, interestingly, that a happy person is more likely to achieve success (Psychology of Happiness, 2019). These three articles provide an account of success and happiness:

• Boehm, J. K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Does happiness promote career success? Journal of Career Assessment, 16 , 101–116.
• Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131 , 803–855.
• Uusiautti, S. (2013). On the positive connection between success and happiness. International Journal of Research Studies in Psychology , 1–12.

[Reviewer’s update:

Since this post was originally published, additional research has come out suggesting that the original theory at the heart of Uusiautti’s (2013) research doesn’t seem to hold true. As a replacement, you may want to check out the article by Okabe-Miyamoto et al. (2021), who recently found that increasing the variety of experiences to escape the hedonic treadmill may actually result in smaller boosts in wellbeing – not larger ones.]

In recent times, a wealth of research has been published into the topic of happiness, such as:

• Diener, E., Heintzelman, S. J., Kushlev, K., Tay, L., Wirtz, D., Lutes, L. D., & Shigehiro, O. (2017). Findings all psychologists should know from the new science on subjective well-being. Canadian Psychologist, 58 , 87 – 104
• Oerlemans, W. G. M., & Bakker, A. B. (2018). Motivating job characteristics and happiness at work: A multilevel perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103 , 1230 – 1241.
• Kaufman, M., Goetz, T., Lipnevich, A. A., & Pekrun, R. (2018). Do positive illusions of control foster happiness? Emotion, September 20, no pagination specified .
• Hoffman, J., Gander, F., & Ruch, W. (2018). Exploring differences in well-being across occupation type and skill. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4 , 290 – 303.
• Piff, P. K., & Moskowitz, J. P. (2018). Wealth, poverty, and happiness: Social class is differentially associated with positive emotions. Emotion, 18 , 902 – 905.
• McGuirk, L., Kuppens, P., Kingston, R., & Bastian, B. (2018). Does a culture of happiness increase rumination over failure? Emotion, 18 , 755 – 764.
• Warr, P. (2018). Self-employment, personal values, and varieties of happiness-unhappiness. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23 , 388 – 401.
• Liao, K Y-H, & Weng, C-Y. (2018). Gratefulness and subjective well-being: Social connectedness and presence of meaning as mediators. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65 , 383 – 393.
• Blanke, E. S., Riediger, M., & Brose, A. (2018). Pathways to happiness are multidirectional: Association between state mindfulness and everyday affective experience. Emotion, 18 , 202 – 211.
• Fuochi, G., Veneziani, C. A., & Voci, A. (2018). Differences in the way to conceive happiness relate to different reactions to negative events. Journal of Individual Differences, 39 , 27 – 38.
• Weber, S., & Hagmayer, Y. (2018). Thinking about the Joneses? Decreasing rumination about social comparison increases well-being. European Journal of Health Psychology, 25 , 83 – 95.
• Felsman, P., Verduyn, P., Ayduk, O., & Kross, E. (2017). Being present: Focusing on the present predicts improvements in life satisfaction but not happiness. Emotion, 17 , 1047 – 1051.
• Tamir, M., Schwartz, S. H., Oishi, S., & Kim, M. Y. (2017). The secret to happiness: Feeling good or feeling right? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146 , 1448 – 1459.
• Phillips, J., De Freitas, J., Mott, C., Gruber, J., & Knobe, J. (2017). True happiness: The role of morality in the folk concept of happiness. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 165 – 181.
• Chopik, W. J., & O’Brien, E. (2017). Happy you, healthy me? Having a happy partner is independently associated with better health in oneself. Health Psychology, 36 , 21 – 30.
• Gross-Manos, D., & Ben-Arieh, A. (2017). How subjective well-being is associated with material deprivation and social exclusion on Israeli 12-year-olds. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87 , 274 – 290.

17 Exercises To Increase Happiness and Wellbeing

Add these 17 Happiness & Subjective Well-Being Exercises [PDF] to your toolkit and help others experience greater purpose, meaning, and positive emotions.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Follow the links below to some intriguing research in PDF form!

• How Do Simple Positive Activities Increase Well-Being? – Sonja Lyubomirsky, Kristin Layous (Access here )
• The How, Why, What, When and Who of Happiness: Mechanisms Underlying the Success of Positive Activity Interventions – Kristin Layous & Sonja Lyubomirsky (Access here )
• Variety is the Spice of Happiness: The Hedonic Adaptation Prevention (HAP) Model – Kennon M. Sheldon, Julia Boehm, Sonja Lyubomirsky (Access here )
• Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change – Lyubomirsky, S, Sheldon, K M, Schkade, D (Access here )
• A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation – Lyubomirsky, S, Lepper, HS (Access here )
• Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all? – Richard A. Easterlin (Access here )
• Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative? – Philip Brickman, Dan Coates, Ronnie Janoff-Bulman (Access here )

This article provides a snapshot of a huge topic which is, in fact, the overarching focus of positive psychology: happiness. It has been shown that subjective wellbeing is the closest thing to a scientific equivalent to happiness, which can be measured. The main feature of this article is that it has provided a range of resources which you can refer to in the future, including 16 key papers published in the last two years.

So, happiness… an elusive phenomenon, which we all seem to strive for. Hopefully this article has provided an overview of what is, undoubtedly, a very important issue. We all strive to be happier.

What is your understanding of happiness? What do you think makes happy people happy? Do you think that happiness can be measured, or, like some argue, do you think it is purely subjective?

What do you think about the recent articles shared? Please feel free to discuss this interesting topic further! I hope you have claimed some important take-home messages on happiness. Thanks for reading!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Happiness Exercises for free .

• Argyle, M. (2001). The Psychology of Happiness . Routledge.
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behaviour. Psychological Inquiry, 11 , 227 – 268.
• Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Freire, T., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Wissing, M. P. (2011). The eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: Qualitative & quantitative findings. Social Indicators Research, 100 , 185 – 207.
• Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95 , 542 – 575.
• Dreifus, C. (2008). The smiling professor. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/22/science/22conv.html
• Ford, B. Q., Shallcross, A. J., Mauss, I. B., Floerke, V. A., & Gruber, J. (2014). Desperately seeking happiness: Valuing happiness is associated with symptoms and diagnosis of depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 33 , 890 – 905.
• Fordyce, M. W. (1977). Development of a program to increase personal happiness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24 , 511 – 521.
• Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. American Psychologist, 56 , 218 – 226
• Freud, S., & Riviere, J. (1930). Civilization and Its Discontents . New York: J Cape & H Smith.
• Friedman, H. L. (2013). The legacy of a pioneering happiness researcher: Michael W. Fordyce (Dec 14, 1944 – Jan 24, 2011). Journal of Happiness Studies, 14 , 363 – 366
• Happiness (2019). In Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/happiness
• Haybron, D. M. (2003). What do we want from a theory of happiness? Metaphilosophy, 34 , 305 – 329
• Kahneman, D. (1999). Objective happiness. In Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwartz (Eds). USA: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008). In pursuit of happiness: Empirical answers to philosophical questions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3 , 117 – 125.
• Kringelbach, M. L., & Berridge, K. C. (2010). The Neuroscience of Happiness and Pleasure. Social Research (New York) , 77, 659 – 678.
• Lyubomirsky, S. (2019). Sonja Lyubomirsky. Retrieved from http://www.sonjalyubomirsky.com/
• Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective well-being: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46 , 137 – 155.
• Lyubomirsky, S., Sousa, L., & Dickerhoof, R. (2006). The costs and benefits of writing, talking, and thinking about life’s triumphs and defeats. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 90, 692 – 708.
• Nelson, S. K., Kurtzy, J. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (in press). What psychological science knows about happiness . In S. J. Lynn, W. O’Donohue & S. Lilienfeld (Eds.) Better, stronger, wiser: Psychological science and well-being. New York: Sage
• Norrish, J. M., & Vella-Brodrick, D. A. (2008). Is the study of happiness a worthy scientific pursuit? Social Indicators Research, 87 , 393 – 407.
• Okabe-Miyamoto, K., Margolis, S., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2021). Is variety the spice of happiness? More variety is associated with lower efficacy of positive activity interventions in a sample of over 200,000 happiness seekers.  The Journal of Positive Psychology.
• Psychology of Happiness (2019). Psychologist World. Retrieved from https://www.psychologistworld.com/emotion/psychology-of-happiness-positive-affect
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52 , 141 – 166.
• Samuel, L. R. (2019). The Psychology of Happiness (Circa 1929). Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/psychology-yesterday/201901/the-psychology-happiness-circa-1929
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the new Positive Psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment . New York, NY: Free Press.
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
• Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive Psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55 , 5 – 14.
• Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60 , 410 – 421
• Sheldon, K. M., Abad, N., Ferguson, Y., Gunz, A., Houser-Marko, L., Nichols, C. P., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2010). Persistent pursuit of need-satisfying goals leads to increased happiness: A 6-month experimental longitudinal study. Motivation and Emotion, 34 , 39 – 48.
• The Pursuit of Happiness (2019). Retrieved from https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org
• Tkach, C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How do people pursue happiness? Relating personality, happiness-increasing strategies and well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7 , 183 – 225.

