joy hypothesis definition

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Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis

Affiliation.

1 Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence 66045-2160.
PMID: 1941512
DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.61.3.413

Three experiments tested whether empathy evokes egoistic motivation to share vicariously in the victim's joy at improvement (the empathic-joy hypothesis) instead of altruistic motivation to increase the victim's welfare (the empathy-altruism hypothesis). In Experiment 1, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy for a young woman in need were given a chance to help her. Some believed that if they helped they would receive feedback about her improvement; others did not. In Experiments 2 and 3, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy were given a choice of getting update information about a needy person's condition. Before choosing, they were told the likelihood of the person's condition having improved--and of their experiencing empathic joy--was 20%, was 50%, or was 80%. Results of none of the experiments patterned as predicted by the empathic-joy hypothesis; instead, results of each were consistent with the empathy-altruism hypothesis.

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Empathy Joy Hypothesis

The Empathy Joy hypothesis states that the reason for someone helping another in need are positive feelings associated with the altruistic behavior. Helping others is a reward in itself because it brings a person happiness and joy when they commit a helping behavior.

When confronted with a situation in which aid is needed a person is more likely to help if the victim is similar to themselves. The empathy joy hypothesis attempts to explain another reason why someone will help another person in need.

Similarity alone is not enough to induce someone to help a person. A helping response is more likely to occur when the helper will receive positive feedback and reap the rewards of their help.

Related terms:

Jefferson Scale of Empathy Health Profession Students’ version (JSPE-HPS)
Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE)
Batson’s Empathy Adjectives
Adolescent Empathy Spectrum Quotient (EQ)- Parent version
The Empathy Quotient (EQ)
The Empathy Quotient EQ
Children’s Empathy Quotient and Systemizing Quotient – Parent version
Empathy for Children Scale
Empathy-altruism

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The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology

In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.

The mission of positive psychology is to understand and foster the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish ( Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000 ). What role do positive emotions play in this mission? On first consideration, the answer seems simple: Positive emotions serve as markers of flourishing, or optimal well-being. Certainly moments in people's lives characterized by experiences of positive emotions—such as joy, interest, contentment, love, and the like—are moments in which they are not plagued by negative emotions—such as anxiety, sadness, anger, and despair. Consistent with this intuition, the overall balance of people's positive and negative emotions has been shown to predict their judgments of subjective well-being ( Diener, Sandvik, & Pavot, 1991 ). Building on this finding, Kahneman (1999) suggested that “objective happiness” can best be measured by tracking (and later aggregating) people's momentary experiences of good and bad feelings (but see Fredrickson, 2000c ). According to these perspectives, positive emotions signal flourishing. But this is not the whole story: Positive emotions also produce flourishing. Moreover, they do so not simply within the present, pleasant moment but over the long term as well. The take-home message is that positive emotions are worth cultivating, not just as end states in themselves but also as a means to achieving psychological growth and improved well-being over time.

A review of current perspectives on emotions, affect, and their respective functions provides an important backdrop. A selective review follows.

Perspectives on Emotions and Affect

Working definitions of emotions and affect vary somewhat across researchers. Yet despite ongoing debate (e.g., Diener, 1999 ; Ekman & Davidson, 1994 ), consensus is emerging that emotions are but a subset of the broader class of affective phenomena. Emotions, according to this perspective, are best conceptualized as multicomponent response tendencies that unfold over relatively short time spans. Typically, an emotion begins with an individual's assessment of the personal meaning of some antecedent event. This appraisal process may be either conscious or unconscious, and it triggers a cascade of response tendencies manifest across loosely coupled component systems, such as subjective experience, facial expression, cognitive processing, and physiological changes.

Affect, a more general concept, refers to consciously accessible feelings. Although affect is present within emotions (as the component of subjective experience), it is also present within many other affective phenomena, including physical sensations, attitudes, moods, and even affective traits. Thus, emotions are distinct from affect in multiple ways. First, emotions are typically about some personally meaningful circumstance (i.e., they have an object), whereas affect is often free-floating or objectless ( Oatley & Jenkins, 1996 ; Russell & Feldman Barrett, 1999 ; Ryff & Singer, in press ). Additionally, emotions are typically brief and implicate the multiple-component systems described above, whereas affect is often more long-lasting and may be salient only at the level of subjective experience ( Ekman, 1994 ; Rosenberg, 1998 ; Russell & Feldman Barrett, 1999 ). Finally, emotions are often conceptualized as fitting into discrete categories of emotion families, like fear, anger, joy, and interest. Affect, by contrast, is often conceptualized as varying along two dimensions, either pleasantness and activation ( Russell & Feldman Barrett, 1999 ) or positive and negative emotional activation ( Teilegen, Walson, & Clark, 1999 ).

Perspectives on the Functions of Affect and Emotions

Positive affect, according to numerous theorists, facilitates approach behavior ( Cacioppo, Gardner, & Berntson, 1999 ; Davidson, 1993 ; Watson, Wiese, Vaidya, & Teilegen, 1999 ) or continued action ( Carver & Scheier, 1990 ; Clore, 1994 ). From this perspective, experiences of positive affect prompt individuals to engage with their environments and partake in activities, many of which are adaptive for the individual, its species, or both. This link between positive affect and activity engagement provides an explanation for She often-documented positivity offset, or the tendency for individuals to experience mild positive affect frequently, even in neutral contexts ( Diener & Diener, 1996 ; Ito & Cacioppo, 1999 ). Without such an offset, individuals most often would be unmotivated to engage with their environments. Yet with such an offset, individuals exhibit the adaptive bias to approach and explore novel objects, people, or situations. (See Watson et al., 1999 , for a related explanation for diurnal patterns of positive emotional activation.)

Because positive emotions include a component of positive affect, they too function as internal signals to approach or continue. Even so, positive emotions share this function with a range of other positive affective states. Sensory pleasure, for instance, motivates people to approach and continue consuming whatever stimulus is biologically useful for them at the moment ( Cabanac, 1971 ). Likewise, free-floating positive moods motivate people to continue along any line of thinking or action that they have initiated ( Clore, 1994 ). As such, functional accounts of positive emotions that emphasize tendencies to approach or continue may only capture the lowest common denominator across all affective states that share a pleasant subjective feel, leaving additional functions unique to specific positive emotions uncharted.

