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Health, Psychology, Research, Science

Positive Psychology: Happiness

WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

ONE of the criticisms often levelled at positive psychology is that it’s all about the “big H”: happiness. Some may argue that happiness is a frivolous topic and certainly not one worthy of serious scientific endeavour. Yet, when you start digging deeper, it becomes clear that happiness is not at all straightforward. In fact, it’s a pretty complex concept. This article explores some of the components of happiness (or well-being as it’s often called), how they’re measured and why they matter.

. Previously About ‘Positive Psychology’

Probably the simplest way to get a handle on happiness is to divide it initially into two basic components:

. Hedonic well-being

. Eudaimonic well-being

The distinction between these two aspects of happiness dates to the ancient Greek philosophers Aristippus (c. 435–356 BCE), who championed hedonism, and Aristotle (384–322 BCE), who advocated eudaimonism.

According to Aristippus, the goal of life is to maximise pleasure and minimise displeasure or pain. In positive psychology hedonic well-being is often used to refer to the happiness you get from feeling pleasure in the moment; it is the variety of happiness which usually springs to mind when you’re asked what happiness is. It is, though, typically short-lived. We must keep topping up our reserves in order to maintain its effects. One of the problems with defining happiness solely in terms of sensory pleasure is that, paradoxically, some human desires, even if they are pleasure-producing in the short term, are not good for you in the long term.

And what about eudaimonic well-being? If happiness can ever have a serious side, this is certainly it. As suggested, some people believe that pleasure on its own isn’t sufficient to describe the totality of human well-being. According to Aristotle, merely pursuing pleasure is vulgar; he advocated eudaimonism because he believed that true happiness is found in doing what is worth doing, not in just having a good time. Eudaimonic well-being is a broad term used by positive psychologists to refer to the happiness we gain from having meaning and purpose in our lives, fulfilling our potential and feeling that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.

But even eudaimonic well-being is not problem-free. Some psychologists dislike its moral overtones; they argue that it isn’t psychology’s job to prescribe what is good for people. And, as a matter of fact, eudaimonic well-being may not provide any pleasurable feelings at all: it may involve considerable personal hardship and effort over the longer term. Yet, it is suggested that eudaimonia leads to greater life satisfaction than pure pleasure alone (Huta, V., Park, N., Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. [2003]).

In practice, positive psychologists do not agree on the definition of eudaimonic well-being – terms which include “self-actualisation”, “personal expressiveness”, “meaning”, “personal growth”, and “engagement and flow”. Nor do they agree on how it should be measured, and often the term eudaimonic well-being is used as a catch-all for any type of happiness that isn’t hedonic. But even if we’re not yet sure how to define eudaimonic well-being, most people would acknowledge that there’s more to true happiness than a game or round of 9-hole golf at the weekend. Psychology research concurs with this: a recent study of over 13,000 people suggests that pursuing engagement or meaning is more strongly related to well-being than pursuing pleasure (Schueller, S. M., & Seligman, M. P. [2010]).

Another area of disagreement for positive psychologists is whether happiness is a subjective or an objective phenomenon. Some definitions of eudaimonic well-being suggest that there is an objective standard against which people’s lives can be judged. On the other hand, there are psychologists who insist that happiness is a subjective phenomenon. They argue that it can only be measured by asking people to rate their own happiness. This leads us to another definition of happiness often used in positive psychology – Subjective Well-Being (SWB) – which is expressed in the following formula:

Satisfaction with Life + Positive Emotion – Negative Emotion

In simple terms this means that subjective happiness consists of three elements, one cognitive (or evaluative) and two affective.

Using Subjective Well-Being as the measure suggests that to increase our level of happiness overall, we should focus on minimising our negative mood and maximising our life satisfaction and positive mood.

. A positive psychology model of well-being

In his most recent book, Flourish, Martin Seligman, one of the founding fathers of the positive psychology movement, describes his new theory of well-being. His model (PERMA), which consists of five separate elements, draws on aspects of both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being:

P (Positive emotion) is exactly what it says – the experience of positive mood and feelings which are uplifting. Psychologists use various types of questionnaire which can be used to measure positive (and negative) emotional states.

E (Engagement) or ‘flow’ as it’s often called, refers to the well-being you get from being totally absorbed in the task in hand, so much so that you lose track of time and feel completely at one with what you’re doing. When sports people talk about “being in the zone”, they’re referring to their experience of flow. Flow is usually measured by asking people to reflect back on their day and record flow experiences or by having them carry an electronic beeper which randomly prompts them to think about and record what they’re doing at that moment in time.

R (Relationships) are included in Seligman’s model because research suggests that good, caring and supportive interpersonal connections are essential to your well-being at any age in life.

M (Meaning) is important because it provides both a stable foundation and a sense of direction in life. Pursuing meaningful activities has been found to be more strongly related to happiness than pursuing pleasurable ones. There are many different measures of meaning, although it’s still a relatively under-researched area. The Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe) measures 26 different sources, including self-transcendence (such as spirituality), self-actualisation (such as challenge and knowledge), order (such as tradition and holding on to values), and well-being and caring for others (such as community and love).