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Article feedback

What our readers think.

I am impressed by the organization of ideas and materials on happiness. I would be interested to get more materials on happiness if you can supply me, with or refer me to some articles or books.

Hi Mohammad,

Thank you for your kind words and interest in learning more about happiness. I’m glad to hear that you found our resources helpful.

In addition to the article you mentioned, we have a wealth of resources on the psychology of happiness. Here are some additional articles that you may find useful:

– “ The Science of Gratitude: How It Improves Your Health and Happiness “: This article explores the benefits of practicing gratitude, including improved relationships, better physical health, and increased happiness. It also includes practical tips for cultivating gratitude in your daily life. – “ The Power of Positive Self-Talk: How It Can Improve Your Mental Health “: This article explores the benefits of positive self-talk, including increased self-esteem and reduced anxiety. It also provides practical tips for cultivating positive self-talk.

And here are some additional book recommendations on happiness: – “ The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want ” by Sonja Lyubomirsky: This book is based on years of scientific research on the psychology of happiness and provides evidence-based strategies for increasing happiness and life satisfaction. – “ Stumbling on Happiness ” by Daniel Gilbert: This book explores the science of happiness and why humans often struggle to predict what will make them happy. Gilbert provides insight into the psychological processes that influence our happiness and offers practical tips for living a more fulfilling life.

Hope this helps! Kind regards, Julia | Community Manager

Were you happy while typing this article? How did you feel throughout the entire writing process?

in precise… PHENOMENAL SNAPSHOT.

Thank you for the snapshot on the concepts and theories of happiness . It is really helpful for my thesis writing.

Nice article, but incomplete . You should have discusses ed neurobiochemistry. How dopamine , endorphins serotonin & oxytocin are invested by nature in happiness circuitry. How have we evolved to incorporate release of these chemicals through daily activities

Thank you for this article. I’m sure that it’ll help me to defining happiness in my research.

This article is a really informative overview of Happiness, the subject that I believe is the most important driver of life advancement. Focusing on happiness and its pursuit as a positive discipline instead of focusing on ailments and pathologies that need to be “treated” or “cured” to find some happiness is the best approach. I recently published my book, “America, The Happy” addressing the pursuit happiness and its role in American life. I would have liked to have found this piece earlier, but I’ll reference it in my next one. Very good work.

Thank you so much for this overview it’s contributing greatly to my research into happiness.

A Happiness ‘Recipe’ In its rudiments a neuro-anatomy of happiness maps positive affective states of attentive arousal and pleasure to neurological processes, respectively the activity of dopamine and opioid systems. These systems can be hijacked by addictive drugs, but I submit that they can also be conjointly activated by simple cognitive protocols detailed below. This is achieved through opioid/dopamine interactions induced from concurrent contingencies that induce relaxation and attentive arousal. This simple, innocuous, and easily falsifiable procedure is in short a ‘recipe’ for happiness that conforms with commonplace notions that happiness is coextensive with a committed and meaningful life. My work is largely based on the latest iteration of incentive or discrepancy-based models of motivation representative of the work of Dr. Kent Berridge of the University of Michigan. Berridge is a renowned bio-behaviorist and neuroscientist who has contributed significantly to the neuroscience of happiness (see link below) and was kind to vet and endorse the little book I have linked below. My explanation and argument are tiered into three parts, for a lay audience (pp.7-52), an expanded academic version (pp.53-86), and a formal journal article published on the topic in the International Journal of Stress Management. The procedure is a variant of mindfulness practice but entails a new definition of mindfulness based on affective neuroscience. Still, all is moot if the procedure is ineffective. A brief summary of my argument In discrepancy models of motivation (or bio-behaviorism), affect is schedule dependent. VR (variable-ratio) schedules of reinforcement or reward (gaming, gambling, creative behavior) are characterized by moment to moment positive act-outcome discrepancy or uncertainty between what is expected and what actually happens, which parallels the release of the neuro-modulator dopamine that is felt a state of attentive arousal, but not pleasure. However, heightened pleasurable affect as well as heightened attentive arousal is also reported while performing under VR schedules, but only when the musculature is in a state of inactivity or relaxation. Relaxation induces the activity of mid-brain opioid systems and is felt as pleasure. Because dopamine and opioid systems can co-activate each other, concurrent contingencies which induce relaxation (mindfulness protocols) and attentive arousal (purposive or meaningful behavior) will result in a significant spike in affective tone as both dopaminergic and opioid activity will be much higher due to their synergistic effects. The procedure to do this, outlined on pp. 47-52, has several important characteristics. Behavior Analytic- no appeal to events outside of objective behavior. Simple – explained in five minutes, and refutable as quickly. Cognitive Behavioral – coheres to CBT principles, and is structured, brief, and rational. Also, as a layman (though academically trained in behavioral psychology, I am an executive for a tech company in New Orleans), I am most curious to see if this procedure is effective. Formal test is not at first necessary, but informal exposure is since the procedure is simple in aspect but possibly very useful in practice. (But again, I may be wrong!) https://www.scribd.com/doc/284056765/The-Book-of-Rest-The-Odd-Psychology-of-Doing-Nothing https://www.scribd.com/doc/121345732/Relaxation-and-Muscular-Tension-A-bio-behavioristic-explanation Berridge, Kringelbach article on the neuro-anatomy of happiness https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3008353/ And Holmes’ Article on Meditation and Rest from ‘The American Psychologist’ https://www.scribd.com/document/291558160/Holmes-Meditation-and-Rest-The-American-Psychologist

I am amazed at no mention of BROADEN AND BUILT THEORY by Barb Frederickson, nor of DR PAUL WONG’S POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2. Thank you for your amazing work.

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19 The Pursuit of Happiness in History

Darrin M. McMahon, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

• Published: 01 August 2013
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This article examines the pursuit of happiness from a historical perspective, tracing Western philosophical reflection on the subject from the ancient Greeks to the present. Focusing on a number of key junctures or shifts in conceptions of happiness and its pursuit, the article nonetheless identifies a recurrent preoccupation: the frustrating tendency of human happiness to elude its would-be captors. Though this body of received wisdom, it is suggested, should not inhibit our further pursuit of an elusive human end, it does provide a cautionary message against the inflated expectations of our own day: the single-minded focus on happiness can be self-defeating.

If the pursuit of happiness is as old as history itself, then it is surely worth asking what the sources have to say about this perennial human quest. The time to do so is now. For at no other point in human history have so many men and women believed with such unquestioned certainty that they should be happy, that this is their inherent state and natural right. Thomas Jefferson's proud affirmation in the Declaration of Independence that the pursuit of happiness is a basic human entitlement—a truth at once God-given and self-evident—has slowly evolved into a much wider assumption about its capture and attainment. We deserve to be happy, Americans and many others now tend to believe, and we should be so.