Discrete emotion theorists often link the function of specific emotions to the concept of specific action tendencies ( Frijda, 1986 ; Frijda, Kuipers, & Schure, 1989 ; Lazarus, 1991 ; Levenson, 1994 ; Oatley & Jenkins, 1996 ; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990 ). Fear, for example, is linked with the urge to escape, anger with the urge to attack, disgust with the urge to expel, and so on. It is not that people invariably act out these urges when feeling particular emotions. Rather, people's ideas about possible courses of action narrow in on a specific set of behavioral options. A key idea from this perspective is that a specific action tendency is what makes an emotion evolutionarily adaptive: These are among the actions that presumably worked best in helping human ancestors survive life-or-death situations ( Tooby & Cosmides, 1990 ). Another key idea from trie specific emotions perspective is that specific action tendencies and physiological changes go hand in hand. So, for example, when someone experiences an urge to escape when feeling fear, that person's body reacts by mobilizing appropriate autonomic support for the possibility of running ( Levenson, 1994 ).

Although specific action tendencies have been invoked to describe the function of specific posiiive emotions as well, the action tendencies identified for positive emotions are notably vague and underspecified ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ). For instance, joy has been linked with aimless activation, interest with attending, and contentment with inactivity ( Frijda, 1986 ). These tendencies are far too general to be called specific ( Fredrickson, 1998 ). They resemble generic urges to do anything or do nothing more than urges to do something quite specific, like flee, attack, or spit. This is troublesome: If the action tendencies triggered by positive emotions are vague, their effects on survival may be inconsequential. So, like the view centered on generic approach tendencies, the view centered on specific action tendencies yields an incomplete analysis of the function of positive emotions.

The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions

To advance understanding in this area, I formulated a new theoretical model to better capture the unique effects of positive emotions. I call this the broaden-and-buiid theory of posiiive emotions ( Fredrickson, 1998 ). This theory states that certain discrete positive emotions—including joy, interest, contentment, pride, and love—although phenomenologically distinct, all share the ability to broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires and build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources.

I contrast this new theory (o traditional models based on specific action tendencies. Specific action tendencies work well to describe the function of negative emotions and should be retained for models of this subset of emotions. Without loss of theoretical nuance, a specific action tendency can be redescribed as the outcome of a psychological process that narrows a person's momentary thought–action repertoire by calling to mind an urge to act in a particular way (e.g., escape, attack, expel). In a life-threatening situation, a narrowed thought–action repertoire promotes quick and decisive action that carries direct and immediate benefit. Specific action tendencies called forth by negative emotions represent the sort of actions that likely worked best to save human ancestors' lives and limbs in similar situations.

Although positive emotions can occur in adverse circumstances, the typical context of positive emotions is not a life-threatening situation. As such, a psychological process that narrows a person's momentary thought-action repertoire to promote quick and decisive action may not be needed. Instead, the positive emotions of joy, interest, contentment, pride, and love appear to have a complementary effect: They broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, widening the array of the thoughts and actions that come to mind ( Fredrickson, 1998 ; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2001 ). Conceptual analyses of a range of positive emotions support this claim. Joy, for instance, broadens by creating the urge to play, push the limits, and be creative. These urges are evident not only in social and physical behavior, but also in intellectual and artistic behavior ( Ellsworth & Smith, 1988 ; Frijda, 1986 ). Interest, a phenomenologically distinct positive emotion, broadens by creating the urge to explore, take in new information and experiences, and expand the self in the process ( Csikszentmihalyi, 1990 ; Izard, 1977 ; Ryan & Deci, 2000 ; Tomkins, 1962 ). Contentment, a third distinct positive emotion, broadens by creating the urge to savor current life circumstances and integrate these circumstances into new views of self and of the world ( Izard, 1977 ). Pride, a fourth distinct positive emotion that follows personal achievements, broadens by creating the urge to share news of the achievement with others and to envision even greater achievements in the future ( Lewis, 1993 ). Love, conceptualized as an amalgam of distinct positive emotions (e.g., joy, interest, contentment) experienced within contexts of safe, close relationships ( Izard, 1977 ), broadens by creating recurring cycles of urges to play with, explore, and savor experiences with loved ones. These various thought-action tendencies—to play, to explore, to savor and integrate, or to envision future achievement—each represent ways that positive emotions broaden habitual modes of thinking or acting ( Fredrickson, 1998 , 2000a ; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2001 ).

In contrast to negative emotions, which carry direct and immediate adaptive benefits in situations that threaten survival, the broadened thought-action repertoires triggered by positive emotions are beneficial in other ways. Specifically, these broadened mindsets carry indirect and long-term adaptive benefits because broadening builds enduring personal resources, which function as reserves to be drawn on later to manage future threats.

Take play, the urge associated with joy, as an example. Animal research has found that specific forms of chasing play evident in juveniles of a species, like running into a flexible sapling or branch and catapulting oneself in an unexpected direction, are seen in adults of that species exclusively during predator avoidance ( Dolhinow, 1987 ). Such correspondences suggest that juvenile play builds enduring physical resources ( Boulton & Smith, 1992 ; Caro, 1988 ). Play also builds enduring social resources: Social play, with its shared amusement, excitement, and smiles, builds lasting social bonds and attachments ( Aron, Norman, Aron, McKenna, & Heyman, 2000 ; Lee, 1983 ; Simons, McCluskey-Fawcett, & Papini, 1986 ), which can become the locus of subsequent social support. Childhood play also builds enduring intellectual resources by increasing levels of creativity ( Sherrod & Singer, 1989 ), creating theory of mind ( Leslie, 1987 ), and fueling brain development ( Panksepp, 1998 ). Other positive emotions, like interest, contentment, pride, and love, similarly augment individuals' personal resources, ranging from physical and social resources to intellectual and psychological resources. (Fuller descriptions of the broaden-and-build theory are available in Fredrickson, 1998 , 2000a , in press ; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2001 .)

It is important to note that the personal resources accrued during states of positive emotions are conceptualized as durable. They outlast the transient emotional states that led to their acquisition. By consequence, then, the often incidental effect of experiencing a positive emotion is an increase in one's personal resources. These resources function as reserves that can be drawn on in subsequent moments and in different emotional states.

