Course Lecture on Happiness, Well-Being, and Positive Emotions

Solution Preview

Hello. I trust that the attached document is helpful as you write your course lecture. Please note that we do not write full papers for students to turn in as their own, however, we do provide assistance in gathering ideas, understanding concepts, and pointing you in the direction of other sources that might help you. Best of luck!

How happiness is measured and defined by positive psychologists and how happiness relates to well-being and positive emotions.

Martin Seligman is considered a founder of positive psychology because he explores happiness through the scientific method. He believes life has three sole dimensions: the Pleasant Life, the Good Life, and the Meaningful Life. He defines happiness in satisfied people as being able to find and use their "signature strengths" such as empathy with humanity, temperance and a good outlook on life, and fortitude and persistence in the face of difficulty.

Seligman, Martin E.P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York, NY: Free Press.

Happiness is measured by a variety of factors including income, work satisfaction, family life, personal values and beliefs, but probably more strongly is one's individual life satisfaction.

The Office for National Statistics in the UK set forth to study this very thing and found that happiness is a rather intangible thing to measure while wellbeing is measurable in the same way that the economy is measured.

See TheGuardian.com 2011 article "So, how do you measure wellbeing and happiness?"
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/jul/25/wellbeing-happiness-office-national-statistics

1. Define and differentiate hedonic and eudemonic happiness

Hedonic approach to happiness originating from the Greek philosopher Aristippus posits that one's primary objective is to experience as much pleasure as possible while simultaneously avoiding as much painful experiences as much as possible.

Eudaimonic approach to happiness originating from the Greek philosopher Aristotle is the pursuit of personal fulfillment and potential in life. Contributing to one's community and the lives of other people resulted in positive well-being and personal satisfaction.

Henderson, L.W., & Knight, T. (2012). Integrating the hedonic and eudaimonic perspectives to more comprehensively understand wellbeing and ...