In truth, the assumption that happiness is the natural human state is a relatively recent phenomenon—the product of a dramatic shift in human expectations carried out since the eighteenth century. Remembering that fact, and recalling, too, the received wisdom of some of the many historical observers who have pointed out the potential perils of pursuit may help us to view our own search for happiness in a slightly different light. In the end, I want to suggest, perhaps the best way to find happiness, paradoxically, may well be to look for something else.

Ancient Greek Philosophy of Happiness

But let us begin at the beginning—or at least with what scholars usually agree is the first work of history in the Western tradition, The History of Herodotus ( 1987 ), set down in Ancient Greece in the first half of the fifth century BCE. Croesus, the fabulously wealthy king of Lydia, has summoned before him the itinerant sage, Solon, lawgiver of Athens and a man who has traveled over much of the world in search of wisdom. The Lydian king lacks nothing, or so he believes, and he attempts to convince Solon of the fact, leading the wise Athenian round his stores of treasure so that he might marvel at their splendor. Ostensibly needing nothing, Croesus nonetheless reveals that he is in need, for he is overcome by a “longing” to know who is the happiest man in the world. Foolishly, Croesus believes that he himself might be that man, or that he might strive to become him.

Solon's wisdom, however, and the succession of distinctly unhappy events that follow, succeed in dispelling this illusion. When Solon observes cautiously that the “divine is altogether jealous and prone to trouble us” (Herodotus, 1987 , p. 47), adding that in the span of a human life “there is much to see that one would rather not see and much to suffer likewise” Croesus is unmoved. And when Solon points out further that because of the unpredictability of human affairs, he cannot yet say if Croesus is, or will ever be, happy, for “man is entirely what befalls him,” the proud Lydian is openly contemptuous, dismissing Solon as “assuredly a stupid man.”

No sooner has he done so than Croesus receives a great visitation of evil. His son is killed in a freak hunting accident, Croesus himself misinterprets an oracle at Delphi and is lured into a disastrous war, and his kingdom is destroyed by invading Persian armies. Only as a captive, facing imminent death atop a funeral pyre whose flames lick at his feet, does Croesus realize the wisdom of Solon's words and the folly of his own presumption. “No one who lives is happy,” he exclaims, calling out his own fate for the benefit of all who “are in their own eyes happy” (Herodotus, 1987 , p. 74).

Now it may seem that this tragic tale of divine retribution and frustrated human aims is a particularly morbid introduction to history—any history—let alone a history of happiness. But in an era of inflated expectations, it is worth listening to precisely this sort of wisdom. For Solon's message that the relentless pursuit of happiness threatens always to subvert itself is one that resonates again and again.

Consider the very word that Herodotus ( 1987 ), employs to describe the elusive thing that his tragic hero seeks. In truth, Herodotus employs several terms—among them, the ancient Greek olbios, eutychia , and eudaimon ,—which all, like their close cousin makarios , signify good fortune and blessedness, divine favor and prosperity. But it is above all eudaimon , and the noun eudaimonia (happiness) that features most prominently in Herodotus's work. In the succeeding 100 years it would emerge as an absolutely critical term in the lexicon of Greek philosophy.

Comprised of the Greek eu (good) and daimon (god, spirit, demon), eudaimonia contains within it a notion of fortune, for to have a good daimon on your side, a guiding spirit, is to be lucky. It also possesses a notion of divinity, for a daimon is an emissary of the gods, a personal spirit who watches over each of us, acting invisibly on the Olympians’ behalf. But what is most interesting is that this daimon is an occult power, a hidden, spiritual force that drives human beings forward, where no specific agent can be named. It is this mysterious quality that helps account for that unpredictable “something” that impels Croesus along, driving him in pursuit of he knows not what. For though to have a good daimon means to be carried in the direction of the divine, to have a bad daimon —a dysdaimon —is to be turned aside, led astray, or countered by another. The gods, alas, are as capricious as mortals, as that unhappy wife of Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona, learns to her dismay. Her name is simply a variation on the Greek word for unhappy, dysdaimon , as Shakespeare certainly knew. He was probably also aware that daimon is the Greek root of the modern word “demon,” a fiend or an evil spirit who haunts and threatens us, who always has the power to do us wrong (Burkert, 1977/1985, p. 180).

Something of that vaguely sinister connotation lurks in eudaimonia itself. Thus, when Croesus asks, “Is the happiness ( eudaimonia ) that is mine so entirely set at naught by you…?” (Herodotus, 1987 , pp. 46–47). Solon responds that although Croesus's life may seem good now, it is far too early to predict where his daimon will finally lead him. In an uncertain world, life is unpredictable, less something to be made than to be endured. Only those who do so successfully—until the very end—can be deemed fortunate, blessed, happy.

Historians of Greek philosophy will point out that this emphasis on the chance or unpredictable nature of human affairs—an emphasis so central to the entire tradition of Greek Tragedy—was challenged in the centuries that followed (Nussbaum, 1994 ). From Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in the 4th and 5th-centuries BC to the Epicureans and Stoics who enjoyed such favor throughout the Mediterranean world in the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander, lovers of wisdom and their devotees declared happiness ( eudaimonia ) to be the final aim of philosophical reflection and virtuous activity (Annas, 1993 ). To discover the secret of the flourishing life became for these men the summum bonum , the highest good, one that they were by no means willing to leave entirely to chance. On the contrary, they took as their point of departure the belief that human beings could exercise considerable control over the fate of their lives by living virtuously. Thus does Aristotle ( 1985 ), declare famously that happiness “is an activity of the soul expressing virtue” (p. 22). To the extent that we can learn to be good, he believed, we can learn to be happy.

All this is without question; it is also inspiring. Yet it would be wrong to assume that the Classical philosophers’ stress on human virtue succeeded in banishing the demons from eudaimonia . “Someone might possess virtue,” Aristotle ( 1985 ), himself concedes, but still “suffer the worst evils and misfortunes” (p. 7–8). He calls this the (bad) “luck of Priam,” in reference to that unfortunate father of Hector in Homer's Iliad , who is forced like Croesus to endure the death of his beloved son and the destruction of his kingdom through no real fault of his own. To call such a person happy would be perverse, Aristotle insists, thereby acknowledging our inability to eradicate completely the uncertainty bound up with the pursuit of our highest end.

But Aristotle's reservations about the pursuit of happiness run deeper than this. Even if the virtuous man succeeds in running life's gauntlet without serious misfortune, he must deal with the paradoxical fact that the closer he comes to his end, the more cause he will have to regret what passes him by. “The more he has every virtue and the happier he is, the more pain he will feel at the prospect of death. For this sort of person, more than anyone, finds it worth while to be alive, and is knowingly deprived of the greatest goods, and this is painful” (Aristotle, 1985 , p. 45). As the happiness of the happy man increases, so does his suffering at its loss.

Aristotle ( 1985 ), like the Stoics, counsels bravery in the face of this contradiction—recommending in effect that the virtuous man look death in the eye, grin, and bear it. We may find this admirable advice, but that it was not entirely satisfying to the denizens of antiquity is confirmed by the tremendous success of the next great philosophy of happiness to sweep the ancient world: Christianity. In this new faith, the paradoxes of pursuit were only further multiplied.

Christianity's Philosophy of Happiness

“Blessed are those who mourn,” (Matthew 5:4), we read in the Gospel of Matthew in the New King James Translation, or “Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake” (Matthew 5:10–11). Similarly shocking to our received assumptions are the beatitudes of Luke. “Happy are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you …” (Luke 67:22–24). Those who weep are apparently “happy,” like those who are hungry or are poor.