In short, the broaden-and-build theory describes the form of positive emotions in terms of broadened thought–action repertoires and describes their function in terms of building enduring personal resources. In doing so, the theory provides a new perspective on the evolved adaptive significance of positive emotions. Human ancestors who succumbed to the urges sparked by positive emotions to play, explore, and so on would have by consequence accrued more personal resources. When these same ancestors later faced inevitable threats to life and limb, their greater personal resources would have translated into greater odds of survival, and, in turn, greater odds of living long enough to reproduce. To the extent, then, that the capacity to experience positive emotions is genetically encoded, this capacity, through the process of natural selection, would have become part of universal human nature.

Evidence for the Broaden-and-Build Theory

Empirical support for several key propositions of the broaden-and-build theory can be drawn from multiple sub-disciplines within psychology, ranging from cognition and intrinsic motivation to attachment styles and animal behavior (for a review, see Fredrickson, 1998 ). This evidence suggests that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention, cognition, and action and that they build physical, intellectual, and social resources. Yet much of this evidence, because it predated the broaden-and-build theory, provides only indirect support for the model. My collaborators and I have since initiated direct tests of hypotheses drawn from the broaden-and-build theory. Although much work remains to be done, I briefly describe our preliminary findings here. My hope is that this initial evidence will cultivate interest among readers to conduct further studies on positive emotions that may serve to test and refine the broaden-and-build theory ( Fredrickson, 2000b ).

Positive Emotions Broaden Thought-Action Repertoires

Foundational evidence for the proposition that positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires comes from two decades of experiments conducted by Isen and colleagues (for a review, see Isen, 2000 ). They have documented that people experiencing positive affect show patterns of thought that are notably unusual ( Isen, Johnson, Mertz, & Robinson, 1985 ), flexible ( Isen & Daubman, 1984 ), creative ( Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987 ), integrative ( Isen, Rosenzweig, & Young, 1991 ), open to information ( Estrada, Isen, & Young, 1997 ), and efficient ( Isen & Means, 1983 ; Isen et al., 1991 ). They have also shown that those experiencing positive affect show an increased preference for variety and accept a broader array of behavioral options ( Kahn & Isen, 1993 ). In general terms, Isen has suggested that positive affect produces a “broad, flexible cognitive organization and ability to integrate diverse material” ( Isen, 1990 , p. 89), effects recently linked to increases in brain dopamine levels ( Ashby, Isen, & Turken, 1999 ). So although Isen's work does not target specific positive emotions or thought-action tendencies per se, it provides the strongest evidence that positive affect broadens cognition. Whereas negative emotions have long been known to narrow people's attention, making them miss the forest for the trees (or the suspect's style of dress for the gun), recent work suggests that positive affect may expand attention ( Derryberry & Tucker, 1994 ). The evidence comes from studies that use global-local visual processing paradigms to assess biases in attentional focus. Negative states—like anxiety, depression, and failure—predict local biases consistent with narrowed attention, whereas positive states—like subjective well-being, optimism, and success—predict global biases consistent with broadened attention ( Basso, Schefft, Ris, & Dember, 1996 ; Derryberry & Tucker, 1994 ).

These findings provide initial empirical footing for the hypothesis, drawn from the broaden-and-build theory, that distinct types of positive emotions serve to broaden people's momentary thought–action repertoires, whereas distinct types of negative emotions serve to narrow these same repertoires. With Christine Branigan, I tested this broadening hypothesis by showing research participants short, emotionally evocative film clips to induce the specific emotions of joy, contentment, fear, and anger. We also used a nonemotional film clip as a neutral control condition. Immediately following each film clip, we measured the breadth of participants' thought–action repertoires. We asked them to step away from the specifics of the film and imagine being in a situation in which similar feelings would arise. We then asked them to list what they would like to do right then, given this feeling. Participants recorded their responses on up to 20 blank lines that began with the phrase “I would like to.”

Tallying the things each participant listed, Branigan and I found support for the broadening hypothesis. Participants in the two positive emotions conditions (joy and contentment) identified more things that they would like to do right then relative to those in the two negative emotion conditions (fear and anger) and, more important, relative to those in the neutral control condition. Those in the two negative emotion conditions also named fewer things than did those in the neutral control condition ( Fredrickson & Branigan, 2000 ).

These data provide preliminary evidence that two distinct types of positive emotion—a high activation state of joy and a low activation state of contentment—each produce a broader thought-action repertoire than does a neutral state. Likewise, two distinct types of negative emotion—fear and anger—each produce a narrower thought-action repertoire than does a neutral state. This pattern of results supports a core proposition of the broaden-and-build theory: that distinct positive emotions widen the array of thoughts and actions that come to mind. By contrast, distinct negative emotions, as models based on specific action tendencies would suggest, shrink this same array.

Despite this encouraging initial evidence, many questions arise: Do other positive and negative emotions (e.g., interest, pride, love and sadness, disgust) conform to these effects? Do the effects generalize to other measures of broadened cognition? If so, what basic cognitive processes underlie this phenomenon? Do distinct positive emotions broaden (and distinct negative emotions narrow) the scope of attention or the scope of working memory? What are the neurological underpinnings? Are these effects mediated by changing levels of circulating brain dopamine, as Ashby and colleagues (1999) have suggested? What brain structures, circuits, and processes are involved? Finally, how are broadened thought–action repertoires translated into decisions and action? These and other questions provide directions for future work.

Positive Emotions Undo Lingering Negative Emotions

Evidence for the broadening hypothesis has clear implications for the strategies that people use to regulate their experiences of negative emotions. If negative emotions narrow the momentary thought–action repertoire and positive emotions broaden this same repertoire, then positive emotions ought to function as efficient antidotes for the lingering effects of negative emotions. In other words, positive emotions might correct or undo the after effects of negative emotions; my colleagues and I call this the undoing hypothesis ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ; Fredrickson, Mancuso, Branigan, & Tugade, in press ). The basic observation that positive emotions (or key components of them) are somehow incompatible with negative emotions is not new and has been demonstrated in earlier work on anxiety disorders (e.g., systematic desensitization; Wolpe, 1958 ), motivation (e.g., opponent-process theory; Solomon & Corbit, 1974 ), and aggression (e.g., principle of incompatible responses; Baron, 1976 ). Even so, the precise mechanism ultimately responsible for this incompatibility has not been adequately identified. The broadening function of positive emotions may play a role. By broadening a person's momentary thought–action repertoire, a positive emotion may loosen the hold that a negative emotion has gained on that person's mind and body by dismantling or undoing preparation for specific action.

