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The three types of happiness - are you really happy?

Written by: Derek Stockley

Article Overview: Dr Martin E.P. Seligman, a proponent of positive psychology, has identified three types of happiness.

The three types of happiness - are you really happy?

Positive psychology and the three types of happiness.

Dr Martin E.P. Seligman, a proponent of positive psychology, has identified three types of happiness.

Pleasant life.
A pleasant life consists of having as much pleasure as you can, as many of the positive emotions, and learning some of the dozen or so techniques that actually work for increasing the duration and intensity of your pleasures. There are shortcuts to the pleasures. You can go shopping; you can watch television; you can take drugs. These things do not lead to true happiness.

Engaged life.
An engaged life is being one with the music, being totally wrapped up in the people you love or what you're hearing. There are no shortcuts to the engaged life. The engaged life can only be had by first knowing what your highest strengths are, your signature strengths, and re-crafting your life to use them at work, in love, in leisure, in parenting and in friendship.

Meaningful life.
A meaningful life consists of again knowing what your highest strengths and talents are and using them in the service of something that you believe is bigger than you are.

Hugh Heffner was wrong. The pursuit of pleasure makes almost no contribution at all to a satisfying life. It is the pursuit of meaning and the pursuit of engagement.

Life satisfaction is not a function of pleasure, it is a function of engagement and meaning. Longevity and morbidity is surprisingly a function of the positive variables as opposed to the negative variables.

Another is the effect of wealth on happiness. Most of you (referring to members of the AFR Boss audience) probably think the wealthier you are the happier you will be. Well, it turns out there is a good study of the Forbes 150, who are the 150 richest people in North America. They have the same levels of happiness and depression that you do and if you quantify once you're above the safe - below the safety net, more money makes you more happy. Where you are, however, and there are people who quantify this, just looking around - here's my guess - if you are thinking about giving up three weekends next year to earn an extra $10,000, my suggestion is don't do it. Quantitatively, it turns out that spending those three weekends with your friends and your family will bring you more life satisfaction than another $10,000.

Source: Dr Martin E.P. Seligman, the Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania

Website for more information: authentichappiness.org.

Summary.
The differences between a pleasant life and an engaged and/or meaningful life need careful examination. It is always useful to reflect on the important things in life.

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Article Tags: afr boss, dr martin, duration, emotions, forbes, hugh heffner, intensity, levels of happiness, life satisfaction, longevity, martin e p seligman, meaningful life, morbidity, pleasures, positive psychology, proponent, pursuit of pleasure, there are no shortcuts, true happiness, variables



Related Forum Posts
Re: The secret to happiness - Hi members, This is a very interesting post and one of the best I have read. Human nature is strange and in many ways a misunderstood thing. A lot of people need help to be happy or content, I suppose that is why we have psychiatrists. I certainly agree with others that happiness is a state of mind, you can’t buy it in the shops but maybe shopping itself makes you happy. Some people are very affluent but are miserable, others may have low paid jobs but a stable and happy home life and would say that they have found happiness so it is definitely a state of mind, if you want to be miserable then you will be. Happiness is different for everybody, you could argue that money buys you happiness and for some yes it does, but for everybody, I don’t think so. There is an old saying which is something like ‘if you love what you do then you will never work a day in your life’ and for many of us here I suppose that would be working from home full time with a successful Internet business. My philosophy is that no matter where you live, what you do or how much you make, if you have your health, family and or friends around to support you in the ups as well as the downs then you are already well off and anything else you achieve is a bonus so you may as well be positive and approach all life’s challenges in that way. regards, Mal.
Re: The secret to happiness - [quote="barrysarner":2awy1urv]I agree and happiness is different for every individual.[/quote:2awy1urv] Happiness is something that comes from within each person it not something that we can find externally. Something from outside such as an exciting event or a new car can make us happy, but this is a fleeting emotion. True happiness is within each person if we choose to it over misery. MichelleJ
The secret to happiness - These statistics aren't hard to believe, although my personal experience finds that self determined happiness seems higher than 40%. My clients also talk about their lives being dramatically changed as we focus on them creating their ideal life and business. I honestly believe happiness is something we CHOOSE. It has a lot to do with our thoughts and actually allowing ourselves to do things which we really enjoy. This is especially true when we develop a business that is based on our personal desires and the talents that match them. You could also call it finding a way to get paid to play. It is incredibly freeing when we recognize that we are the ones who create the life and business that will make us happy. Yes, it is often a process, but life is a journey and we will enjoy it more when we choose to enjoy all the precious moments along the way.
Re: The secret to happiness - The secret to happiness is doing what makes you happy. We spend too much time in the modern world, giving ourselves reason why we shouldn't follow what it is we want to do with our time, and not enough exploring the things we want to do. One day I hope we reverse the current trends, and start realizing we could be a much more prosperous society if we were all doing what we wanted to do without guilt or pressure.
Re: The secret to happiness - The way I look at it, success will bring happiness, as long as that success was ethical. I think studies will continue to show how happiness really is an inside job. For me, it's all about making the decision to accept yourself and your life situation, and making the best out of it. That's a tall order for some people, and it's challenging at times, but well, well worth it.


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