Admittedly, the critical word in question here is no longer eudaimon , but the Greek term makarios . Frequently rendered in English as “blessed,” makarios , however, may just as validly be translated as “happy,” as in fact it is in some other versions of the Bible. Many Greek authors, including Aristotle and Plato, used the two words ( eudaimon and makarios ) interchangeably. But this is not to deny that the Evangelists themselves meant something very different from what their Classical forebears intended by either term. Indeed, in some ways, their meaning is precisely the opposite. For if one can be genuinely “happy” or “blessed,” in this new Christian sense, while mourning, or weeping, or starving—happy, in a manner of speaking, while sad—does it not follow that those who are “happy” in a more conventional sense are quite possibly flirting with the ultimate sorrow? The prosperous, the well-fed, those who feel good and are quick to laugh should beware, at the very least, that their earthly rejoicing is dangerously premature: God may well have other plans in store for them. Meanwhile, those who suffer unjustly in this world may take heart. “Now is your time of grief,” Christ tells his disciples in the Gospel of John, “but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:22).

In one sense, this was simply the re-assertion of the wisdom of the tragic tradition. We should call no man happy until he is dead, Christians might legitimately claim, because God, who through his Providence controls both fate and fortune, may quickly bring our earthly striving to naught. As the monk in that classic account of Christian pilgrimage, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales reminds his fellow travelers as late as the fourteenth century:

And thus does Fortune's wheel turn treacherously And out of happiness bring men to sorrow. (McMahon, 2006 , p. 496)

The same admonition is repeated throughout the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, the very period that gave rise to the modern words for “happiness” in the principal Indo-European languages (McMahon, 2006 , pp. 136–137). It is hardly surprising that every one of these words—from the German Glück to the French bonheur —is linguistically related to good fortune or luck, what the Old English called “hap.” Well after the coming of Christ, the earthly variety of “happiness” continued to depend on what happened to us, and this, good Christians knew, was ever prone, like Fortune's wheel, to take a turn for the worse.

But if in this respect the Christian world made a place for the older tragic understanding of happiness as divine fortune or good luck, it should also be clear that it considerably altered the meaning of the phrase “call no man happy until he is dead.” Strictly speaking, happiness in the Christian conception was death (McMahon, 2006 , p. 106). No longer considered a boundary marking off the conclusion of a life well lived, death was treated as a gateway that led from the inescapable striving and suffering of our earthly pilgrimage to the conclusion and rest of endless ecstasy, rapture, and bliss. Nothing, nothing at all, will be lacking in death's everlasting life, Saint Thomas Aquinas (1988), affirms typically in the Summa Against the Gentiles , for “in that final happiness every human desire will be fulfilled” (p. 9). In heaven, it seems, the saints will “inebriated” by the plenty of God's house, and shall drink of the “torrent” of God's pleasure. Quite literally, the saved will get drunk on God.

For all who suffer from the thirst of human dissatisfaction, this was—and remains—an inspiring prospect, providing what St Augustine ( 1984 ), termed the “happiness of hope.” But as he fully appreciated, this same hope necessarily cast a dark shadow on the prospects for happiness on earth. If perfect happiness could only come in death by the grace of God, then it followed that the struggle to obtain earthly happiness was in vain. Pouring scorn on “all these [pagan] philosophers [who] have wished, with amazing folly, to be happy here on earth and to achieve bliss by their own efforts” (p. 852), Augustine ( 1984 ), argued at length in the City of God that “true happiness” was “unattainable in our present life.” Due to the lasting consequences of original sin, we are condemned to suffer on earth—to yearn and long for a satisfaction that we can never as mere mortals know.

Adding yet another paradox to this already paradoxical history, Augustine (trans. 1984), and his Christian brethren thus imagined the pursuit of happiness as a form of punishment, a continual, nagging reminder of our banishment from the Garden of Eden and the consequent human inability to live contentedly without God's grace. According to this perspective, every time we long for happiness, we remind ourselves of our unworthiness and inability to attain it on our own, a vicious cycle whose necessary byproduct was guilt.

Which is not to suggest that there were no counter-veiling impulses in the Christian tradition. The antinomian ecstasies of the early messianic communities, who believed, with Matthew, that the kingdom of God was at hand, certainly had cause for rejoicing. And it is equally true that the Jewish tradition had long acknowledged a healthy place for the enjoyment of God's earth, giving Christian interpreters sunny precedents for their surmise (Tirosh-Samuelson, 2003 ). Similarly, St Francis observed cheerfully that “It is not right for the servant of God to show sadness and a dismal face” (Smith, 2001 , p. 132). And both Luther and Calvin would later emphasize that happiness and good cheer may be viewed as the fruit of justification, a sign of the presence of God's redeeming grace (McMahon, 2006 , pp. 164–175).

Philosophy of Happiness in the Enlightenment

All this underscores the rather straightforward point that Christianity, like any religious tradition, is necessarily replete with rival tendencies and competing claims. Yet it is also fairly easy to show that this same tradition's more general misgivings about happiness succeeded in dampening human expectations for some time. It was only in the seventeenth century—at the dawn of the period that we now call the Enlightenment—that men and women in the West dared to think of happiness as something more than a divine gift or otherworldly reward, less fortuitous than fortune, less exalted than a millenarian dream (McMahon, 2006 , p. 177). In the Enlightenment, for the first time in human history, comparatively large numbers of men and women were exposed to the novel prospect that they might not have to suffer as an unfailing law of the universe, that they could—and should—expect happiness in the form of good feeling and pleasure as a right of life.

The causes of this momentous transformation range from developments within the Christian tradition that gave greater sanction to earthly enjoyment and de-emphasized the impact of original sin; to new secular attitudes regarding the pleasures of pleasure; to the birth of consumer cultures able to offer an ever-expanding array of luxuries to ever-widening circles (McMahon, 2006 , p. 205). Fascinating in their own right, these developments must cede their place in the present discussion, however, to what they wrought. For freed to think of happiness as something other than the superior striving of the happy few, men and women granted happiness on earth the privileged place they had once afforded to happiness hereafter. “Paradise is where I am,” Voltaire (1736/2003), declared with his characteristically provocative wit in the first line of his 1736 poem “Le Mondain” (p. 303). By the century's end, his bon mot was more than just a happy phrase. Whereas, scarcely a century before, rulers had been enjoined to lead in the service of the faith and morals of their subjects—to lead in the service of salvation—they were now being asked to serve a different lord. “Happiness is in truth the only object of legislation of intrinsic value,” the English utilitarian Joseph Priestley (Porter, 2000 , p. 204), observed at the end of the eighteenth century, echoing Voltaire's own claim in a letter of 1729 that “the great and only concern is to be happy” (Craveri, 2005 , p. 258). From the greatest happiness to the greatest number, this was the voice of a new age.

There was much to applaud in this new creed. If human beings were not required to look shamefacedly on enjoyment, they were increasingly free to seek their pleasures where they could. To dance, to sing, to enjoy our food, to revel in our bodies and the company of others—in short, to delight in a world of our own making—was not to defy God's will but to live as nature intended. This was our earthly purpose. Bringing with it a whole new range of attitudes that clashed with venerable taboos, the new bearing on happiness worked to overturn impediments to sexual pleasure, material prosperity, self-interest, and simple delight for simply standing in the way. At the same time, defenders of happiness focused their energy on “unnatural” barriers to our natural end. They assailed injustice and inhumanity, prejudice and superstition, barbarism and false belief for barring the way of the human pursuit (McMahon, 2006 , p. 209). To the present day that same set of convictions remains at the heart of our closest-held humanitarian assumptions: that suffering is wrong and that it should be relieved wherever possible; that the enjoyment of life is, or ought to be, a basic human entitlement.

The liberating potential of this new creed notwithstanding, the belief that happiness was our natural condition entailed a vicious corollary. For if we ought to be happy, didn't it follow that when we were not, there was something wrong? For centuries Christianity had cast a pall over the prospect of happiness on earth, provoking guilt at the thought of worldly delight. But it also justified and made sense of human suffering and dissatisfaction. The long-term impact of the Enlightenment had precisely the opposite effect, creating guilt as a consequence of the failure to be happy, guilt at feeling sadness and pain (McMahon, 2006 , p. 250).