One marker of the specific action tendencies associated with negative emotions is increased cardiovascular activity, which redistributes blood flow to relevant skeletal muscles. In the context of negative emotions, then, positive emotions should speed recovery from or undo this cardiovascular reactivity, returning the body to more midrange levels of activation. By accelerating cardiovascular recovery, positive emotions create the bodily context suitable for pursuing the broader array of thoughts and actions called forth.

My collaborators and I tested this undoing hypothesis by first inducing a high-activation negative emotion in all participants ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ; Fredrickson et al., in press ). In one study ( Fredrickson et al., in press ), we used a time-pressured speech preparation task. In just one minute, participants prepared a speech on the topic “Why you are a good friend,” believing that their speech would be videotaped and evaluated by their peers. This speech task induced the subjective experience of anxiety along with increases in heart rate, peripheral vasoconstriction, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Into this context of anxiety-related sympathetic arousal, we randomly assigned participants to view one of four films. Two films elicited mild positive emotions (joy and contentment), and a third served as a neutral control condition. Notably, these three films, when viewed following a resting baseline, elicit virtually no cardiovascular reactivity ( Fredrickson et al., in press ). So the two positive-emotion films used in this study are indistinguishable from neutrality with respect to cardiovascular changes. Our fourth film elicited sadness. We chose sadness as an additional comparison because, among the negative emotions, it has not been definitively linked to a high-energy action tendency, and thus it could be a contender for speeding cardiovascular recovery.

The undoing hypothesis predicts that those who experience positive emotions on the heels of a high-activation negative emotion will show the fastest cardiovascular recovery. My colleagues and I tested this by measuring the time elapsed from the start of the randomly assigned film until the cardiovascular reactions induced by the negative emotion returned to baseline levels. In three independent samples, participants in the two positive emotion conditions (joy and contentment) exhibited faster cardiovascular recovery than did those in the neutral control condition. Participants in the sadness condition exhibited the most protracted recovery ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ; Fredrickson et al., in press ).

Although the two positive-emotion films and the neutral film did not differ in what they do to the cardiovascular system, these data suggest that they do differ in what they can undo within this system. Two distinct types of positive emotions—mild joy and contentment—share the ability to undo the lingering cardiovascular aftereffects of negative emotions. Although the precise cognitive and physiological mechanisms of the undoing effect remain unknown, the broaden-and-build theory suggests that broadening at the cognitive level mediates undoing at the cardiovascular level. Phenomenologically, positive emotions may help people place the events in their lives in broader context, lessening the resonance of any particular negative event. Perhaps pointing to physiological markers of broadening effects, some have suggested that parasympathetic cardiac control (measured as heart rate variability or respiratory sinus arrhythmia) underlies positive emotions as well as the ability to regulate negative emotions ( Fox, 1989 ; McCraty, Atkinson, Tiller, Rein, & Watkins, 1995 ; Porges, 1995 ). Testing these suggestions and extending the work to other emotions and other contexts provide a road map for future research.

Positive Emotions Fuel Psychological Resiliency

Evidence for the undoing effect of positive emotions suggests that people might improve their psychological well-being, and perhaps also their physical health, by cultivating experiences of positive emotions at opportune moments to cope with negative emotions ( Fredrickson, 2000a ). Folkman and colleagues have made similar claims that experiences of positive affect during chronic stress help people cope ( Folkman, 1997 ; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000 ; Lazarus, Kanner, & Folkman, 1980 ). Evidence supporting this claim can be drawn from experiments showing that positive affect facilitates attention to negative, self-relevant information ( Reed & Aspinwall, 1998 ; Trope & Neter, 1994 ; Trope & Pomerantz, 1998 ; for a review, see Aspinwall, 1998 ). Extrapolating from these findings, Aspinwall (2001) described how positive affect and positive beliefs serve as resources for people coping with adversity (see also Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997 ; Taylor, Kemeny, Reed, Bower, & Gruenewald, 2000 ).

It seems plausible that some individuals, more than others, might intuitively understand and use the benefits of positive emotions to their advantage. One candidate individual difference is psychological resilience. Resilient individuals are said to bounce back from stressful experiences quickly and efficiently, just as resilient metals bend but do not break ( Carver, 1998 ; Lazarus, 1993 ). This theoretical definition of resilience suggests that, relative to their less resilient peers, resilient individuals would exhibit faster cardiovascular recovery following a high-activation negative emotion. Additionally, the broaden-and-build theory suggests that this ability to bounce back to cardiovascular baseline may be fueled by experiences of positive emotion.

With Michele Tugade, I tested these two hypotheses about resilient individuals using the same time-pressured speech preparation task (described earlier) to induce a high-activation negative emotion. We measured psychological resilience using Block and Kremen's (1996) self-report scale. It is interesting to note that resilience did not predict the levels of anxiety participants reported experiencing during the speech task or the magnitude of their cardiovascular reactions to the stressful task, both of which were considerable. Resilience did, however, predict participants' reports of positive emotions. Before the speech task was even introduced, more resilient individuals reported higher levels of preexisting positive affect on an initial mood measure. When later asked how they felt during the time-pressured speech preparation phase, more resilient individuals reported that alongside their high anxiety, they also experienced higher levels of happiness and interest.

As predicted by the theoretical definition of psychological resilience, more resilient participants exhibited significantly faster returns to baseline levels of cardiovascular activation following the speech task. Moreover, as predicted by the broaden-and-build theory, this difference in time needed to achieve cardiovascular recovery was mediated by differences in positive emotions ( Tugade & Fredrickson, 2000 ).

These data suggest that positive emotions may fuel psychological resilience. In effect, then, resilient individuals may be—wittingly or unwittingly—expert users of the undoing effect of positive emotions. Again, questions arise from this initial study: Do resilient individuals intentionally recruit positive emotions to cope? If so, how do they do it? Folkman and Moskowitz (2000) identified three kinds of coping that can generate positive affect during stressful circumstances: positive reappraisal, problem-focused coping, and the infusion of ordinary events with positive meaning. Do resilient individuals use any or all of these strategies? If so, can these strategies be taught to less resilient individuals? Finally, do resilient individuals think more broadly, as the broaden-and-build theory would suggest? If so, does broadened thinking enable people to find positive meaning within adversity? Again, these remaining questions provide directions for future work.