A (Accomplishment) is the latest psychological component in Seligman’s well-being model. It’s another broad category which includes everything from achievement, success and mastery at the highest level possible to progress towards goals and competence.

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Government, Health, Society

One Covid jab helps to halve its spread

RESEARCH

A SINGLE dose of vaccine cuts the risk of spreading coronavirus by up to half, a major study has revealed.

Not only does the jab cut a person’s chance of catching Covid, it also greatly reduces their chances of passing it on should they get infected.

The research, which involved almost 1.5million adults, is the first of its kind to confirm the effectiveness of vaccines in curbing the virus’s spread.

Other studies have shown the jab massively reduce the odds of developing symptoms and ending up in hospital, even among the elderly and people with long-term health issues.

The latest analysis found that adults who received the Pfizer vaccine – but still caught the virus – were 49 per cent less likely to spread it to other household members than those who were not inoculated.

For the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, recipients were 38 per cent less likely to transmit it to others in their household. But the fact both vaccines dramatically reduce the virus’s ability to spread – as well as preventing serious illness – offers renewed hope they hold the key to a return to normal life.

This latest research further reinforces that vaccines are the best way out of this pandemic as they protect you and they may prevent you from unknowingly infecting someone in your household. A second dose provides the strongest possible protection.

The jabs’ ability to prevent virus transmission kicked in after only 14 days and they worked regardless of a person’s age or the number of people within their household, with whom they had close contact.

Dr Mary Ramsay, who is head of immunisation at Public Health England, which carried out the study, said: “While these findings are very encouraging, even if you have been vaccinated, it is really important that you continue to act like you have the virus, practise good hand hygiene and follow social distancing guidance.”

Previously, a major Oxford study found that a single dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine reduced symptomatic infection by nearly three quarters, compared to people who had not had the jab.

The authors were so encouraged by the findings they said the jabs would enable the country to control the pandemic without the need for future lockdowns.

The UK Government has announced that more than 13million adults had received both doses of the jab – a quarter of the population.

Although the researchers only looked at the vaccines’ effectiveness in cutting transmission at home, they believe they will also prevent its spread on public transport, in offices and in schools.

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Health, Psychology, Society

Positive Psychology

INTRODUCTION

. What is positive psychology?

Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning and what makes life worth living. In other words, it is the psychology of characteristics, conditions and processes which lead to flourishing. Researching what goes right for individuals, communities and organisations is every bit as important to us as understanding what goes wrong.

When positive psychology was originally launched over a decade ago, it distanced itself from other branches of psychology. However, there is no doubt that it has its roots in the work of William James in the late 19th century, humanistic psychology of the mid-20th century, as well as in the work of ancient philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. The main difference is that, as a science, it focuses on discovering the empirical evidence for thriving. But it’s not science for its own sake – it’s the application that is of interest to psychologists. So, how can empirical research be used to improve our own well-being?

It is fair to say that some of the research topics which now fall under the umbrella of positive psychology are not new; some even pre-date it. Topics such as optimism, motivation and emotional intelligence had been studied for many years before positive psychology came along. There are, of course, many other areas of optimal functioning which were under-researched, and about which we knew very little, such as gratitude, hope and curiosity.

The vast majority of psychology studies carried out over the past 40+ years have focused on the negative sides of life, such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder. Positive psychology redresses this imbalance by focusing on the human traits and circumstances which lead to thriving. Although some of the research evidence may seem like common sense, there is a great deal which is new, surprising, and even counter-intuitive.

. Where does positive psychology come from?

Positive psychology originated from the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, where there is now a Positive Psychology Centre. One of the founders is psychology professor Martin Seligman, who is well known for his pioneering work on learned helplessness and later on learned optimism. The positive psychology movement began around 1998, when Seligman chose it as the theme for his inaugural address as President of the American Psychological Association. Since then, thousands of new research articles and books on the subject have been written, several new academic journals published – for example, the Journal of Positive Psychology, the Psychology of Wellbeing, the Journal of Happiness Studies, and the International Journal of Wellbeing. Also established is the international professional association, the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA).

As yet, over a decade after positive psychology appeared as a formal branch of psychology, there is no sign that our interest in the topics of happiness, wellbeing and flourishing is diminishing. In fact, the growth in the field, whether in university research projects, conferences and academic degree courses, or in books, blogs and workshops for the general public, gives every indication that positive psychology is here to stay. Even in the last few years, successive British governments have been interested in the idea of developing public policy for wellbeing, and since 2010 the Office for National Statistics has had a “Measuring National Wellbeing” programme which was set up to produce accepted and trusted measures of the wellbeing of the nation. The first ever UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics has also been established to challenge GDP as the government’s main indicator of national success and to promote new measures of societal progress.

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