It may well be that it is only now—when all must smile for the camera and sadness is treated as a disease—that human beings are experiencing the full force of this development. But even in the eighteenth century, keen observers were aware that the pursuit of happiness might have a dark side. “The time is already come,” Samuel Johnson remarked in 1759, “when none are wretched but by their own fault” (1985, p. 87). If happiness were our natural condition, and if neither original sin nor the mystery of grace, the movement of the stars nor the caprice of fortune controlled our fate, then the failure to be happy would be just that—failure.

Was it really so clear, Johnson (1759/1985) wondered, that human beings were intended to be happy, and that they could make themselves so? The supposition itself, he understood, involved an assumption—an article of faith—about the purpose of human existence, about man's final destiny and end. And if this supposition were wrong, as he well believed, then it placed on human beings an awful burden: a responsibility that they could never entirely fulfill. “What … is to be expected from our pursuit of happiness,” one of his characters asks in his masterpiece, Rassellas , “when we find the state of life to be such, that happiness itself is the cause of misery?” (Johnson, 1759/1985, pp. 116–117). It was a disconcerting question, and it haunted others of the age. After the untimely death of his mistress, Madame de Châtelet, and the terrible shock of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which wiped out thousands in a day, Voltaire himself came to doubt his earlier optimism. In response, he penned his famous Candide , mocking the optimistic faith that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782/1979b), shared his reservations. “I doubt whether any of us knows the meaning of lasting happiness” (p. 88), he despaired after a lifetime of pursuit, confirming a suspicion he had voiced earlier in his career: “Happiness leaves us, or we leave it” (Rousseau, 1762/1979a, p. 447).

Unlike Johnson, however, and unlike Voltaire, Rousseau refused to leave the matter at that. Child of the Enlightenment that he was in part, he remained adamant in his faith that happiness must be our natural end. Perhaps long ago, in a primitive state of nature, he mused, when our needs and faculties coexisted in harmony as they should, human beings were readily content. But that equilibrium had been upset long ago, with the balance further swayed in the direction of discontent by forces central to life as it was lived in the modern world. Presenting us with ever-greater possibilities and ever-expanding needs, modern commercial societies multiplied human desires, which ranged steadily ahead of our ability to fulfill them, creating envy and dissatisfaction in their wake. And so, Rousseau concluded, if human nature as constituted in the modern world rendered us incapable of achieving happiness, the world and human nature would have to be changed. “As soon as man's needs exceed his faculties and the objects of his desire expand and multiply, he must either remain eternally unhappy or seek a new form of being from which he can draw the resources he no longer finds in himself” (Rousseau, 1782/1994, Vol. 4, p. 82). To do that required radically altering the structure of society.

This was the task Rousseau set himself in his most famous work, The Social Contract , which proposed, in an infamous line, that human beings could be “forced to be free.” To his credit, Rousseau never made the same claim about happiness, and in fact explicitly states elsewhere that “there is no government that can force the Citizens to live happily; the best is one that puts them in a condition to be happy if they are reasonable” (Rousseau, 1782/1994, Vol. 4, p. 41). Such qualifications, however, went unheeded. Distorting Rousseau's original intentions, men and women at the time of the French Revolution sought to bring his new man and society into being—with terrible results. As France and much of Europe reeled from war and the ghastly slaughter of the Terror, the Jacobin leader Saint-Just declared in the Spring of 1794 that happiness was “a new idea in Europe” (Saint-Just, 1984 , p. 715). His colleague and fellow “terrorist,” Joseph Marie Lequinio, went further, seeing fit to utter the words that Rousseau himself had eschewed. In a secular sermon delivered in the fall of 1793, Lequinio ended with a chilling invocation. “May the sacred love of the fatherland … force every individual to take the only road that can lead them to the end they propose—the end of happiness” (Lequinio, 1793 , p. 18–19). That “road,” of course, was the road of the revolution; the “force” was provided by the guillotine; and the “end” was stated clearly in the first article of the Jacobin constitution: “the goal of society is common happiness” (McMahon, 2006 , p. 261).

It is no exaggeration to say that this very same revolutionary promise—to remake human beings and their world in the service of happiness—lies behind every one of the terrible experiments in social engineering that have brought such misery to the post-Enlightenment world. The terrible history of these ventures is well known to us today. And perhaps, in the West at least, we can feel some confidence that this knowledge will help guard against similar experiments in the immediate future. To force human beings to be happy, it now seems clear, is no more practicable than to force them to be free.

Pursuit of Happiness in the United States of America

But what of that other revolutionary experiment—and its liberal promise of freedom, the freedom to pursue happiness anyway we choose? Jefferson, it is worth stressing, placed the emphasis on the pursuit of happiness in the founding document of the United States not its attainment—and he was enough of a realist to doubt whether we could ever firmly grasp so slippery a thing. As his collaborator Benjamin Franklin is said to have observed: “The constitution only gives you the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” The lines are undoubtedly apocryphal—for one thing, Franklin well knew that it was the Declaration, and not the Constitution, that conferred this right. But the sentiment itself is an apt approximation of the intent of the Founding Fathers. Governments must limit themselves to providing the basic conditions for the pursuit of happiness—civil liberties, peace and security, the protection of private property, the rule of law—and allow individuals to do the rest for themselves.

It was, and remains, a noble vision. But it is worth dwelling a little longer on just what this pursuit of happiness entailed. And here we should pause to consider the neglected term: pursuit. As the critic and historian Gary Wills ( 2002 , p. 245) has emphasized, the word had a much harder meaning in the eighteenth-century than it does today, retaining a close link with its cognates, “prosecute” and “persecute.” Thus, Samuel Johnson ( 1755 ) listed the word in his eighteenth-century A Dictionary of the English Language as:

To Pursue... 1. To chase; to follow in hostility. Pursuit… 1. The act of following with hostile intention.

If one thinks of pursuing happiness as one pursues a fugitive (and indeed in Scottish law, criminal prosecutors were called “pursuers,” a usage with which Jefferson was familiar), the “pursuit of happiness” takes on a somewhat different inflection. To pursue, in this sense, is to follow with hostile intention, chasing down a renegade wherever he might lead us, and growing ever-more frustrated as the sweat forms on our brow. Like the daimon who lurks in eudaimonia , happiness may lead us high and low, and often astray. And when it does, it is only natural to begin to resent the thing that continually eludes us.

Whether Jefferson himself and the other Founding Fathers made such conscious associations is far from clear. But it is hardly surprising to find perceptive observers who arrived at similar reflections. Think of Tocqueville who expressed such astonishment at the impatience and agitation of Americans. “No one could work harder to be happy,” (Tocqueville, 1840/1988, Vol. 1, p. 243) he observed in Democracy in America , marveling repeatedly at the ceaseless, restless energy they expend in search of a better life. Rushing from one thing to the next, an American will travel hundreds of miles in a day. He will build a house in which to pass his old age and then sell it before the roof is on. He will continually change paths “for fear of missing the shortest cut leading to happiness” (Tocqueville, 1840/1988, Vol. 1, p. 243). Finally, though:

Death steps in … and stops him before he has grown tired of this futile pursuit of that complete felicity which always escapes him. (Tocqueville, 1840/1988, Vol. 2, p. 536–537)

In dogged pursuit until the end, the restless American is brought up short only by death. And that, Tocqueville (1840/1988), concluded, in reference to America's related quest for an ever-elusive equality was “the reason for the strange melancholy often haunting inhabitants of democracies in the midst of abundance, and of that disgust with life sometimes gripping them in calm and easy circumstances” (Vol. 2, p. 538).