Positive Emotions Build Psychological Resiliency and Trigger Upward Spirals Toward Improved Emotional Well-Being

Preliminary evidence suggests that positive emotions may fuel individual differences in resilience. Noting that psychological resilience is an enduring personal resource, the broaden-and-build theory makes the bolder prediction that experiences of positive emotions might also, over time, build psychological resilience, not just reflect it. That is, to the extent that positive emotions broaden the scopes of attention and cognition, enabling flexible and creative thinking, they should also augment people's enduring coping resources ( Aspinwall, 1998 , 2001 ; Isen, 1990 ). In turn, by building this psychological resource, positive emotions should enhance people's subsequent emotional well-being. Consistent with this view, studies have shown that people who experience positive emotions during bereavement are more likely to develop long-term plans and goals. Together with positive emotions, plans and goals predict greater psychological well-being 12 months postbereavement ( Stein, Folkman, Trabasso, & Richards, 1997 ; for related work, see Bonanno & Keltner, 1997 ; Keltner & Bonanno, 1997 ). One way people experience positive emotions in the face of adversity is by finding positive meaning in ordinary events and within the adversity itself ( Affleck & Tennen, 1996 ; Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000 ; Fredrickson, 2000a ). It is important to note that the relation between positive meaning and positive emotions is considered reciprocal: Not only does finding positive meaning trigger positive emotion, but also positive emotions, because they broaden thinking, should increase the likelihood of finding positive meaning in subsequent events ( Fredrickson, 2000a ).

These suspected reciprocal relations among positive emotions, broadened thinking, and positive meaning suggest that over time the effects of positive emotions should accumulate and compound. The broadened attention and cognition triggered by earlier experiences of positive emotion should facilitate coping with adversity, and this improved coping should predict future experiences of positive emotion. As this cycle continues, people build their psychological resilience and enhance their emotional well-being.

The cognitive literature on depression has already documented a downward spiral in which depressed mood and the narrowed, pessimistic thinking it engenders influence one another reciprocally, over time leading to ever-worsening moods and even clinical levels of depression ( Peterson & Seligman, 1984 ). The broaden-and-build theory predicts a comparable upward spiral in which positive emotions and the broadened thinking they engender also influence one another reciprocally, leading to appreciable increases in emotional well-being over time. Positive emotions may trigger these upward spirals, in part by building resilience and influencing the ways people cope with adversity. (For a complementary discussion of upward spirals, see Aspinwall, 1998 , 2001 .)

With Thomas Joiner, I conducted an initial prospective test of the hypothesis that through cognitive broadening, positive emotions produce an upward spiral toward enhanced emotional well-being. We assessed positive and negative emotions, as well as a concept we called broad-minded coping , at two time points, five weeks apart. Broad-minded coping was tapped by items such as “think of different ways to deal with the problem” and “try to step back from the situation and be more objective.”

Our data revealed clear evidence for an upward spiral. Individuals who experienced more positive emotions than others became more resilient to adversity over time, as indexed by increases in broad-minded coping. In turn, these enhanced coping skills predicted increased positive emotions over time ( Fredrickson & Joiner, 2000 ).

These findings suggest that positive emotions and broad-minded coping mutually build on one another. Not only do positive emotions make people feel good in the present, but also, through their effects on broadened thinking, positive emotions increase the likelihood that people will feel good in the future. Because broad-minded coping is a form of psychological resilience, these data are consistent with the prediction, drawn from the broaden-and-build theory, that momentary experiences of positive emotion can build enduring psychological resources and trigger upward spirals toward enhanced emotional well-being.

Again, many questions arise from these data. Does this upward spiral effect hold over longer time intervals and across other measures of well-being and broadening? What are the mechanisms of the effect? Do positive emotions beget future positive emotions because the broadened thinking associated with earlier positive emotions helps people solve their original problems, or because this broadened thinking enables people to find positive meaning in other life circumstances and thus experience additional positive emotions? Future studies, including experimental designs, are needed to answer these questions.

Concluding Remarks

What role do positive emotions play within positive psychology? Traditional views would suggest that experiences of positive emotion signal well-being and perhaps guide behavior in the moment. Without minimizing the importance of these functions, the broaden-and-build theory casts positive emotions in a much larger role. The theory suggests that positive emotions, although fleeting, also have more long-lasting consequences. From the perspective of the broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions are vehicles for individual growth and social connection: By building people's personal and social resources, positive emotions transform people for the better, giving them better lives in the future.

More specifically, the broaden-and-build theory suggests that multiple, discrete positive emotions are essential elements of optimal functioning. As such, the capacities to experience joy, interest, contentment, and love might be construed as fundamental human strengths that yield multiple, interrelated benefits ( Fredrickson, 2000e ). My own research outlines a small subset of these benefits. Specifically, I have shown that positive emotions (a) broaden people's thought–action repertoires ( Fredrickson & Branigan, 2000 ), (b) undo lingering negative emotions ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ; Fredrickson et al., in press ), (c) fuel psychological resilience ( Tugade & Fredrickson, 2000 ), and (d) build psychological resilience and trigger upward spirals toward enhanced emotional well-being ( Fredrickson & Joiner, 2000 ). Complementing this work, two new perspectives highlight the lasting personal and social benefits of the positive emotions of gratitude ( McCullough, Kil-patrick, Emmons, & Larson, 2001 ; see also Fredrickson, 2000d ) and elevation ( Haidt, 2000 ). I hope these initial findings inspire the further investigations of positive emotions that are needed to test, refine, uphold, or discard the broaden-and-build theory, which in turn will advance positive psychology.

