Types of Happiness
There are many diverse perspectives on what happiness is. For instance, Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, distinguished between two types of happiness: hedonia and eudaimonia.
- Hedonia: The source of hedonic happiness is pleasure. It is frequently linked to following one’s instincts, taking care of oneself, achieving goals, having fun, and feeling content.
- Eudaimonia: This kind of satisfaction results from looking for virtue and purpose. Having a sense of purpose and worth in life is a crucial aspect of eudaimonic well-being. It is more frequently linked to carrying out obligations, making long-term investments, caring for the welfare of others, and upholding personal principles.
In psychology today, hedonia and eudemonia are more frequently referred to as pleasure and meaning, respectively. Psychologists have more recently advocated the addition of a third factor, which is related to involvement. These are sentiments of dedication and involvement in several facets of life.
According to research, persons who are content with their lives tend to score higher than average on both eudaimonic and hedonic life satisfaction scales.
Even while the proportional importance of each might vary widely depending on the individual, all of them can contribute significantly to the overall feeling of pleasure. While certain hobbies might lean more toward one or the other, others might be equally enjoyable and important.
For instance, volunteering for a cause you support may be more fulfilling than enjoyable. On the other hand, watching your favorite TV show can rank higher on pleasure and lower on meaning.
These three major categories may contain many sorts of happiness, such as:
- Joy: A often relatively brief feeling that is felt in the present moment
- Excitement: A happy feeling that involves looking forward to something with positive anticipation
- Gratitude: A positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative
- Pride: A feeling of satisfaction in something that you have accomplished
- Optimism: This is a way of looking at life with a positive, upbeat outlook
- Contentment: This type of happiness involves a sense of satisfaction
How to Cultivate Happiness
There are things you can do to improve your sense of happiness, even if some individuals simply have a tendency to be happier.
Pursue Intrinsic Goals
Achieving objectives that you are naturally driven to work toward, especially those that are centered on community and personal improvement, might assist increase happiness. According to research, achieving these kinds of intrinsically driven objectives might boost happiness more than achieving extrinsic goals, such as acquiring wealth or prestige.
Enjoy the Moment
According to studies, people frequently overearn because they are too preoccupied with acquiring goods to remember to genuinely appreciate what they are doing.
Therefore, put more effort into cultivating thankfulness for the possessions you already have and taking pleasure in the process as you go as opposed to falling into the trap of blindly collecting to the expense of your own happiness.
Reframe Negative Thoughts
Look for methods to rephrase your thinking in a more positive way when you find yourself with a gloomy attitude or feeling negative.
People naturally prefer to focus more on negative than positive things, which is known as a negativity bias. This may affect everything, including your decision-making process and the way you see other people. Negative thoughts can also be exacerbated by discounting the good, a cognitive bias in which people emphasize the negative and disregard the positive.
It’s not about denying the negative in order to reframe these perceptions. Instead, it entails attempting to view events objectively and realistically. It enables you to see patterns in your thinking and then confront unfavorable ideas.