John Stuart Mill's Insight

As the last line implies, Tocqueville (1840/1988) intended his reflections as a commentary not only on the specific case of America, but on liberal democracy more generally, which he deemed rightly was the inevitable wave of the future. It is striking, then, that his correspondent and contemporary, the equally astute John Stuart Mill, observed a similar phenomenon in that other great liberal empire of the nineteenth century, Great Britain. Indeed, Mill even observed the phenomenon in himself. Raised to be an apostle of the philosophy of his father's friend, Jeremy Bentham, the proponent of “felicific calculus” and the “greatest happiness of the greatest number,” the young Mill made the attainment of happiness his life's work. And yet in his early manhood, having suffered a debilitating breakdown and an extended bout of depression, he hit upon a strange insight. As he confessed late in life in his gripping Autobiography :

I now thought that this end [happiness] was only to be attained by not making it the direct end. Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way … Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so. The only chance is to treat, not happiness, but some end external to it, as the purpose of life … This theory now became the basis of my philosophy of life. (Mill, 1873/1989, pp. 117–118)

This was a stunning avowal for one who continued throughout his life to hold happiness in the highest esteem. The way to reach it, he grasped, was to search for something else. Those who would capture happiness must pursue other things.

What are we to make of such talk from the vantage point of the early twenty-first century? It may be tempting to dismiss Mill's (1873/1989) reflections, along with those of many of the other thinkers examined here, as the abstractions of men of thought—fine theories , perhaps, but hardly grounded in solid research. And yet it is interesting to note that at least some solid research has helped to bear out Mill's reflections, echoing the wisdom of the ages that appears to suggest that those who pursue happiness directly should watch their step. In his well-known studies of the experience of “flow,” the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ( 1990 ) has found that those engaged in purposeful, challenging activity, pursued for its own sake, are apt to live more satisfying—more satisfied—lives than those who don't, and that their reported levels of subjective well being reflect this fact. The work of many other positive psychologists would seem to confirm such findings. Csikszentmihalyi ( 1990 ) himself even goes so far as to invoke Mill directly, arguing that “we cannot reach happiness by consciously searching for it,” (p. 2) but only indirectly, by the by.

Devoting ourselves to activities that we ourselves deem meaningful is of course a long way from the Classical belief that we can reach a god-like happiness by treading a single path of virtue. It falls short, too, of Mill's own unrealized dream that some other highest end—the promotion of liberty, say, or service to society—might carry us to happiness collectively. Nor will the pursuit of purposeful activity do much to surpass the limitations of our genes. This is a less exalted path, a round-about way, one that makes no claims to offer up good feeling and ready delight in the form of instant gratification—or in a pill. A long-term journey, the pursuit of purposeful activity is almost always difficult, requiring planning, sacrifice, and dedication to an end deemed worthy of devotion in and of itself.

This may not be a sensational revelation—the stuff of best-seller lists or “seven easy steps.” But in an age of inflated expectations, fed by false promises and excessive claims, it is probably worth heeding some tempered advice. We could do worse than to take counsel from a man who also felt the pull of the promise of paradise on earth, but who then thought better of the prospect. When Voltaire's hero, Candide, returns from circling the globe, wiser but no more happy than when he began, he concludes simply that “we must cultivate our garden.” Those seeking happiness—or something like it—in the twenty-first century, could do worse than to take up the hoe.

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Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — In Pursuit of Happiness — Analysis Of The Pursuit Of Happyness Through A Sociological Lens

Analysis of The Pursuit of Happyness Through a Sociological Lens

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Analysis of Chris' Life Struggles Through a Sociological Lens

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American Dream in “The Pursuit of Happiness” Film Essay (Movie Review)

Introduction, american ideologies: discrimination and resistance, the realization of the american dream, gabriel muccine’s the pursuit of happiness (2006) – the american dream, people in organizations: psychological contracts, individual differences, perception and attribution, reference list.

This paper is based on the concept “The American Dream”. It is based on a biographic story of an American who rose from a difficult past to a position of affluence within the American society. This is based on a film titled The Pursuit of Happiness. The Pursuit of Happiness this movie is a biographic film which is based on the life of a person named Chris Gardner.

This film presents Gardner as a person who struggles relentlessly with the struggles of living up to a point where it seems as if it is all going to collapse on him. Essentially, these films give a reflection of a man who is can be considered to be an on and off homeless salesperson who decides to become a stockbroker. This decision comes against a series of challenges besetting him, though he manages to stick to the plan until the end. Even though Chris does not have what it takes academically to make it as a stockbroker, he marvels the society by his aggressive character that eventually makes him successful in life.

The reason as to why this film became the preferred film for this paper is based on the fact that it depicts the lives and challenges that most American citizens go through. Furthermore, it illustrates the role that behavior plays towards transforming organizations and businesses. This implies that regardless of the circumstance, a person’s resolve and the determination to achieve goes a long way towards bringing success. Focus and determination are key components for realizing the American Dream. It is worth noting that the chosen story illustrates the role of individual and employee behavior towards the success of any organization. In this case, Chris and his wife depict different attitudes towards their employers which affect the employee output and eventually the organizational progress.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how American films have represented race, class, gender, and sexuality since the early 20th century (Harry, Benshoff & Sean 2011). It is a basic principle of this work that by studying American film history, we can gain keen insights into the ways that different groups of American people have been treated (and continue to be treated). Images of people on film actively contribute to how people are understood and experience in the “real world.”

Furthermore, there are multiple and varied connections between film and “real life,” and we need to have agreed-upon ways of discussing those connections and their ramifications (Dudley 1976). Therefore, before examining in detail how specific groups of people have been represented within American cinema, we need to understand some preliminary concepts” how film works to represent people and things, how and why social grouping are and have been formed, and how individuals interact with the larger socio-cultural structures of the United States of America. This section introduces some basic ideas about film form, American history, and cultural studies.

Film form refers to the constituent elements that make film uniquely a “film” and not a painting or a short story (Leo & Marshall 2004). All works of art might be said to have both form and content. Content is what work is about, while the form is how that content is expressed. Form and content are inextricably combined, and it is an adage of art theory that “form follows content,” which means that the content of a work of art should dictate the form in which it should be expressed. For example, many different poems might have the same content – say, for example, a rose – but the content of a rose can be expressed in various forms in an infinite number of ways: in a sonnet, a ballad, an epic, a haiku, a limerick, and so forth.

Each of these formal structures will create a different “take” on the content. For example, a limerick tends to be humorous or flippant, while a sonnet tends to be more serious and romantic. Likewise, different films with similar content can be serious, frivolous, artistic, intellectual, comedies, or frightening (Narloch 2008; Nichols 1976). Therefore, understanding how cinema communicates or creates meaning requires more than paying attention to what is specifically going on in the story (the film’s content); it also requires paying attention to how various artistic choices (the film’s form) affect the way the story is understood by the viewer.

The constitution of the united states of America famously begins with these three words: “We the People.” Their importance highlights one of the founding principles of the nation: that the power of government is embodied not in the will of a dictator, nor in that of a religious leader or a monarch, but the collective will of individualized citizens (Finifter 2000). In conceptualizing “the power of the people,” the newly formed united states of America based its national identity on the principle of equality or as Thomas Jefferson’s very words underlie the fact that women were excluded from this equality – women were not allowed to vote or hold office, and they were severely hampered in opportunities to pursue careers outside the home.

People of African descent were also regularly denied the vote, and the writers of the Constitution itself acknowledged (and thus implicitly endorsed) an institution system of slavery against blacks and others. The Constitution did at least acknowledge the presence of African Americans in the country (although they were valued by the government as only three-fifths of a person) (Finifter 2000). Native Americans were denied even this dubious honor and were considered aliens. Even being a male European descent did not necessarily guarantee inclusion in the great experiment of American democracy, for many statesmen at the time argued that only landowners (that is, those of a certain economic standing) should have the right to vote or hold office.