One topic in particular need of study is the long-held but scantly supported hypothesis that positive emotions foster physical health (for reviews, see Ryff & Singer, 1998 ; Salovey, Rothman, Detweiler, & Steward, 2000 ). For instance, negative emotions, with their heightened and often prolonged cardiovascular activation, have been implicated in the etiology of coronary heart disease ( Blascovich & Katkin, 1993 ; Fredrickson et al., 2000 ; Williams, Barefoot, & Shekelle, 1985 ). If positive emotions shorten the duration of negative emotional arousal, perhaps they may also slow the incremental progression toward disease ( Fredrickson & Levenson, 1998 ). Relaxation techniques are known to reduce blood pressure in hypertensive adults ( Blumenthal, 1985 ; Schneider et al., 1995 ), and they may do so precisely because they capitalize on the broadening and undoing effects of contentment ( Fredrickson, 2000a ). Additionally, Ryff and Singer (1998) suggested that physical health depends on having quality connections to others and leading a life of purpose. Recent evidence seems to support this assertion. For instance, people who consistently experienced positive emotions with their parents as children and then later with their spouses as adults were less than half as likely as others to exhibit high levels of cumulative wear and tear on the body ( Ryff, Singer, Wing, & Love, in press ). Similarly, in a longitudinal study of 2,282 older Mexican Americans, those who reported high positive affect, compared with those with less positive affect, were half as likely to have become disabled or to have died during a two-year follow-up ( Ostir, Markides, Black, & Goodwin, 2000 ). These new findings, although somewhat isolated, underscore the message that positive emotions may be essential for optimizing both psychological and physical functioning ( Fredrickson, 2000a ).

Yet the benefits of positive emotions identified thus far are likely just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. As the positive psychology movement inspires additional research on positive emotions, even more reasons to cultivate positive emotions may be discovered.

Acknowledgments

My research on positive emotions is supported by Grants MH53971 and MH59615 from the National Institute of Mental Health, a Rackham Faculty Grant and Fellowship from the University of Michigan, and funds from the John Templeton Foundation.

Barbara L. Fredrickson

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DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.61.3.413
Corpus ID: 21566717

Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis.

C. Batson , Judy G. Batson , +3 authors R. Todd
Published in Journal of Personality and… 1 September 1991

558 Citations

Reinterpreting the empathy-altruism relationship: when one into one equals oneness., empathic joy in positive intergroup relations, considering others in need: on altruism, empathy and perspective taking.

Highly Influenced

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Empathy avoidance: forestalling feeling for another in order to escape the motivational consequences., do we feel the same empathy for loved and hated peers, similarity and nurturance: two possible sources of empathy for strangers, evidence for altruism: toward a pluralism of prosocial motives, trait conscientiousness and agreeableness in relation to positive and negative mood self-perceived altruism, empathic anger and personal anger in response to fairness violations: relations to self and other-oriented motivation and behavior, 19 references, more evidence that empathy is a source of altruistic motivation., is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation, social evaluation and the empathy-altruism hypothesis., empathy-based helping: is it selflessly or selfishly motivated, five studies testing two new egoistic alternatives to the empathy-altruism hypothesis., distress and empathy: two qualitatively distinct vicarious emotions with different motivational consequences., empathy, sadness, and distress: three related but distinct vicarious affective responses to another's suffering., empathy and its development, the altruism question: toward a social-psychological answer, keeping track of needs in communal and exchange relationships., related papers.

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Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

Empathy-altruism hypothesis definition.

The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that feelings of empathy for another person produce an altruistic motivation to increase that person’s welfare. In the empathy-altruism hypothesis, the term empathy refers to feelings of compassion, sympathy, tenderness, and the like. Altruism refers to a motivational state in which the goal is to increase another person’s welfare as an end in itself. (Altruistic acts are what are ordinarily called “good deeds.”) Note that this definition of altruism is different from the typical usage of the term, which is usually defined to mean an act of helping that involves considerable personal costs to the helper. Overall, the empathy-altruism hypothesis has generated a large body of research that answers important questions about why people help and fail to help, and offers insights into the roles played by different types of motives underlying human social behavior.

Background and Importance of Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

Evidence and Alternative Explanations of Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

The empathy-altruism hypothesis predicts that those feeling high levels of empathy for a person in need will be more likely to help than will those feeling less empathy. This prediction is well supported by research. However, a number of egoistic alternative explanations have been proposed to explain these findings. For example, those feeling high levels of empathy may feel more distress and, consequently, may be more likely to help because they are egoistically motivated to reduce their own distress. Another possibility is that those feeling high levels of empathy are more likely to help because they are more egoistically motivated to avoid feeling bad about themselves or looking bad in the eyes of others should they fail to help. Similarly, those feeling high levels of empathy may be more likely to help because they are more egoistically motivated to feel good about themselves or to look good in the eyes of others should they help. Determining whether these and other egoistic explanations can explain the high rates of helping among those feeling high levels of empathy has generated much scientific debate and empirical research. With few exceptions, evidence from dozens of experiments over the past 30 years has provided support for the empathy-altruism hypothesis over all the available egoistic explanations and, by extension, for the claim that humans are indeed capable of altruism.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis Implications

In addition to investigating the nature of the motivation associated with empathy, researchers studying the empathy-altruism hypothesis have discovered a number of other interesting phenomena. For example, those feeling high levels of empathy tend to experience more negative mood than those feeling low levels of empathy when their attempt to help the person for whom empathy is felt is unsuccessful. These findings suggest that feeling high levels of empathy for others may lead to negative outcomes for those feeling empathy when altruistic goals are unattainable. Other findings show that those feeling high levels of empathy tend to behave unjustly or are willing to harm the welfare of a group to which they belong when such behavior will benefit a person for whom empathy is felt. These findings demonstrate that, at least under certain conditions, altruism can undermine other prosocial objectives, such as maintaining justice or working for the common good.

Although altruism at times may be harmful to those feeling empathy, it does appear to be very beneficial to those individuals for whom empathy is felt. For example, research shows that individuals who feel high levels of empathy will actually avoid helping the person for whom empathy is felt in the short term when doing so promotes the long-term welfare of that individual. These findings suggest that altruistically motivated individuals may be more sensitive to the needs of those for whom empathy is felt compared to individuals who are not altruistically motivated to help. Finally, leading individuals to feel empathy for members of stigmatized or disadvantaged groups appears to produce not only a tendency to help members of those groups, but also promotes positive attitudes toward the groups as a whole. These findings suggest that empathy may be useful for reducing prejudice and discrimination.

The available research offers strong support for the claim that humans are indeed capable of altruism. Even though altruism appears to be beneficial to individuals for whom empathy is felt, it may lead to negative outcomes for the altruistically motivated person in some circumstances. Also, altruism may lead helpers to benefit the person for whom empathy is felt at the expense of others. Although the debate over human altruism may not be completely resolved any time soon, the empathy-altruism hypothesis nonetheless presents an intriguing and complex picture of human motivation worthy of continued scientific attention.

References:

Batson, C. D. (1991). The altruism question: Towards a social-psychological answer. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry, 2, 107-122.

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 .

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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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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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What Is Joy and What Does It Say About Us?

An interview with dr. pamela king on the meaning and depth of joy..

Posted July 28, 2020 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

What is joy? It is not mere happiness , but it is also not devoid of it. Joy is a core human experience, but we often don't understand the true depth of its meaning in our lives.

Through her research, Pamela Ebstyne King , Ph.D., has sought to understand joy. She is the Peter L. Benson Associate Professor of Applied Developmental Science at the Thrive Center for Human Development in the School of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her primary academic interests focus on the intersection of human thriving, moral, and spiritual development. King is coauthor of The Reciprocating Self: Human Development in Theological Perspective , and co-editor of The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence . Her research has been published in various journals such as Developmental Psychology , Psychology of Religion and Spirituality , Applied Developmental Science , Journal of Research on Adolescence , Journal of Positive Psychology , and The Journal of Psychology and Theology . She is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA.

This is Part 1 of a two-part interview with Dr. Pamela King; you can find Part 2 of this series, along with all other Hope + Resilience posts, here .

Jamie Aten: How did you first get interested in this topic?

Pamela Ebstyne King: Pre-COVID 19, the phrase, “the pursuit of happiness,” captured many Americans’ aim in life. Who doesn’t want to be happy? Who doesn’t want their children to be happy? That said, through my research in the last two decades on human thriving, I have noticed that happiness can be a fleeting feeling that might accompany a slice of pizza and passes as soon as I digest it! As a developmental psychologist, I have interviewed and studied exemplary and ordinary lives. I have observed that many people have an enduring and underlying sense of something that is deeper than the emotion of happiness, and I have come to describe this as joy. In my study of joy, I have also noticed that joy is more complex than a feeling or an emotion. It is something one can practice, cultivate, or make a habit. Consequently, I suggest that joy is most fully understood as a virtue that involves our thoughts, feelings, and actions in response to what matters most in our lives. Thus, joy is an enduring, deep delight in what holds the most significance.

JA: What was the focus of your study?

PEK: Given that joy has been grossly overlooked by psychologists, this was not a typical research project of collecting and analyzing data. My intention was to define joy and propose a framework for future research. The fact that joy is understudied is surprising. It’s a core part of being human. We have all experienced joy—both the overwhelming and animating experiences of joy that may surprise and overtake us and the calm, and the enduring joy, which sustains us. Generally, we want more of it. We’ve all yelped, shouted, or smiled in delight upon hearing good news about our health or the health of a loved one, finding a lost, precious object, or accomplishing something meaningful. These experiences bring life meaning and continue to motivate and direct us. That said, there have been no real clear theories or research that explain what prompts this kind of deep joy, nor have we had a framework for distinguishing joy from delight, fun, happiness, or thrill. Most people associate joy with goodness—good experiences, relationships, or objects. But what qualifies as the kind of “good” that produces life-altering, enduring joy?

JA: What did you discover in your study?

PEK: A helpful way of thinking about joy is understanding what matters most in human life. Reviewing philosophical, theological, and psychological approaches, I identified three areas that deeply inform joy. They are (1) growing in authenticity and living more into one’s strengths, (2) growing in depth of relationships and contributing to others, and (3) living more aligned with one’s ethical and spiritual ideals. I hypothesize that the more one is able to live a strength-based life, reciprocate relationships with others, and live with moral coherency, the more joy one will experience in life. This suggests that joy is not just an individual pursuit, but one that deeply involves our connections with others. We can discover and experience joy in a variety of ways—doing those things we love to do, growing in intimacy or providing for others, and clarifying and coherently pursuing our values. When these domains of the self, others, and values overlap, that is perhaps when we experience the most joy.

JA: Is there anything that surprised you in your findings, or that you weren't fully expecting?

PEK: Joy is really complex! This work helped me realize how joy and sorrow are deeply connected. Both are a response to those things that matter most. Joy is our delight when we experience, celebrate, and anticipate the manifestation of those things we hold with the most significance—like a birth or graduation. Sorrow is our response to the violation, destruction, or deterioration of such sacred things. This perspective helps us understand why the loss of human life due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the devaluing of human life evident in structural racism leave many grieving and in such profound sorrow. However, this complexity also informs how we can experience joy and sorrow at the same time, how true joy that is tied to our potential to grow as an individual and relate and give to others, and how our values can endure in the face of loss and suffering. The trick is to stay connected to those things that deeply matter in the face of adversity and loss.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this series, along with all other Hope + Resilience posts, here .

Follow Dr. Pam King on Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn , or ResearchGate .

Dr. Pam King’s current research includes studies on environments that promote thriving and on the nature and function of spiritual development in diverse adolescents and emerging adults. She has extensively studied and written on conceptualizations of thriving and positive youth development.

King, P. E. (2019). Joy Distinguished: Teleological Perspectives of Joy as a Virtue. Journal of Positive Psychology , 15:1, 33-39, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2019.1685578

King, P. E., & Defoy, F. (2020). Joy as a Virtue: The Means and Ends of Joy. Journal of Psychology and Theology . https://doi.org/10.1177/0091647120907994

King, P. E. & Argue, S. (2020). # joyonpurpose : Finding joy on purpose. In D. White and S. Farmer (Eds). Joy as Guide to Youth Ministry . Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Yale Divinity School: Dr. Pamela Ebstyne King on Purpose and Joy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT8SzeJWM94

Jamie Aten , Ph.D. , is the founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College.

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Empathic Joy Hypothesis

Empathic Joy Hypothesis is the proposal that prosocial behavior is motivated by the positive empathetic feelings that result from helping a person in need feel better.