Over the years, Americans have come to understand that the Constitution is a living document, one that can be and has been changed to encompass a wider meaning of equality (Heineman 1995; Frank, Richard & Michael 1999). In America today, there is a general belief that every individual is unique, and should have equal access to the American dream of life “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Not everyone will necessarily reach the same levels of happiness and success, but most Americans believe that the results of the quest should be based on individual effort and merit rather than preferential treatment (or, conversely, exclusionary tactics) (Frank, Richard & Michael 1999). The United States of America professes that these opportunities are “inalienable tactics.” However, just as in the late 1700s, barriers, conflicts, biases, and misunderstandings continue to hamper these ideals. While most American citizens philosophically understand and endorse these principles of equality, many of those same people also recognize that equality has not been achieved in the everyday life of the nation (Harry, Benshoff & Sean 2011).

One might argue that Gabriele Muccino’s Pursuit of Happiness was just another Hollywood tear-jerker about the relegation and rise of a sympathetic and likable protagonist with the purpose to tug at the audience’s heartstrings (Narloch 2008). This could be true, but since the movie is based on the life of Chris Gardner, a real existing person, it is not all something like this. The book nearly tells the same story as the movie, by some means or the other.

This makes the story, not another Hollywood fiction but an example for the typical “from – rags – to – riches – story” (Robert & Michael 1989). Typical, because there is a protagonist who is broken, who has no money, no home, and no university degree, whose marriage broken and who is accompanied by responsibilities such as his son and his job as an intern for Dean Witter. It gives the impression that there was nothing he could do to overcome this situation, but actually, he makes it and in the end becomes a millionaire.

He achieves his goals through hard work and pursuing happiness and therefore makes the movie being directly connected to the idea of the American Dream. To intensify this image of the American Dream, the movie also includes symbols such as the American flag as being the symbol of hope and opportunity as well as the Declarations of Independence, the precursor for the American Dream. Metaphors such as the lyrics of “Lord, don’t move that mountain” where it is asked for strength, not for rescue, is related to the puritan ideal of happiness through hard work.

Questions about the Declaration of Independence underlie this idea and emphasize that happiness can only be achieved by pursuing it, that it was something that did not come easy or without achievement. Throughout the whole movie, the doctrines of “if you want it you can make it” and “you have to work hard to achieve your goals” are being lived out by Chris Gardner. Taking his opportunities and not giving up, he is being described as the ultimate personification of the American Dream.

Nevertheless, the movie still changes some important facts or leaves them out. To mystify the idea of the American Dream, all those symbols such as the American Flag and the notion of the Declaration of Independence are tools to support the idea of the American way of life and to suggest that everyone could make it. Left out are certain facts about Chris Gardner, such as having been a small-time criminal in his youth, but that he nevertheless always has been eager and studios. He was supported by his mother who said that “one day he could make a million dollars”, by his aunt who supported his interest in books, by his family members who put him up instead of sending him to a children’s home and all the opportunities that were offered to him.

He went to the Navy and got the chance to work in a responsible position, always being the first African – American no matter where he worked. He had to fight a lot during his life, but there have also been many changes, some that he took and some that he let pass away. The movie only tells one part of the story and constantly tries to support the idea of the American dream regardless of its connection to reality. Thus, it makes the movie an American Dream story which leaves the impression that everyone could make it, giving the audience only one example but concealing that there are who make did not make it. In the end, it raises hope and motivates them to pursue happiness to make it from rags to riches.

Gabriel Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happiness is set in San Francisco in 1981 and it is about the life of Chris Gardner from whose point of view the story is told. Chris is a salesman who sells portable bone-density scanners. He lives in a small apartment together with his wife and his son Christopher. They do not have much money since the scanners are said to be “unnecessary and expensive” and Chris hardly ever sells one. Linda works for a large scale laundry where she had to do double shifts to earn enough money to make a living.

Because of working very hard, there is not much time for the son who spends most of his days at a daycare center. Chris has to do his visits to the hospitals by bus because he got too many parking tickets which he is not able to pay for. The Internal Revenue Service also gets money from him and his wife but he repeatedly has to ask for an extension of time which causes angry discussion with Linda. To pay for rent, daycare, and groceries, Chris has to sell at least two scanners a month, but actually, he sold none over the last period f time. Christopher already knows that his parents are rather poor and therefore his wishes for his birthday are decent.

One day, Chris is on his way to sell another scanner, when a Ferrari drives by and the driver pulls in right beside him. Chris is thrilled and asks the driver “what do you do? And how do you do it?” and the owner of the Ferrari answers that he was a stockbroker. Chris becomes curios and since he does not have a university degree, he wants to know if this was a requirement. The stockbroker tells him that for doing this job, you “have to be good with numbers and good with people” and thus put the idea of becoming a stockbroker in Chris’s head. He makes an appointment at Dean Witter, a Resource Department, and tells Linda the next morning, but she is not very happy with it. Instead, she teases him and asks him why he did not want to become an astronaut instead. Again, their conversation ends in a discussion about money and the rent with which they are “already two months behind.”

Nevertheless, Chris keeps the appointment at Dean Witter because right at that time, the firm is offering internships at a Broker Trainee Program, whereas “the program took just 20 people every six months. One got the job.” Because Chris has to sell another scanner after the interview and does not want to take the machine with him, he asks a “hippie girl” who is singing in front of the building to keep an eye on it. When he comes into the office of Tim Brophy, he gets an application form but Tim does not raise Chris’s hopes since many people have already applied for the position. While he is talking, Chris suddenly runs out of the bureau because through the window he sees the hippie girl leaving her place with his scanner in her hands.

He runs after her but she disappears in the subway. After having taken Christopher to the daycare center the next morning, he goes back to Dean Witter to hand in his application form, giving it to Jay Twistle, the Head of Resources, whom he wants to explain that although his educational background is rather short, he was the right person for the job. Twistle tells him that he would give him a call if necessary and is gone the next moment. On this way to visit another hospital to sell something, he sees the hippie girl with his scanner and again runs after her. He had once “spent his entire life savings on these things”, one (Narloch 2008). As we shall see, this movie reflects the behavior of people in organizational settings. In essence, Chris and his wife provide a classic example of their commitment to their organizations as employees.

Whenever we buy a car or sell a house both the buyer and seller sign a contract that specifies terms of the agreement – who pays what to whom, when it is paid, and so forth. A psychological contract resembles a standard legal contract in some ways but is less formal and less well denied. Specifically, a psychological contract is a person’s overall set of expectations regarding what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return. Thus, unlike any other kind of business contract, a psychological contract is not written on paper, nor are all of its terms explicitly negotiated.

The individual makes a variety of contributions to the organization – such things as effort, skills, ability, time, time and loyalty (Ricky & Gregory 2011). One specific aspect of managing psychological contracts is the management of the person-job ob fit. A good person-job ob fit is one in which employee’s contributions match the inducements the organization offers, in theory, each employee has a specific set of needs to be fulfilled and a set of job-related behaviors and abilities to contribute. If the organization can take perfect advantage of hose behaviors and abilities and exactly fulfill the employee’s needs, it will have achieved a perfect person-job ob fit.

Of course, such a precise person-job fit is seldom achieved. For one thing, hiring procedures are imperfect. Managers can estimate employee skill levels when making hiring decisions and can improve them through training, but even simple performance dimensions are hard to measure them through training, but even simple performance dimensions are hard to measure objectively and validly. For another thing, both people and organizations change. An employee who finds a new job stimulating and exciting to begin with may find the same job boring and monotonous a few years later. An organization that adopts new technology needs new skills from its employees. Finally, each person is unique. Measuring skills and performance is difficult enough. Assessing attitudes and personality is far more complex. Each of these individuals’ differences makes matching individuals with jobs a difficult and complex process.

Every individual is unique. Individual differences are personal attributes that vary from one person to another. Individual differences may be physical, psychological, and emotional. The individual differences that characterize a specific person make that person unique. Basic categories of individual differences include personality, attitudes, perception, and creativity. Are the specific differences that characterize a given person good or bad? Do they contribute to or detract from the performance?