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What is Empathic-Joy Hypothesis
Fourteen of the highest fit hypotheses for joy. Each hypothesis is from
Fourteen of the highest fit hypotheses for joy. Each hypothesis is from

COMMENTS

Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis
Abstract. Three experiments tested whether empathy evokes egoistic motivation to share vicariously in the victim's joy at improvement (the empathic-joy hypothesis) instead of altruistic motivation to increase the victim's welfare (the empathy-altruism hypothesis). In Experiment 1, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy for a young woman ...
The Pleasure of Empathic Joy
Three additional experiments conducted to test the empathic-joy hypothesis found no support. Results instead consistently patterned as predicted by the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Again, it seemed time to accept the altruism hypothesis, but again acceptance was premature. Others researchers suggested three new possibilities.
Empathy Joy Hypothesis Definition & Meaning
The Empathy Joy hypothesis states that the reason for someone helping another in need are positive feelings associated with the altruistic behavior. Helping others is a reward in itself because it brings a person happiness and joy when they commit a helping behavior. When confronted with a situation in which aid is needed a person.
The Role of Positive Emotions in Positive Psychology
Joy, for instance, broadens by creating the urge to play, push the limits, and be creative. ... These findings provide initial empirical footing for the hypothesis, drawn from the broaden-and-build theory, that distinct types of positive emotions serve to broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, whereas distinct types of ...
Empathy Joy Hypothesis definition
The Empathy Joy hypothesis states that the reason for someone helping another in need are positive feelings associated with the altruistic behavior. Helping others is a reward in itself because it brings a person happiness and joy when they commit a helping behavior. When confronted with a situation in which aid is needed a person is more ...
3 The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: What and So What?
The significance of the latter possibility depends on what you think altruism is. If, like most behavioral and social scientists, you think of it as personally costly helping—or as helping to gain self-administered rewards such as a warm glow or avoidance of guilt—the existence of altruism cannot be doubted.
The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: Issues and Implications
This chapter focuses on the empathy-altruism hypothesis, a study which claims that altruistic motivation is the result of empathic concern. It presents the egoism-altruism debate, which led to the revelation that empathy is the most likely altruistic motivation source, as well as four principles which help in testing the hypothesis.
Joy as a Virtue: The Means and Ends of Joy
Abstract. To grasp human flourishing and thriving, we must understand joy. However, no theoretical models explain the complexity of joy as a fruit of the Spirit, nor fully account for its impact on human life. We suggest that joy is best conceptualized as a virtue, a psychological habit, comprised of characteristic adaptations and given meaning ...
Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis.
Three experiments with 252 college students (198 female) tested whether empathy evokes egoistic motivation to share vicariously in the victim's joy at improvement (the empathic-joy hypothesis) instead of altruistic motivation to increase the victim's welfare (the empathy-altruism hypothesis). In Exp 1, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy for a young woman in need were given a chance ...
Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis
Results of none of the experiments patterned as predicted by the empathic-joy hypothesis; instead, results of each were consistent with the empathy-altruism hypothesis. Three experiments tested whether empathy evokes egoistic motivation to share vicariously in the victim's joy at improvement (the empathic-joy hypothesis) instead of altruistic motivation to increase the victim's welfare (the ...
The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
The empathy-altruism hypothesis takes the motivational conceptions of altruism and egoism seriously. And, importantly, it challenges the dominant exclusive egoism view by proposing that empathic concern produces altruistic motivation. In the empathy-altruism hypothesis, empathic concern refers to other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent ...
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis Definition The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that feelings of empathy for another person produce an altruistic motivation to increase that person's welfare. In the empathy-altruism hypothesis, the term empathy refers to feelings of compassion, sympathy, tenderness, and the like. Altruism refers to a motivational state in which the goal is to increase another ...
The Logic of the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
In other contexts, the empathy-altruism hypothesis is said to have rather different sorts of implications. For example, in testing the empathic-joy hypothesis (a version of the empa-thy-specific reward hypothesis, which in turn is a version of egoism), Batson and Shaw follow Smith, Keating, and Stotland (1989) in reasoning that the empathy ...
The Neurology of Joy: Understanding the Brain's Happiness Circuit
The neurology of joy is a fascinating area of study that reveals the intricate workings of our brain's emotional and reward systems. By understanding the brain regions and neurotransmitters involved in joy, we can develop strategies to enhance our happiness and overall well-being. Whether through mindfulness meditation, physical exercise, or ...
The empathy-altruism hypothesis: What and so what?
The empathy-altruism hypothesis offers an affirmative answer to this question. It claims that empathic concern (defined as "other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of another in need") produces altruistic motivation ("a motivational state with the ultimate goal of increasing the other's welfare"). ...
39 Empathy and Altruism
Psychology has long assumed that everything humans do, no matter how nice and noble, is motivated by self-interest. However, research over the past three decades suggests that this assumption is wrong. This research has focused on the empathy—altruism hypothesis, which claims that empathic concern—an other-oriented emotional response ...
The Empathy‐Altruism Hypothesis: What It Is and Why It ...
The empathy-altruism hypothesis predicts that empathically aroused individuals will report negative mood change after an unsuccessful attempt to help, even if the failure is fully justified. Two ...
Full article: Joy: An introduction to this special issue
Joy may be hard to define, but through the ages sages have contended that we know it when we experience it, and we know it when we lose it. ... The crown of the good life: A hypothesis. In M. Volf & J. E. Crisp (Eds.), Joy and human flourishing: Essays on theology, culture, and the good life (pp. 127-136). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Empathy-altruism
Empathy-altruism is a form of altruism based on moral emotions or feelings for others.. Social exchange theory represents a seemingly altruistic behavior benefits the altruist that outweighs the cost the altruist bears and thus such behavior is self-interested. In contrast, C. Daniel Batson holds that people help others in need out of genuine concern for the well-being of the other person. [1]
Psychology of Happiness: A Summary of the Theory & Research
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.
Altruism reconsidered: The effect of denying feedback on a victim's
Th empathy-altruism hypothesis interprets the empathy-helping link as evidence of true altruism. The negative state relief model interprets the same relation as an artifact of egoistic sadness-reduction. Neither view expresses the possibility that empathic concern reflects a general sensitivity to the emotional state of the victim and a specific sensitivity to vicarious joy at the ...
What Is Joy and What Does It Say About Us?
What is joy? It is not mere happiness, but it is also not devoid of it.Joy is a core human experience, but we often don't understand the true depth of its meaning in our lives. Through her ...
Empathic Joy Hypothesis
Empathic Joy Hypothesis. Empathic Joy Hypothesis is the proposal that prosocial behavior is motivated by the positive empathetic feelings that result from helping a person in need feel better. Category: Psychology & Behavioral Science. Share it: CITE.
The U.S. isn't happy. Are we looking in all the wrong places?
Consumerism speaks to a larger, more pervasive issue. The pursuit of happiness is a fruitless exercise if we aren't working to answer bigger questions about purpose, meaning and values, Whelan said.