The answer, of course, is that it depends on the circumstance. One person may be dissatisfied, withdrawn, and negative in one job setting but satisfied, outgoing, and positive in another. Working conditions, co-workers, and leadership are just a few of the factors which affect how a person performs and feels about a job. Thus, whenever a manager attempts to assess or account for individual differences among her employees, she must also be sure to consider the situation in which the behavior occurs (Schermerhorn 2011).

Since managers need to establish effective psychological contracts with their employees and achieve optimal fits between people and jobs, they face a major challenge in attempting to understand both individual differences and contributions about inducements and contexts. A good starting point in developing this understanding is to appreciate the role of personality in organizations. As illustrated in the movie by Chris as a salesperson and Chris as a stockbroker.

The attribution theory has extended our understanding of how perception affects behavior in organizations. Attribution theory suggests that we observe the behavior and then attributes causes to it. That is, we attempt to explain why people behave as they do. The process of attribution is based on perceptions of reality, and these perceptions may vary widely among individuals. To start with one observes the behavior of another. We then evaluate that behavior in terms of its degree of consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness.

The consensus is the extent to which another person in the same situation behaves in the same way in different situations. We form impressions or attributions as to the causes of behavior based on various combinations of consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness. We may believe the behavior is caused internally by forces within a person or externally, that is, by forces in the person’s environment.

Attitudes and performance

People’s attitudes affect behaviors in their entire lives. Attitudes are complexes of beliefs and feelings that people have about specific ideas, situations, or other people. Attitudes are important because they are mechanisms through which most people express their feelings.

How attitudes are formed

Attitudes are formed by a variety of forces, including our values, our experiences, and our personalities. For example, if we value honesty and integrity, we may form especially favorable attitudes towards people who we believe to be very honest and moral. Similarly, if we have had negative and unpleasant experiences with a particular co-worker, we may form an unfavorable attitude towards a co-worker.

Attitude structure: attitudes are usually viewed as attainable dispositions to behave toward objects in a certain way. For any number of reasons, a person might decide that he or she does not like a particular political figure or a certain restaurant (a disposition). We would expect that person to express consistently negative opinions of the candidate or restaurant and to maintain the consistent, predicable intention of not voting for the political figure or not eating at the restaurant.

In this view, attitudes contain here components: affect, cognition, and intention. A person’s effect is his or her feelings toward something. In many ways, affect is similar to emotion – it is something over which we have little or no conscious control, for example, most people react to words such as “love,” “hate,” “sex,” and “war” in a manner that reflects their feelings about what those words convey, similarly, you may like one of your classes, dislike another, and be indifferent toward a third.

Cognition is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something. You may believe you like something because it is in line with your favorite timing. Cognitions are based on perceptions of truth and reality, perceptions agree with reality to varying degrees.

Intention guides a person’s behavior. If you like a person, you may intend to take extra effort. Intentions are not always translated into actual behavior. Some attitudes, and their corresponding intentions, are much more central and significant to an individual than others. You may intend to do one thing but you later alter your intentions because of a more significant and central attitude.

Cognitive dissonance occurs when two sets of cognitions or perceptions are contradictory or incongruent a person experiences a level of conflict and anxiety called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance also occurs when people behave in a fashion that is inconsistent with their attitudes. For example, Chris realizes that he does not like the job of selling scanners because there were no substantial returns and yet he continues to do both.

Because the attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent with each other, the person probably will experience a certain amount of tension and discomfort and may try to reduce these feelings by changing the attitude, altering the behavior, or perceptual distorting the circumstance. For instance, because Chris cannot raise enough money he opts to remain in this job and at some point keeps on postponing moving to another job for a while.

Cognitive dissonance affects people in a variety of ways. We frequently encounter situations in which our attitudes conflict with each other or with our behaviors. Dissonance reduction is the way we deal with these feelings of discomfort and tension. From Chris’ example, we find that in organizational settings, people contemplating leaving the organization may wonder why they continue to stay and work hard. As a result of this dissonance, they may conclude that the company is not so bad after all, that they have no immediate options elsewhere, or that they will leave soon.

Attitude change; attitudes are not as stable as personality attributes. For example, new information may change attitudes. A manager may have a negative attitude about a new colleague because of his lack of job-related experience. After working with the new person for a while, however, the manager may come to realize that he is actually very talented and subsequently develop a more positive attitude, likewise, if the object of an attitude changes, a person’s attitude towards that object may also change. As the case was Chris in the new stock brokering firm. Attitudes can also change when the object of the attitude becomes less important or less relevant to the person. For example on realizing that the salesmanship was not productive Chris opts to get into another line of business. Individualism – collectivism

Lastly, through this movie, there is the subject of individualism and collectivism in the American culture. Individualism and collectivism are two of the fundamental values that must be thoroughly understood to be effective in today’s world (Don & John 2007). Essentially, Christopher struggles individually to make it, and he eventually makes. However, what we are not told in the movie is the kind of upbringing he had. Individualism is the tendency o people to look after themselves and their immediate families, as is the case with Chris who struggles tooth and nail to provide for his family.

The culture as depicted in this movie is individualistic. The culture emphasizes individual initiative, decision making, and achievement, the individual, in this case, Chris, is emotionally detached from the society and to an extent the organization in which he works as a salesman. This kind of approach assumes that everybody has the right to privacy and personal freedom of expression. Countries characterized by an emphasis on individualism include the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

In contrast, collectivism is the tendency of people to emphasize their belonging to groups and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty. The social framework tends to be tight, and in-groups, that is, relatives, communities, and organizations focus on their common welfare and distinguish themselves from out-groups. Collectivism usually involves the emotional dependence of the individual on groups, organizations, and institutions.

The sense of belonging and “we” versus “I” in relationships is fundamental. Individuals’ private lives are open to the groups and organizations to which they belong. Group goals are generally thought to be more important than the individual’s personal goals when conflict arises between individual goals and in-group goals, the general expectation is that in-group goals and decision making should prevail. Collectivism seems not to apply in this case. However, it can be credited to Chris’ upbringing and the values which he has picked from the environment.

It is worth noting that this movie brings to the fore an interplay of many factors that have been put on the table which are affecting the life of the common person. This is brought to the fore when the director brings in the issue of race and freedom. The subject of the environment in light of the prevailing attitude towards work is also analyzed. This movie allows the audience to dream again. That is, despite the challenges that a person is facing there is a glimmer of hope that one can make it in life and live the American Dream what is important is the focus, that is, what a person chooses to focus upon. Eventually, Christopher makes it be a millionaire. This is an illustration that there are cases where one will become successful only if they are willing to risk and try to map uncharted lands. It is through this that one will be able to master the area that one is truly good in and eventually emerge victorious in the race of life.

Don, H & John, WS 2007, Organizational behaviour , 11th edn, Cengage Learning, California.

Dudley, A 1976 , The major film theories: an introduction , illustrated edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Finifter, AW 2000, Political Science , FK Publications, London.

Frank, B, Richard, AC & Michael, S 1999, Elements in political science , Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

Harry, M, Benshoff & Sean, G 2011, America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies , John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Heineman, RA 1995, Political Science , McGraw-Hill Professional, London.

Leo, B & Marshall, C 2004, Film theory and criticism:introductory readings , 6th edn, Oxford University Press , Oxford.

Narloch, J 2008, Facets of the American Dream and American Nightmare in Film , GRIN Verlag, Norderstedt.

Nichols, B 1976, Movies and methods: an anthology, Volume 1 , illustrated edn, University of California Press, California.

Ricky, WG & Gregory, M 2011, Organizational Behavior:Managing People and Organizations , 10th edn, Cengage Learning, California.

Robert, L & Michael, W 1989, Film theory: an introduction , reprint edn, Manchester University Press, Manchester.

Schermerhorn, JR 2011, Organizational Behaviour , 12th edn, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "American Dream in "The Pursuit of Happiness" Film." February 27, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/american-dream-in-the-pursuit-of-happiness-film/.

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